Reincarnation
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 4
Early the next morning, Wyatt ran four miles in the dark and could see fine. It was a great gift and would be an asset if something happened late at night. Returning to the house, he showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. While eating breakfast, Mom said Maria’s family is interested in the furniture from Maryland. So, when it arrives, we’ll meet them at the storage unit. Wyatt asked if Maria had any nieces his age, and she said You’re not getting close to any of them and everyone laughed.
After breakfast, Wyatt returned to his room and connected his router to the cable internet line. It didn’t work, and it took over an hour to fix it. It definitely increased the speed, and he made a new drawing with the changes. Now he had to make several and install them in plastic boxes. It would only work with cable and DSL, and not dial-up. That was going out soon and was already old technology. Wyatt found an internet speed site and checked it. It more than doubled the speed.
Now he had to field test it and then get his design patented. Once he submitted it, he was sure the phone calls would start to buy it. Wyatt left it running and made three more units. All he needed were the plastic boxes, and they needed to be tested too for overheating with the units inside. Mom called him to lunch, so he shut off the computer and went to the kitchen. While they ate, Wyatt asked Maria if she had any pictures of her nieces, and everyone laughed.
Maria said her brother-in-law was a sheriff deputy and would kill him if he came close to them. They are strict Catholics and believe in dating and marrying within their race. Wyatt asked Maria if her brother-in-law was overweight and slow, and everyone laughed again. After lunch, Wyatt drove the mule to the secret cave. Once he reached the hot springs, he stripped, got inside, sat down, and immediately passed out. He heard a voice inside his head tell him to visit at least twice a week.
Wyatt woke up floating in the pool and got out, feeling revitalized. While drying off, he wondered about what he had heard and if it was his imagination. He dressed and decided to follow the instructions and see what happened. He returned to the barn, parked the mule, and went into the house. Mom said the automatic gate was installed and the no trespassing signs were posted. After finishing dinner, they said goodnight and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, Wyatt woke up sensing danger and quickly dressed. He exited the house and walked towards the front gate. He saw Dad climb over the fence and walk towards him with a flashlight. Wyatt stepped to the side and let him pass, then knocked him out. Wyatt picked him up and carried him to the gate. He punched Dad in the ribs and stomach, then kicked him in the balls and threw him over the fence into the bar ditch. He threw his flashlight next to him and returned to bed.
William woke up in a bar ditch, hurting all over, especially his balls. He tried to stand and got dizzy and fell, hitting his head on a boulder, knocking him out again. When he woke up again, William crawled to his rental car and drove to the emergency room. He forgot to put the car in park and turn it off when he exited, and it ran into a post. William turned it off, took the keys, and entered the emergency room. They asked how he got his injuries, and William said he couldn’t remember.
He was taken to an exam room, and his clothes were removed. Besides the injuries to his head, William had severe bruising on his chest and abdomen, and his testicles were badly swollen. He was rushed to X-ray, then to the operating room, where they removed his testicles. William woke up in recovery, and the doctor told him about his injuries. He said you suffered a severe concussion, have three broken ribs, and severe abdominal bruising. Unfortunately, your testicles were so damaged that they had to be removed. William yelled no and tried to get up, but passed out in pain.
Wyatt went to the basement gym early Friday morning and practiced martial arts on the gauntlet of boxing bags. When he finished, Wyatt showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. Maria and Mom were there, and while they ate, Mom asked Wyatt to go with Hank to the feed store in town. He agreed to go but asked where the time clock was, and Mom and Martha laughed.
When they arrived at the feed store, Joe, the owner, was having problems with his computer. Wyatt offered to help and solved it in ten minutes. Joe asked what the issue was, and Wyatt told him You have too many programs running at once. I adjusted the start menu so that only the necessary programs start. Then be sure to close out the programs you’re not using. Hank thanked Wyatt and gave them a 15% discount. He persuaded Hank to stop at the electronics store, and Wyatt got what he needed.
Returning to the ranch, he helped Hank unload and put away the supplies. Then he took his purchases to his room and opened a new tool he got. It was called a Dremel with a flexible shaft for intricate work. He also bought an accessory kit with extra tool heads. Wyatt had the ports glued into place in no time. The top of the plastic box had screws holding it in place, but he’d glue it shut once his testing was done. Mom called him to Lunch, so he cleaned up and went downstairs.
During lunch, Mom said the moving company called, and they should arrive on Sunday or Monday. So, we’re going to their storage on Tuesday. There’s one more thing: the hospital called, and William is here in Colorado Springs. He has a concussion, three broken ribs, severe bruising, and they had to remove his testicles. He can’t remember what happened and wants to see us.
Wyatt said you’re lying. Mom, Dad doesn’t give a shit about me. He wants to see you and worm his way back into your life. I’ll bet he’s close to being discharged and needs a place to stay. Mom said, dammit, you’re good and you’re right. He is being discharged tomorrow and wants to stay here and recover. Wyatt told Mom to give him a choice. There’s a stall in the stable next to Smokey, but he’d probably kill him. If he stays in the house, I might sleepwalk and smother him with a pillow.
