Chapter 3

I woke up in a hospital bed, attached to a heart monitor and an IV drip. My vision was fuzzy and all I could remember was a ball of fire and being blow up into the street. I tried looking around but it was difficult to see hands in front of my face. I could hear just fine though. There was shouting and other raised voices outside of my room. For a second I wondered what sort of hospital I was in until I caught some of the conversation.

"I am his attorney and I will see him when I please nurse Ratchett."

"Let me put things in perspective for you sir. I am the head nurse here. That means nobody sets foot anywhere on this floor without my say so. Do you understand me? I don't care if you're the president or the pope, I say nobody get in that boy's room. He's lost his parents and everything he owns, he don't need some life suckin' lawyer spittin' legal mumbo jumbo at him."

"Just get the hospital's Chief of Medicine and Lead Council down here."

I felt sorry for the kid they were talking about. I bet his parents would have come to see him in the hospital. I was just hoping I was going to be able to cover this out of what I had saved for college. My mother finding out and having to pay would be the prelude to my annihilation. I wish I had a new family, I thought. With that thought came back all the memory that had left me and I decided that I was better off forgetting the day that I just had. When my hearing came back from the shock of remembering that I had just lost everything I heard more of the demands the asshole lawyer was shouting and put two and two together right as the door to my hospital room flew open.

I was expecting the lawyer but not four doctors, Steve, Dante and Andromeda. After the nurses check my stats and declared I was fit for company Dante pushed his way through the crowded room followed by Andromeda. Even in the face of all this mess they were still the kindest people I knew, and their words reflected their kindness. It was Dante the spoke first.

"Clayton, do you remember who I am?"

"You're my neighbor Dante, or were I guess." He frowned at my response but continued despite of it.

"So you remember your house... ?"

"Yeah I had a great view. Is my mom okay?" Andromeda stepped in to cover this one.

"Clay, Your mother and her lover are dead. They were inside the house. I..." I could tell she wanted to say 'I'm sorry' but somehow she knew that would be the wrong thing to say.

I had always been of the mind that I hated my mother, but now that she was gone I felt sad. Sad and weird, and off balance. The fact was that my relationship with my mother wasn't going to improve, and I had gotten over that when I decided to go to college. I couldn't say I was going to miss her. I need to say something though because every eye in the room was looking at me, ready to measure my response. The truth that came out of my mouth surprised even me.

"She's in a better place then and so is he."

Luckily I got off with that being that as far as the other occupants in the room were concerned. The doctors left and the lawyer uncharacteristically waited his turn to have his time with me. The happy couple never left my side though, both patient and dignified in their vigil. Finally the lawyer got what he came for when 'Nurse Ratchett' gave him a stern 'all clear'.

"You have ten minutes to be off my floor." She said through her teeth.

He pulled over the little table for the patients, sat his briefcase down. He began while pulling more documents that the thing looked like it could hold.

"Clayton Skwitt?" I shook my head yes. "I am Darrin Lake's attorney and I represent his estate. The man your mother was, ahem, involved with? Good. I have some news for you. Darrin Lake is a fake identity and a bad one at that. From what my forensic accountant can piece together, his wealth was ill gained, thus his need for falsehood. As with many fake life's Mr. Lake didn't have any children or extended family. What I'm saying is that since you were living in his house and he signed as your guardian for this class field trip, ah here," he handed me a copy of a months old permission slip, that was conveniently notarized, "you, Clayton, are the beneficiary of Darrin Lake's estate. That means all his wealth and possessions are now yours." He looked to see the shock on my face, and apparently he was getting the show he wanted because he continued.

"There is a total of $1,567,789.72 in his domestic bank accounts which I am prepared to sign over to you and €77,426,543 in an account in Austria, which I can have domesticated for you within a month. He also owned a yacht and a house upstate which I'd like to sign over to you now. There's also the matter of his life insurance policy which covered his burial and my fees with a few hundred dollars left over. You mother was buried across the cemetery from Mr. Lake but we reserved the plot next to his in case... , my office and I didn't know the exact details of their relationship. I'm very sorry for your loss. I hope this wealth can start to make up for it."

With that, I started to sign paper after paper. Not a moment too soon was I done. It hadn't hit me yet that I was the recipient of a substantial wealth and I wasn't even graduated yet. The lawyer left me with a stack of financial documents and checks and a debit card connected to all the separate accounts I now possessed. I had forgotten about all the other people in room, especially Steve, until he spoke.

"Well Clay, I still need you to come into work when you're better. There's not exactly a line for your job buddy." I'll admit I jumped a little when he spoke, but Steve got me thinking about work. I never had to work again. I never had to put up with the stink. I never had to lift my finger for anything. With my wealth I could be anybody anywhere I wanted to be. But, never having to work again would mean never seeing Miegan again.

"I'll be in the day after I get discharged, and dammit Steve I'm working for free. Did you hear from Miegan, like why she wasn't at work?" Steve's face scrunched in confusion for a moment then relaxed as the thought came to him. He just smiled and handed me the newspaper we'd been reading in the waiting room.

"Look at the date boss." He chuckled.

It had been a week since my house had blown up. It felt like a few seconds but I had been in a chemically induced coma due to my injuries. As crazy as it was, it didn't measure up to my loss or my gain. Steve and I caught up on work and chatted for a bit. It made me grateful that I still had the people I did around me and that I meant something to them.

Steve smiled and shook my hand before he left. Dante and Andromeda had patiently waited for my well wishers to leave before beginning their conversation with me. Even with how young she was Andromeda had an astounding talent at being motherly.

"Clay, Dante and I were wondering how you're doing with all this. Is there anything you want to talk about, just to get it out?" I shook my head no. After a long and expectant silence Dante picked up where Andromeda left off.

"Here's the thing Clay. We want to come live with us. I know you're too smart for your schooling and God knows you have the means to not work... , well ever, but we think it'll be good for you to have some company. We're more than happy to share our new home with you, and we'll respect your wish if you say no-"