Chapter 19: Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings

(Two weeks later, Vallejo General Hospital)

           It was about four days that Grey spent in the Telemetry ward after his long stay in the ICU. With  slow, steady but continuous progress in his healing, he was finally transferred to a two hospital bed room in the Neuro-Ortho medical surgical ward were patients were more stable. It was 08:00 AM when Ritchie came to visit Grey. This was the third consecutive day that Ritchie had come to spoon feed Grey his breakfast. Dr. Peters had discreetly hired Ritchie to be Grey's personal caretaker and assistant. Dr. Peters decided not to tell Grey because of the chance that Grey might not approve of the extended financial help Dr. Peters was providing  him. He knew that the only thing Grey would accept was the type of help Dr. Peters can provide in treating or curing Grey of his paralysis. As Ritchie reaches out holding a spoon filled with scrambled eggs, directing it towards Grey's mouth, Grey turns away saying, "I'm done....I'm full, thanks..". Ritchie suddenly sniffs around then loudly says, Did you poop your bed again!...", Ritchie says laughing, "I told you never to poop your bed during breakfast, the smell always ruins your roommate's appetite....". The patient in the next bed quickly sniffs around then gags silently as he drops his utensils in his plate, pushing his tray away in disgust. Grey looking embarrassed and dismayed, stares at Ritchie snicker, then after a few seconds Ritchie whispers in Grey's ear saying, "Sorry, I had to fart really bad!....". Grey grimaces at Ritchie's disgusting behavior, remembering a time when Ritchie farted while the both of them were having dinner with Samantha at Grey's house. Samantha was so disgusted at Ritchie that she swore to God that she'll never share a meal with Ritchie as long as she lives. "Will you please have some sympathy,"Grey scowls as he softly says, " the guy on the other bed just had surgery...". And as they glance at Grey's roommate, he was now on the phone talking to his wife telling her "I want out of here, now!"....".

           After the trays were taken away, Ritchie updates Grey of his financial status, "You know you're being sued by the detective you hit on the freeway,  you're aware of that right?!....Dr. Peters says you might loose everything, all your properties and even your Porsche...". Grey stays silent as he stares at his bedside's blank TV screen, knowing that nothing really matters in his life anymore. After a few more minutes of complete silence, Ritchie tries to engage Grey in conversation saying, "Sam say's you're refusing to see her, why?...". Grey glances at him looking irritated as he responds, "What for?!...It's not like we still have a future together. I can't move, I can't have a job, can't make love, can't have kids....She's better off being with her best friend Chase..". Ritchie stares at Grey asking, "Don't you think Sam has a say on the future of your relationship?...". Grey sigh's saying, "You know, I really don't remember a lot about my accident, but one thing I do remember was that before my accident happened, I do remember her breaking up with me, and you were there as my witness. So as far as I am concerned, we were not a couple just before my accident, we're not a couple right now, which means that she doesn't have a say on my life's decisions....". Ritchie pulls up a chair, sits on it and twiddles his thumbs, " You are just one bad ass, paralyzed brother, aren't you?!...You don't even care about how she feels for you, do you?...". Ritchie says with sarcasm, "Sam loves you so much that she's willing to sacrifice her life and her future in order to care for you....you, a human cabbage with a bad attitude!...".

          Grey trying to be patient says, "Look, I know what you're trying to do ok?, and I really appreciate your help, but what your asking me to do is to be selfish by making myself to be Samantha's ball and chain.  I know that she feels responsible for my accident, and what I'm doing is freeing her. I actually love and care for her so much that I'm doing what's best for her, I want her to have a bright future. Without me dragging her down, she can accomplish great things in life. She has the ability to influence world leaders, she can help save the environment, she can help the poor and give voice to the oppressed. So please, try and understand where I'm coming from, I really don't want to argue about her anymore...".

         Ritchie understood but did not agree with Grey's decision to push Samantha away from his life. After a few more minutes of silence, "By the way, that detective Holt called again, he told me that he wants to personally speak with you about your drunk driving car accident. He says he wants to ask you more personal questions, I told him I'll ask you and let him know as soon as possible....". Grey stares at the ceiling then says, "I still can't believe I drunk that night on the way to work...", Ritchie sigh's then says, "You did have a high blood alcohol level you know...". Grey looking flustered says, "I know, I should have known better than to drink and drive....". Ritchie slowly stands up and stretches his arms above his head as he asks, "So, can that detective pay you a visit?...". Grey blurts out saying, "What for?...What's done is done!...I really don't feel like seeing anyone right now except for you and Dr. Peters, tell him I said "No"...".

