Delayed

Daniel sat on his couch with a smile on his face. A "Happy 40th Birthday!" banner hung up behind him. He was cutting a slice of his birthday cake. He was also cutting parts of his hand by mistake. He didn't mind though. After all, he couldn't feel it.

Thirty years ago, as a young boy, Daniel was helping his mother in the kitchen. She was in the kitchen cutting slices of his 10th birthday cake for him and his friends. But one of the hyperactive kids slammed into her, and the knife flew out of her hands, and sliced through Daniel's! She screamed in horror, but he didn't. He looked at the knife embedded in his hand. No blood, no bone, and it didn't even hurt. He pulled the knife out with no pain. His hand was as good as new, not even a scar. Everyone's mouth hung open in surprise.

Daniel immediately ran to his room. He started experimenting. He started small, first by poking his leg with a pencil, but nothing happened. Then, he went crazy. He smashed his head against the wall, nothing. He tried chopping his fingers off with scissors, nothing. He dipped his head underwater in the bath for a whole ten minutes, nothing. He climbed onto the roof of his house, and jumped off. He landed on his feet, perfectly fine. Finally, he dipped his head underwater for a whole ten minutes. He could breathe! He was invincible!

Daniel was reflecting on this as he cleaned up his birthday cake. For 30 years he had never so much as gotten a scratch on his body. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left hand, he yelped and pulled it up to inspect it. There was a stab wound. He looked around for knives, but he has already cleaned them up. His face went pale as he felt a sharp poke in his leg. The pencil. A few seconds later, blood spilled out of his face as he fell to the floor. His head exploded with pain, feeling like it had hit a wall. As he lay on the bloody floor, he heard a sickening crack as his legs broke. He screamed, hoping somebody, ANYBODY could hear him. He suddenly remembered what he did next. He had about two minutes before the bath was full. He crawled across the floor, his entire body boiling with pain as he reached for the telephone. But he was too late. He lay there, writhing on the floor, suffocating under nothing.