It's for him

Clint sits at his computer, his mind everywhere but on his task. He glances over to Wendy, wondering at her sorrow. He felt bad for Jason and his family…no one deserved to be going through this. But he’d disliked Jason from the beginning, and he found it hard to feel the same kind of sorrow as the others. Yet there is a feeling of remorse…a longing that things had been different.


Mick watches Rosetta leave the small group, a pain settling in his heart. It could be any of them there in that bed. It could have been anyone that the Agency had targeted. What if it had been himself? Wes? Rosetta? Mick sinks down into an overstuffed lobby chair, the facts of life and death weighing heavily on his mind. If that had been him instead of Jason, would he be at peace? Had he lived life to the fullest? Would he be able to look back without regrets for things he should have done?

Austin finally finds a place to sit on a window sill, the rain pouring down outside to his back. Con joins him, though remains quiet, respecting the need for silence. Austin shakes his head though, unable to keep his thoughts inside. “I failed, Con.”

“There’s nothing we could have done…you know that.”

“No…that’s not what I mean.” Austin’s shoulders droop, his eyes glued to the floor as misery hangs over him. “I knew what Jason needed most, but I just let him go down the wrong path. He’s a good kid…he’s got a good heart, and he’s on the right side of the law, but…. When he shrugged off my talk about God, I just let it go. I didn’t want to push him…I was afraid I’d turn him away, or that he would get upset with me and walk away.” He scoffs at himself. “And now my grandson is lying in there ready to die without ever having known the salvation of Christ. And that….that is something that I will carry with me the rest of my life.”

Cindy’s focus snaps to Katie, her own tears flowing freely. “I’m sorry, Katie,” she manages. “Please don’t think I’m just doing this with a flippant attitude. I’m not giving up on him – I’m facing the facts.” Her voice raises slightly as her emotions overflow in a reaction. “The poison won’t stop! It’s just going to continue to kill him! Don’t you see? He didn’t want to lie in a hospital bed, barely alive and useless – I’m doing this for him!”

Austin looks up at the sound of Cindy’s voice, and quickly moves to the room with concern. Entering and seeing the looks on the two women’s faces, he knows what the discussion is about. He goes to Cindy, gently drawing her up out of her chair. “It’s okay…it’s alright. Come here.”

Cindy clings to him, her sobs breaking forth all over again as she’s escorted from the room.

It’s soon that JT comes to the small group again to inform them that it will be soon. A gathering of just a few come together in Jason’s room as the nurses begin to take the machines off of him. In their own ways, they say goodbye, most speaking no words. Cindy is able to linger only a few moments before breaking down completely and being ushered out with Austin, unable to handle the end. Con is one of the last, looking down on Jason’s peaceful form for several moments…no more tubes, no more wires…just resting as he should. Con glances at Katie, and gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving as well, seeming to sense that it’s okay to leave her alone. The others have said their goodbyes…Jason’s last minutes will take care of themselves.