Ricky pondered the thought of his nineteen year old son running away with his new wife and cringed. Perhaps the twinge that ran through his body was the betrayal of a son and a lover, perhaps it was from the waning morphine, but as best he could tell it was from the anticipation of the response from his ex-wife. He laughed a little, this was the ultimate Karmic Payback. The chuckle in his belly made him ache, but it morphed into a full out laugh laced with tears of agony. "That s what I get for cheating on Grace." he thought to himself.

Ricky's heart sank. But he said, "Go on, doctor, I want to know the worst."

"You have a severe concussion, and will probably be mentally retarded for the rest of your life." The doctor's serious face continued for a second longer, then bursting into a grin, he said, "Just kidding, man! Your perfectly fine!"

As he helped Ricky off the hospital bed, the boy asked bewilderedly,"You mean I can go home?"

"Yes, you can go home." Then, chuckling, "Man, you should have seen your face!"

"We hope to get you on the road to recovery, and maybe you won't suffer so badly."

This was a strong sentiment seeing as yesterday Ricky was happily riding his skateboard. He could still feel the coolness of the air as it rushed past his face. Not only was he lucky to be alive but he now had a keen understanding of the laws of physics. He gazed around his dinky hospital room.

"Yeah, Doc. I got to support me and the kids somehow since Lucille left."

"That's just it, Ricky. Lucille left because of your cavalier attitude. I'm not being harsh or judgmental here, just stating facts. She's left alone, ten miles from the nearest person, with four pre-school kids and crops in the field, which she planted, I might add. Just so you can gallivant around to rodeos looking for a big purse. Now you've got the kids. Yes, you're staying home with them, but boxing? How about a nice, mild-mannered farmer type job? Something you and the kids can count on. Ricky, you've..."

"Not now, Doc. Just patch me up. I'm taking tonight's purse and heading to Dallas tomorrow. The kids'll be all right. I'll win the Dallas Nationals this time!"

Ricky could not answer, considering his jaw was counted among his broken bones. However, the quizzical look in his eyes showed that he had no idea what the doctor was talking about. He had forgotten the whole incident.

"Oh great," he thought. "I've broken every bone in my body AND got amnesia."

The doctor noticed the look, and quickly explained. "When you fell off the skateboard ramp you landed right on this young lady here," indicating the bed next to Ricky's. "Then you fell on a bicycle which happened to be right there. When it tipped over, it twisted your right leg which was caught in it and it splintered quite incredibly. There was lots of blood and ......" The doctor seemed to enjoy putting in gruesome details.

"Oh great," Ricky thought again. "I've broken every bone in my body, AND I think I'm going to be sick."

"How did you know about that?" Ricky asked.

"It's all over town," the doctor replied.