The search

“Oh, hun, whoa, whoa, settle down.” Jeff closes his eyes, wanting more than a phone conversation. “Just take a deep breath, Katie…you’re okay. I know it hurts.” He sighs. “I know this sounds trite, but the wound will heal…you just have to give this thing time. It will all work out, and I’m sure Jason will come back. He doesn’t want to hurt you…I know he cares about you. Just rest…you need your strength right now so your body can heal. You need to push this out of your mind the best you can and concentrate on getting yourself out of the hospital, okay?” He pauses a moment. “I love you, Katie…you call me any time you need to talk, no matter the time of day.” He gently prompts Katie to end the call, and finally hangs up the phone, wearily. “Oh, Katie,” he breathes, and lifts his head heavenward. “Please bring peace through this somehow, Lord…somehow…”


Con looks up from his desk and forces a smile, shutting his folder. “I’ve been ready for hours. Let’s get out of here.” He heads outside with Jamie, aiming for his car. “Alright…your pick. If you’d rather not be seen with me in front of your parents, we can head another direction.” Despite his depressed mood, his humor seeps out through his statement as he slides in behind the steering wheel.


“You need to learn how to counter someone.” Jason stands casually a couple feet from Clint. He’d made it back to the ranch right after lunch, and had been prompted by Austin to take a few minutes with Clint before Clint had to go back to work. “Now come at me. I’ll show you.”

Clint raises an eyebrow. “Come at you?”

“Yeah. Pretend you’re gonna attack me.” Jason rolls his eyes at Clint’s hesitance. “It shouldn’t be hard. Just do what you’ve always wanted to do.”

Clint can’t help a bit of a sheepish grin, and lunges at Jason with a fist aimed at the face.

Jason slips to the side, trips Clint with a foot to the ankles, and takes him down with an elbow between the shoulder blades. He hits him lightly, but Clint falls with a thud. “Ouch.”

“You need to be quick on your feet.” Jason gives him a hand up. “Now you try it.”

The two go back and forth for a while, Clint working up most of the sweat. Not knowing how to fall, he winds up hurting a bit at the hands of Jason, though does his best to pick up on the moves he’s trying to learn.


Wyatt comes back to see Katie, making sure she’s taking care of for the morning. Around noon he gets a call and has to run back to TJY for just a little while. He makes sure Katie knows he’ll be back right away, and slips out once again.



“No, he said he’d call Monday!”

“I know, but he isn’t answering his phone at all, and I want to see what he has to say after the other night.”

“Guys, this place creeps me out.”

Phil and Mike both throw Kyle withering looks as they traipse down the hospital hall. “Shut up,” Mike smirks. “We’re here to find Jason. Who was the girl he said was here? Um…” he snaps his fingers, trying to remember.

“Kate,” Phil answers.

“Katie,” Kyle corrects.

“Right, right.” Mike aims for the nurse’s station, not realizing they’re right across from Katie’s partially-open door. “Hey..we’re looking for a girl named Katie.”

The nurse raises an eyebrow at the three men. They looked to be in their twenties, all just a little disheveled looking with not-so-neat hair and casual t-shirts and jeans. The blonde is the one inquiring, and the nurse was none too impressed. “Do you have a last name?”

Mike looks at his buddies. “Last name? Uh…”

“P..started with a P,” Kyle remembers. “Yeah. Um…Peters…Peterson…Parson…Paul…”

Phil shakes his head. “Preston.”

“No, no…” Mike slaps his arm. “That’s not right. It was shorter. Sorta like…P….P..” he tries to get the sound to roll off his tongue.

The nurse stares over her glasses at them, and rolls her eyes. “Must be a close friend of yours.”

Mike shakes his head. “Actually it’s her boyfriend we know.”

“He said they weren’t dating,” Kyle interrupts with correction. “He said…”

“Who cares?” Phil throws his arms in the air. He turns to the nurse himself. “We’re looking for Jason Stevenson, but he’s not admitted here, it’s his friend, Kate.”

“Katie,” Mike and Kyle correct.

Phil grimaces. “Sorry. Katie. So we figure if we find her, then we find him.”

The nurse shifts her eyes between the three young men. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to help you boys.”

Kyle throws Mike a look. “Told you this wasn’t going to work. We just need to wait for him to call!”