Cut short

Laura grins at Katie and turns around with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Hey, good morning." She frowns a little. "Ooh, hun, you look like you could use some of this."

She pours Katie a cup of coffee. "Rough night?"


Carson breathes in deep to stretch full out on the couch and yawn. After a few moments, he realizes that he isn't in his own bed, and remembers falling asleep on the couch. The smell of breakfast lures him into a sitting position, his stomach looking forward to a morning meal.

Standing up, Carson stretches again, wincing a bit as he'd forgotten about his ribs. Sighing, he looks around for a few minutes and stumbles to the bathroom before emerging again in the kitchen to come up behind Misty as she cooks breakfast, slipping his arms under hers and around her waist to bend his head over her shoulder and give her a kiss. "Hi."


"Scott!"

Scott stops in his tracks at Susanne's calling. He cringes. "Yeah....?" he answers hesitantly.

Susanne looks out of her office with a smile. "Just wanted to tell you that my new computer is working great."

Scott's eyebrows raise in surprise and relief. "Great!" Smiling, he aims for his desk. It was a good morning. Despite a lot on his mind, he was refreshed and ready to get on with the day. He needed to get a hold of the department in Arizona and start making plans for his move, then needed to finish up a stack of work Reese wanted done.

Sitting down at his desk, Scott's mind starts to wander a little bit again about last night. He didn't know what Katie would decide...he wanted her to go...he wanted that the most. But he also knew she had a lot back here... He wasn't sure what would happen if she stayed... were they strong enough to last across the miles? He hoped so. Perhaps it really would be the ultimate test for them...


Jason rolls out of bed, barely able to open his eyes before he stumbles to the bathroom for a shower. It doesn't wake him up as much as he wants though, and he downs his breakfast of orange juice on the way into work, trying to get his brain to function properly.

Getting to TJY, he goes inside, trudging toward the hall. He wasn't sure why he was so tired...he thought he'd slept okay...but his mind had constantly gone back to Katie and what they both were dealing with right now. His mind was searching for a solution, and he wasn't sure where one was.


Bret rests his elbows on the bar, staring at his half-empty beer bottle. It was early...but he had nowhere else to go, and even if he did, he didn't feel like going. The court hearing was this afternoon, and it was going to be harder now that Brandon had died. And he couldn't even take the time to grieve, while he was busy trying to get himself out of trouble first.


Con rubs his face wearily, not having slept well at all after Bret's phone call the evening before. It had spawned nightmares of the cave-in, and staying awake half the night had been the only way to stay sane.

Stepping off the porch he walks slowly to the mess hall, his enthusiastic bounce absent from his step this morning. Entering the building he looks around, seeing that breakfast is halfway over by now. He'd been on the phone again this morning, keeping him a little late in the bunkhouse.

Greeting a few people around the tables, he makes a beeline for Jamie, waving for her to leave the table and come off to the side with him. Drawing her out of earshot of the others, he looks down at her, the sadness in his eyes. "Bret called me last night...Brandon didn't make it."

Swallowing hard, Con takes a deep breath to stay on top of his emotions. "He, um...I guess he woke up right before, and spoke to his family that was here...sounds like his mom and brother and his brother's family were still there." Con takes a moment to try to straighten out his thoughts. "Bret said that Brandon told them I was the one that got him out of the cave-in, and they've requested that I say some words at his funeral."

Con glances out into the dining area, his eyes sweeping the room, finding BJ, then looking back at Jamie. "The funeral is Friday though, and that's a day earlier than Mick and Rosetta will be back. So...I'm sure someone here can look after BJ, or you can stay the extra day, but I have to go back Friday morning."