Apology

Cindy finally manages a smile. “Thank you, Rosetta. I think I’ll stay here…but I would like to have a girls night out sometime – that sounds like it would be a lot of fun.”
After Rosetta leaves, Cindy sits for a long while, thinking and praying. What was she supposed to do? Her suitcase remains half-packed on the bed.
Cindy hibernates for several hours, not bothering to join everyone for lunch. Finally mustering up her courage though, she takes a deep breath and heads outside into the light rain. She aims for Wes’ garage, still unsure of what she’s going to say or how she’s going to say it.



Con looks at Katie’s hand with pity and disappointment. “Oh, Katie.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she had purposely hit a solid object. He sighs, but does not reprimand, seeing she’s embarrassed enough the way it is. Instead, he asks no questions.
He reaches out to take her injured hand in order to see it more closely, and tries to be gentle, though his own hands are not used to delicate work. “Well, you did a good job of this, I’ll give you that.” He squints at the swelling, and feels the small bones. “Fractured a couple knuckles, eh?”

Jason raises an eyebrow, though sinks lower, knowing that he’d driven her into such a state as to do something like this.

Con pokes and prods for a couple minutes, then nods to a chair. “Sit down.” He goes into the bathroom, talking over his shoulder. “Nothing much to do, but let it heal – you’re gonna be hurting for a while though.” He comes back out with a clean ace bandage. Reaching under Jason’s bed, he pulls out a first aid kit and retrieves a bottle of horse liniment. He gives a slight grin. “What’s good for horses is good for humans.”
He pulls up a chair in front of Katie, and takes her hand again. “This is gonna sting like mad, so grit your teeth.” He pours the cool liquid over her hand, rubbing it in as gently as he can. “This should help with the swelling.” He then takes the bandage and wraps the injury securely so there is little movement possible. “Now, take my advice and don’t use that hand for a while. You’re gonna have to let those bones heal, no matter the size of those fractures. If you can’t handle that, get a sling from Angel so you’re forced not to use it.”

He leans back in his chair with a sigh, and looks between Katie and Jason for several moments. “Now that we’ve got you both patched up, I think it’s about time we talked.”

Jason throws him a smirk. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

Con manages a grin, putting a hand to his swollen lip. “Yeah, well, I’ll be fine.” He crosses his arms in thought. “So are we going to put all the cards on the table, you two, or are we going to keep beating around the bush and hurting feelings?” When no one responds, he shrugs. “Alright, I’ll start.” He looks at Jason. “I’m sorry I confronted you the way I did, Jase. I should have chosen more privacy, and I shouldn’t have gotten upset before I’d heard your side of the story.”

Jason looks down and shrugs, not sure what to feel or how to respond. His emotions are still too mixed to straighten them out in order to formulate something intelligent to say.

Seeing Jason’s hesitance, Con turns to Katie. “And whether you should have been informed or not, I’m sorry you found out things the way you did – it was my fault, and I apologize.”
He quirks an eyebrow, feeding the rising tension as he moves on quickly. “Now…you two have some problems that you’ve got to work out, unless you both want to just part ways and let things fester the way they are.”