Seat

Hearing Laura and Maggie leave and the door close again, Garret rolled onto his stomach, which protested by growling. He ignored it though. His body might be hungry but he wanted nothing to do with food right now. 

He turned his head a little, and though it was dark in the room now, he could see Maggie's paper on the nightstand. Burying his face in his pillow again, he tried to go back to sleep before more tears could come. He was unlovable. Why did Maggie insist on trying?


Laura paused partway to the kitchen and put an arm around Maggie's shoulders to give her a gentle squeeze. "I hope so." In reality, she really didn't have an answer. People were funny creatures. Some bounced back easily, while others didn't. And Garret might be a very strong man...but he'd kept this hurt locked inside for a very long time. And it was only more time that would tell whether or not he could recover. 

"We just need to let him be quiet if he wants to be quiet, and be ready if he needs anything." She slowly continued to the kitchen. "It's going to take time. But just be his friend like always...pray for him...and eventually... he'll be okay."

She sincerely hoped that was the truth. She knew Garret had been a ruthless killer...but finding out his background made her all the more compassionate towards him. Everyone deserved a chance - even him...

...Food would be brought to him, but it wouldn't be eaten. Laura checked in on him frequently, making sure he wasn't getting sick again, and making offers for food, drink, or even ice cream. And every time, she received no response. By bedtime, the food was cold, so she took it back to the kitchen to be thrown away. They couldn't force him to eat, and she wasn't going to push him like she had when he was sick. This was different. 

...Morning. Laura poured Nate a cup of coffee and brought it to him at the breakfast table. Maggie would be getting up soon, too. "I heard him get up once in the night to use the bathroom," she mused quietly, "but that was it. He still won't talk to me this morning." 

She sighed and half sat on Nate's knee, her one hand rubbing his back thoughtfully. "You do what you have to today. If he's going to hibernate, I'm not worried about you being gone for a while. It's up to you though."


"Jeesh. Is that all?" Kirk teased. "Remind me not to ask you again where we were at. We seem to have covered an awful lot of territory."

He wandered back over to the counter and patted her leg to get her to slide over a little so he could reach around into the cookie jar. "Mm...I do have a couple left. Eureka!"

Satisfied with the rather battered chocolate chip cookie, he hopped up to squeeze in next to her and sighed as he munched and glanced around the dim kitchen. "Huh. I really do not see your fascination with this seat. Especially when there are several other place much more comfortable than this."

His swinging feet banged on the lower cupboard doors. "And quieter." He took another bite of cookie, ignoring some of the falling crumbs. "So tomorrow then. Yes. I'll talk with Barnes and we'll go from there. I'm also gonna have to take a trip to the Elite and start sending fences."

His foot nudged hers. "That's not gonna be easy."