Hope's question was not a surprising one, though Reese had hoped that  perhaps it wouldn't be asked today. He holds his smile though, doing his  best to remain positive but not lie. "Scott is... about the same." He  wasn't too much worse anyway.
"He, um..." Should he tell her  everything? Perhaps just enough that she'd have a general idea but not  too much to upset her. "He opted not to see Justin anymore. I... think  perhaps he was having a hard time dealing with the thought of losing  you." He looks at Hope kindly. "Even if he pushed you away, I know he  still cares for you." Pausing again, he chooses his words carefully.  "Dr. Hawks has been continuing to work with him. As far as I know, he's  had no bad episodes recently, so that's a good thing."
Reese manages to smile again. "He's going to be very glad to hear that you're awake."
"That's  a no-brainer." Eli grins, his eyes twinkling. "You think I'd pass up  the opportunity to have your arms wrapped around me? It's my bike  today." Pulling Scarlet along with him, he heads back through the garage  and stops at his locker on the way so he can grab his jacket. Once  outside, he aims for his bike, letting Scarlet get on first, the sliding  into the driver's seat. Firing up the engine, he revs it a couple times  just for the fun of it.
Making sure Scarlet had her helmet on  and was secure, he sets out of the parking lot and down the street.  Though cloudy, it was a nice day, and Eli takes the long way around  town, letting Scarlet pick where to get lunch. Getting it to-go though,  Eli keeps going until they reach the park. It was nice and quiet today,  which was to his liking.
Parking, dismounting and helping with  the food, he aims for a nice spot under a large shade tree. No table,  but he didn't care much and knew Scarlet wouldn't either. Easing down in  the soft grass and dividing up the food, he ponders a moment before  speaking. "So I made my decision about that job in Florida."
 Justin sighs and lets his eyes fall closed again as Beth goes to the  kitchen. While his ears hear her cleaning dishes and preparing the tea,  his mind wanders in and out of lucidness and back and forth between  reality and a strange, twisted world where time didn't exist. 
 
 Beth's reappearance brings Justin back to the present and he forces his  eyes back open again, doing his best to think clearly, but it wasn't  easy. Being offered the tea, he pulls himself up to sit, though keeps  the blanket wrapped around himself. Accepting the hot drink, he blows on  it a little before taking a sip. The liquid felt good and he hoped it  would help his stomach settle and not upset it again. "Thanks." 
 
 Curling his hands around the warm cup, he leans back, sliding a little  to the side until his head was resting on Beth's shoulder. "Ya know...  I've spent countless hours," he mumbles sleepily, "helping other people  deal with their problems. Then when I've got a couple of my own, I'm a  mess." He scoffs quietly. "Flu on top of it. What are the odds?" 
 
 He lifts his head for just a moment to take another sip of tea before  resting back on her shoulder again. "I'm not sure what's worse.... being  sick or... or sick in the head." He sighs. "Maybe it's time for a  career change."
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