       Ritchie changes the topic as he asks, "You've been very angry these past few weeks, but you seem ok today, what's changed?....". Grey looks out the window at the glorious rays of the sun as he say's, "Hope!...Dr. Peters told me that he's got something up his sleeve. A way to make me normal again, he suggested two ways. The first, is to introduce me to a former colleague of his who might have found the cure for paralysis, I think his name's "Dr. Kinesis". The second plan is more like something out of a fictional story book. He said something about obtaining a "Holy Flask". Don't ask me what's it all about cause it's a really weird legend which might not even be real.

    (Two hours later: At Dr. Mark and Samantha Peters mansion in Hillsborough California. )

      It was close to eleven in the morning when Maria enters Samantha's room to tidy up her bed and clean her bathroom. Maria was quickly surprised seeing Samantha still in bed, lying on her side. "Sam, did you forget to turn on your alarm clock last night?...". Samantha quickly squirms in bed then stretches her arms and legs as she says, "Oh, I've been awake Maria.....I just decided to stay home this morning, I'm just not feeling well, I guess....". Maria approaches Samantha's bed and gently places the palm of her hand on Samantha's forehead feeling for signs of fever. "Are you sick my child, do you have a cold, should I call for a doctor?....". Samantha rolled unto her back, hugging a pillow as she shakes her head saying, "Oh! no! Maria, it's not that.....I just didn't feel like going to work this morning, I couldn't sleep last night from thinking about Grey. He's pushing me away from his life and I don't know what to do...". Maria with a concerned look sits at the edge of Samantha's bed, "That was a horrible accident that happened to him", says Maria, "I don't blame you for being upset...". Maria then slowly places the clean towels she was carrying on top of the bed  beside her. "I tried connecting with him, "Samantha says, "but he would always yell at me, always demanding that I should just leave him alone....I don't know what else to do, all I know is that I need to be with him specially now that he's paralyzed....".

               Maria softly asks, "Do you feel responsible for his accident?...". Samantha feeling emotional answers, "Of course I do, If only I was more understanding and forgiving, and not have broken up with him, he wouldn't have driven drunk on his way to work. And I think that's the reason he's so mad at me and why he keeps pushing me away, it's because he's blaming me for his accident....". Maria sigh's then asks, "Is that what he says?, that it's your fault that he got paralyzed?...". Samantha looking glum answers, "Well, no....but I think that's what he feels, what other reason could he have for being mad at me and for pushing me away?...". There was silence for a full minute, then Samantha moves towards Maria placing her arms around her waist as her face sinks into Maria's chest. Maria hugs Samantha gently as she asks, "You know, Grey just had a life changing event....maybe all he needs is time....Time to adjust, time to accept and time to just find himself in life.....now whether that includes you or not is not your decision to make, it's his.....And I think the best thing we can do is to respect his boundary....". Sam clears her throat then says, "But I love him, I can't give up on him no matter what the future holds, I still want to be with him....". Maria pulls away slightly as she looks at Samantha's sad face and say's, "It takes two to tango, my dear...", Maria reasons out, "You can't make someone fall in love with you, specially if that person has no feelings for you, you know that, you're a grown woman...". Samantha nods as she pulls away from Maria. "You know what you need to do?...",  Maria asks, "You need to focus on the things that you can control in life, like helping people around the world. And while you're focusing on helping others, who knows maybe Grey will come back to you someday, just like I said, maybe all he needs is to heal mentally, emotionally and even physically....".

               After Maria had tidied Samantha's room and her bathroom, she leaves Samantha alone with her thoughts. Her thoughts starts to drift everywhere, from the dilemma she felt about discovering her father's plans of using "Einstein's Time Machine", to bring her mother back into existence to her painful discovery that Grey's parents died on a plane crash a week before they competed on last year's "State Ballroom Dance  Championships", she starts to feel like a villain remembering how she was so demeaning to Grey for his poor dance performance, not aware that he was probably in a state of emotional shock and grief from the tragedy of his parents sudden death. The whole time, she thought that he was just an inferior dance partner who couldn't perform on the big stage.

             Samantha's thoughts then shifts to Chase and her future with him. "What's there not to like about him..", she asks herself, "Chase is perfect, good looking, has a great personality, has good morals, has no addiction to pornography, he's not a womanizer even though lots of women always throw themselves at him, and the most important of all was that Chase doesn't sleep with prostitutes..",  as Samantha momentarily  starts contemplating why Grey wasn't more like Chase. Trying to remember what she see's in Grey, she then smiles as she realized how he makes her laugh a lot. Even with all of Grey's flaws, he just makes her happy when she's with him.