So, it isn’t safe for him to stay here, and Mom and Maria laughed. Mom said she is going to recommend a rehab facility and pay for it if necessary to keep him away from here. Wyatt said Good idea and you won’t have to worry about him cheating again unless there’s another way he can please a woman. Mom and Maria laughed, and Wyatt said Please tell me and Mom said NO still laughing. When Mom recovered, she said You’re still going with me to keep him in check, and Wyatt groaned.
He returned to his room and read six more electrical engineering textbooks. Then he saw a leather-bound book and opened it. It was written in Japanese, and he somehow knew how to read it. It was an ancient form of martial arts, with drawings detailing the areas of the body to strike. It described areas to hit to stun, disable, paralyze, and kill an attacker. The second part was pressure point areas, from putting someone to sleep to killing them by stopping their heart. It described the timeline during which the pressure could permanently disable the person. The memory pressure area interested him as well, as did the idea of temporarily paralyzing a person.
Wyatt memorized the areas and put the book in the safe for safekeeping. Mom called that dinner was ready, so he went to the kitchen. While they ate, she said We’ll go to the hospital after breakfast tomorrow. Our visit won’t be long, but I’ll talk to the nursing staff and set up a rehab facility for William before visiting him. That way, it will kill any argument he has for staying at the ranch. Wyatt said one thing we may have overlooked is that his girlfriend dumped him for being a broke dick, and they laughed. After dinner, they said goodnight and went to bed.
After breakfast, Saturday morning, they drove to the hospital and went to the fourth floor, where Dad’s room was located. Mom talked to the nursing staff and said she was unable to have William recover at her home. She asked for a rehab facility referral, and they set up William to recover at Orchard Extended Care and Rehabilitation. It was covered under his Senate health insurance plan, so Mom didn’t have to pay anything. Then they entered his room and laughed, seeing his legs elevated and spread.
Dad also had two black eyes, and his nose was twice its normal size. Wyatt said How are you feeling, Daddy? You look like shit, but I hear they say you’ll make a full recovery. Mom and I have an important meeting, so take care, and we’ll see you later. Dad said Wait, what about rehabbing at the ranch. Mom told him she arranged for him to rehab at a professional facility with qualified therapists. It will allow you to recover more quickly and access any support you might need.
Dad said, but I wanted to rehab at the ranch, and Wyatt said, unfortunately, that isn’t possible. Mom, Smokey, Sandy, and I voted, and you lost. It’s better to rehab at a place where people don’t know what an asshole you are and hope to get better before they find out. Mom said Get well and leave us alone and they left the hospital room. Leaving the hospital, Wyatt said he thought that went well, and they laughed.
Mom saw a phone store leaving the hospital and stopped. They went inside, and Mom upgraded hers to a Samsung and got Wyatt the same model. Leaving the store, Wyatt saw a computer store going out of business across the street. He convinced Mom to take a look at what they had, and Wyatt got two motherboards, processors, and three hard drives for 60% off. She asked why he needed all the parts. Wyatt lied and told her he was building a new computer for schoolwork.
On the way home, Mom warned Wyatt not to exceed his phone plan’s minutes, or he would pay an overage charge. Wyatt said you would be calling me more than anyone else would, so keep it to a minimum, or I’ll charge you, and they laughed. When they arrived home, Maria had lunch ready, and while they ate, she said William had been calling nonstop every fifteen minutes. He said your mobile phone is turned off. Mom laughed and told Maria she had upgraded her phone and hadn’t turned it on yet.
Then the phone rang, and Mom answered. It was Dad bitching about being placed in a senior care facility. Mom told William to look at it on the bright side. You can campaign for their support while under treatment, and you have plenty of residents to seduce and hung up laughing. Maria and Wyatt joined Mom, laughing at Dad’s predicament. Then the hospital called, and William tried to get out of bed to leave, and pulled his stitches out. He also fell, fracturing his right arm. They informed Mom that he wouldn’t be discharged yet and that he was restrained.
Wyatt begged Mom to visit Dad again so they could have fun, but Mom laughed and said no. He told her, “You’re not fun. We could put on lipstick and makeup and take a picture.” He left Maria and Mom laughing, went to his room, and began building his supercomputer. Wyatt knew he would have to upgrade it every few years to stay ahead of the advances. But he needed serious funds to battle what was coming, and the sad part was it probably wouldn’t work.
He made changes to each circuit board, then installed jumpers connecting them to the other processors. Communication and video ports were altered, and so were the memory banks. The three new hard drives and the three in the computer box were installed. The final task was installing three power supplies and separating the motherboards. Wyatt used thick plastic tubing to elevate them off the floor and separate them. It looked like a science project, but later he’d build a box with fans for cooling.
Wyatt held his breath and turned on the power. Nothing caught fire, so he hooked up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse and connected to the internet. When the C prompt appeared, he got excited and began updating and altering the BIOS. Next, he downloaded the Linux operating system. Wyatt checked the internet speed, and it was almost six times faster than his other pc. He wondered whether the internet provider would notice his usage, and he chose to limit it to avoid problems.
Mom called him to dinner, stalling his work, and he turned everything off and went to the kitchen. While they ate, Mom told him she got an invitation to a charity gala next weekend. It’s a black-tie event, so tomorrow morning we’re going to the tailor. Anthony agreed to rush it and have it ready for the event. Wyatt groaned, and Mom laughed. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.