• Chapter 11: Waking Up

    Keith woke up, with Kari’s bed right next to him. She was already awakened, which told him that she had gotten farther from the explosion than he had. She no longer had either hair or eyebrows, but other than that and a couple of scraped and bruises, she was fine. Her arm and face were a little burnt, but nothing completely major. He looked at her wrist to discover that the bracelet was luckily still there.
    “You saved my life. Thank you,” Kari said. It was all she could think of, especially as tired as she was.
    “I’m the reason your life was in danger in the first place. I’m the reason you no longer have hair.”
    “No, I’m the reason you no longer have hair. Anyways, it wasn’t your fault. They pressured you,” she said, occasionally having to stop to gasp for air.
    Keith didn’t want to argue with her anymore, since it was obviously hurting her in a way. “I want to re-introduce myself. I’m Keith Artol. Other than my name, I never lied to you. Oh, and the time I said I’d never done that kind of stuff before.”
    “Ok. I understand. If I were breaking into someone else’s organization, those would be the first things I would lie about.” She began to cough. Keith decided she had gotten heavy smoke damage to her lungs, and he should probably stop talking to her. I might be able to get her to sleep if I pretend to sleep. That was exactly what he did, until they were both asleep.
    While in the hospital, Keith talked to Kari as much as he could, limiting her time to talk. This continued until she seemed a little better, and he let her talk a little more. This continued until they were both let out.
    “Kari, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you,” said Keith, while they were in the park together.
    “What’s that?” she asked.
    “Well, it’s just that… I love you. That’s why I kept you from the fire and why I’ve been doing my best to keep you as healthy as possible. I just want you to understand that.”
    “I love you too.” She said, right before Keith leaned in for a kiss.
    “I want to show you why GIAOC wanted you. Follow me, ok?” he said, getting in his car. She got into the passengers’ seat and he began to drive to the site where the door had been found.
    “Give me your bracelet and close your eyes.”
    Kari handed over the bracelet and obediently closed her eyes. Keith stuck the little charm on the bracelet into the keyhole and turned it. The door flew open, scaring Kari and making her jump.
    “What was that?!” she shouted.
    “I said close you eyes.” Keith replied without answering her question. Kari reluctantly put her hands back over her eyes.
    He grabbed her arm and led her into the dark cave-like structure. Keith found a torch and lit it, noticing another structure that he could light to make the room lighter. Of course, he lit it. He looked around, and noticed the whole room was filled with gold. He couldn’t help but gasp.
    “What? What is it? Can I look now?”
    After a second to get over the shock, Keith answered. “Yea, you can look.”
    Kari looked around and gasped too. She looked all around her at the giant room. She reached out to touch it, then looked back at Keith with a questioning look.
    “This is all yours,” Keith said, confirming the questions he knew had to have been going through her mind.
    She ran up and hugged him excitedly. “How did you find it!?”
    “GIAOC can find anything they put their minds to,” he said as Kari yelped with excitement. He had a satisfactory feeling for helping the girl find her destined, blood-inherited fortune. The look and tears in her eyes made the burns he had suffered worth it.
    Keith remembered his burns while looking at Kari’s arm. He had a shock of reality that told him that he would never look the same again. The shrinking scabs on the right side of his face and his right side from the stones going into his skin when he fell of exhaustion would eventually become prevalent scars. His burn marks on his arm, back, legs, and the left side of his face would never look the same, either. Eventually, all of his blonde hair would grow back, which was surprisingly the least of his worries. He wished that there were a way to get rid of scars and burn marks, but not for him. He didn’t care about what he looked like, for he had already found the only woman that he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. No, if he could cure scars and burns, he would give it to Kari. She was very beautiful, and he didn’t want her to be looked upon differently just because of his actions. He knew she dearly wanted to look like herself again, and he knew that she wished hair grew back faster.
    His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Kari throw her arms around his waist. One thing was for sure: since the accident, she had a completely new perspective on life and she was much, much happier.
    “Thank you so much!” she said with her face in his shoulder.
    “Don’t thank me. Your relatives left it for you.”
    “Yea, well, since they’re dead, I guess I’m stuck thanking you for now, aren’t I?” she said with a smile.
    “I guess you are,” he replied, smiling back at her.
    ~Within a year, Keith and Kari got married. They eventually had twins, Loraine and Lucas, while continuing to work for NYPDDE. Of course, they lived in a huge mansion and had extremely nice cars, since they could definitely afford it. ~