He opened his eyes, intense white light blinding him. The first thing he saw was a white roof. Then he heard voices, voices of people shouting, crying in pain, people giving instructions. He looked around and found himself attached to a ventilator and a cannula fixed in his arm. He saw people running around him, doctors in white coat checking and treating their patients. He was in a hospital. He tried to sit up but couldn’t, tried to speak but all in vain. A nurse saw him struggling and came towards him, checking his vitals and calling the respective doctor. A young doctor came towards his bed with sympathy in his eyes. With his long slender fingers, he placed the hub of his stethoscope on Benjamin's chest to examine his heart’s sound. Benjamin was confused, the doctor sensed it and tried to explain him his condition. He told him in a kind tone, "You came here unconscious with swelling in your right hand. We examined and collected a tissue sample from it. Your results just came in you had been diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, flesh-eating bacteria.” He now remembered he was walking toward his 2nd workplace when he felt an intense pain in his right arm followed by dizziness and then darkness. He saw his 17-year-old son running towards him in a frenzy. The boy was frightened to death as he saw his father in such a horrible condition. He demanded answers from the doctor.
The doctor looked at the son with sorrow in his eyes, "I was telling your father about the diagnosis. The thing is, your father had been diagnosed with a serious and dangerous disease, necrotizing fasciitis caused by a flesh-eating bacterium. The infection had spread to his entire arm, entering his system too. If we did nothing, he would die within 24 hours." The shock was prominent on both Benjamin’s and his son’s faces. Benjamin began to panic. He kept on repeating he was okay this morning. He was healthy. How could he say that? His son began to shout at the doctor, "you are lying. You must have misdiagnosed him. He was okay today. Nothing is wrong with him."
It took them quite some time to calm down and to accept the reality. Benjamin begins to think about his dream, watching his son graduate from a university with a degree in his hand. He thought now he wouldn’t be able to see that. That young doctor was still here standing, waiting for them to accept the reality. He explained that there is still hope they can amputate the affected right arm and right after surgery, placing Benjamin in an oxygenated room to kill the bacteria in his body as the bacteria was anaerobic. But the whole procedure was quite expensive as they were poor and hardly made both ends. Benjamin was saving money for his son's college fee in the bank. His son tried to convince him to use that money on his treatment. He continued to refuse. Benjamin's condition was getting worse with each passing minute. His son continued to cry and tried to convince him repeatedly to use that saved up money. But he had already chosen death. He had already accepted the reality because he knew they are already poor. If he used the savings on his treatment, his son wouldn't be able to attend college, trapped with a father, having one arm. And there was only a 50% chance that the procedure would be successful. He had made his decision by measuring all the pros and cons. After all, he loved his son dearly. He wanted his son not to live his life dwelled in poverty. He wanted him to be a successful man, which he could achieve only through studying. Benjamin coaxed his son to stop crying and advised him not to waste his youth like him, achieve something big and lead a fulfilled life. His time was near. He was in great pain and agony. His son continued to cry, unable to see his father in such pain. His father smiled at him one last time and took his final breath leaving his son in this world alone with his dream to be successful.