Wasted Years, Empty Love

1
I once saved lives by extracting venom for antivenom. I was rewarded with a life sentence for selling counterfeit medicine that killed a patient.
In truth, my adoptive brother, Julian, diluted my serum for profit. When it failed, my parents forced me to sign a confession to protect him. My fiance, Jessica, threw acid in my face, destroying it forever.
I spent twelve years in prison, released early for good behavior. Now I shovel pig manure on a remote farm.
Julian, in a publicity stunt, was bitten by a coral snake during a livestream. Now hes dying.
My family hunted me down. My parents knelt in the mud, crying, You have to give him a transfusion! Hes your brother!
My sister, Ava, held a knife to my throat. Save him, or Ill send you back to prison for life.
My fingers traced the scars on my face. I smiled bitterly.
Theyd forgotten: years ago, to ensure my silence, they injected me with a sedative.
A drug that permanently destroyed my ability to produce new blood.
"Jim, are you really planning to rot in this shithole for the rest of your life?"
My sister, Ava, stepped out of the car, immaculate in a designer suit. The stench of the pig farm hit her like a physical blow, and her face turned a sickly shade of green. She pinched her nose, her brow furrowed in disgust. There was no warmth of a reunion in her eyes, only contempt.
I stopped the rhythmic swing of my shovel and wiped a smear of stinking grime from my forehead. I didn't say a word.
I just watched them.
Twelve years.
I survived twelve years in that sunless cage. For the six months since my release, I've lived like a stray dog. They never once came to see me. No one would hire an ex-con, a "counterfeit drug dealer," except for this pig farm at the edge of the world.
And now, here they were, the whole family, rolling up in their luxury cars, storming this forgotten corner of the country.
Had they finally remembered they had another son wasting away out here?
"Jim, are you deaf? Can't you even greet your own parents and sister?" my father, Richard, demanded. His voice was laced with its usual authority, but I could hear the sharp edge of desperation straining beneath it.
"Let the past be the past," he continued, softening his tone. "We're family. Blood is thicker than water. Just swallow your pride, and the doors to our home will always be open for you."
I stared at his face, a mask of false generosity, and felt bile rise in my throat.
Had they ever, for a single moment, considered me family?
Slap!
Before I could answer, Ava stepped forward, intending to wipe my face clean. But when I pulled down my mask, revealing the melted, grotesque ruin beneath, her hand froze mid-air. The sterile wipe fell from her trembling fingers and landed in the muck.
Her eyes darkened for a fraction of a second.
"How did it get this bad If you had just listened back then, if you hadnt been so greedy and sold that fake medicine, Jessica wouldn't have lost her temper like that."
Ava sighed, her voice dripping with pity.
"Never mind. What matters now is saving a life. Julian is in trouble."
"He was trying to educate his followers, got bitten by a coral snake during a livestream. The venom is shutting down his organs, and the hospital's blood bank doesn't have a matching antivenom."
"You did the research. Your body has the antibodies."
"Come with us. Save Julian, and we'll let everything you did in the past go. Mom and Dad will forgive you."
In their eyes, I had served twelve years for a crime I didn't commit, had my face melted off, my body broken, and in the end, I was supposed to be grateful for their forgiveness.
I twisted my lips into a sneer. The scarred tissue on my cheek pulled tight, a familiar, searing pain.
"He got bit because he's a greedy, stupid fool."
My voice was a dry rasp, like sandpaper on stone.
"You bastard!"
Richards face darkened. He raised a hand to strike me, but my mother, Eleanor, caught his arm. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her perfectly maintained face etched with exhaustion. She ignored the filth on the ground and rushed to my side, grabbing my hands, her manicured nails digging into my manure-caked skin.
"Jim! I know you've been wronged! I know you're angry!" Eleanors voice trembled.
"But Julian is your brother!"
"He's always been so fragile. Not like you. You grew up tough in the orphanage, you're strong. Giving a little blood won't hurt you, right?"
"I'm begging you, son. Do it for me. Please, save him! If you save him, I promise you, you'll get ten percent of the family fortune! How does that sound?"
I looked at this weeping woman.
This was my mother.
To her, Julian's life was a precious treasure. Mine was just a resource to keep him alive. Because I was "tough," because my life was cheap, I was the one who had to be sacrificed.
I was about to wrench my hands away when a blinding flash went off.
I turned my head and saw her. Jessica.
The woman who had once sworn she would marry no one but me, and then personally destroyed my face.
She was holding her phone, the camera pointed directly at me, live-streaming.
Her eyes were filled with tears as she spoke to her audience, her voice breaking.
"Everyone, this is Jim."
"Even though he made a terrible mistake, even though his actions cost someone their life and ruined my future"
"At this critical moment, I still hope he can find it in his heart to remember the bond of brotherhood and save Julian."
