The Beauty In Our Scars

Craig stepped out of the airplane majestically without a care in the world. Behind him on his left hand was his luggage which he dragged on the runway. The air hostesses who were already standing outside the plane couldn't help but droll over the handsome hunk who was passing by. The soft breeze blew over his brown and neatly arranged hair, his sharp eagle eyes turned swiftly and he immediately spotted his admirers, he smirked and continued to go walking, he was used to ladies tripping over him, after all he wasn't just handsome, he was rich. It was about 2:30pm and he had landed about ten minutes earlier on his private jet. Business had gone as planned, in no time his company would be establishing a new branch office in South Korea, soon they would be playing the big league with other transport companies in the world once they take over this country by storm. Craig raised his face and saw his chauffeur waiting for him. The middle aged man stood calmly beside the latest Tesla vehicle, Craig smiled as he approached the car.

"Good afternoon Sir" the chauffeur greeted.

"Good afternoon Sebastian, are we ready to leave yet?" Craig asked.

"I am ready when you are sir" the chauffeur answered as a sweet smile spread across his face.

"Very well then, take care of my luggage" Craig said again. The chauffeur opened the door to the vehicle's back seat and Craig hopped into the car. The chauffeur closed the vehicle and ran over to the trunk of the car and opened it, he shoved in Craig's luggage and instantly began to closed it back again before entering into the car himself. The car had began to move, heading out of the runway through a wide gate which was located at a corner, five miles away. Craig let out a sigh of relieve as, he was finally back to America, back to his place he called home and back to Clarissa, the woman he was about to spend the rest of his life with. He took his cellphone out from his cute leather jacket and began to dial Clarissa's number, it went through and after about thirty seconds, she picked up the phone.

"Hey babe, guess who's back" Craig asked, his voice tripping with excitement.

"Oh my goodness, Craig! Welcome back!" Clarissa shout in excitement, it seemed like she was over the moon after Craig had announced his arrival.

"Thanks sweetheart, I really missed you" Craig said, a broad smile plastered on his gorgeous face.

"I missed you more my love, like it was so boring without you" Clarissa responded.

"That's so sweet my dear. So, should I pick you up from work or would you come over?" Craig asked Clarissa.

"I would prefer to come over, I would like to pick up a few belongings from my house. I'll want to spend a week with you" Clarissa said. Craig's heart fluttered when he heard those words, he smiled sheepishly to himself before he could say another word.

"Alright my love, I'll be expecting you then" Craig said.

"Alright baby, see ya" Clarissa said before she hung up. Craig removed the phone from his ear and smiled to himself once again.

"Silly girl" he muttered as he placed his phone back into his leather jacket. Just as he lifted his head to take a look at the road, he spotted a large truck in front of his car. His eyes widened in horror as the truck approached in full speed.

"Oh my God, Sebastian!" Craig screamed, the last thing he remembered was seeing Sebastian trying to avoid the truck by steering to right. Afterwards, his world was pitch black, he could neither hear or see anything.

"Mr Craig, Mr Craig can you hear me?" A voice echoed. Craig slowly opened his eyes, he didn't know where he was or how he got there. He tried to sit up but he realised that he couldn't. His body ached all over.

"If you can hear me Mr Craig, please blink twice" the unknown person spoke. Craig's vision was blurry, he couldn't clearly make out the face that was talking to him. Craig blinked twice regardless, he could hear soft sobs in the background and soft whispers.

"Alright Mr Craig, if I move my finger, please let your eyes follow the movements" the person said again. Craig was confused but he complied. The sobs continued and Craig became concerned.

"What is going on right now?" Craig thought to himself, obviously he couldn't talk to anyone, it was as if he had lost his ability to speak, let alone move.

"He is conscious, but we still have to watch him closely. His injuries were so severe so we need to be sure of his recovery so far before we could start allowing visitors" this unknown person announced. Just then, he remembered why he was in this strange room and probably why his body ached so much. He had an accident, the truck which Sebastian was trying to avoid had ran straight into them. His body immediately began to react, his heart began to pound rapidly in his chest, the realisation that he had been involved in something so traumatizing caused him to panic. "Sedatives please, bring the sedatives!" someone called out. Craig saw matchstick like figures rushing into the room and in about a minute, his world became blank again.

Craig opened his eyes rapidly as though he had woken up from a bad dream. This time he could see everything clearly, he could make sense of where he was, which was the hospital. He sat up on the hospital bed, his head still ached badly. He exclaimed in pain for a few seconds and immediately began to survey his environment.