             Looking into the future, Samantha feels fully aware that someday, she would need to choose to marry Chase if she wants to make an impact on sustaining world peace, and which in her mind does make perfect sense, but unfortunately for now, her heart seems to have total control of her and seems to have a mind of it's own and it's calling out loud for Grey.

   (Two weeks later: At Oaknoll Research Laboratory in Oakland California )

           The elevator doors to the third floor research facility opens as a man in an electric wheelchair comes out. The third floor research laboratory was filled with over thirty scientists and lab technicians who were all working on different types of human development treatments from different types of musculoskeletal and neurologic disorders. The man riding in the electric wheelchair is Dr. John Kane, a paraplegic who's more popularly known in the scientific community as "Dr. Kinesis". As he wheels himself through the well lighted and busy laboratory, he get's the frequent greetings from his staff, "Goodmorning doctor Kinesis", over and over again for more than six to eight times every mornng. He smiles each time, nods and says, "Goodmorning", back. As his door to his office suite automatically opens, he enters and parks his wheelchair by his desk. His friendly demeanor then quickly turns serious as he goes through his day's plans and tasks.

         This past few days had proved to be specially tough. He stares out the window of his office as his mind wanders in deep thought about the conversation he had with an old friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Peters.
Looking back at his past association with Dr. Peters, he remembers how Dr. Peters took him in as his junior research associate, three years after he became a paraplegic due to a car accident. At the time when he joined Dr. Peters in researching a cure for paralysis, Dr. Peters had already put in 20 years of research work in finding a cure and was already 75% complete.

        Dr. Peters was able to develop two serums that when combined together can create a bridge that connects the two severed nerves of the spinal cord which creates a temporary cure for paralysis as long as the serums were regularly used.  The "MP1" was the first of two serums that was created by Dr. Peters. It acts as an antibody that blocks proteins that are responsible for inhibiting spinal cord memory cells from inducing nerve regeneration, but with a major side effect which is "Hepatotoxicity", or liver damage. The second serum called , "SP2", was a drug that is a synthetic type of nerve growth factor that allows the nerve cells to grow, thus help regenerate new nerves that bridges the gap between the two severed nerves. Unfortunately, the "SP2" serum also has a major side effect which is "Nephrotoxicity", or kidney damage.

         It was a year after Dr. Kane joined Dr. Peters in researching a cure for paralysis, when Dr. Peters wife, Sandy was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Peters did not waist time and quickly abandoned his paralysis research in order to switch to finding a cure for cancer in the hope of saving his wife's life. Dr. John Kane was left alone with a half dozen lab assistants in finding the cure for paralysis, and after three more years of research, Dr. Kane was able to improve and enhance the work left to him by Dr. Peters.

        First, he was able to combine "MP1" and "SP2" serums together to form his own serum which he named, "JK4". With his new creation, he was able to eliminate the severe negative side effects of liver and kidney damage, and to his surprise, a positive form of side effects had emerged which was "Psychokinesis", which is  the ability to move and levitate objects by the power of the mind. After trying the drug on himself, he was able to move his lower extremities instantaneously, and was able to stand up and walk away from his wheelchair. The only two  drawbacks to his new creation was that he needed to inject himself with his "JK4" serum every four hours when he feels that his lower extremities were becoming weak due to the serum wearing out in his system. The second drawback was that the concentration of the serum in his blood dissipates whenever he becomes emotional, but in time, through constant training, he was able to teach  himself on how to control his emotions by learning how to stay stoic thus prolonging the effects of his serum.

       Deciding to help Grey become normal again was proving to be a tough decision for Dr. Kane. His willingness to help Grey comes from his gratitude towards Dr. Peters for shaping him into the scientist he is today, and his unwillingness to help Grey comes from a severe hatred towards drunk drivers in general. And learning that Grey's paralysis was brought about by his car accident because he was driving drunk made Dr. Kane feel that Grey deserves what he got in life. "Drunk drivers like Grey should all be paralyzed from the neck down", he thought to himself. "They should all die!...", he tells himself once more. Dr. Kane turns his electric wheelchair around and faces his office window as he stares at the trees out by the parking lot. He closes his eyes as tears stream down his face with both hands clenched in fists of rage.

