Mr. Lester stayed with David for some time. The old man seemed concerned about David's health and mental state. David appreciated that someone had genuine concern for his well being. It was nice to feel like he had a good mentor....or maybe even an old friend.

The two men had chatted about various things including Mr. Lester's experience with the death of his parents. He had given David some really great advice about focusing on living and keeping a line of communication open with friends and relatives. David had told Mr. Lester that he really didn't have many friends and that he had no relatives. Mr. Lester was caught off guard by David's response and told David that he could be called anytime to discuss his life and his problems.

Shortly after Mr. Lester left the room, David had another visitor show up in his room. Karine. Seeing her face appear in the doorway, David couldn't help reflect on the other times he had been hospitalized. Both times, he had been kept in the private medical suite at the Carmine residence. Both times he had woken up to the sight of Karine sitting by his bedside.

Today was different. He was in the standard suite at the Three Rivers Hospital. He had woken up alone.

What had changed? Was anything different?

David sighed as Karine walked over to his side. Karine looked down at David. She could tell the sigh was a sigh of disappointment.

"How are you doing, David?" Karine said as she stepped to his bedside and held his IV pierced hand.

David looked at Karine's hand in his for a second before speaking.

"My parents didn't deserve this," David said in a broken hearted manner before he started to cry, "I would not have cared if something had happened to me, but my parents were not involved with anything. Why did they have to be killed?"

Seeing the raw emotion on David's face, Karine also started to get upset, "David, I don't know why things happen the way that they do. When.... When my mother died. I felt the same way."

David looked up at her....she had never talked about her mother before....

Karine continued with a few tears trickling out the corner of her eyes, "When she died....I believed it was my fault. My mom died while going to the store to get me a present for my birthday. Even though she had guards with her, they could not stop the robbery taking place in the store fast enough. My mom was shot by a gun in the fight between the guards and the man robbing the store..... and she died instantly. There was no use trying to save her."

"I couldn't help think that if I wasn't born...then my mother wouldn't have been at the store and died. Her and my father would still be happily together. My little sister would still have a mom...I felt like it was my fault for even existing."

".....and then I realized that I couldn't be blamed for the evil in the world. From what I remembered, my mother was always very nice to people and treated people kindly. When things went well for her, she would always say "Kindness is key to happiness".....it was her favorite saying."

"So, I try to live my life in the same fashion. I try to be nice and treat everyone kindly. If I don't, then I am contributing to the evil that I despise so much for killing her," Karine finished while leaning in to give David a kiss.

The two continued chatting for some time until Karine was called away to address an issue with the Carmine Corporation transition. David thought it was nice for Karine to visit him in the hospital. The entire time she had just offered comforting words....and he just grieved for his parents....no talk of relationship talk or worries about statuses....there were more important things at the moment.

____________________________________________

After Karine left another representative of the Carmine family showed up to discuss David's parents' memorial service arrangements. The Carmine Corporation had involved themselves in the funeral matters as a way to help with the situation. Since David was unconscious, his parents' lawyer in town had instructed the Carmine Corporation that the couple had both requested to be cremated upon death...their bodies were in such poor shape that was the only option anyway.

The Carmine Corporation had authorized the cremation and planned a memorial service for friends of the family in the small town. They said that they were doing this since David was a trusted employee and couldn't attend to the matters....no other family existed. David's parents were greatly loved and everyone in the small town come out to the memorial. David was actually very thankful to the company for making the arrangements.

When he was talking to doctors, they had said that his parents had most likely died instantly during the explosion and that David was very lucky to be alive. Every time David heard that he was lucky he felt like laughing. How was he lucky?

After another week in the hospital, David was released by doctors to leave. After the incident, the Carmine Corporation had assigned a couple of guards to David. These guards had travelled with him to the Town of Benson to deal with his parents affairs.

David's mom and dad were almost comical in their wills. Of course, David had the full rights to everything since he was the only remaining family member. What had put a smile on David's face was the clause about what to do if David wasn't around or if he rejected the inheritance. His parents had said that if no inheritor was present then the property would be turned over to the Town of Benson in trust that the land be preserved as a park. Per the will, "we have spent years cutting down forests....now it's our time to protect one."