"Jim, I know you hate me for what I did. But I only did it because I loved you so much! You drove me crazy with what you'd done!"
"If you'll just save him, I'll get on my knees and apologize to you right now! Please, I'm begging you, don't be so heartless!"
The chat exploded. Comments scrolled past in a blur.
[OMG, Jessica is a saint! This killer should just die, and she's still begging him!]
[Is Jim even human? His own mother is crying like that and he's just standing there?]
[Cold-blooded animal. He deserves to shovel shit for a living!]
Jessica's mastery of emotional manipulation was flawless.
I stared at her perfect, beautiful face, then pointed to the centipede-like scars that covered my own.
"This is what you call 'loving me too much,' Jessica? This is how you show your love?"
Her gaze flickered away for a second.
"Can't you just let the past go?" she shot back, her voice rising. "Julian is dying in the ICU right now! Why do you always have to be so selfish? Why can you only think about your own damn pain?"
I looked at this collection of people I was supposed to call my family.
Suddenly, the cesspool I was standing in felt cleaner than their hearts.
"I'm not going."
"My blood is filthy. It's not worthy of your precious Julian."
I dusted the grime from my clothes and turned to leave.
"Jim, I didn't want it to come to this. You're forcing my hand."
Ava's face turned to ice. With a flick of her wrist, four massive men emerged from the second car. They grabbed me like I was one of the pigs, slamming me down onto the concrete ground slick with wastewater and dung.
My knee hit the ground hard. I felt a crack radiate through the bone.
I struggled, but it only made things worse. The foul liquid flooded my nose and mouth, and I choked, unable to breathe.
Seeing me subdued, Richard switched tactics, playing the good cop. He pulled a check from his jacket and shoved it into my pocket.
"One million dollars. For your blood."
"Jim, I'm not forcing you. I'm teaching you how to be a man."
"Look at yourself. You'll never make this much money in your entire life. With this, you can leave this place. You could even get plastic surgery."
"This is for your own good!"
I struggled to lift my head, my eyes locking on the check.
It was just like twelve years ago.
Julian had switched out my serum with a diluted counterfeit, selling it to patients and causing three deaths. When the scandal broke, they had stood over me with that same condescending charity.
"Jim, Julian is too fragile for prison."
"You're the older brother. You take the blame for a few years. When you get out, everything the family has will be yours."
I refused.
And then came the sedative, injected against my will, followed by twelve years in hell.
"I can't sell it My blood it's bad" I gasped, trying to explain.
But Richard wasn't listening.
"So it's not enough money, is that it? You just want to get back at Julian?"
"Jim, don't be so greedy!"
Just then, Eleanor rushed forward and fell to her knees in the mud with a sickening thud. She didn't care about her expensive clothes. She grabbed my filthy hands, her sobs tearing through the air.
"Jim! Please! I'm on my knees, I'm begging you!"
"Julian is dying! Only your antibodies can save him! He's your brother!"
"Just take pity on your mother, please, save him!"
For a fleeting moment, my heart clenched. This was, after all, the woman who gave birth to me. Seeing her kneeling before me, a sliver of hesitation pierced my resolve.
I opened my mouth, about to say something.
But her next words plunged me into an abyss of ice.
"Your life is already ruined!"
"You have a criminal record. You're an ex-con. Your face is destroyed. This is all you'll ever be! You're worthless!"
"But Julian is different! He's a huge influencer, a star! He's going to inherit the family business! He has a brilliant future ahead of him!"
"Jim, just think of it as a final contribution! Give your useless blood to Julian. It's the last useful thing you can do for your brother!"
"I'm begging you!"
That tiny flicker of hope that had ignited within me was instantly extinguished, shattered into dust.
I stared at the weeping woman, and the absurdity of it all was suffocating.
"Enough of this bullshit!" Ava had lost all her patience. She pulled a small fruit knife from her purse, its sharp point pressing against my carotid artery.
"You're still on parole, aren't you, Jim?"
"What do you think would happen if, during that period, someone reported you for attempting to manufacture illegal drugs again? Or perhaps for stealing from the pig farm?"
"I'm one of the best lawyers in the state. If I want to, I have countless legal ways to make sure you rot in that cell until you die."
"So, what's it going to be? Are you going to walk in there, give your blood, and take the money? Or are you going to go back to prison right now and die inside?"
The sharp sting on my neck brought everything into focus.
I wasn't afraid of going back to prison. I was just disgusted.
This was my sister. A celebrated attorney. Using all her knowledge of the law to destroy her own brother.
I didn't feel fear. I was long past that emotion.
I just felt tired. So incredibly tired.
If you want my blood this badly, then take it.
I closed my eyes and stopped fighting.

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