Chapter 4: Norman

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The Karps were getting ready to welcome the first boy child of their family, seven year old Hooman and 4 year old Booman were excited to have a baby brother and the baby shower and naming ceremony were duly prepared for. The incident of the neighbor who lost her life trying to bring triplets into this world was still lingering in the air but Mrs Wood was a living proof that the process of child birth was absolutely painful but mostly safe. Forgetting the fact that she, Mrs Karps had given birth twice in the past, all she held on to were Mrs Wood's words and inspirations.

The day came and she gave birth with relative ease and everything seemed fine for some hours. Until suddenly, the baby stopped breathing, the confusion this caused was far too much to be contained in an already troubled mother. She panicked but the doctors came in and took the child away. They then locked her whole family in her maternity room to avoid any sort of interference, they needed to do their jobs. About three hours after, a doctor came, unlocked and entered the room. "The baby is out of danger for now" the doctor said. All Mrs Karps heard was the 'for now' part so she asked with tears in her eyes "what does your 'for now' mean". "I'll let my superior handle answering that question, I'm only a messenger" the doctor replied.

"Your son was born with bronchiectasis, A condition in which the lungs' airways become damaged, making it hard to clear mucus. Bronchiectasis that is present at birth can occur because of the way the baby's lungs developed in utero. More commonly, it develops over time, when medical conditions injure the walls of the airways" the doctor was trying to explain to the Karps what was wrong with their baby but they didn't seem to really understand, so to simplify it and make more points he simply said "your son has a disease that is not common in newborns, this weakens the walls of the lungs airways and your son's case is one we haven't seen before, in addition to having this disease, it appears your son has a very weak lungs. Meaning, if severe breathless should occur again at any point in his life, it could be fatal. If oxygen is not always ready for those kinds of emergencies then I'm afraid your son will surely not make it" "and no, it has no known cure" the doctor concluded.

They had talked about too much with the doctor, Mr and Mrs Karps were too afraid for the life of their only son. They were prepared to do anything, because Ukwa was so underdeveloped in the early 2000s, the couple had to drive 12 hours to Culat so their child could at least have half a decent life. This boy grew up rather fast and he was as smart as they came. No one ever showed him resent or rejection or even hatred but he was smart enough to know that his family would do alot better with him out of the way. He grew up with a mindset that since he was always at the hospital, everyone cared about him so much, it would be better to not let them down one bit. He wasn't always at school but he was amongst the best, his character was welcoming and he was as respectful and down to earth as he could be, he welcomed everyone with a smile and no one could ever not like him. He knew his life could end at any moment, if his disease wasn't the cause, his weak lungs could decide to give up on him.

Due to him always needing top notch medical attention and the hospitals at Ukwa were not so good, this young boy was always on the road. He grew up side by side with Beets while Peets was staying at Ctical, with his mother, she worked there. Beets was his real best friend because she understood him more than any other person did. When he was fourteen years old, he was diagnosed with a bone cancer know as Osteogenic Sarcoma. It is a type of cancer that begins in the cells that form bones. A little after his diagnosis, Peets and his mother came back, she had been posted to work in Ukwa. One year after that was the "Year of Cleansing" as it would be remembered in history. Mysterious Sound Quakes happened all over earth and seventy three percent of the living species on Earth had been wiped out, eighty one percent of mankind was no more. The almost total destruction of earth was during this period and what was left of mankind had to come together to rebuild what was once their home.

After waking up from the comma he was in after the Sound Quakes he had lost the use of one of his legs. Along the way, towards his final days, everything seemed to have started looking up. His lungs were getting better, his disease was in a stable state and he was about to go get his final surgery for his cancer after battling it for nearly five year, five years of chemo, he was finally thinking about the future. Bad news knew its way around the Karps lives and it was about to strike again, after the surgery, a scan showed that the cancer had found it's way to his lungs and with how fast this could affect his weak lungs, he had at least three and the half months more. His doctors always said that his heart was the main reason he was still alive because anytime his lungs stopped working, his heart kept going long enough for his lungs to pick up again.

He lived for five months before he finally gave up the ghost. In that short period of time, lives were lost, sorrow and pain we're overwhelming, although it had it's happy times, it was definitely a period of time all sort of things happened in. Having idealize someone who also suffered from Osteosarcoma in the past and her ways of life, he decided to live his last days in the same way. His dying wish was directed at Peets and only Peets heard it, "you never go back on your promises, right?" he asked his best friend, "then promise me" he said.

A boy who lived his life scared of his own body betraying him, with all his medical records, he was known as a "miracle" cause any other person would have kicked the bucket a long time before he did, a well mannered boy that never gave up hope, even at his final moments, a legend to those who knew him, a hero to all those who's fates are already decided and a ray of hope for all of humanity.

A boy who's ideology and charisma would be remembered through out history, a young boy named Norman.

It's not about how I was born or how I died, it's about how I lived"

- Tukur .M. H

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