David had liked the idea so much that he instructed the lawyer to proceed with the park idea....David didn't need the land...the house wasn't even there anymore....he didn't need money....the Carmine Family paid him well.

In consideration that his sister's ashes that sat in his parents room were scattered during the explosion, David spread out both his parents' ashes in the forest surrounding the house. Now his family would be together and protected as part of a park....David couldn't ask for more.....except maybe to have everyone alive again.

After settling all of the affairs in the Town of Benson, David said goodbye to a few old friends and prepared to leave town. With his parents no longer around, David didn't know when he would return to this place again.

_____________________________________________

On his first night back at his apartment in the Carmine Building, David couldn't make himself sleep. It was odd for him to be unable to sleep. With his grief slowly subsiding, he just had too many questions on his mind.

Who were the people who killed his parents? Was it revenge for the guys he killed in the woods? He had thought that he killed all of the group that was with Charles, so how did he miss some? How was he going to find the murderers for revenge? Was he even strong enough to take revenge?

At the thought of his questions about revenge, David felt at a loss. How could he take revenge if he was so weak? He needed more strength before he could consider revenge.

Since he couldn't sleep and his weakness had become his focus, David decided to go to the gym for a workout. He had a little physical therapy in the hospital but he really wanted to have a nice workout to test his body's fitness level.

Entering the gym, David noticed that a corner of the place was still lit up this late at night. Instantly, his attention was drawn to the thumping sound of someone kicking a sand bag.

David walked over to see who it was and realized it was the guy that he had sparred with the day he first met Mr. Lester.

"What you doing in here so late?....Chaz, right?" David asked as he walked up.

"....oh.....yep, Chaz.....and you're David, right?...I like to hit the bags when I have trouble sleeping...it has always helped me work away my troubles and let my mind relax," Chaz said while taking a breather holding the bag.

"You mind if I join you? I am having trouble sleeping myself," David asked.

"Ya, sure man. Just make sure you hold the bag good...I kick pretty hard," Chaz replied.

The two continued to chat. Eventually, the two men found an alternating rhythm with one guy holding the bag and one guy hitting the bag.

Stopping to take a break after a few cycles of bag hitting, the two men sat on the resting bench nearby.

"Damn dude, your kicks are pretty strong? Where you at in your training?," David asked Chaz.

Laughing Chaz said, "I was actually holding back."

He continued, "I recently promoted to Level 1 Foundation Stage in Body specialty. My first mastered skill is in the Body of Strength. I didn't want to run you off by going full out."

"Awesome man!I've been doing supplemental training in the Body of Recovery, but I still haven't mastered it yet," David said.

"Wow! That one is rough...you need to take a lot of punishment to your body to master that one," Chaz said.

"Nope...shouldn't be that hard for me. I've almost died three times in the last year....even had my arm ripped of once," David said boasting in his response.

Chaz just stared at David for a second.

"Man, I don't know if you should be bragging about that," Chaz said seriously. Then the two men busted out laughing.

After a minute of laughter, David said, "Well man, I appreciate the workout. I'm at Level 2 Darkness Foundation Stage. My first skill is Shadow and my second is Doom. If you ever need a sparing partner, let me know."

David has started getting up to leave. He was whooped but he felt great. It was his first real physical activity since he had been hospitalized. The comradeship he shared with Chaz was also enjoyable.

As David was about to say goodnight, Chaz said, "Hey man, are you serious about that sparing partner stuff? I could really use some help. Mr. Lester has been helping me but he can't find someone that wants to take on my strength. If your interested, I wouldn't mind the help."

After thinking for a second, David said,"Sure Chaz.....I'll be your sparing partner. But I have a few conditions."

Chaz had a skeptical look on his face.

"Don't worry pal. It will hurt me more than you. How about we meet up here tomorrow around 4:00 PM? I have to make a few arrangements before I restart my training," David asked. He would need to meet with Mr. Lester first thing in the morning to discuss.

"Sure, I work from 7 in the morning until 3:30 PM, so that time works just fine," Chaz confirmed.

"Alright man, see you tomorrow," David said as he started walking back to his room.

He smiled as he thought about his new training plan.

"Now, I just have to get Mr. Lester to agree to it," David thought to himself as he quietly left the gym.