A few weeks after being subtly turned away from the Regional General Hospital for being unable to pay for further treatment, Mark had to accept the reality that his body was no longer the same. The cast on his right leg had indeed been removed, but because the bone had been set haphazardly without proper therapy, the leg never fully healed.
Now, every time he stepped onto the capital's sidewalks, scorched by the blazing sun, Mark had to walk in jerky motions, awkwardly dragging his stiff right leg behind him. A sharp pain often shot up to his lower back, as if reminding him of every cruel twist of fate that had cast him into the depths of despair.