       His memories takes him back six years ago, it was during the eve of Thanksgiving, a night that would change his life forever. Driving home with his wife and his seven year old daughter from a family reunion, he remembers her daughter being so happy and upbeat from seeing her grandparents that night. It was a perfect night to the start of a wonderful weekend and was the beginning to what he thought would be a wonderful holiday season, when all of a sudden, he feels a strong jolt and hears a loud "bang", as cars hit sending their car tumbling on the freeway as it overturns several times. The first thing he remembers was feeling dizzy, as their car rolls and ends up upside down. He could still remember the scent of gasoline fumes and smoke that filled the car. Realizing they were upside down, he looks over and see's his wife bloodied and unconscious. He starts hearing his daughter's voice whimpering at the back seat, still strapped to her seat belt as she starts regaining consciousness calling out for him. Looking around feeling dazed, he suddenly feels his seat belt give way as hands suddenly clutches his jacket, as a man yanks him out of the car. As he was being dragged away from the burning car, he could  see flames engulf his unconscious wife. Bystanders were yelling from everywhere, some were yelling, asking other people to help the other passengers who were still trapped in the car,  while others were shouting, warning everyone not to come close saying that the burning car could explode at any second.

          All Dr. Kane remembers was seeing her daughter scream in agony as flames slowly consumed her.  He could feel the fire burn through his daughter's skin, inch by inch like a thousand needle like stabs tearing through her flesh. He saw his daughter's face fill with horror, witnessing her daughter's torturous struggle and silent screams. He still remembers her daughter's right hand continuously tapping the side window, trying to find a way to reach out to her father, simply knowing that only he could stop the pain. Dr. Kane remembers crying as he reaches out with his hand outstretched while watching his daughter suffer in excruciating pain. He wanted to run and save her but his legs wouldn't move. He tries reaching out again, but the more he reached out, the farther he seemed to be from her, and when he realized that no one would have the courage to save her daughter and that his legs were lifeless, the only thing he could do was pray, pray for an instant explosion. It was the only merciful way to end a child's life. But this night, he would not find mercy, as he counted the seconds, watching his struggling daughter reach out to him, seeing tears flowing down from her eyes which quickly evaporates due to the infernal heat that was raging inside the car. It was only after her daughter succumb to the smoke that the car finally explodes in flames. There he was, helpless, ten feet away from the burning car.

           After a few weeks, while still in the hospital as he starts his rehabilitation as a paraplegic, he learns that the man that caused their accident was driving drunk. The man escaped the accident with just minor injuries and would serve time in jail. Dr. Kane quickly falls into a state of depression which later on turns to anger. Although a mild mannered man, the death of his wife and daughter from a drunk driver pushes his soul into seeking vengeance. It wasn't until he discovered the "Psychokinetic", side effects of his "JK4", serum that he starts to plot his revenge towards the man who took his family away from him. He remembers it vividly, how after gathering all the necessary information from his family's killer. How he focused and practiced on enhancing his Psychokinetic powers for over a year until the time came for him to exact his revenge.

         It was early spring when he decided to avenge his family's death. At around midnight, he teleports himself inside the house of the drunk driver who killed his family. With the power of his mind, he pins his victim on the wall with his arms outstretched. Trying to struggle to break free, an invisible force slithers all over the man's body until it squeezes around the man's neck preventing him from speaking or shouting. Dr. Kane then opens a can of gasoline and douses the man with the flammable liquid drenching his clothes thoroughly, and in an instant, Dr. Kane lights up a match stick and flicks it at the gasoline drenched man. Fire quickly scorches the man's whole body as he squirms in pain, and after less than a minute, the drunk driver responsible for the death of Dr. Kane's family was nothing more than a charred corpse. And as Dr. Kane walks out of the man's house that night feeling a sense of relief, he sigh's deeply then stares at the man's brand new car. Dr. Kane then points a finger at the car and with the power of his mind makes it levitate at a height of about 50 feet, he then floats the car directly on top of the man's house, and as he breaks his concentration and drops his hand down,  the car falls right on top of the dead man's house, creating a loud explosion. "Icing on the cake", Dr. Kane tells himself. Then as the sounds of sirens were heard from approaching fire trucks, Dr. Kane takes another deep breath, closes his eyes and, "Poof", he was gone, teleporting himself back from where he came from.

