Deus Angst Machina
Cody is angsting. It seems that his dog just died in a freak accident. That accident involved his kindly uncle, who didn't swerve in time to avoid the poor puppy. However, he did swerve in time to go off an embankment and hit a bus full of high school students, killing many, including his beloved girlfriend, Gwen, who by the way was pregnant and whom he'd just been engaged the previous day.
Unfortunately, the shock of the news caused his kindly old mother to have a heart attack, which left his father devastated. More unfortunately, economic recession hits, and the he and his father are left without a job and sunk neck deep in debt. His best friend, Noah, turns to robbery, but is caught and thrown in prison and later killed in a fatal explosion which occurred due to a gas leak.
Poor Daddy turned to drinking and lost all will to live, and finally shot himself (along with several others including Cody's new girlfriend, Bridgette, in a mad shootout), leaving the character all alone in the world to deal with the trauma. And that just happens to be the day when the mother of all earthquakes occurs, completely destroying his home Cody (who now has to live on the streets) is pulled out of the ruins, perhaps having suffered a crippling injury, and is taken to the hospital, where the doctor diagnoses him with cancer.
And that's just the beginning of his bad days…
Wait, what?!