Second Chance: I Won't Fail My Wife

After getting into a car accident, I'm left fully paralyzed and can only spend the rest of my days in a wheelchair. My mind also regresses to that of a three-year-old. However, my wife, Ingrid Sanford, doesn't abandon me. Instead, she quits her job and cares for me for six long years. During our hardest times, even when she has no money for food, she still makes sure I get the best medication she can afford. I can never forget how she sits by my bedside and holds my hand, whispering, "Don't be afraid, Nick. I'm not the kind of woman who will abandon you. Even if you end up being like this all your life, I will still always stay by your side forever. "But if you do get better, please don't forget to hug me back. I've really suffered a lot these past years…" However, in my previous life, when she arranged for someone to repair my oxygen concentrator machine at home, a man showed up using a fake account on the repair platform. He was the one responsible for dragging our peaceful life straight into hell. He locked the door on us and violated Ingrid right under my nose, forcing me to watch helplessly. Even in my dazed and confused state, I could still never forget the despair in her eyes. After reporting the incident to the police, Ingrid suffered from severe depression and ultimately jumped from the hospital rooftop to her death. As for the repairman, Tyler Wilkerson, he was released and walked away scot-free due to insufficient evidence and my health issues which rendered me unable to testify in court. When I finally regained my senses after that, I learned that Ingrid had paid for all my rehabilitation fees in advance before she died. I open my eyes again, and suddenly, I'm back home in our apartment, where the doorbell is ringing. "Hi, I'm here to repair the oxygen concentrator." Chapter 1 A rule immediately flashed through my mind. It said, "You're not allowed to let your wife know that you've been reborn with your memories. If you do, you'll be considered to have forfeited this opportunity to change the past." I was instantly terrified, but I didn't have any time to think further because my wife, Ingrid Sanford, was already heading toward the door with her phone in her hands, checking the repair platform. I tried to open my mouth to call out to her, but only a muffled breath escaped my throat. "Ah… No…" The car crash from six years ago had damaged the part of my brain responsible for speech. Left with the mind of a three-year-old, I could only repeat a few simple words. When I was frustrated, I would cry and wail, throw tantrums, and smash things onto the floor. Now, my mind had recovered, but my body was still as useless as ever. This made me extremely anxious and frustrated. Ingrid turned around when she heard me making a sound. She saw me glaring at the door and smiled gently as she walked over to me and wiped away the drool at the corner of my mouth. She'd cut her nails short and even taken off her wedding ring so that it would be easier to take care of me. They were the same hands that wrote one more line on her will before she jumped to her death in my past life, asking the hospital to please continue with my treatments even after her death. At that thought, my eyes welled up with tears instantly. "It's okay, Nick. You don't have to be afraid. It's just the repairman for Oxy." "Oxy" was the name she'd given to my oxygen concentrator machine. She'd always been gentle like this. The doorbell rang again, and Ingrid got back up with her phone. I was so anxious that I raised my left hand and scrambled to tug on the hem of her shirt. "No…" However, my arm wouldn't listen to me and slid down as soon as it touched her shirt. She could sense my resistance and crouched back down over me, gently caressing my head in confusion. "What's the matter, Nick? Do you not want to see a stranger at home today?" I blinked with all my might, struggling to make a sound. She'd asked me the same question in my previous life. But back then, I'd only just taken my meds and was still giggling happily while hugging my soft toy. I never thought that the man outside would completely ruin our lives. Ingrid waited for a while and saw that my breathing was getting more rapid and shallow. She gently patted me on the chest and said, "Okay, okay. We won't open the door for now." She then spoke through the door and said, "Sir, can you please state your name and the order number?" The man outside the door immediately replied, "Tyler Wilkerson, order number 7396. The photo you see in the app is mine." Ingrid immediately began comparing the details on her phone. Tyler's name and order number matched the details on the platform. He also looked just like his photo. Her tensed shoulders relaxed for a moment. Tyler smiled at the front door camera and said, "You have a patient at home who can't be without the oxygen concentrator, don't you? I'll be able to fix it in ten minutes. I won't disturb you for too long." Alarm bells went off in my head at once. This was the exact line he'd said in my previous life to trick Ingrid into opening the door for him. So, the moment she grabbed the door handle to open it for him, I hurriedly nudged against