Stuffy

Jason hangs up with Katie and heads out, letting Reese know he’ll be back later. He goes to Con’s where he flops down on the couch, trying to sleep for just a couple hours before he has to go pick Katie up.


Carson doesn’t allow much of anything to show on his face, though he looks Nate in the eye at the mention of Misty. “No, not usually.”

“You’re not going to be meeting much of anybody for at least a day,” Rick interrupts with a warning.” I want you to spend the next twenty-four hours at least in this bed so you quit breaking open your wrists, and so you give that shoulder and those ribs a break. Tonight’s excursion didn’t help you any, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll take my advice.”

Carson throws Rick an annoyed look, “Yeah, whatever.”

“No, not whatever!” Rick retorts, unafraid of Carson. “I’ll stay in here to watch you if I have to.” He sighs and starts to put his things away. “I’ve got some other work to do now, and I expect you to be in that bed when I return.”

It’s only a few minutes before Carson is left alone. He glances around the room, his mind not a hundred percent as exhaustion begins to set in. But he doesn’t want to sleep, and he doesn’t care about Rick’s orders. Standing, he walks slowly to the door, looking down the hall to make sure Nate and Rick are out of eyesight, then walks down a few doors to the breakroom. He leans on the door frame and looks in on Misty, his words a bit gruff. “I neglected to ask if you were okay earlier.”


Laura yawns again and rolls her eyes at herself. She couldn’t sleep at Jamie’s, and now that she was here, she was getting tired. The air felt warm and stuffy in here this morning, and it wasn’t helping clear her mind much. She sifts through some more paperwork, then starts in on answering emails, though her eyes keep wanting to close. Some fresh air would probably help things, but she didn’t want to get up while she was in the middle of this work. If she could at least get through this one thing…