Worry for a nurse

Jade mumbles something close to an "uh-huh," not minding a bit that Dan was telling her to rest more. She just felt so tired. Eventually she sleeps again, waking to another cold cloth, then later around lunch time to a cup of hot tea.

Managing to pull herself up so she can sit in bed, Jade pulls the covers up close, still feeling very hot. Her temperature was down just as little, and Angel had been in to check on her once, but it was obvious now that she'd be down for a day or two. She felt a little more alert now though - enough to realize that she must look a mess.

Sipping the hot tea that Dan had made, she gives him a rueful grin. "Well..." Her voice comes out hoarse and scratchy. "I guess you've seen me at my worst now."

She closes her eyes and leans her head back against the wall. "I miss being in the barn with you."


While it was apparent that Jade would be fine after a few days rest, on the other side of the ranch, Sparky had been attacked much more severely. Instead of his fever going down, it only rose, bringing him in and out of hallucinations and bizarre dreams.

Mid-afternoon, he's already had several visits from Angel, continuing to check on him. During the morning, he'd managed to get down half a cup of tea that Faith had made, but after that, he'd been too exhausted for more. He couldn't remember a time he'd felt this sick - it had been years.

Writhing in bed, Sparky kicks off his blankets for the fifth time, rolling onto his stomach, one arm hanging off the bed as his body tries to cool down. His breathing was shallow and a cough was starting - the first sign of the trouble to come. He desperately wanted to get up... to get some fresh air and get out of bed. But pushing himself up, he just flops back down again, too shaky to try anything. He shivers, even though he feels hot as sweat soaks his hair.

Managing to open his eyes just a little, he sees Faith still with him. It barely registers that she'd been there, in and out all day watching over him. "You're... gonna.... gonna catch it too," he mumbles.


Scott grins at Dalton's teasing, and simply returns to his own work, only to look over a few minutes later to see what everyone else was looking at.

Rick stares over Dalton's shoulder at the footage and he points. "There... zoom into the glass... a little more... little more... right there." He stops, still watching. "Now slow it down another notch... a bit more...." He watches the frames go slowly by until he points again. "Pause it. Right there."

As the video stops, all viewers stare at the scene. Jason blinks, shocked by what he saw. Rick was not surprised. Scott cocks his head, intrigued.

Jason holds up his hand and looks at the mark on his palm, then looks back to the screen.

Holy cow...

The paused frame shows the glass just as it's beginning to burst. But it's not shattering from a central location as might be expected. Happening in real time, one's eyes could only see it burst and would assume that it was like a bomb exploding - that it would shatter from a central location. But this footage clearly showed the point of impact. The glass had begun to shatter in the exact spiral pattern as was on Jason and Katie's palms. The point of origin for the explosion was not a single point, but a pattern that shattered the object so quickly it deceived the eye.


The sound of the brush against the horse's coat is soothing, along with the soft feeling under Mick's fingertips. He missed his own barn, but at least helping the McClains in theirs kept him busy and gave him something worthwhile to do.

The mare turns her head to look back at Mick, almost as if asking what was on his mind. He grins as little and pats her neck. "I always could communicate with horses better than people," he muses aloud.

Continuing to groom the horse, work goes on around him. There were ranch hands, there were clients and there were families of clients. Really, it wasn't all that busy, but from this spot in the barn, one had a pretty good idea of what all was going on during the day. At one particularly quiet moment, Mick spotted Dylan not far away, wandering aimlessly into the barn. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his feet scuffed the ground as he walked. His shoulders were dropped and his head was low - it was not the picture of someone who was happy to be there, let alone happy with life in general.

Mick waits until his son is closer before speaking. After their one encounter while Dylan was going through withdrawal, they had not had any interaction. He keeps his eyes on the horse as he continues to brush her. "I could use a hand if you want to grab a brush," he mentions.

Dylan looks up and scoffs. "I hate horses."

That shouldn't have hurt, but it did just as bit. Mick knew Dylan didn't have to be interested in everything he was, but horses had always been his life. To know his son hated the animals just seemed to put a wider distance between them. "Are you scared of them?"

"I'm not scared of nothin'."

"Everybody's scared of something."

"Yeah?" Dylan looks at Mick with defiance. "What are you scared of?"

Mick pauses his work and finally glances in Dylan's direction. "Losing my family."

Dylan's eyes narrow. "Then I guess maybe you shoulda stuck around, huh?"

Mick wants to fire back with a retort, but he holds his tongue. Today was not a good day for his cravings, but he manages to keep his temper. He had to. "Just because something is my own fault doesn't mean I can't be scared of it anyway."

Dylan smirks a little and leans back against the wall, falling silent. He didn't want to be here. He hated it here. He wanted to go home. At the very least, he wanted to stay in his room here, but Adam had brought him outside for "fresh air." In a horse barn? He had to be kidding.

Mick watches his son out of the corner of his eye. He could see the young man's mind working and dwelling on the negative, and it pained him to see it. Why couldn't he get through to him? Why couldn't he help fix this? "Dylan..." He knew better than to ask, but for some reason, he wanted to. "...you keep talking about me not sticking around. Now I know we've had several encounters over the last year and I've tried getting to know you... but what do you really know about when I left? What have you been told?"