the wheelchair handle with all my might and managed to knock over the glass on the table next to me. The glass shattered on the floor, sending broken shards of glass and water everywhere. Ingrid got a huge shock and hurriedly rushed over to me. "Nick!" I didn't care that the back of my hand had a bloody scrape. I even continued rubbing my hand and foot against the glass shards on the ground. Keeping her busy was the only way I could think of to stop her from opening the door for Tyler. It was a very stupid plan, but I didn't care as long as it worked. I felt even more determined when I saw the anxious look on her face. I was never going to let anyone hurt Ingrid in this life—not if I could help it! She grabbed my flailing arm, her eyes reddened. "Okay, okay, Nick. We won't fix Oxy anymore. Please stop hurting yourself…" She quickly bandaged up my hands and cancelled the order on the repair platform. A cancellation fee of 100 dollars popped up, and she didn't even bother disputing it, paying it at once. She didn't care how much money she spent as long as she could get me to calm down. I looked at the tenderness on her face and felt as though a knife was driving through my chest. She also used to be like this in my previous life too. She always prioritized other people's comfort over her own, willingly taking a step back each time I acted up. However, Tyler was never after the 100-dollar cancellation fee from the start. There was a brief silence at the door. Then, two minutes later, the sounds of his footsteps leaving could be heard. Ingrid leaned against my knee and smiled tiredly at me. "He's gone, Nick. You don't have to be afraid anymore." Yet, I still stared intently at the door. I knew that this beast hadn't left. The last time, the police told us that he'd waited near our apartment for four whole hours, but Ingrid had no idea about this. She'd just gotten up to clear away the glass shards on the floor when there was a sudden snap, and suddenly, the power in our whole apartment went out. Oxy let out a shrill, warning beep just before powering off. My chest tightened, and my breathing quickly turned shallow. It was getting hard for me to breathe. Tyler's voice sounded outside the door again. "Your husband's panting inside the apartment, isn't he, Ms. Sanford? You know he's going to die if you don't open the door for me, don't you?" Chapter 2 Ingrid hugged my shoulders, the color draining from her face. When she booked the appointment for the repair on the platform, she'd only specified "equipment malfunction" in the notes. She never mentioned that I would have difficulty breathing if my oxygen supply was cut off. So, how could Tyler have known? Tyler seemed to sense her hesitation and softened his tone. "I saw that the whole apartment was out of power while I was downstairs just now. It seems like it happened because you were using the air conditioning unit and the oxygen machine at the same time. "Just open the door for me, and I'll check your electrical panel to see if the circuit's tripped. You can't afford to delay with the patient suffering, can you?" He said the last line in an accusatory tone, as though Ingrid would be the one causing my death if she didn't open the door for him now. Ingrid pressed her lips in a thin line and wheeled the emergency oxygen tank over to my wheelchair first. She pulled the oxygen mask over my face, and I was able to breathe properly again. She didn't open the door for him, but instead called the management office for the apartment building. "The power in my unit just went out, and the repairman outside my door said that the whole building is out. Can you please send someone over to take a look?" The person from the management office, Miles Stafford, tapped on his keyboard and said lazily, "None of the other units on the 12th floor have had their power go out. It's probably just something to do with your circuit breakers. "You might as well just let the repairman take a look at it. We're going to take at least 40 minutes here." Ingrid glanced at the emergency oxygen tank, which would only last for half an hour at most, furrowing her brows. She'd just checked with the post office yesterday, and they'd already told her that the new machine would only arrive tomorrow at the earliest. This emergency tank was supposed to be for any emergencies in the middle of the night. But Tyler had chosen to show up now, which meant he'd clearly taken even the new machine's delivery time into account. He was forcing Ingrid to risk my life. The sound of his toolbox banging against the door came from outside. Tyler urged Ingrid, saying, "Your backup emergency tank isn't going to last very long. You've taken care of the patient for years. You know it better than I do." A chill ran straight down my back. Tyler even knew that there was an emergency tank in the apartment. This was obviously premeditated. He'd already looked into us long before he showed up here today. I lifted my left hand, wanting to point toward the door. However, my hand suddenly cramped up, spasming hard and curling up in front of my chest in a twisted position. Ingrid thought that I was running out of oxygen and hurriedly adjusted my oxygen mask. "Don't worry, Nick. