Dogs

Jason doesn't say anything as Katie approaches and just listens for a moment. A small smile curls the corner of his mouth, and he turns around, slipping his arms over her shoulders and looking down at her.

"Thanks, Katie. I needed to hear that." He leans down to kiss the top of her head, then pulls her in for a tight hug.

Sorry I cut you off earlier. It was just something I needed to know that I could do on my own.

Withdrawing, he looks down into her eyes. "But without knowing you'd be there to catch me, I still couldn't have done it."


Scott wanders slowly down the hall back towards the infirmary, his one hand running lightly along the wall.

"Scott?"

A hand on his shoulder makes him jump and whirl around, his eyes widening.

Reese stands back quickly. "Sorry. Didn't meant to startle you."

Scott is quick to calm his racing heart. "You could wave at me from across the room and it would still startle me," he replies, disgusted with himself.

Reese is about to offer some encouragement, but then decides just to let it drop. "Would you come with me a minute?"

"Um...ok." Scott hesitates, but follows Reese a little farther down the hall to Dalton's and his office.

Reese is pleased to see that Dalton is already back. "Dalton, good... now that I've got you both here..." He makes sure Scott moves into the office before going on. "I just want to be very clear that I'm happy with two tech guys around here. Goodness knows we can use all we can get. I know we're short on space though. So..."

He walks over to one of the walls and taps it with his knuckles. "On the other side of this is a storage closet. The stuff in there can be put elsewhere. So I'd like to take out this wall and open up this office to give you two more room in here."

He turns back to Scott. "And I'll have you know that from here on out, your pay go back up to what they were. No more of this foolish minimum wage."

Scott's eyebrows rise in surprise, and he looks to Dalton, then back to Reese. "Feel better?"

Reese laughs and nods. "Much. I've been biting my tongue for too long."

Something close to a smile surfaces on Scott's face. "What, um... what's your policy about... about dogs?"

"I like dogs," Reese states flatly. "Both Trooper and Domino are welcome here at any given time for any given reason as long as they behave themselves."

Scott visibly perks up. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Reese shakes his head. "Just stick around for a while eh?" He gives Scott's shoulder a pat. "Okay, you two, have at it. I have so much to do now, it's ridiculous."

Once Reese is gone, Scott just stands for a couple awkward moments before looking back over to Dalton. "Um... you mind if I... hang out in here for a while? I don't want to go back to the infirmary yet."