Five More

Feeling Ryan pull his arm tighter and hearing her sniff, Hunter realized she was in worse shape than he'd thought. He didn't know what had scared her so badly that she'd actually come to him, but he felt badly for her. Rather than pulling away, he tightened his grip a little and gave her hand a squeeze, just letting her hold his as long as she wanted. 

"Shh," he whispered softly and kissed the top of her head. "It's gonna be okay. Just sleep." And as the quietness of the night took over again, his mind drifted off to sleep once more...

...The sound of the alarm clock woke Hunter with a start. It took several agonizing moments to figure out where he was, why an alarm was going off, and why there was a warm bundle in bed with him. His arm was still tucked around Ryan, and at some point his legs had intertwined with hers, now making it almost impossible to move. 

Reaching over the top of her, his hand slapped the clock quiet and he fell back again sleepily. Burying his face into Ryan's shoulder, he groaned. He knew if they were going to make it to the ranch by suppertime, they needed to get a good start this morning. But he'd been so comfortable...

His arm slipped back around Ryan, and he twisted in his side a little to lock both her legs under one of his own. "Five more minutes," he mumbled. 


Hal watched the footage as Sam talked, and he nodded his agreement. "I think you're right. If he just wanted exercise, he'd just walk the hall, but he's nosing around like he's got an agenda."

He took another sip of coffee and cocked his head at her conclusion. "Might not be a bad idea to talk to Garret again. He might very well have some insights."

Movement caught his eye and he looked at another monitor. "Speak of the devil. He just came in with Nate. And looks like JT just arrived as well. Aaron will be thrilled."