Fuzzy

Garret gave Maggie room by scooting to the side a little and returning the pillow to the head of the bed. He gave her a sidelong glance, then shook his head. No...no, the family atmosphere was just too...intimate. He just couldn't do it. Not when he still felt like this. "Naw. You go. Fill that growling stomach of yours."

Left alone again, the room seemed quieter somehow. He shifted back to sit in the corner again, tired, but not wanting to sleep anymore. Awake, but not wanting to get up. How many days had he been here? It had all blended together into one gray cloud of fog. He'd almost dozed off again when someone's presence brought his mind back around.

Laura didn't bother knocking, and came in with a half bowl of soup. When Maggie had come out alone, it had been no surprise, but Laura was going to keep pushing just a little, as Justin had suggested. So she came over to the bed with a smile, holding out the bowl. "Here. I'm not going to sit back and watch you starve."

"I'm not-"

"Humor me."

"Thank you. But I'm really not-"

"Well I'm not going to stand here and hold it for you." Laura set it down in his lap, risking spilling it, but thankfully he did the wise thing and caught it. "You don't have to join us," she continued a little more gently. "I understand. But you do need to eat." After hesitating just a moment, she bypassed any apprehensions, and reached down to place her hand on his shoulder. "It'll get better...I promise."

Garret was surprised by the gesture and had nothing to say as Laura walked away. The tears returned, and he swallowed hard, finally looking down at the soup. He moved to put it on the nightstand, but stopped halfway as his stomach growled. Just pausing for several moments, he finally retreated and held the bowl on his lap. The scent alone was torture. And after one bite, that's all it took.

Twenty minutes later, his bowl was empty, and he was lying down again having drifted off to sleep once more.


Chance chuckled at Destiny and shook his head. "I'm always interested in what you're doing. Girly or otherwise." He took a sip of his drink and shrugged at her last comment. "Eh. I don't really care about the FBI. They don't know the half of what they're doing anyway. And if I lose my job, so be it. I'll find something else."

He gained a mischievous grin. "Something that gives me more time with you, though." Looking down for a moment, he cut off another bite of his own steak, he seemed to be lost in thought. "Haven't ever thought of...going somewhere else, have you? Out of Nevada?"


If Kirk had known he'd be back here, looking into a future of working right alongside the Elite team, maybe he would have approached things differently in the first place. But now he was stuck with how he'd laid things out. It would simply take time to build relationships. 

"Okay." He backed away from the desk. "Thanks for listening." Just as he reached the door, he turned back around. "Oh, and for the record... I know I implied Carson might be unfaithful again... but any guy who will defend his wife like he did..." He shrugged. Misty probably didn't even know about Carson ambushing him at the gas station, but that was okay. "I may have been wrong about his pattern." Leaving it at that, he turned back around and exited the infirmary, making mental notes as he walked about who else he needed to see.


Katie's tone sent a chill down Jason's spine, and he didn't even have time to react as he was pushed down on the porch. Before he could even ask what was wrong, pain erupted in his left shoulder. Rolling closer to the house, he winced and put a hand to his shoulder, immediately feeling the blood seeping through his shirt and jacket. "Katie..." He laid back and closed his eyes, breathing through the pain. "Katie, you alright?" He groaned and opened his eyes again to try and see what was going on, but his mind was already growing fuzzy.

The nearby reflection quivered, then disappeared as if it had never been there at all.