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JUST SO YOU KNOW

I’m not going to talk much about how much pain I was in, because nobody likes a whiner. I’m not going to describe the new nightmares that experience gave me, or how violated I felt, or list all of the revenge fantasies I entertained about going back in time and meeting Nikolai again under different circumstances.

And I’m not claiming that I really could have beaten Nikolai, not on those terms. I would never have willingly entered into any kind of physical contest with Nikolai where the conditions so closely resembled a boxing match if I wanted to kill him. I would have used a weapon, or an environment with cover, or I would have executed him from a distance.

What I am saying is that putting myself in a position to be injured isn’t easy just because I know I’ll heal. Try it sometime. Go place the side of your face on a hot oven grill or stick fishhooks through your skin and pull on them. It won’t kill you.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Or if you did do something like that… what the hell is wrong with you?