Hospital

Movement catches Con's eye and he suddenly zeros in on the moving figure coming toward him. He couldn't have felt more relief...more joy. Reaching out, he catches her as she reaches him, holding her close...holding her tight. His one arm wraps around her in a hold that offers shelter like no other.

Tears glisten in his eyes, whether from the sun or from a rush of emotions it wasn't clear. Leaning down, he ignores the crowd, he ignores his pain, he ignores the filth of dust and grime. Enveloped in Jamie's kiss, all that was left was a feeling of being filled with the closeness and happiness that he'd so desperately missed while separated from the world.

Finally prying Jamie back just a little, he gazes down at her, a weak smile creasing his lips. "I love you," he whispers. His dirt-caked and blood-stained hand brushes her hair out of her face. There was so much more he could say...he wanted to say...yet it all seemed so petty. After what he'd been through, this was pure heaven.

"Sir, please come this way." A medic tries to get him to move toward the ambulance.

Con shoots him a glare. "If you don't..."

"...If you don't leave him alone, you're going to be sorry." Bret walks up from the group of construction workers who had been staying on site to help. He looks at the medic. "Give him a minute, will you? He's standing on his own two feet, which is more than the other guys can do, so why don't you concentrate on them for a moment?" Turning to Jamie, he winks, then looks up at Con. "One day I'd like to hear how on earth you survived all this, and managed to get Dean and Brandon out as well."

Con still holds Jamie close with his good arm. "One day I'd like to explain it as proof of the power of prayer."
A sudden surge of pain shoots across his shoulder and down his arm, causing him to let go of Jamie and put a hand to his injury as he can't withhold a wince.

Bret nods to Jamie. "Come on. We got to get this tank of yours looked after before he collapses."

"No hospitals," Con retorts.

"Sorry, but you're not winning this one," Bret argues, waving one of the medics back over. Though a smaller man, he tries to support Con as he aims for the nearby ambulance.

Con staggers a bit, unsteady on his feet and dizzy with the movement. Now that he was out...now that he had seen Jamie and knew she was okay...his body was starting to shut down. He'd reached his goal, and now could finally let go.

A medic reaches out to stop Jamie. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay."

Bret stops walking with Con and turns his head, throwing the other man a look that could kill. "Do you have a death wish or what? If your loved one was in this kind of shape would you want to leave him? No, you'd want to go with him, and I suggest you do, or you're going to find out just what an angry two-ton brute is like when he's not even thinking straight."

The medic clamps his mouth shut at the threats, sizing up Con for a moment, and taking the warning seriously. "Alright fine."

Bret smirks and continues the route with Con. Reaching the vehicle, it doesn't take much to get Con to lie down in the back as they start to check on him, poking, prodding and checking his eyes. Despite the tight enclosure of the ambulance, Con keeps a grip on Jamie's hand, not letting her go.


Jason watches from a distance with Katie and Scott, and unbelievable amount of relief sweeping over him. Seeing Con walking was good enough for him. Amazing...but good enough. Going for his cell phone, he dials Laura.

When finished with the call, he turns to Scott and Katie. "I'm going to head up to the hospital to find out exactly what's going on."

"We'll come with," Scott nods. "I can drive Jamie's car so she'll have it there. I see she left her purse here, so I've got the keys."

"Sounds good." Jason nods. Looking to Katie, he gives her a slight wink. "Looks like you still got a big brother after all."


As Laura shuts her cellphone, tears stream from her eyes, a smile spreading across her face. Turning to Nate, she throws her arms around him. "He's alive, Nate....he's alive!" Pulling back, her eyes beg him. "Jason said he was on his feet, but doesn't know anything more - they're taking him to the hospital. Can you...would you take me??"


The hospital seems to have adopted some of the chaos as the three victims are brought in and split up into different areas with multiple doctors and nurses.

On his way to pass out, Con loses his fight and numbly follows orders, letting himself be led to the E.R. even though he's separated from Jamie for a short while.

It seems like forever, but finally, finally, there is quiet. The room on the third floor is peaceful, away from the chaos, away from the scurrying doctors. Malnourished and severely dehydrated, Con lies in bed, hooked up to an IV and several monitors. His right shoulder is tightly bandaged - it had been dislocated and the muscles had been torn. His collarbone had broken as well, but otherwise, no other bones were broken. Cuts and bruises weren't surprising, and the gash in his head had been stitched up.

Though seeming to be out of the woods, the doctor had implied that Con would have to stay several days to fully recuperate, and to make sure there were no injuries they had missed. Con hadn't even argued - evidence that he truly was completely drained of energy.

Lying in the bed, Con fights to keep his eyes open as his head is turned toward Jamie. Not only was he exhausted from his physical condition, but the medications were wearing on him too. But he didn't want to sleep...he didn't want to drift away again...

His fingers wrap around Jamie's as reality becomes blurry. At least he knew she was there.


"How's Dean?" Bret stops one of the doctors in the hall.

"Both his legs were broken pretty badly in multiple places, but we think we'll be able to repair the damage. He should be okay."

"And Brandon?"

The doctor shakes his head. "He's in critical condition. There was a lot of internal injury and broken bones. I can't say yet what will happen."