Two lovers, a man and a woman, pass him by.

He's sitting on a bench in the park, and he just stares as they walk by. They look happy, smiling at each other, every part of them intertwined.

He feels sick. The ache between his ribs is getting more frequent every day, and no part of the extensive training the military offered him could prepare him for it.

He's miserable now.

He was miserable before too, in a different way. When he was small and his father was still alive enough to make his life hell. The ache is new though.

Maybe he should pick up a pack of smokes on the way home.