Figuring it out

Domino races down the hall to Scott's bedroom where she emerges a few minutes later with a squeaky chew toy, bounding back to Katie. Dropping the slobbery plastic at her feet, she looks up at her with anticipation, tensed to chase it should Katie decide to join in the play.

Scott watches as he prepares lunch, a grin forming. He loved having Katie here...it wouldn't be too long now until she would be here all the time. That thought alone was enough to keep him from dwelling on last night's events.

It doesn't take long before Scott and Katie are enjoying a light lunch in the kitchen. "I called in to Reese," Scott comments before taking a bite of his sandwich. "Told him I'd be in late and I didn't know if you'd be in or not. What are you planning to do today?"


Carson raises his eyebrows, a little surprised at Mabel's response. He'd half expected to be thrown out. But she didn't seem to mind one bit, the thought of having him around.

Thanking her, he goes to where she has directed, and winds up in the kitchen. The strong smell of garlic and onions hits his nose, the sound of sizzling meat making his mouth water.

Spotting Herb, he gives a little wave. "Mabel said I could come back. I, um...was wondering if you needed any help around here. I'm...I'm looking for work."


Jason enters TJY with one goal in mind - get past the main floor without being bombarded with questions. He wasn't supposed to be back to work yet...most everyone knew he should be out camping.

"Hey, Jason." Laura smiles and gives a wave from her cubicle, but then stops. "What are you doing here?"

Jason just keeps on walking and returns a short wave. "Long story." Heading for the hall, he sees Nate, but just offers a nod without stopping to chat. Making it to the hall, he almost runs into Reese.

"Whoa, Jason. Hey, you're supposed to be out of town."

"Yeah...well, things changed."

Reese quirks an eyebrow. "Anything wrong?"

Jason forces a smile even though he didn't mean it. "Nothing I can't handle. Just a rough night."

"Rough night, huh? Must be going around." Reese shakes his head. "That's what Scott said on the phone this morning, so he's coming in late and Katie may not be in at all."

"Oh?" Jason can feel his stomach turn.

"Yeah." Reese studies Jason for a moment, getting a strange feeling. "You wouldn't..."

"Nope, don't know a thing." Jason sidles past him and continues his route. "I don't know how long I'll be here today," he calls over his shoulder. "Pretend I'm still gone."

Reese's eyes follow him and he shrugs. "Alright..."

Jason rolls his eyes and finally opens the door to the infirmary, slipping inside. Seeing Misty at her desk, he almost changes his mind about this, but knows he can't. Finding Rick, he goes to him, keeping his voice low. "I need your help."

Rick's eyebrows rise. "You're supposed to be gone. What's wrong?"

Jason looks down for a moment, swallowing hard. "I...I had an attack."

"Uh-oh."

"Yeah." Jason looks back up at him. "It was bad, and...Katie had to come."

"It didn't wear off?"

"No." Jason's eyes plead with Rick. "I have to figure this thing out...it's disrupting lives...I can't keep doing this."

Sensing the desperation, Rick sets a hand on his shoulder. "Alright...just take it easy. Go on to the table and sit down. I'll be right there."

Jason nods and obeys, going to sit down, rubbing his sore knee. He doesn't dare to look over at Misty. Whether he liked it or not, she'd probably find out everything, but for now he'd just as soon avoid that conversation.

Rick finishes up what he was doing, and returns quickly sitting down to ask Jason about what really happened. Hearing about the night, he gives a deep sigh, his mind reeling with questions that there might just not be answers to. When Jason is finished, Rick stands and starts to pace a little, trying to fit all the pieces together. "Do you always get sick when this happens?"

"Um...I usually always break out in a cold sweat...they say I shake pretty bad...I don't know that I've ever had a fever like I did last night...then sometimes when it's all over I end up throwing up, but not always. Just when it's been bad."

"Hmm." Rick rubs his forehead. "There's a connection there somewhere." Heaving a deep sigh, he retrieves a syringe and preps Jason's arm to draw some blood. "I don't know what this will tell us, but there seems to be a clash between your mental state and your physical state, and since we can't figure out the mental end of it, we might as well try to figure out the physical end of it." After drawing the blood, he questions Jason further, retrieving yet another syringe. "Are you still breaking things?"

Jason raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Jason looks down. "I've...experimented a little."

"And?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." Rick points to a jar that's in the sink a short ways away. "How about it?"

"What?" Jason's eyes widen. "You want me to...."

"Yes." Rick holds his syringe ready. "I have a hunch."

"But what about..." Jason glances in Misty's direction.

Rick shrugs. "You can trust her. And we might need her help anyway. So come on...can you do it?"

Jason sighs deeply and finally nods. "Okay." Looking at the jar a distance away, he digs down deep for the negative emotions that he could emit. Anger was the strongest and he pulls it out, letting the pressure build and intensify. Concentrating on the jar it takes about twenty second for silence, and suddenly the jar bursts, sending shards of glass clattering in the sink, some flying out onto the floor.

A prick to his skin startles him and he sees Rick drawing more blood. "What..."

Rick gives a nod. "Thank you."

Jason is just a bit confused...Rick wasn't even surprised anymore at what was happening...Jason himself was weirded out more than Rick was about this whole thing.

Rick finishes drawing blood and give another satisfied nod. "Alright. I want you just to sit back and relax a while, eh? I'm going to do some research." Taking both small vials of blood, Rick approaches Misty and hands one to her. "Sorry to interrupt your work, but I need you do a chemical analysis on this right now and give me a printout of the results."