The Beauty In Our Scars.

A Broken Soul Is A Broad Life.

"No, no, no! It's not true! This can't be happening to me!" Craig screamed as tears ran from his sharp brownish eagle eyes to his cheeks. He began to move from side to side restlessly. Martin and Clarissa ran to his sides to hold him down. The doctor stood there in silence, pity and sadness sketched on his face. Craig's mother just stood at a corner, crying and clutching her chest.

"Craig it's okay, pull yourself together" Martin said calmly.

"How do you expect me to pull myself together Martin? How? I am now paralysed, I can't walk! I can't do anything! I'm just existing, I'm just useless!" Craig screamed. Clarissa held him close, her eyes filled with tears.

"Don't say that Craig, don't. You are here with us and we are thankful for that" Clarissa said softly.

"Of what use is my life right now, when I can't do anything but become a burden to my family and to you?" Craig asked, his voice cracked as he spoke. Tears had chocked his words, making them faint and almost inaudible.

"Stop sweetheart, just stop. You know that I love you and nothing will change that. Everyone here loves you unconditionally and we would stand by you through all these. The doctor told us initially that there is a 50% chance you could walk again within two months. Let's keep hope alive baby" Clarissa said as she patted Craig softly at his back. Craig's eyes lit up, it was as if he could see the light at the end of the tunnel all of a sudden. He turned to Clarissa, his eyes filled with hope.

"Are you serious?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Yes Craig, I mean it" Clarissa responded, her voice sounded quite cheerful. Craig turned to Martin who stood beside him.

"Is that true Martin" Craig asked.

"It is true Craig, the doctor said to be hopeful" Martin answered with a soft smile on his face. Just them Maria, Craig's mother turned to her son. She had just wiped her face with her handkerchief and immediately she set her eyes on her son, she smiled. Her face was pale but she managed to put up a bold face in front of her son.

"Craig my darling" she called out as she walked over to her son. Craig could tell his mother had been crying, her redish swollen eyes made it really obvious.

"Mom, stop crying" Craig said, just then, his mother grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I was so scared, I thought I had lost you my baby. It's enough you are here with me, we'll get through this, I know we will" Maria said, tears were beginning to fall from her already redish eyes.

"Thanks mom, at least I got the people I love with me and since the doctor said my chances of recovery is solid, I'll have to try" Craig said. He let out a pale smile on his face and so did the doctor.

"I'll leave you all alone, you could stop by at the office to discuss any further questions you might have" The doctor addressed the room.

"Doctor, I'm willing to do anything to get me to walk again, payments are not going to be a problem" Craig said, determination eminent in his voice. The doctor nodded,

"It's alright Mr Craig, I will tell your family about all the necessary surgeries and therapies needed for your recovery once they come over to my office" the doctor said.

"Thank you doctor, we'll be with you shortly" Craig's mother said and the doctor headed out of the room.

"Uhmmm where is Sebastian?" Craig asked as he searched the faces of everyone present in the room for answers. Martin sighed deeply.

"He passed on a week ago, his injuries were too severe" Martin answered solemnly. Craig shut his eyes tight, the news of Sebastian's death broke his heart more than anyone could imagine. It was more was the fact that Sebastian had a wife and two children to support.

"Have you contacted his family, mom?" Craig asked Maria.

"Yes son, while preparing for his burial, I promised to make sure his two children have the best education up to whatever level they wish to attain" Maria said. Craig nodded when his mother revealed the plans she had laid out.

"Baby you need to rest, your mother and I would go see the doctor" Clarissa said to Craig. Craig smiled at her as he took her hand.

"Don't take too long baby" Craig said.

"Sure baby, I'll be back" Clarissa said as she bent over and gave Craig a peck on his cheek before she and Craig's mother left the hospital room.

Seven months had passed swiftly. Craig wasn't in the hospital anymore, he was back home but still bound to a wheelchair. The past four months had been hell for Craig. His contract to establish Taxilite in South Korea was terminated due to his inability to see through with the contract, his surgeries and therapies weren't a success despite all the pain he went through. The most painful of it all was the fact that Clarissa had left him for his best friend Martin. She almost took his company's finances along with her, but luckily his mother was in charge of the company's finance.

Craig sat at the balcony of his large mansion. His sharp eagle eyes were now dim, his hair looked long and unkept, his beard were untrimmed. His overall appearance was a shadow of his handsome and energetic self, he didn't even accept any visitor apart from his mother who he never allowed around him for a long time. All his maids and hired helps all resigned, his frequent outburst and violence went out of control. Craig began to reminisce this glory days, he remembered when he was on the covers of Forbes magazine, the moments when his networth was about two hundred billion dollars, his achievements and most especially the charm and charisma he had. Women were dying to be with him, he had the prettiest woman in New York for a fiancée, but now it was all gone. Craig screamed in anguish, tears flowed from his dimmed eyes, at that moment he regretted his existence. Just as he screamed and cried, Maria stood at the door and watched her son. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces as she watched him from behind the open crack of the door. When she couldn't take it anymore she opened the door and walked to the balcony.