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Her palms were clammy, and yet, she was still as gentle as she could be while adjusting my mask, as though I were so fragile that I'd break at a single breath. Her words made tears well up in my eyes. In my previous life, while Tyler dragged her into our bedroom to violate her, she was still begging him not to remove my oxygen tube. She was shuddering with fear, but still, the first thing she thought of was my safety. I couldn't let her risk her life to save me again. Ingrid turned on the camera app linked to the front door cam on her phone and saw Tyler wearing a gray repairman uniform with a work badge pinned to his shirt. His tool box was placed at his feet. He even took a few steps back and raised both his arms in the air. "I know that it's not convenient for you because you're alone at home right now, Ms. Sanford. You can just leave the safety chain on if you're worried. I'll just stick the power detector into the electrical panel to check. I won't even need to go in. "I know that you have a patient you're taking care of at home. I'm only staying because I want to help you save him. If it had been someone else in my place, they would've already left without a care in the world." Ingrid's expression wavered for a moment. I knew that it was her inherent kindness and pity acting up again. I got so anxious that I hurriedly banged my left foot against the wheelchair leg rest with all my might, but my leg was so numb that it only quivered ever so slightly. It just wasn't enough. I then caught sight of the pill box in the side pocket of the wheelchair and quickly used my elbow to bump against it. The box clattered to the ground, spilling pills everywhere. When Ingrid bent over to pick the pills up, I purposely knocked over the oxygen tank again, and it fell to the ground with a metallic thump. It was so loud that Ingrid got a fright. By the time she realized that something was amiss, she crouched down before me and looked at me with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "Nick? Why won't you let me go near the door today?" A warning went off in my mind just then, reminding me of the rule that I was not to let her find out I'd returned with memories from my past life. If I acted too rationally now, the exact same tragedy from six years ago would happen all over again. So, I had no choice but to shrug like a three-year-old and cock my head to the side, crying incoherently, "Bad… Bad…" Ingrid patted my head and softened her tone. "You think that the man outside is a bad guy?" I nodded at once, looking at her seriously. She went silent for a few seconds and finally got back up. "Sir, we won't be fixing the machine today. Please leave now." The smile on Tyler's face dropped. "You'd rather listen to an idiot than a certified technician from the repair platform?" Ingrid's face darkened. "Watch your mouth!" She ended the call on the intercom doorbell and dialed the platform's customer service hotline. The representative checked the records and replied, "Ms. Sanford, our system shows that the order was cancelled ten minutes ago, and the contractor has already left your area." Ingrid then looked at the door. Tyler's shadow was evidently still there. Seconds later, Tyler ripped off the badge on his uniform and slowly snapped it in half before the front door camera. "Ms. Sanford, since you refuse to open the door for me, I have no choice but to force my way in." Chapter 3 Ingrid immediately pressed the record button on the front door cam, making doubly sure that everything would be saved and recorded. However, the screen flickered twice and turned black. There was the sound of something breaking outside the door. Tyler had smashed the camera. Ingrid's face turned pale. She picked up the oxygen tank and tried to wheel me into the bedroom for safety. However, I kept my hand firmly on the wheelchair brakes. We couldn't go into the bedroom. In my past life, the first thing Tyler did after breaking into our house was unplug the CCTV camera in the living room before forcing Ingrid into the bedroom, where we didn't have a camera installed. I had to stay in the living room. We had to stay here, no matter what! Even if the court couldn't get a testimony out of me, the CCTV footage would be more than enough evidence to convict Tyler! Ingrid realized that the wheelchair wouldn't budge and hurriedly batted at my hand. "Nick! Behave! We'll wait inside the bedroom for the people from the management office to come!" I shook my head and lifted my floppy left hand, smacking it repeatedly against the CCTV recorder on the coffee table. She followed my line of sight and finally understood what I was trying to say. "You want to stay here with the CCTV camera?" I didn't nod. I just spread my lips into a grin and stared at her with my usual silly smile. The warning didn't go off in my head again. Ingrid's eyes deepened with doubt, but there was no time to ask me about it any further. A faint scraping sound came from the lock. Tyler was trying to pick the lock, and Ingrid's shoulders shook with every scrape we heard. However, she still stood in front of my wheelchair, grabbing the pepper