Tears

Justin sat sideways in the corner of his couch, the only sound a ticking clock on the wall. Even the dogs were lying quietly on the floor, sensing their master wanted to be left alone.

He'd lost it today. Totally lost it. There was no reason. No excuse. He had completely destroyed everything he'd worked so hard to build. Not only had it affected Garret, but it had affected the Elite as a whole because of it. And he was the only one to blame. He knew exactly why. He'd been upset. He'd been angry. Garret had known just what to say to rile him, and he'd acted out. Plain and simple.

Now that the damage was done, though, he wasn’t so sure there was any fixing it. And he couldn’t feel any more low. Garret might have been a tough case, and he might have pushed Justin’s buttons, but he hadn’t deserved that kind of treatment. All Justin could hope was that Garret was strong enough to recover. But…what if he didn’t? Justin spent his days fixing issues like the one he’d just caused. How terrible was that? How terrible a person was he? He’d just caused a kidnapping, a murder, and now this on top of it. There was no way he could ever go back to the Elite. 


Having Adison run in behind him and swipe the pizza, Kirk dodged and almost dropped the box. “Whoa, sorry there, Zippy. I didn’t realize you’d left a slice behind.”

He set the box on the table and came over to lean on the counter, putting a hand on either side of her where she sat. With one eyebrow raised, he gave her a wry grin. “Grumpy panda, huh? Well that’s no good.” He thought for a moment. “Entertaining sometimes, but not good.” His grin returned. “I’ll need to tell Barnes you’re on my team and we’ll need to divvy out your cases to people like Tod who will just love you for it. So…yeah, how about working with me by tomorrow afternoon? Soon enough for you?” Though the light in the kitchen was dim, he could see the glint in her eyes and for just a moment, he wondered how deep those pools ran…

An irritating musical ringtone and vibrating made him jump as his cellphone went off on the other side of the stove. Having been next to a metal pot, the vibrating sounded like it was going to rattle the whole kitchen down. Kirk sprang to the other counter and grabbed it to silence it. “Oh sheesh.” He put a hand over his heart. “And I don’t even recognize the number.” He set his phone on the table instead. “So where were we?”


Garret still lay on his side, not knowing how long he’d been there. He’d drifted in and out of sleep, but hadn’t moved, other than to kick off his boots. His head was throbbing, and his eyes were swollen and sore. He wasn’t sure that he had ever felt this miserable…this low…and despite being here now…this alone.  

Just drifting off again, his ears picked up the sound of someone knocking. He ignored it though. He didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. Though not responding, he did hear Maggie’s voice. And though not turning to see her picture, he did hear what she said. She’d…included him? In a picture of things she loved? But…he didn’t have a family. He didn’t have people who cared about him like that. He didn’t have a family that loved him. He…never had. 

Feeling Maggie’s gentle hand on his back, he pressed his head a little deeper into his pillow as new tears ran from his eyes. He didn’t want her to see him like this. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this. His fingers curled around the corner of the pillow tightly as he tried to just go back to sleep. At least while sleeping, the world didn’t exist…


…Laura tapped on the door and stuck her head inside the bedroom. Seeing Maggie still sitting with Garret, her heart ached. The girl was trying so hard. But it looked like there had been little to no progress. “Maggie…it’s time for supper, Hun. Come join us, okay?” She paused. “Garret, you can come too, if you like. We’re having grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.” When he didn’t even move, she knew not to push him, and just motioned for Maggie to come anyway.