"Craig, we need to talk right now" Maria said to her son. Craig remained still, he didn't even turn to look at his mother.

"Why am I like this? Why has life decided to treat me this way?" Craig asked, his eyes just staring blankly at the bright Sky. Maria sighed softly,

"Son, it's okay" Maria managed to say

"It's not okay mom, it's not!" Craig snapped. "It's one thing to loose money and businesses, but it's another thing to loose the person you love with your heart and soul. I gave Clarissa everything she ever asked for, I was faithful to her. But instead she stabbed me in the back with my best friend. For the past seven months I have been betrayed and hurt my people I considered my own, it hurt but Clarissa's betrayal hit differently. Imagine, she said I am a good for nothing" Craig continued. His voice began to crack as he tried to control the tears which flowed uncontrollably from his eyes.

"Craig please, you are all that I have left, don't leave me too. I'll go crazy if something happened to you please" Maria said, she walked up to her son, bent over and hugged him as tightly as she could. Craig just stared into the empty space like a dummy.

"Mom, the only reason I am still hanging around is because of you. You have been through a lot already, the best I can do is to breathe for your sake" Craig muttered. His mother couldn't control her tear as she still held her son in her embrace.

"Lord please keep my baby alive, lord please. A miracle is all I ask of" Maria prayed.

"Mandy! Mandy!" Vanessa called furiously. Her two daughters Trina and Sid sat lazily on the couch as they binged on a soap opera showing on the television. A skinny redhead hopped out of the kitchen, she was covered in sweat and bruises all over her body, while her waist housed a dirty apron on it.

"Why do I need to scream your name a dozen times before you answer me?" The rowdy woman asked.

"I'm sorry mother, I was just...." Just then, Mandy was interrupted by a slap from Vanessa. She staggered, still holding her cheek in one hand.

"I feed you, put clothes on your lazy backside and all you do in appreciation is to slack off right?" Venessa asked furiously. Mandy slowly bowed her head.

"I'm sorry mother" Mandy muttered, tears began to fall off her eyes.

"Yeah right, you lousy oaf" Trina said as she slid in some chips into her mouth, Sid giggled.

"Today I am going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget. Next time you'll jump out once you are called" Vanessa said, she picked up a wooden table which was at the corner of the living room and raised it to hit Mandy. When Mandy saw the chair flying close to her, she instinctively went out of the way and the chair landed on the wall. Vanessa got infuriated by this.

"How dare you move out of the way young lady? You'll pay dearly for this" Vanessa yelled. She tried to pounce on Mandy but she immediately moved out of the way again.

"I'm tired, I am tired of everything! You beat me and treat me like trash and I am sick and tired of everything!" Mandy yelled. The room went silent for a minute, Venessa, Trina and Sid stared at Mandy. They never heard her scream or give her opinion, it was all new but they hated her guts.

"So what are you going to do about that? You have nowhere to go, besides I am not going to let you out of this house" Vanessa said, the tune of her voice was menacing. Mandy shrieked,

"I am leaving right here and now, anywhere is better than this place!" Mandy yelled. Trina gasped once she heard Mandy's statement.

"You are going nowhere young woman" Vanessa said as she approached Mandy. Mandy immediately ran to the door and luckily for her, the door wasn't locked. Before Vanessa could grab Mandy back, she had already walked out of the door.

"You'll be back, I promise you!" Vanessa screamed but Mandy didn't look back. Instead she just kept going, where she was headed she never knew but she just kept walking, anywhere was better than the place she called home.

The rain soon began to pour down heavily and Mandy couldn't find a shade. She was in the middle of the road, her eyes darting around in confusion. She used her hands to shield her body in a bid to keep herself warm.

"Lord what have I done? I don't know where I am and I don't know where to go" Mandy thought to herself as tears poured down from her eyes, the rain accompanying it as it flowed. Just as she wandered around in confusion, she saw a large gate some inches away from her. It was getting late, the rain was still heavy and she didn't know where else to go.

"I'll have to walk in there, I don't have a choice" Mandy thought after a little deliberation. She ran towards the widely opened gate and without hesitation passed through it. She kept walking down but she couldn't see anything much, there were little buildings, more like stores around and to crown it all up, there were no lights in them. Mandy felt a bit discouraged with the sight but she still pressed on. She kept walking under the pouring rain for about fourty minutes before she spotted a very magnificent building seating the the midst of this strange place. The lights were all on and once Mandy saw this, her face lit up with hope. She smiled to herself as she ran as fast as she could towards the building.