David woke up in a hospital bed that was quite familiar. He was feeling a lot better about himself after his realization in the dream world. He needed to focus on his strengths. The hell with his weaknesses. Laying in bed staring at the ceiling he found himself to be in a wonderful mood. It felt like this was some turning point in his life.

"Guess I lost the fight. I wonder how long I was out this time," David said to himself...he didn't realize someone was in the room with him.

"Yes, you did alright until the last minute. Gabriel's man really restrained his strength until the last minute when he decided to try and cripple you. They are a pretty conniving bunch....and you were only out a couple hours. It is still the same day but around 7 PM," a sweet voice sounded from David's bedside.

David looked over to see Karine sitting by his bedside. He smiled.

"We have to stop meeting like this," David said cracking a joke.

Karine laughed her unique beautiful laugh.

"You are so beautiful when you laugh and smile....you know that first time we met each other in the architect conference room....I hadn't felt any attraction to you...I had actually thought your sister was really cute...that is until the first time I saw you smile....it was good stuff," David said honestly.

"That passionate description you gave about the exhibit capturing the essence of the night really won me over too.....until then.....I was ready to pull the project from your firm because it sounded so boring," Karine said smiling.

Both Karine and David bust out laughing. After a few seconds of laughter, David looked Karine in her beautiful eyes and decided to get straight to the point.

"So, I assume you are here to reject my suitor status. Gabriel kept droning on and on about how I wasn't worthy of you and that you agreed to reject my status if I lost. That guy is really a piece of work," David said. He just didn't have the ability to hold back his thoughts anymore.

"Yes, that is one of the reasons why I am here.....but it is not because of any agreement with Gabriel.....that was just a good justification to do it....That piece of human waste, Gabriel, doesn't deserve the status of my suitor at all...at least you have my affections.....I wouldn't care if Gabriel died right now.....actually, I would probably smile if it happened...you....you, I do not want to see hurt like this," Karine said aggressively putting a bit of bewilderment on David's face.

David just stared at her wide eyed and open mouthed. That was not the typical Karine response that David expected to hear. Seeing David's astonishment, Karine smiled a big smile before speaking.

"Come on David. My dad has been one of the most powerful businessmen on Earth for years. Do you honestly think he hasn't been training me for this sort of stuff? I was practically learning business strategy, corporate mechanisms, war tactics, and family political management.....since I could speak. You usually see the relaxed side of me when we are together or the cold side I show everyone else to avoid interaction. But no one has really seen this side of me...the ruthless side....the side I am showing you now," Karine explained.

"The reason that I am telling you all of this is that I feel you deserve it. As I said, you really do hold my affections. My father wouldn't have approved of me telling you about my real self. He is one of those men that like to keep everyone in the dark on his actual power level...just to have them underestimate him. With his training, my father made sure that I always have a plan to secure my family status. I will not let anyone get in my way," Karine said with a gusto of sureness.

"It is not that I do not like you, David. Actually, it is because of the opposite. I am here to reject your suitor status for your own good. The people around Vincent Carmine come from The Other. They can be quite cutthroat when they want to and I have a feeling that Vincent is trying to earn some sort of status for his illegitimate son by wedding him to me. It isn't going to happen but...,,You don't fit well into their plans, so they might target you eventually," Karine warned in a very serious tone.

"So I am at risk because of my relationship with you?," David asked, "So you care for me and just don't want to see me hurt? If that is the only thing keeping us apart, I have no issue with the risks. At this point, I don't really have much to lose. I really think that I might love you, you know?"

"Yes, I know. But I have no room to love anyone right now. Love is a distraction. Vincent Carmine and his group are trying to put pressure on my branch of the family in The Other. They managed to pull strings to get my dad and uncle transferred immediately after they advanced...and to get our branch family removed from Earth. This shift would mean that any new talent originating from Earth will be funneled directly into Vincent's branch of the family....Everything may seem nice on the surface, but these Carmine family relatives would kill each other if they were 100 percent sure that they could get away with it," Karine said to David's surprise.

"I do care for you, David. But it makes me weak. I can not afford any weakness right now," Karine said, "I need to focus on keeping the wolves at bay...and focus on strengthening myself. If I get stronger, I should be able to bring myself and my sister to the Other sooner. Once we are reunited with my dad and our branch of the family, everything will start to settle down...then I can start thinking about my future," Karine said.

She continued, "I will keep Gabriel's suitor status around for the time being. He thinks that he has some chance with me. That false confidence of his makes my moving around behind the scenes easier and causes less worry on my part. I can't stand when the creep's eyes look at me, but I need to look out for my family....not the entire Carmine Family in the Other, but the two of us stuck here....myself and my sister. We are a team and we need to stick together to get through this shift in power. The Other is a dangerous place and their politics are a hundred times worse than Earth's."

David sat in the bed in thought for a moment before speaking. He was taken aback by the whole situation. It was like his innocent beautiful girlfriend had been made to transform into a fierce tiger protecting her cubs. After a few considerations, David decided that he was okay with everything. Why would he get upset about Karine wanting to focus on the safety of her family...what was the opposite?....He couldn't tell her to ignore the well being of her family.

"Thanks for being honest, Karine. I really appreciate it," David said, "I think that I understand your situation and I am grateful that you do care for me in some regard. That makes me feel good inside. But I feel sad for you. You are being forced into this situation by this mess of an extended family. I wish I could do something about it to help you."

"No, David. Your best help would be to lay low and cultivate to be stronger. You have seen it in the competition today. Gabriel and his henchmen are at the bottom of the barrel in The Other....but they dominated everyone from the family here on Earth. You need strength to survive...We need strength to survive," Karine said.

"I need to leave in a few minutes. I will say some mean things loud enough for some of the staff to hear. It will make it back to Gabriel pretty quick. They are that good at intelligence gathering. Please disregard anything that I say.....remember this is only a show for the spectators," Karine said as she stood to walk out of the room.

David quickly spoke, "Wait. I support you with your decisions, Karine. But with so many changes happening, the only other thing that I am worried about is finding my parents' killers. I need to resolve this issue. Can you offer any help?"

"Not really. My father had sent out several of his top people to review the situation. None have come back with anything so far.....These are people that we trust very highly, David. If they can't find anything, than everyone else would have an extremely difficult time as well. I can't promise that we will find the people...but I can promise that as long as I am around....someone will continue searching for the killers."

"Thanks Karine....that is all I can really ask for," David said before lounging back in his bed, "Now start your performance.....I'll try to help it out if I can...good luck, beautiful."

Karine smiled again and bent over to give David a kiss. It was a really nice kiss. Then she said into David's ear, "Good luck to you too, handsome."

Then she stormed out of the room telling David that he was not the one for her, how he was weak compared to Gabriel and that she is revoking his suitor status. She did not want to see him around her again. It was a big scene in the hospital suite.

David had also performed pretty well....he begged her not to leave him, said that he could get stronger, promised that he could protect her if needed. He pleaded to have his suitor status reinstated.

Security was even called. David had almost broke character and laughed several times.

Eventually, Karine left the hospital in a fake emotional mess. David faked like he cried himself to sleep. It was epic.

Later that evening, David would find himself laughing about the whole show. It was 100 percent comical to him and he still didn't know how he managed to keep a straight face through the whole thing. Karine was wonderful. If she hadn't talked to him before hand, he would have been extremely depressed.....because her comments had some hint of truth.

He really was weak compared to Gabriel and his henchmen. He needed strength.....he needed power.....he needed to get out of this damn hospital bed.

He picked up his phone to make a call.