Ben felt the impact before realizing that he had been shot.  He stared in horror at Raymond Lam, who was now running towards him.  Looking down at his chest Ben saw blood oozing from a small hole.  This isn't how it's supposed to be.  Raymond Lam is the one who should be shot.  No!  This can't be!  He tried to lift his hand with the gun but the gun now felt heavy and cold to the touch.  Even his body felt too heavy for his legs and they buckled beneath him as he collapsed to the ground.  Lying on the ground, he could hear his heart pumping loudly in his own ears and a coolness enveloped his entire body.  He looked up at the face of his nemesis, Raymond Lam.

Raymond kicked the gun out of Ben's hand and knelt down beside him.  He located the wound and it was in the heart and from experience Raymond knew Ben Wong would not make it.  Seconds later, Nancy appeared by his side with a dazed expression.

Nancy shakily returned her gun back to its holster.  Seeing the area where he had been shot, she explained, "I've been following him like you told me to.  I saw him point a gun at you and I… I fired."

Raymond looked up and gave a brief nod of understanding but quickly returned his gaze on Ben who was now convulsing, his face draining of color.  "Nancy, run inside and get help," he said quietly.  "Fast!"

"Yes Sir!" Nancy took off towards the hospital entrance but stopped to take Gigi along with her.

Ben locked his eyes on Raymond, a wavering smile on his face.  "Y-You haven't won," he gasped.

Raymond would have preferred that Ben Wong suffered under the judicial system by serving time in prison where he could reflect upon his bad deeds.  With Ben getting shot and the chances of him surviving close to nothing, Raymond felt cheated.  It felt as if Ben was getting an easy way out of all the crimes he committed, especially those against Charmaine, who will suffer the rest of her life by what he did.

Ben seems to sense the emotions going through Raymond and his smile widened.  "Even w-when I'm dead Charmaine will still have m-memories of me."

Raymond clenched his fists as Ben's words hit at his nerves.  "You're absolutely right," he seethed.  "Because of you Charmaine will never be able to live a normal life.  She will always be trapped in the nightmare you created for her!"

Ben's eyes gleamed maliciously.  As he fought for breath he rasped, "And y-you Raymond Lam will never b-be with her because of it."

Raymond smiled.  A confident smile.  In a low clipped voice, he said, "You're wrong.  We'll be together forever and you can't do a thing about it because you'll be dead."

Ben attempted to refute Raymond's claim but ended up spurting blood.  He glared at Raymond and with his very last breath, murmured, "Charmaine will not be with you."  His lips lifted in a gloating smile and then he went still.

"Stand back," the doctor ordered as he arrived with two nurses.

Raymond quickly stood up and made way for the doctor.  He watched as they performed routine life saving ministrations on Ben Wong.  After a couple of minutes where Ben lay unresponsive, the doctor stood up and looked over at Raymond, "He's dead."

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She was lying on a bed.  Her body twisting and struggling upwards against a body which was intent on making sure she stayed down.  She could hear herself scream, 'Get off of me!  Stop!'  However, the man above her either couldn't hear or didn't care.  She heard the rip of fabric and knew her clothes were being torn off of her and she lay struggling.  Through her blur of tears, she could see the man staring hungrily down at her and she shivered.  'Please no!' she begged one last time just as he flipped her onto her stomach and kneed her legs apart.  His hands were everywhere, touching, squeezing and hurting.  Try as she might, she wasn't able to escape and then the sharp pain came and a piercing scream cut across the room.

Charmaine jolted awake, her hands trembling as she grabbed tightly onto the blanket pulling it up under her chin as if that would ward off her offender.  She looked around the room.  It was empty and dark, save for a small sliver of light emanating from somewhere to her left.  Beads of sweat rolled down her face to splatter on her clenched knuckles.  Charmaine knew it wasn't a mere nightmare.  It had happened.  She could feel it deep down in her guts that the had actually happened.  She tried to search her memory for the face of her attacker but drew a blank.

A nurse popped her head into the room and asked, "Are you alright?  I heard you screaming."

Charmaine ran a hand through her sweat soaked hair and mumbled, "I-I think so.  It was a nightmare."

The nurse nodded sympathetically and offered, "Would you like a sleeping pill to get you through the night?"

Shaking her head, Charmaine refused the offer.  "I'm fine.  Thank you."  When the nurse was gone, she sat up in bed and tried to focus more on her nightmare.  As chilling and terrifying as it was, Charmaine forced herself to recall every detail.  An image of the room floated into her head and she held onto that image trying to place the room.  Minutes went by and just when she was about to give up recognition hit her.  That had been her bedroom.  She dug deeper into her memory and things began to fall in place.  It had been her room in a house.  A house belonging to Ben Wong, her husband.  Squeezing her eyes, Charmaine willed herself back into the nightmare and soon more images popped into her head.  Each image became clearer and clearer.  Clutching her head, Charmaine broke down in tears as bits and pieces of her memory returned.

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Kenneth ran into the hospital.  After receiving the call, he didn't know what to think.  Ben was dead.  His brother was dead!  Yes, he and Ben had been in a strained relation of late and although he did not approve of Ben's methods where Charmaine was concerned, he was still his brother.  No matter how wrong Ben was, Kenneth truly believed Ben could change.  Why wasn't he given the chance to?  Wiping away his tears, he entered the emergency unit and the first person he saw was Raymond.  "Where is he?"

Raymond pointed at the closed curtains.  But just as Kenneth turned to go in, Raymond stopped him.  "I'm sorry Kenneth."

Kenneth didn't say a word.  He simply nodded his head and went behind the curtains.

"Are you alright son?" Gigi asked softly.

Raymond didn't know when she had come up to him and had almost completely forgotten that she had been with him when Ben Wong was shot.  Looking worriedly down at her he said, "I should be asking you that question.  Are YOU alright?"

Gigi nodded, but her face was drawn and pale.  "I guess I am."

Raymond searched her face debating on whether his mom was telling the truth.  After a while he believed her.  Gigi was a very strong person and he believes she'll soon forget about this incident in no time.  "I have to stay here for a while.  I'll ask Nancy to take you home."

"I would like to go and check on Charmaine before I go."

Raymond liked the idea.  Dropping an affectionate kiss on her cheek, he said, "I'll ask Nancy to go with you.  If Charmaine is still awake, tell her that I'll see her first thing in the morning."

"I will," Gigi said and with Nancy they headed in the direction of the elevators.  As they turned the corner, Kenneth came out from behind the curtains.  He sat down on a lone bench and covered his face with his hands.

"I'm sorry Kenneth," Raymond said again and sat down next to him.

"Tell me what happened."

"I was getting my car and he came out of nowhere with a gun.  Nancy killed him before he had a chance to fire at me."  Pausing briefly, Raymond asked quietly, "Are you angry at us?"

Kenneth removed his hands from his face and turned to Raymond.  "I'm not," he said softly.  "I'm only angry that Ben brought all this upon himself and that there was a side to him I never knew about.  A dark side."

Raymond was relieved by Kenneth's words.  Suddenly his cell phone rang and he looked at the caller ID.  It was his mom.  "Yes Mom?"  His eyes widened and he asked, "Are you sure?"  After a pause, he said, "I'll be right there."  He looked at Kenneth, a small smile forming on his face, "Charmaine has regain her memory."