As time slowly passed, Ian had learned to cope up with his new life. It was way better than his previous one. He had found genuine friends in Noah and Joshua and a caring guardian as his mentor. What more could he ask for from life?
Ian had also come to know that his mentor was related to the underworld and this was not involved in any illegal activities. In fact, this base was mainly to train people to protect the Carter and the Martin families. They only dealt with people who wronged the two families or anybody closely associated with them. They also helped the police by providing them backup whenever there were some serious issues in the country.
Ian was not disgusted by the idea. Instead, he had agreed with the way the base worked. There were dangerous people lurking around everywhere and they had to be captured if one had to survive. He had wholeheartedly joined the base under his mentor's guidance. It was then he had met Ronnie. He had no idea how Ronnie ended up there nor did he ask. He just knew that Ronnie was now under the Carter family wing.
Once, when he was in high school, the school took the students to a scientific camp. It was like an open day where people from all over the country came to view the recent innovations in science and technology. Ian looked at them in wonder. His eyes darting around the amazing things he was seeing. He was walking alone as his school friends had gone to another area to take a look. It was then he noticed a girl from his school, looking intently at the screen placed at the top.
Every room had a TV screen that would run some of the greatest achievements done in the field of science or technology. There were not many people in the room. He looked at what she was seeing. It was an animated experiment on nanotechnology. It showed how nanoparticles could be used to cure cancer. At once, Ian was interested in it. He too came beside her to get a clear view.
"That's so cool." The girl commented and Ian took a look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, but she could still feel his gaze on her. He turned to look at him, startling Ian. She noticed that he was from the same school as hers.
"Are you interested in medicine too?" She asked.
"After seeing this, yes. What about you?"
"Yes. My mother is a biology professor. So, I must have gained some of her genes."
"Hmm. That's good. I am Ian by the way, Ian Davis." Ian had by then changed his name from Sebastian to Ian Davis. As he was going to start a new life, he had decided to get a new name too and his mentor had supported him in this decision.
"Aria West. What class are you in?"
"I am in eleventh."
"Then you are my senior. I am in ninth." The two people walked around the camp exchanging their insights on every concept they found to be interesting. Ian noticed that the girl was very intelligent and she expressed her views clearly. He had learned that she wanted to be a cardiologist and this had piqued his interest. When asked, the girl had told him that the world was in need of doctors. Ian had no idea why, but he too wanted to be a doctor at that moment.
When Aria had told him how good it felt to save someone, Ian had immediately imagined the scene where he actually saved someone. He couldn't deny that it felt wonderful. When the day had ended, Ian had returned home and had told his mentor about his decision to become a doctor. The man had looked at Ian dumbfounded and he had hugged him for the first time. Ian was stunned beyond words. 'Did I say something wrong?'
"Do you know my son wanted to be a doctor too." This took Ian by surprise. He had never expected such a coincidence. This gave him a strong motivation to achieve his dreams and he joined one of the best medical schools in the country. To his surprise, Aria had joined the same school two years later. So, she was his junior again. During the time of their studies, they had gone to become good friends, and later Aria had applied to the same hospital for an internship where Ian was working.
The day Ian had graduated his mentor had given him a document that contained share agreement of the Royal Hospital. Though it was in his mentor's name, he had gifted it to Ian. He had been overjoyed with the gift and had vowed to be a great doctor.
Everything in his life was going great. He had good friends and colleagues, and a stable career. So, he had chosen to forget his former family who had not even come to meet him when he was rescued from the kidnappers. He forgot about his parents and his elder brother. He had no idea that just like how he had changed his name, his family too had changed their names to save themselves.
Ian opened his eyes slowly. His memories had made him go in a daze and he stared blankly into space. He smiled ironically when he realized something. Fate was playing a bad game with him like he was the ball in the game of tennis. When he badly wanted a father, his father had not been present. Instead, the spot was filled by a stranger who later became much more than his life. Now that his father had returned, the person he held dear to his heart was gone. How ironic!
Though he had given his bone marrow to his birth father, he was yet to come to terms with him. He was not sure if would ever be ready to accept him, but he would definitely ask for an explanation for his past behavior. He had to know why nobody had come to take him. Was he that despicable that they wanted to dispose him of that badly? He even wondered sometimes if they were the ones who sent him to the kidnappers.
Ian stood up. He had a lot of work to do. Now that Oliver was awake, he did not have to create another antidote for him. However, he had to prepare himself as the day for him to leave to the war field was nearing.