You're not

Carson sits and listens to Misty, receiving her words and absorbing them like a sponge, deciphering each one individually to understand…to comprehend. Her thoughts…her actions…her feelings…they were so foreign to him.

As Misty gets out of the car, he looks to her quickly, watching her walk in front of the car and stand. He cocks his head and heaves a deep sigh, turning off the car’s engine. Why must he continue to test…why must he continue to distrust and test others as a result?

After a few moments, he reaches for the door handle and slowly gets out of the car, fighting against the physical pain he is in. The pills have worn off.

He ambles in front of the car as well until he is standing beside Misty, and he looks up with her at the stars, tilting his head to see them out from under his baseball cap. “You’re a dang fool for caring about me, Misty.” He purses his lips in thought, letting the night’s silence surround them. Thunder rolls in the distance and crickets chirp their night song, but even so, it is a silence of souls.

“But you’ll probably be happy to know that Ashlyn will be sleeping soundly for another several hours after the shot I gave her less than a minute after we’d entered that room.” He pauses. “You’re not the only one who can act, you know.”