Questions

Watching Angelica leave, Reese can feel her own awkwardness, and suddenly feels badly, knowing it was his fault.

Walking her to the door, he opens his mouth to say something, but she bids him goodnight first. Her calling him by his last name hits him more strongly than it used to... it had been a long time since she hadn't used his first name.

"Goodnight..." His voice trails off. "...Angelica."

Giving a little sigh, he turns back around and closes the door. Leaning back against it, he glances around the empty house. For some reason it felt even more empty than it had an hour ago.


Some nights seem colder than others. And it's not because the temperature is lower, or the because the sun is further away. It's simply the nights when hearts are lonely. Minds are left to wander to places better left abandoned the way they were.

But even on nights like those, eventually the morning sun peeks through, relieving those weary souls and reviving them, bringing them in to a new day.


Axel yawns and reaches for a wrench, only to have it slip through his numb fingers and drop to the floor. Muttering, he rubs his hand, stretching out his fingers until he could feel again, before resuming his work.

"Grease, man, you alright?"

Axel looks up from the van's engine, throwing a smirk in Ron's direction. "Apart from feeling as though I could fall asleep right here? Yeah, I'm great."

Ron works at cleaning out a filter and shakes his head. "Long night?"

"You could say that."

"Hey, Axel!"

He turns in the other direction to see Leo just getting in to work. "Morning."

Leo throws his jacket over a hook and rolls up his sleeves. "What's on for today?"

"Well, we got this bucket of bolts right here..." Axel gestures to the van. "And... if we can get this going, the day is pretty clear."

"Wow. We need some chick in distress or something. It's getting boring around here."

Axel rolls his eyes, though when he turns back to the engine, a little smirk appears. "Just get over here and help me with this."


Carson ties his apron around his waist and jumps into work. At least this morning he'd been able to go jogging, make several stops and still make it to work on time. It felt odd needing to come to work... he was used to just rolling out of bed and being here.

Getting into the swing of things was a bit hard this morning though, even if he had gotten a good start. After dropping several plates, messing up an order and shutting his hand in the refrigerator, he finally opts to take a break, sheepishly apologizing to Herb.

But slipping out into the back hall, he leans back against the wall and closes his eyes, thinking. Other than the late-night fiasco with Dani, the rest of the night had been spent tossing and turning. His mind was so many different places at once, that it was giving him a headache.

Despite feeling halfway settled there was still a lot he had yet to work through. And one subject was just a little more complicated than the others. No matter how much he'd tried to avoid thinking about it the last couple days, he'd been unsuccessful. There was a certain thing that was unfinished, and he simply couldn't let it go.

Yet just the thought of pursuing it sent an odd chill down his spine. He knew what he wanted, but... what was realistic? What was possible? What would happen? Things had turned around so quickly...

Carson looks down and rubs his sore finger. He'd need the stitches out soon. If it hadn't been for that cut...

Rolling his his eyes, he finally moves down the hall to the phone. Picking it up, he dials before he can change his mind. Closing his eyes, he doesn't realize he's holding his breath.


"Hello?" Rick absentmindedly answers the infirmary phone, while trying to keep his eyes focused on his work. But without any sleep, it wasn't easy.

"Hey, Rick. Misty in?"

"Yeah, hang on, I..." Rick suddenly realizes that it wasn't common for Carson to be calling anymore. For just a moment, it had felt like old times. "I mean... yeah. Just a minute."


Carson twirls the phone cord around his finger, waiting. But when he hears Misty's voice, his mouth feels like he'd been sucking on a cotton ball. "Misty..." He clears his throat. "It's Carson. I, um... thought maybe today if you weren't busy, if, um... well..." A dry chuckle escapes. "Who'da thought I'd ever have trouble asking you to lunch?" He shakes his head, annoyed with himself. "I know you're busy, but... if you have time... thought maybe we could meet at the park or something. Supposed to be a nice day... maybe pick up lunch after or...something?"

He bites his lip and waits. He knew he missed Misty, and knew she'd wanted to see him again, but was this such a great idea? Yes... it had to be. There were things he needed to say, and he'd waited long enough.


Scott stirs, hearing voices around him, and slowly props himself up on an elbow, gradually pulling himself up into a sitting position. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck.

"Good morning, Mr. Johnson."

Scott blinks and squints up at Rick. "Hi."

"How you feeling?"

"Terrible."

Rick reaches down to check Scott's vitals. "You've been out for quite a while. Do you remember anything?"

Scott shakes his head. "Not really. Feels like a bad dream or something."

"Scott..." Rick grows a little more solemn, and eases down on the edge of the bed. "How are you really feeling? And I'm being serious about this."

Scott draws his legs up closer, his gaze dropping. "I don't know," he mumbles.

Rick isn't sure if he should really tell Scott what had happened last night or not, but at this point, he decided it was worth the risk. "You, um... were pretty determined in the middle of the night. I... thought for a minute you might not be here this morning."

Scott fidgets with his blanket, the look on his face proving that he remembered more than he was saying.

Rick sighs and reaches to bedside table for some papers. "You and I need to go over these sometime today, okay? Yesterday I met with a really nice young woman who..."

"A shrink."

"A counselor," Rick corrects, deciding that it was time he quit beating around the bush. "She wants to talk with you."

"Yeah... right."

"Scott." Rick's voice grows stern. "I'm not ready to give up on you, so you better not be ready either. Now I haven't had any sleep, I need a shower, I'm in a bad mood, and I'm not willing to argue with you. Do you understand me?"

Scott manages a slight glare, but doesn't fight back. Besides, what he was feeling right now wasn't fun... he knew he needed some way to get rid of what was going on inside of himself. "Fine."

"Good. Now... I'm going to get you a little breakfast... then I'm going home for a bit. I'll be back at lunchtime and we'll talk more."


“Wooee!”

Jen squeals and throws her arms around Kyle’s neck, hanging on for dear life as he spins her around. “Kyle!” She can’t help her laughter, despite the chiding. “Put me down!”

Giving her one last tight hug, Kyle finally relents, letting his sister sit back down on the couch, and he plops down next to her. “Why didn’t you call me?!”

“Because… I wanted to have it checked out first.” Jen’s eyes sparkle as she stares downward, looking at her feet move back and forth. “So the doctor said that he can’t explain it, but it had something to do with my fall and… apparently there’s a nerve connection again and….” Her face lights up. “I get to start more intensive therapy this week…. So I can walk again.”

The smile on Kyle’s face couldn’t be more genuine. “That is totally awesome. You do realize this.”

Jen laughs and nods. “I do.”

“See?” Kyle’s tone softens and he gives Jen a tap under her chin. “I knew you could do it.”

Jen looks at her brother with so much pride and so much gratefulness. “You’ve always been my biggest help, you know that?”

Kyle shrugs. “What can I say? I love my sister.”

Jen just smile and reaches out for another hug. Suddenly though, she draws away quickly. “Oh, but don’t tell Mike yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“I want it to be a surprise.” A bit of mischief shines in Jen’s eyes. “I wanna go through some therapy first and then…”

“Give the poor chap a heart attack, that’s what you’ll do.”

“Well at least I’ll have succeeded in making his heart stop somehow.”

Kyle’s eyes widen before another grin spreads. “I think you know good and well you’ve already accomplished that.”


"He what?!" Wyatt groans from his desk, throwing a glance in the head office direction. "Yeah, alright. I'll be there." Hanging up, he picks up the phone again, dialing quickly. "Katie? It's Wyatt. Listen, Ty's got himself into trouble. I gotta go down to the station. Want to come along?"