Dylan shifts his weight uncomfortably. He'd been very young, but he still remembered the day Daddy said goodbye. He hadn't understood it then, but he'd been told plenty later on. Why Mick was asking him now, he didn't know, but he really didn't care. At least it was passing the time. "You cheated on Mom and left us," he states flatly.

The pain was enormous, and Mick pauses his brushing, leaning on the mare's back. He kept his eyes busy with cleaning out the brush in his hand. "Did you know that I never cheated? That it was all a trick to get your mother to divorce me?"

"I don't care. From my perspective, the only proof is the pictures. And you did leave. That's a fact. And you never came around again. That's another fact."

"I left because your mother forced me out. As far as visiting, your mother also made sure that I had no rights to see you kids."

"After you blew up in court."

Mick's shoulders drop. "You know all the negatives, don't you?"

Dylan's expression grows just a little sly. "Yep. Stinks, doesn't it?"

Mick turns to face him, exasperation in his eyes. "Did you ever think that there was some positive? Did you ever think that everything you've been told may not all be true? That maybe I did love my children? That maybe I spent years running from my old life just to try and get the pain to stop? In the end, the choice is yours on what to believe. But let me tell you something... I have never stopped loving my family, and that includes you. Had I been allowed, I would have spent every free moment with you and Jade. If I have one regret, it's not letting myself be framed... it's not choosing to move on. It's the fact that I gave up. I was afraid of being arrested if I tried to see you, and I gave up."

Moisture appears in his eyes. "And you know what? One of my greatest blessings is the opportunity to be with you and Jade now. You're both finally old enough that I don't have to be afraid of speaking with you... and your mother allows it, even if it's not her preference."

"Well, I hate it," Dylan retorts.

"Tough!" Mick throws up his hands, startling the mare. "It doesn't matter if you hate my guts. I love you, and I'm not going to pretend I don't." He knew that most of the stories and negativity were being fed to Dylan through Jill's mother and not Jill herself, but no matter, it was obvious that it had all been ingrained into Dylan's head for so long that nothing was getting through to him. "The fact is, Dylan, that there is truth and lies in this world. It doesn't matter what you believe - those truths will always exist. You can stare at a white piece of paper and believe with all your heart that it's purple, but in the end, the truth is that it's white. People will tell you that you can believe whatever you want in life, and what you believe makes it true for you. But it just doesn't work that way. People have created that myth so that they won't feel guilty about believing things that aren't true, or so they have an excuse to choose other religions over God. They don't want to feel the pain of knowing the truth, so they avoid it and say it doesn't exist until they actually believe it. But it doesn't matter. Because truth is truth no matter what. And the truth here, Dylan, is that I did not cheat on your mother. It was not my choice to leave my family. And I love you and Jade."

Dylan could feel the desire to believe rising up within him. He wanted to believe he was loved. He wanted to believe that all these years he hadn't really been tossed aside. But there was so much anger built up in him, that to break it would take more than a single conversation. Spinning on his heel, he walks out.

Mick heaves a sigh and shakes his head wearily. He never should have started that conversation.

"You did a good job."

Mick whirls around to see Adam. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." Adam comes and scratches the mare's neck. "I think I saw a crack form in Dylan. You did a good job at staying calm but giving him what he needs to know."

"I sure didn't see a crack," Mick counters. "All I see is someone who will never believe me and who will always hate me."

"God parted the Red Sea, Mick... you don't think he can soften the heart of one teenager?"

Mick can't help a dry laugh. "Yeah... you got me there."

Adam smiles. "It'll work out. You'll see. It's just going to take time."

"How long will he be here?"

"Oh..." Adam thinks. "Another week or so. Brenda's been keeping a close eye on him, and he's really doing quite well away from the drugs. He's not as nervous and he's not complaining as much about wanting a fix. Physically, his body is beginning to settle down and adjust to not having the drugs."

"His attitude still stinks."

"It does. But we can't keep someone here just because they have a bad attitude. You know that. Once we believe that he's not a risk to himself or to going back to drugs, we have to release him."

"But he still might go back to the drugs."

"He might. You went back to drinking." Adam eyes Mick. "But if we went around thinking that about everybody, we'd have one full ranch here by now. We've got to let Dylan go when he completes the program."

Mick sighs again. "What if he didn't go home?"

Adam shrugs. "It would be best if he could find himself before going home - he wouldn't he as great of a risk then. What do you have in mind?"

"My ranch." Mick cringes a little. "I know he doesn't want anything to do with me but... there are good people there... my brothers and Rosetta, and Dylan's cousins... it's a good atmosphere if he'd just stay."

"Well, he's only sixteen. You might be able to force it if your ex-wife would go along with it."

"That might be harder than convincing Dylan himself."

"Maybe. But it might be worth a try. Do you think Rosetta would go along with it?"

Mick nods. "I think she'd be okay, but I don't want to talk to Jill about it until I've talked to Rosetta. If she doesn't want Dylan around BJ the way his is or something, then I'm not going to push it."