        Coming back to his senses, he turns his electric wheelchair around and focuses on  picture frames mounted on the walls of his office.  He stares at past family pictures of him, his wife and his daughter that always gives him a surge of instant happiness which often only lasts for a few seconds, until his world grows dark once again. The rage in his heart tells his mind that he needs to rid the world of all drunk drivers, his soul urging him that he has to protect the innocent. "No more children and loving wives should ever die because of a drunk driver...", he thought to himself. Wiping the tears in his eyes, his demeanor suddenly turns into angst, anger at being called, "Dr. Kinesis", the popular name he hated and was branded to him, this was  because of a "Youtube",  video of him, showing him levitate a pencil, a stapler and a staple remover, which was filmed secretly without his knowledge. This was the time when he first discovered that he had psychic powers. Someone must have sneaked into the lab during the night, when everyone was supposed to be gone and used a video camera in filming him, "But who could it be?...could it be the janitor?...one of the lab technicians maybe?...", he wonders. But no one was supposed to find out that he had special psychic  powers, it was supposed to be a secret.

        Dr. Kane then remembers a time when he was visited by government agents, curious about the "Youtube" video they've seen which shows him levitating different objects and office supplies. He then remembers telling them the truth, that he has a serum that gives a person psychic powers, but then lies, telling the government agents that it only works on five percent of the population. Dr. Kane then gives the agents a placebo, a fake serum that they can test on their own. Dr. Kane knew that if he ever gave the government agents his "JK4" serum which has a 99.9% success rate, that the US government will confiscate his serum and eventually weaponize it sooner or later. This is the main reason Dr. Kane is unable to manufacture and release his serum to the public, and it's because of the "psychokinetic effects" of the "JK4" serum.

       And now, since the government has him on their radar. "How can he begin his mission to eradicate society of drunk drivers", he thinks to himself. Dr. Kane also realizes that Police agencies are not dumb, sooner or later, evidence will point to him, if he ever goes on a killing spree. "It's still too dangerous right now..", he tells himself, "I need to stay patient for now...but I can't wait too long....I have to protect the innocent and destroy the guilty, the drunk drivers of this world!....", he mumbles to himself.

      He then turns around and faces his desk as he grabs a pen and starts to scribble on some paper. "Now what am I to do with Grey?....", he wonders to himself. "I have an obligation to help him because of my deep gratitude to Dr. Peters.....but at the same time, the guy is a drunk driver and deserves to die, not to live....". He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an inhaler which has the "JK4" drug in it. He stares at it for a while, feeling proud that he was able to transform his "JK4" serum from an injectible to an inhaler form of delivery system. And as he shakes the contents of the inhaler, he suddenly realizes that since Grey doesn't deserve his full support, that the most fair thing to do was to dilute the drug by 50%. Just give Grey a weaker dosage of the "JK4", doing this will either, make him normal again, do nothing for him or kill him, and Dr. Kane was ok with that. He was also ok about lying to Dr. Peters that he was not administering Grey the right dosage of the "JK4" drug. After he stops shaking the inhaler, he quickly takes two puffs. And right away, sensations and strength returns to Dr. Kane's lower extremities. He stands up from his wheelchair, walks towards the window closes his eyes then, "Poof", he was gone, teleporting himself outside the building and reappearing at the parking lot as he starts walking to his car.

   (Two hours later: At the Naval Hospital in San Diego, California)

          Major Garfield Powers flew to San Diego under orders by the Pentagon to check on Captain Chase Brassman's health. Reaching the hospital and seeing Chase again, "You look great Chase..", Garfield says as he stares out of the hospital bedroom window, "Have they've been feeding you well here?...". Chase sitting up in his bed snickers as he says, "I'd take hospital food rather than MRE's any day my friend....". Garfield smiles as he dusts off some lint from his army uniform as he blurts out saying, "I heard that Admiral Brassman came to visit you, is that true?...". Chase nods with a smile saying, "Yeah, and don't forget, he's now Retired Admiral Brassman....", Chase looking out of the window as he continues saying, "That was really nice of Sam to use her Lear jet to fly my parents out here to visit me....She even paid for their hotel and sight seeing tours....and also flew them back in her jet". Garfield sits on a chair facing Chase as he asks, "They must really like Sam for her generosity huh?...". Chase sigh's as he drums his fingers on his bedside table saying, "Oh, they've always liked Samantha, even when we were in high school, going out just as friends...Mom always thought that she would be a great future wife for me, but I was just too busy with sports and dating other women back then.....".