"Water, I need some water" he muttered as his eyes ransacked the room. He finally saw a bottled water on top of a white table. Immediately he saw the bottled water, he made an attempt to stand up from his bed but as he tried, he realised he couldn't move his hips, his legs also seemed not to reciprocate any actions either. Craig became confused,

"Probably it's because I had just woken up" Craig said to himself, possibly giving himself an explanation for not being able to stand. He tried again, again and again till he fell from his bed. Though his upper body still ached, he realised something, he couldn't feel his legs, infact he couldn't feel anything from the fall. About three nurses rushed into the room after they heard the huge thud on the floor. On seeing Craig on the floor, their eyes widened in surprise.

"Go get the doctor, quick" one of the nurses ordered and instantly, one of them splinted out of the room.

"Mr Craig calm down, we have to put you back on the bed" the nurse who issued the order spoke.

"Tell me what on earth is going on here!" Craig demanded, his voice hinted frustration and fear at the same time.

"You are in safe hands now, trust us Sir" the other nurse stated, a calm and relieving smile was on his face. Craig couldn't say anymore words, he just stared blankly at the nurses. Without waiting a second, the nurses rushed towards Craig and slowly managed to place him back on the bed. After about two minutes, the doctor rushed in and immediately began to check his vitals without saying a word.

"Doctor what's wrong, what's going on?" Craig asked in confusion but the doctor didn't give him any answer. He continued to run the checks on him, but after a while, the doctor raised his head and turned to the nurses.

"How did he fall?" The doctor asked. "We all were outside when we heard a large thud, we ran in as fast as we could only to see him on the floor" one of the nurses answered. The doctor gave a puzzled look at the nurses before he finally turned his focus on Craig.

"Mr Craig, please can you tell me how you fell?" The doctor asked. The question irritated Craig, this wasn't what he was expecting to be asked. Deep down he felt like pouring out his frustration on the doctor but he managed to maintain hold his peace. He just didn't answer the doctor rather, he looked away. The doctor sighed softly and walked a little bit closer to Craig.

"Please you need to answer me, your life and wellbeing depends on this question I asked and the answer you'll give" the doctor said softly. Craig turned to look at the doctor, he could see the concern written all over the doctor's face, he couldn't just keep quiet any longer.

"I wanted to stand up and get myself the bottled water on that table, but I suddenly realised I couldn't stand up to get it, I kept trying and trying till I fell off the bed" Craig narrated. At first the doctor seemed confused by Craig's statement, but in about a minute when a thought hit him, he widened his eyes in shock.

"Mr Craig, I'll like to check something. Please if you feel anything from this exercise, please do let me know" the doctor said calmly. Craig nodded slightly, immediately the doctor proceeded to touching the back of his feet.

"Can you feel anything?" The doctor asked Craig.

"No, I can't feel a thing" Craig answered casually. The doctor then began to touch his legs.

"What about this?" The doctor asked anxiously.

"No, still nothing" Craig answered again. The doctor stopped for a minute, then he touched Craig's hand. "You feel this right?" The doctor asked. Craig looked at the doctor, this time as confused as ever.

"Why are you touching me and asking me if I feel anything?" Craig asked, this time he was determined to get an answer. "Mr Craig we are running some major checks in your, we have to be sure if you feel any pains in your body" the doctor answered, "trust me you'll be okay" he stated again. Craig glared at the doctor for a bit before he would answer.

"Yes, I can feel your touch on my hand" Craig answered. The doctor's eyes dimmed in defeat, like he knew something bad had happened. The nurses in the room wore blank expressions on their faces. Instantly the doctor raised his head and turned to one of the nurses.

"Tell doctor Eric the patient is awake, give him this, he'll know what to do" The doctor said softly as he handed over a note he had written after he had checked Craig. Then the doctor turned to Craig with a soft smile on his face, he picked the bottled water, opened it and handed it over to Craig.

"Here is the bottle of water, just drink a little of it. He head physician will be with you shortly" the doctor announced. Craig nodded a bit and sipped some water from the bottle after which the doctor took it bottle away from him and walked out of the room. Craig just lay there, utterly confused and speechless. "I'm sorry Mr Craig, you are now paralysed from waist down" Doctor Eric announced. Craig's mother, Martin his best friend and Clarissa were all present in the hospital room. Craig couldn't believe his ears, everything seemed like one big nightmare that would disappear once he woke up.

"Doctor stop it, stop scaring me like that, it's not funny" Craig said with a little chuckle. He tried hard to wave it all off as a prank but everyone around him seemed to take it seriously. The doctor shook his head sadly.

"Mr Craig we did some exercises and it seems you couldn't respond positively to most of them. I pinched the back of your feet and your feet itself but you didn't feel a thing. I proceeded to your legs and it was the same thing. Your x-ray results shows you have a dislodged spine and serve nerve damage. I am so sorry but that's what the results show" the doctor said. His solemn voice made it clear to Craig that this was no joke or prank. His Life had just changed, he was now paralysed.

"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 a