For the next several days, Marisa went through various exercises to get her strength back. Before too long, she was able to walk again. Though she still needed help with a few things, she wasn’t upset at all. It was just like her grandfather had said. Her friends and family were always with her no matter what. One day, Marisa was sitting on her bed working some stretches for her arms. Yoshi was helping her.
“How does that feel?”
“A little sore but I can manage. I still can’t believe I was out of it for 8 whole months.” Marcus chuckled.
“Oh you'd better believe it. We thought you’d never wake up. You were sleeping as hard as a rock. It was as if you were sleeping beauty.” Marcus laughed while Marisa gave him a funny look.
“Ha ha very funny. I suppose you’re thinking that all I needed to wake up was a kiss from a handsome prince.” On hearing that, Marcus rolled on the floor laughing.
“Yeah, that’s it! That’s exactly what you needed!” Yoshi just rolled her eyes.
“How pathetic. Speaking of which, where’s Thomas? I thought he was going to be here too.”
“He came by a few minutes before you did and said he had something important he needed to talk to Commander Sampson about.”
“Hmm, I wonder what it could be?” Meanwhile, Thomas and Commander Sampson were having a serious conversation.
“So, you’ve decided have you?”
“Yes sir. I have.” Commander Sampson thought for a minute.
“You do realize, there’s a chance you will stay there for quite some time.” Thomas remained quiet for a moment.
“Yes sir. I do realize that. But...this is what I want. It’s for the best.”
“Hmm, very well. I will send word saying that you have accepted the offer.” Thomas nodded and headed for the door.
“Thomas.” Thomas stopped.
“One thing I would like to know. Did you decide to take the offer simply because of her?” Without turning around, Thomas spoke.
“No, I decided to take the offer for myself.” With that said, Thomas walked out of the room. About 3 days later, Marisa was able to return to the hospital. Everyone threw a big party to celebrate her return.
“Welcome back, Dr. Marisa!” Everyone cheered. Marisa smiled.
“Thanks everyone, it’s good to be back.”
“You really gave us all a scare. We thought you were a goner for sure.” Dr. John stated. Marisa smiled and shook her head.
“No need to worry. I’m not going anywhere.” Everyone cheered. Just then, Chelsea noticed someone standing behind Marisa.
“Doctor, who’s your friend?” Marisa smiled.
“I’ll tell you all in a minute. First, we have something we need to do.” Everyone formed puzzled looks on their faces as the two of them walked down the hall. Before long, they came to Mrs. Sampson’s room. Marisa poked her head in.
“Mrs. Sampson?” Mrs. Sampson’s face brightened.
“Marisa?! Thank goodness you’re alright! When I heard about your accident, I almost had a heart attack!” Marisa smiled as she gave her a big hug.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mrs. Sampson almost had tears in her eyes.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better. In fact, I was feeling so good, I brought you a big surprise.” Mrs. Sampson formed a confused look on her face.
“A surprise for me? What is it?” Marisa smiled as she opened the door.
“Come on in.” Marisa held the door open as a man in a blue trench coat wearing sunglasses stepped in. Mrs. Sampson gasped. Tears started to form in her eyes as she held her hands over her mouth.
“D...Damion?!” He smiled as he took off his glasses.
“It’s been a long time...mother.” Unable to say anymore, the two of them shared a big hug. Marisa smiled. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Mrs. Sampson so happy. Leaving the two alone, she walked out of the room and headed back downstairs.
The next weekend, everyone decided to get together for a beach party. They wanted to celebrate both Red Claw’s capture and Marisa’s recovery. Everyone came, all of W.O.O.H.P.’s agents as well as Marisa and her family. The weather was perfect for a beach party. The sun was shining, the waves were big, the water was warm, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Marisa stretched her arms high over her head.
“Ah, this is just perfect. There’s nothing like coming to the beach surrounded by your friends and family. It’s the perfect getaway.”
“I agree. There’s nothing that compares to it.” Yoshi stated as she rubbed sun screen on her arms. Just then, a volleyball came up and headed towards her face. It would have whacked her right in the nose if Yoshi hadn’t caught it at the last second. With an irritated look on her face, Yoshi stood up.
“Marcus! You did that on purpose didn’t you?!” Marcus gave her a funny look.
“What are you talking about? I was just tossing you the ball. If you couldn’t handle a simple pass like that, how could you hope to come through in a real game?” Yoshi spun the ball around her finger.
“Please, I could beat you with my eyes closed.”
“Oh yeah, then prove it. It’s game time people! Boys versus girls!” Marcus called out. Several people threw their hands in the air and cheered.
“Alright! I can’t remember the last time I played volleyball. You coming Macy?” Maggie asked.
“You bet.” With that said, everyone gathered around the net. Meanwhile, Thomas was just sitting in the corner watching them. He watched how Marisa laughed every time someone made a silly mistake. Unable to join them, he just lowered his head. Just then, he felt someone grab his arm. It was Kristy.
“Come on, Thomas! Let’s go swimming! I want to ride some big waves!” She cheered. Thomas just smiled as he let her pull him towards the water. After a while, Marisa decided to take a break from volleyball. She smiled as she brushed the sand off of her legs.
“Marisa! Look at me!” She heard someone call out. She looked to see it was Kristy. She was riding a body board trying to catch a big wave. Thomas was standing next to her waiting for the perfect wave to come by. Just then, a big wave started rolling towards them. He waited till the last second then gave Kristy’s board a big push. Kristy laughed as the waved pushed her all the way back to shore.
“Marisa! Did you see me?!” Marisa clapped her hands.