        Garfield takes their conversation to a different direction, "You know everyone at Macrostrength Mission Control Center are happy you're alive, they're all extending to you their best wishes for a speedy recovery....". Chase looking curious asks, "Is everything ok at Macrostrength Industries?.....". Garfield stares at the floor with a look of worry then says, "There's a big investigation going on right now by the FBI and the Pentagon. There are speculations that the reason you failed your top secret mission to destroy North Korea's Central Nuclear Missile Command Center was because someone in Macrostrength sabotaged the Protector's nuclear reactor power source, and then there's the ambush that almost got you killed....Looks like there's a spy and a saboteur within our midst". There was silence for a full minute as both men digested the full gravity of this threat to the country's national security. Garfield stands up and faces the window once more placing both hands inside his pockets as he says, "So far they've arrested General Morris and had taken Dr. Spain into custody after they've found evidence of the illegal use of nuclear energy without proper authorization from the higher ups...". Chase feeling a sense of despair due to the close friendship he'd developed with Dr. Spain. "The investigation will be ongoing..", says Garfield...,"Admiral Rivera thinks that the true culprits are in higher management, he suspects Dr. Marcos or John Layer or even the both of them, but there's just no proof at this time....". Chase with a quizzical look asks, "But why would Mr. Layer sabotage his own creation, that just doesn't make any sense....". Garfield shakes his head in wonder saying, "I agree, it doesn't make any sense at all...".

           After another minute of silence and deep thought, Garfield changes the subject again. "So how's Sam been doing, have you seen her yet?....". Chase sigh's deeply and with a look of concern says, "Well, only during the time I was transferred here from the carrier, "Barack Obama", I was so out of it then, I just remember glimpses of her that first night that she was with me, she had to fly back to San Francisco that same night due to some humanitarian projects she was dealing with.....". Garfield then notices traces of sadness in Chase's face as he asks, "What's wrong with you?, you look kind'a sad...". Chase rubs his temples as he responds, "Just can't stop thinking about Sam, her boyfriend Grey got into a car accident, and now is paralyzed....he might end up being a quadriplegic, and it's tearing Sam apart. I just wish there was something I could do to help...". Garfield opens a carton of orange juice that was sitting on the bedside table and pours it into a plastic cup as he hands it to Chase, "You love her, don't you?....". Chase grabs the cup of orange juice but just lays it in front of him as he replies, "Wow!, now that's an understatement, I'd give my life for her, you know that....". Garfield gasps then says, "But she's in love with someone else....there are countless number of women swooning over you, you know that....". Chase shrugs his shoulders unable to say anything. Garfield sits back down then say's, "Didn't you even tell me that last year's Miss America winner gave you a call asking you out on a date, only hours after she'd won the Miss America crown?....". Both men chuckle as Chase remembers the incident well, then replies, "I know, I was really surprised myself, I was actually watching the Miss America highlights on the late news when I got her call.....". Garfield leans forward trying to be discerning asks, "Then what's wrong with you buddy?!....". Chase looking determined answers, "I know what I'm doing Garfield, I can't help it if I'm head over heels over Sam, there's just no other woman for me....I'd rather be alone than with any woman other than Sam...". Garfield leans back in his seat with his palms out saying, "Ok, ok, I'm convinced...just looking out for your own good...".

            Chase brushes off their disagreement and quickly changes the subject, "By the way, why did the Pentagon send you here. I know it's not just to check on how wonderful the hospital food that they serve here, Is it?...". Garfield grins then says, "They want me to check on your progress, the Pentagon wants to send you on another top secret mission, I think it's in Europe this time. From the little information I've heard, I believe they'll order you to assist NATO forces on some kind'a operational reconnaissance and surveillance, that's about all I know. They've actually asked me if I would like the chance to take this mission from you, to pilot the "Protector"...", Garfield snickers then say's, "Believe me, I was so tempted....but I told them that getting inside that Protector suit and piloting it would feel like getting in bed with my best friend's wife, it just doesn't feel right....". Chase stares at his beside table smiling with a feeling of relief and gratitude. "Besides...", Garfield says, "I think that you should get the chance to continue piloting the "Protector", I figured that with all the sacrifices and work you've devoted in the enhancement of the suit, that you should still be given the choice of being it's pilot....".

           Garfield forces a smile as he resigns his dream and ambition to be the Protector's pilot in behalf of his best friend's future success. "So do you have any idea how long it'll take before you're all healed?...". Chase sigh's with a feeling of exasperation as he replies, "The doctor's say's I need four more weeks of IV therapy and rehab, then I should be ready to go back to active status....". (End Of Chapter)