Protest

Jason looks down a the table as Dr. Fuller speaks, hearing her words, processing them, and trying to keep his emotions at bay at the same time.

Finally he looks up at her in time to catch her eye as she concludes, and he grits his teeth, swallowing hard. As much as he wanted to explain everything to Katie, he knew he couldn’t. As much as he wanted her to remember everything right now, she wasn’t, and he couldn’t push her, no matter how awkward the present was.

“So…when will she be able to go home? Does she know what the date is yet?”


The three thugs pause their attack on Carson as Herb steps between them, and Waylon glares at him for a moment. “Hey, he’s the one who started throwing that mop of his around.”

“Yeah,” Reagan nods his agreement. “You got a dangerous man working for you, ya know that?”

Before anyone can say anything more, suddenly the sound of sirens can be heard.

Waylon and his two goons turn quickly to see the door open, and tense, ready to run, but they have no where to go.

Two policemen hurry to the scene, hands on weapons, but remaining calm. “What’s going on here?”

“This guy started attacking us!” Waylon points to Carson.

Carson is finally picking himself up off the floor and wipes a bloody lip, eyeing the officers. “Look, it wasn’t me, alright? I was just working and these goons walked in and…”

“Hey, we didn’t do nothing!” Cash defends.

“…and they started harassing me,” Carson continues, throwing them a glare.

“We did not.” Waylon gestures to the policemen. “We were just minding our own business, and this guy here has a chip on his shoulder about the past, so he started in on us.”

“I did not!” Carson’s voice raises, his face growing red.

“He did!”

“Look, I don’t know what…”

An officer steps in between them, holding up his hands. “I think all you fellows better just come down to the station with us where we can straighten this out.”

“I don’t need to go to the station!” Carson argues. “It’s them, not me!”

The second officer squints at Carson. “Hey…aren’t you Carson Banks?”

“What of it?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you. You better just cooperate if you know what’s good for you.”

“But I didn’t do anything!”

“I don’t care who did what, you’re involved in this, and you’re coming with us.” The officer takes Carson’s arm.

Carson jerks away, still glaring at them. “Get off. How’d you two end up in law enforcement anyway? You can’t even tell a good guy from a pile of dirt. What did you do? Buy your way into the department?”

“Alright, that’s it.” The first officer grabs Carson’s shoulder, shoving him around, and twisting an arm behind his back to cuff him. The cuffs click shut before Carson can even react. “Now you’re coming with us whether you like it or not!”

Waylon gets a smirk on his face. “Yeah, you better keep those cuffs on. He’s a mean one when he’s riled.”

“You guys are coming too,” the officer orders.”

“By all means!” Waylon gestures for his friends to follow. “We don’t have no problem with that, do we boys?”

Reagan and Cash shake their heads.

Carson resists being pushed towards the door, his face showing his anger at the situation. “I didn’t start this dang thing!” He protests.

“Move!”

He’s shoved forward and stumbles, almost falling before slamming into the door, his hands still cuffed behind his back. “Push me one more time and you’ll pay.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Take it how you like.”

The officers both corral all four men outside towards the two waiting cruisers, ready to take them downtown.