“I sure did. That was wonderful. You keep that up and you’ll be surfing like a pro in no time.” Kristy laughed as she ran back into the water to try again. Marisa looked up at Thomas. She smiled at him, but for some reason he didn’t smile back. Instead, he just lowered his head and stared into the water. Marisa formed a confused look on her face. Just then, someone called out to her.
“Marisa, could you give me a hand please?” Marisa looked to see her mother calling her. She was working on making a nice beach side meal for everyone.
“Coming!” Marisa rushed over to help. As she ran, she looked back at Thomas.
“I wonder what’s wrong? These past few days, Thomas has hardly even looked at me. Why? Is something bothering him?”
After all the preparations were complete, everyone gathered together to have a nice meal.
“Mmm mmm, I just can’t get enough of your cooking Marisa. It’s delicious.” Marcus stated.
“That’s for sure. These grilled marinated chicken strips are amazing.” Yoshi stated.
“And I just can’t get enough of this pineapple salad.” Miki mentioned.
“Do you think I could get the recipe for it?” Minnie asked.
“Sure, it’s not really that hard to make.” Behind her, Thomas was just staring at the ground. Marcus came up and elbowed his arm.
“How much longer are you going to keep avoiding her like this? You know you’ll have to tell her soon.”
“I know that. It’s just...it’s not that easy.” Marcus sighed.
“I hate to tell you this. But the longer you put it off, the harder it will get for both of you.” Thomas let out a sigh. Finally, he walked up to her.
“Marisa?” Marisa turned around.
“I...I need to talk to you for a minute. Would you come with me?”
“Sure.” Not sure what to expect, Marisa followed Thomas. Marcus and Yoshi watched them go.
“He’s really going to tell her?” Yoshi asked.
“Yeah, if he doesn’t, it would only hurt more.” Yoshi sighed.
“I wonder how she’ll take it? I hope he doesn’t just carelessly blurt it out.”
“No, he’s smarter than that. I’m sure he’ll be careful.” Marisa followed Thomas to the other side of the beach behind a large rock wall.
“Thomas? What’s this all about? You’ve been acting strange for a while now. Is something wrong?” Thomas didn’t say anything. He just stared out at the water.
“I remember.”
“Huh?”
“I remember the first time I brought you to this beach. You told me I didn’t have to hold on to the past anymore. That I could let it go and enjoy my life now. While at the same time, I could still treasure the memories I have of the past. I realize now that you were right. It was okay for me to move on with my life and make new fun memories to look back on. Being with you and the others, has been the most fun I’ve had in ages. I have you to thank for that.” Marisa formed a confused look on her face.
“I’m very happy to hear that. But why are you...” Thomas lowered his head and closed his eyes for a minute.
“I...I’ve been offered a promotion to W.O.O.H.P. headquarters in Australia. They say that it’s similar to a promotion my mother was given when she was about my age. That’s how she was able to meet my father.” Marisa’s eyes widened.
“Really?! That’s wonderful! It means they must recognize your talent. They see you’re just as skilled as your mother was.” Thomas let out a chuckle.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Though I wasn’t really thinking of it that way.”
“Does that mean you’ll get to see your father again?”
“Yeah, I mentioned it to him and he said he was anxious to see me. Said he’s excited to see what kind of man I’ve grown into.” Thomas stated with a smirk.
“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you, Thomas. It’s been years since you’ve seen your father hasn’t it? I’m sure you will have lots of catching up to do.” Thomas formed a smile.
“Yeah.” For a while, the two of them just stared out towards the sea.
“So...when will you be heading out?” Thomas formed a sad look.
“Tomorrow.” Marisa’s eyes widened.
“So soon? How long will you be gone?” For a long time, Thomas didn’t say a word.
“I...I’m not really sure. The truth is...I don’t think I’ll be coming back.” Marisa’s face brightened.
“What?! Why?! Why would you do that?! I understand that you want to spend time with your father and that you’ll have a lot of work to do there. But...is that really any reason for you to never come back here?! You have friends here! Friends who care for you like family! And...you have me here too!” Thomas formed a sad expression on his face.
“I’ve already talked to them. They didn’t like it either but they’ll come to terms with it eventually.” Marisa just froze.
“But...Thomas...” Thomas slowly turned towards her and stared at her for a long time. Finally, he turned away. Trying to keep himself together, he gripped his fists and cringed his eyes shut.
“Marisa.”
“Huh?”
“You need...to forget about me now.” At that moment, Marisa’s whole body froze. She felt like she had just been paralyzed.
“Wh...what...” Thomas looked at her.
“It was because of me that you had to go through this whole ordeal in the first place. Being with me...will only cause you pain. It would be for the best...if you just forget all about me.” Marisa wanted to say something, but her voice just failed her. Suddenly, Thomas grabbed her wrist, pulled her into him, and held her close.
“I know I’m being incredible unfair to you. But, I feel this is the right path I’ve chosen for myself. Even so, I will never allow myself to forget about you. You’ve changed my life in so many ways. In many ways, you alone gave me a reason to keep moving forward. Which is why you need to do the same thing. You need to move forward with your life. Become a great doctor just as you always wanted to be. Never allow anything to stand in your way. I’m sure you will be able to accomplish anything. I know you can.” Thomas tightened his grip around her.
“I’m a W.O.O.H.P. agent, Marisa. No matter what, an agent must never allow personal feelings to cloud his judgment. Which is why...it’s time for me to move on.” Marisa just couldn’t bring herself to move. Finally, Thomas let her go and walked away.
“Goodbye.” She heard him say right before he disappeared. Unable to hold herself up, she dropped to her knees. Tears flooded out of her eyes as she couldn’t possibly fight them. For a long time, she just sat there and cried.