Chapter 9:

New Life; Finding Happiness

The Garden Of Dreams

"Nathan, open your eyes slowly, Nathan!" a soft voice called him.
Nathan slowly opened his eyes. He didn't know where he was. There was a man sitting beside him.
"Where am I? And who are you?" Nathan asked the man.
"You're at the New-Haven hospital Nathan. I'm Dr. Stephen Carrey."
"Why am I at a hospital?"
"You met with an accident Nathan."
"What? Where's my family?"
Dr. Stephen didn't answer this, he looked behind Nathan. Nathan's Aunt Linda was standing there.
"I don't know how to say this....your family has passed away Nathan, you're the only one who survived the accident." said Aunt Linda.
Nathan's eyes became tearful and his face became dull. He remembered seeing his family's dead bodies. He started crying.
"Nathan, we're all here for you" Said Aunt Linda. She hugged him tight in her arms and tried to console him.
"I'm very sorry for your loss Nathan. I don't exactly understand how you must be feeling but I'm here if you need anything." Said Dr. Stephen.

After Artur had bashed Nathan's head with the rod, he left without making sure if he had died or not. Artur headed straight for Davis's place. Nathan lied there for quite a while, he was barely conscious. Just when he was about to close his eyes, a patrol drone found him. It scanned for life signals and quickly called the ambulance. The ambulance arrived in less than two minutes, two men came and lifted him with the help of a stretcher, and put him in the ambulance. They checked if anyone else was alive but no one was...
They rushed Nathan to the nearest hospital and began his treatment immediately.
The hit on his head had damaged his skull severely. Dr. Stephen was in charge of his surgery. The surgery was very complicated and the chances of survival were slim, but Nathan survived, all thanks to Dr. Stephen.
Nathan was given heavy doses of medicine to help him recover faster. He had opened his eyes after one whole week.

"Can I at least see them for one last time?" Nathan asked Dr. Stephen. He wanted to see his family's faces.
"I'm afraid that isn't possible Nathan. They were buried at their funeral five days ago...I'm sorry."
"What? You guys held their funeral without me?"
"You were in no condition of waking up Nathan. There's no was you could've attended their funeral." Said Aunt Linda.
"She's right Nathan. Your condition was very bad. It's a miracle that you lived." said Dr. Stephen.
"I didn't want to! I didn't want to live! I should've died with them. This is unfair. Why did they have to die? And why did I live?" Nathan shouted. It was clear that he couldn't handle the pain of losing his family.
"Don't you say such things Nathan. You should be grateful, you have your whole life ahead of you, you can still lead a happy life. Believe me, we all miss them as much as you do, but that doesn't mean that we can't live our lives happily. Yes, it will take time and courage, but we all will have to live our own lives. They'll always be a part of our memories and we will always cherish them, but no amount of grief will bring them back, you have to understand this Nathan." Aunt Linda grabbed his hand while saying this.
"How am I supposed to live my life without them? They were everything I had, and now they're gone."
"You still have us Nathan, we will always be there for you."
In that moment, Nathan couldn't think of anything other than his family.
"They were so happy. They always tried to live life to the fullest, they never hurt anyone, they never wished for anyone's pain, they helped everyone they could, they never did anything wrong. Then why? Why did they have to die? Why did they deserve death? It's all so unfair. So unfair!" Nathan screamed in his head.
He didn't want to talk to anybody, so he laid down on his bed, and wrapped himself in his blanket.
"Poor kid, nothing we say will make this easier for him. We should leave him alone for now. Give him some time to process his grief." said aunt Linda's husband.
They all left the room.

Nathan couldn't stop crying. He was angry, and he was sad, he had no control over his feelings.
"Mom, Dad, Ellie, why did you guys leave me alone? Why didn't you take me with you? I'm all alone now. I don't have anyone. What will I do? How will I live without you guys? Please, come back, I don't want to be alone."
Nathan didn't know that his parents' death wasn't actually due to the accident. The NCPD had decided to leave him out of this because he was just a kid.

Nathan opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He was hopeless, there wasn't anything he could do. He was just staring at the ceiling.
Nathan's whole body was hurting, especially his head and right leg. But he chose to ignore his pain.
After a while, Dr. Stephen came in and asked him how he was feeling.
Nathan's eyes were still wet, as if he had stopped crying only moments ago.
"How are you feeling Nathan? Does anything hurt? Is your head okay?"
"Yes, everything's okay. Just leave me alone please. I don't want anyone's company."
Dr. Stephen knew that everything was not alright. He knew that Nathan must be feeling pain.
"You hungry?" He asked Nathan.
"No."
"Well, you're gonna have to eat anyways, otherwise you won't be able to take your medicines. I'll have a nurse bring in some food for you..."
Nathan ate some food and took his meds, and slept.
The next morning, his teacher and some of his classmates came to meet him, they brought gifts and flowers.

He stayed in the hospital for two more weeks, and then he was ready to be discharged.
Aunt Linda had come to pick him up.
They went to Nathan's house for one last time, Nathan was moving in with Aunt Linda.
Nathan looked at his house and remembered all the happy times he had spent with his family. He didn't cry this time, he smiled.

Aunt Linda didn't have any kids. Her husband, John, was a pharmacist and she was a chef at a hotel. They had a big house and some empty rooms, so they gave one room to Nathan. They had already moved all his stuff there. All that was left now, was for Nathan to settle in.

For some time, Nathan didn't get out of the house much and didn't talk much either, he would always be up in his room.
But his new life was great. His aunt and uncle loved and cared for him as if he was their own son, and he didn't ask for more. He missed his parents a lot at first but he slowly moved on as the years passed.

Four years had passed, it was the year 2097. Nathan wasn't a kid anymore, he was 18 years old now. He had settled in perfectly, he had found happiness again. He remembered his family occasionally, but he didn't weep for them, he just missed them.
He had made some good friends over the years, and one of them was Jake Benjamin, Graham's son. He was much older than Nathan, but living in the same neighborhood had made them friends.

At the end of high school, Nate was in relationship with Tessa Lambert, and things were going pretty smoothly.
After high school, Nate and Tessa had decided to study hard for the university entrance test. As a result, both of them made their way into one of the best universities in the world, Nodax Science University.

One more year passed, Nate and Tessa were now 19, and the year was 2098. Their second semester was about to end. Everything was going perfectly.

One day, Nate received a mail, from Jake. He was getting married and he had invited Nathan.
Nathan asked Tessa if she would like to join him and she said yes.
He RSVP'd that he'd be coming with a date.