spray from the entryway cabinet. It was a habit she'd developed after she started looking after me. She always shielded me behind her no matter what happened because I couldn't fend for myself. She hurriedly fastened the safety chain on the door and even pushed the shoe cabinet against it to stall Tyler. Then, she called 911. "Officer, someone's pretending to be a repairman from a repair platform and trying to break into my apartment! There's an immobile patient in the apartment. The address is Bayou Apartment, Unit 1203!" The operator on the line told her to keep the line connected and stay away from the doors and windows. Soon, the scraping sound stopped. Tyler's voice then sounded. "There's no use even if you called the police, Ingrid Sanford." This was the first time he'd called her name in full. Ingrid's hand trembled hard. "Who are you, really?" she demanded. There was no answer from outside. A short while later, we heard Tyler's footsteps gradually fading away. But still, Ingrid couldn't relax. She continued describing the situation to the police while checking all the doors and windows. She checked the kitchen, the second bedroom, the bathroom, and every other window or entryway, making sure they were tightly shut and bolted from the inside. She then sent another SOS message to the management office, asking them to immediately seal off our apartment entrance at once. Miles finally started to get anxious. "The cameras show that the repairman just entered the fire escape three minutes ago, but he never went down the stairs. Make sure your doors are locked tight! We've sent our guards over!" Tyler hadn't gone down the fire escape? A flash of what happened in my previous life suddenly appeared before my eyes. The security door in the living room was intact, and there were also no signs of Tyler trying to break in from any of the windows. The police simply couldn't find how Tyler had managed to enter our apartment. But after regaining my senses, I realized that, according to the old renovation plans, there had been an abandoned access door behind the wardrobe in our master bedroom. The door led to a utility access chamber outside the apartment building that was connected to the fire escape. The developer had only nailed a thin board across the access door before handing over the keys to us. It was now covered up by the custom-made wardrobe that was fitted into place. Tyler knew about it all along. I frantically pounded on the armrests of my wheelchair, managing only a series of gasps and broken whimpers. My left arm was going numb, and my right arm still hung limply from my side. I knew where the entrance was, but I couldn't even say a complete word like "bedroom". The voice in my head kept warning me that everything would be reset to the moment before Ingrid opened the door if I exposed myself now. I could only pray that Ingrid would trust me one more time. "In… In…" Ingrid couldn't quite understand what I was trying to say. She crouched down and asked, "What? What's 'in'? Inside? Where?" I then whirled my electric wheelchair to the side with the controls, knocking against the bedroom door again and again. Ingrid finally came over with me to look. Suddenly, she heard the sound of wood breaking coming from inside the master bedroom. Her face paled instantly. "There's someone inside the bedroom…" She quickly rushed me over to the front door, but the shoe cabinet was in the way. By then, Tyler's footsteps were already nearing us from the back. When Ingrid looked back, she saw Tyler casually walking out of the master bedroom door. She instinctively held up the pepper spray with extremely shaky arms, but she didn't run. She still shielded me firmly behind her with a determined expression on her face. Tyler grinned menacingly at her as though she was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. He locked the bedroom door from the inside and looked right past her at my face. "I never thought that you'd still be such a pain even after six years, you idiot." Then, he retrieved a charred car emblem from his pocket and threw it at my feet. "Looks like that car accident back then didn't kill you after all." Chapter 4 Ingrid's breath hitched for a split second when she saw the car emblem on the floor. I didn't have time to warn her when Tyler approached with a wrench in his hand. "Throw the phone over here," he said. Ingrid wasn't about to comply. She quickly switched it to speakerphone instead. The telephone operator's voice came through the phone speaker at once. "Ma'am, please keep your distance from the other party. The police are already on their way to you." Tyler's face darkened at once as he lunged for the phone. "You're asking for trouble!" Ingrid hit him with the pepper spray immediately, and the pungent, blinding liquid sprayed all over his face. Tyler covered his face and roared angrily, slamming the wrench against the wall. Ingrid didn't stay put. She pushed me toward the kitchen, simultaneously grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall. She'd bought it last year because she was worried that my mobility issues would prevent her from getting me out of the apartment in time if a fire were to break out. At