Innocence

Joining Hope at the table, Scott sat down, willing to at least try eating. “Yeah… I really don’t want a repeat of that either.” He did give her a sheepish grin though. “But glad you enjoyed the first part.” His cheeks flushed as soon as he’d said it, and he stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth. “Kinda did myself,” he mumbled as his eyes fell to his plate. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually flirted with Hope. It felt… nice. Actually, he felt incredibly awkward but…maybe giving things a shot again would be…good.

Domino, having already had her own breakfast, trotted over and sat by Scott’s leg, looking up at him and cocking her head. He glanced down at her and rolled his eyes. “You already ate.” When she didn’t move, he gave in and let her have a little piece of bacon. “There. Tell Hope thank you.” She gave a little woof and wagged her stumpy tail before leaving, satisfied with her small morsel. 


Moving ahead slowly as he maneuvered on his crutches, Aaron couldn’t be more glad that Sam had let him come outside. It was probably the first day he’d felt anywhere near something that closely resembled feeling good. He scoffed a little at her comment though. “I think Rick and JT both just like making me cringe.” He hated therapy almost as much as he hated being stuck there at all.

Continuing down the long side of the parking lot, even though he was using crutches, just the motion and keeping his leg off the ground was somewhat painful, and certainly tiring. Eventually he had to pause and rest. Just leaning on his crutches for a moment, he sighed and let his eyes roam the area. He hadn’t remembered quite what things looked like, but it was somewhat familiar. How long had he even been here now?

As his gaze drifted to the street, then beyond, he suddenly caught sight of nothing more than a glint in an upper window of a building. Immediately his instincts kicked in and without even thinking, he turned with no warning, dropping both crutches to shove Sam to the ground. “Get down!” No sooner had the words left his mouth and a shot echoed through the air.

Hal, several feet away, had hit the ground as well, and now lay with gun drawn on the asphalt, his eyes wildly looking around for the shooter. “I don’t have a visual. Sam?” He tried to keep an eye on the surroundings, but also had to look to make sure she was okay. “Aaron!” he barked. “Let her go.”

Aaron had her half-covered on the ground, and though remaining low, he lifted his palms to prove his innocence. “Hey, whoa.” He looked over his shoulder across the street again, not daring to get up or even roll over yet. “Pardon me for trying to stay alive.”

Hal just glared at him, keeping his gun on the ready as he lay on his side, also not daring to get up yet. “Sam, you alright?”