To his surprise, it was his mother who was accompanied by the nurse. The old lady had not visited him since his father died a few days ago. His face was twisted with a mix of pain, anger, and relief.
It was painful to see her. He was angry that she did not come earlier. He was reliefed that she had finally visited him.
Tears streamed down her elderly face, when she looked at her son. It already showed more signs of aging than Johannes could remember.
Even though they never had a great relationship, it made Johannes sad to see his mother like this. Tears began to flow down his cheeks too. Both of them shared a loss that had brought them immense amounts of grief.
She harbored a deep urge to embrace her son in a warm hug, until she noticed the missing tubes out of Johannes mouth. Her son was sitting on his bed, as if he had never been sick.
A startled Johannes wiped away his tears and began the conversation with "Hi mom...". Great, what an icebreaker. Then he remembered that she would now see that his body had changed. Initially, Johannes wanted to hide that fact for as long as possible from his mother.
They never had a great relationship, yet he knew she was one to worry. A LOT.
His eyes went up in shock, just like hers. Mother and son completely ignored the nurse, that was silently standing around while she waited for a moment to measure Johannes' pulse rate.
"I am sorry that I did not visit you earlier..." his mother came up with. "But Johannes, say. Uhm... where are your tubes?"
She frantically looked through the room, where she saw the tubes hanging down the machines. With a hint of a gaze, she tried to look away from the scenery and to look at the nurse. "Why is my son not at the machines? Do you know that he will die, if he does not get artificial help with his breathing?", she now almost screamed out.
"Mom, It is okay. I awakened a few days after dad's death", he tried to make her believe. "I have yet to accustom to it but I am slowly learning about my powers".
Her mother was in disbelief. Johannes knew that nothing bad would follow, if he told his mother the truth. She wasn't one to act out and make her son fall prey to the Divers.
However, he couldn't tell her the truth. The truth was, that he was going to keep growing into something way stronger than he was today.
She looked at him and mustered up the confidence to ask "But... How are you still this... fragile looking?".
He smirked, as he knew why she asked and he was waiting for this moment. "I am just not as strong as other Divers. Can't we just be happy that I am finally able to breathe on my own?" he asked with a sad voice.
He was calculating his mother's reaction, hoping she would fall for his ploy. While his earlier emotions were as genuine as they could be, he had to stick to the plan now.
It almost felt like he was manipulating her, but he had to. "Of course. I am sorry if I did not appear happy about this", she apologized.
"It's just... your father's death has brought me so much grief that I..." she stopped herself mid-sentence. "Nevermind, I really spoke out of place". She had taken the bait - this was exactly what Johannes had wanted.
He was finally able to justify why he did not use those tubes anymore. Johannes was still unable to walk or stand properly, thanks to the long series of recent hospitalisations. Even so, he knew he could explain most of the early improvements of his body with being a weak Diver.
"Don't sweat it. I am glad you are finally here" he added with a smile.
They talked for hours, cried most of the time but not a single doubt went into Johannes' head this time. Despite their usual relationship being somewhat cold, this was the first time they had a good talk in years.
After his mother went back home, he had two realizations.
First of all, he understood that the system was not going to punish grief but rather thoughts that sabotaged his own success. In a sense it felt like it was his guardian. Then he thought of the mighty long fall, in which the combination of wind and a strong impact almost killed him.
"Nevermind that..."
Secondly, he noticed only he could see his system. At some point a message popped out of nowhere.
[Breathing lvl 3 -> Breathing lvl 4]
But his mother did not seem to notice the large mysterious blue screen that shone upon her son in a dazzling light. This was good to know. With this information he knew, he did not have to hide his system.
It's already 4PM. I think it is time to check out the skill shop, isn't it?