least, her foresight managed to buy us some time. She glanced at the floor in front of Tyler and quickly retreated behind the dining table. My wheelchair kept bumping into the chairs at the dining table, but she kept her movements steady and calm. "You should stop now," she told Tyler. "If you keep trying to attack us, you'll only get a harsher sentence when the police arrive later!" Tyler chased after us with a crazed and maniacal look in his bloodshot eyes. "Since I'm going to be locked up anyway, I might as well have some fun before going in! Who do you think is going to save you? Your useless husband? Maybe ask him to get out of his wheelchair and talk to me first! Haha!" I gritted my teeth angrily, but I couldn't even get up. I could only sit there helplessly, waiting for the police to arrive. Ingrid pulled out the safety pin on the fire extinguisher and sprayed the white powder all over his face. At once, the living room was blanketed in a layer of white powder, and we couldn't see through anything at all. I heard the sound of chairs and tables overturning, along with Tyler's shouts and furious curses. Ingrid pressed her lips close to my ear and said shakily, "Don't be afraid, Nick. I'll get you out of here." She went around the dining table with me and arrived at the entryway. However, the wheelchair ran over a shard of glass on the ground, and suddenly, there was the sound of air quickly escaping. The wheels on my wheelchair had been punctured. Ingrid tried her best to wheel me along, but the wheelchair was stuck to the ground like it was nailed in place. Tyler's figure was quickly approaching us amidst the white haze behind us. Ingrid gritted her teeth and crouched over me, planning to carry me on her back. But I was over 120 pounds, and the moment she pulled me onto her back, her knees nearly gave way, and we almost tumbled to the ground in a heap. I shook my head anxiously. She had tried to save me like this in our previous life. Whenever I acted up, I would lash out and kick around with my good arm and leg, but she would refuse to let me go. But now, my paralyzed body would only slow her down and harm her in the end. I struck out at the side of the wheelchair, trying to tell her to leave me behind, but she glared at me with red eyes and chided, "Stop flailing about! I'll never leave you behind!" Tyler suddenly rushed out from the white smog and grabbed her by her hair. Ingrid arched backward in immense pain, but she still crashed into him with all her might despite the pain. The back of her head struck Tyler squarely in his nose bridge. He gasped in pain and let go of her at once. With my still-functional left hand, I grabbed the control stick and positioned my wheelchair toward him, setting it to full speed to knock him over. The wheel might have been punctured, but I still managed to drive him to the side of the dining table. He lowered his eyes to look at me in shock. I immediately played dumb and gave him a silly grin, flapping my hand about. The warning didn't go off in my head, which meant that Tyler wasn't getting suspicious of me and just thought that I was acting up again. He flew into a rage and grabbed me by my collar, throwing me to the ground. "You goddamned son of a bitch! You just can't stop causing trouble for everyone!" I was thrown heavily to the ground, and a searing pain shot through the right side of my shoulder. My oxygen mask also fell off, and I quickly found it extremely stuffy and hard to breathe. When Ingrid saw that, the first thing she did was pick up my mask from the ground. But the moment she let her guard down, Tyler grabbed her from the back. Ingrid screamed and tried to dart away from him. However, Tyler grabbed her in a chokehold and pressed the wrench against her temple. "Keep struggling, and I will smash his head open first!" he threatened. Ingrid stopped struggling at once, and her tears gushed right out. She looked at me on the ground, her lips trembling as she continued mouthing to me, "It's okay. Don't be afraid." The wrench was clearly pressed against her head, and yet, she was still concerned about me lying on the ground more than anything. Tyler began dragging her toward the bedroom, trying to escape from the way he came in. Just as he was about to crouch over and pull the wardrobe door open, there was the sound of hurried footsteps at the door. Then, someone rapped sharply against the door. "Police! Ms. Sanford, open up please! Yell if you can hear us!" Ingrid's eyes had only just lit up when Tyler suddenly dropped his wrench and grabbed his pocket knife instead, pressing the sharp blade against her neck. He stared at the front door, where the police were trying to knock it down, the muscles on his face twitching. "Since I'm not getting out of this alive, neither are you!" The police continued knocking the door down, and they'd already nearly succeeded by getting a wedge in the door. We only had to hold out just another dozen seconds or so before they could rescue us. However, Tyler kept dragging Ingrid toward the access door, the knife still pressed against her neck. The sharp blade had already left a bloody gash in her skin. "Fine. You want to die? Then we'll all die together!"