Hunk

"Tomorrow..." Susanne glances over her shoulder at Chuck, a response on her lips until she hears his next remark. "You realize if you keep saying that, I'll come to expect it all the time." Maybe teasing was the only way to try and hide her reddened cheeks.

Looking back at him though, something about the quiet scene sent Susanne's heart racing again. He thought she was pretty? He himself was drop-dead gorgeous. Realizing her train of thought, she bites her lip and looks back out at the pond before a quiet giggle slips out. She was sitting alongside a moonlit pond with a total hunk. Now who in their right mind would say no to that?

"Tomorrow sounds lovely," she finally answers.

Rising, she brushes off her pants and takes a few leisurely steps closer to the water and just stands watching. It was hard to see much detail in the dark, but the moonlight traced everything in a soft silver glow. "If I'm dreaming, I don't ever want to wake up," she breathes softly.


The little room in the ranch doctor's office remains quiet throughout the day... too quiet. Cindy hates the silence, knowing that it meant her son had not yet woken up. She leaves for a while to check on Kaylee and make sure Wendy had everything she needed, then comes back to Angel's to sit and wait... and wait some more.

Finally, Rick shows up, bringing more documentation than anything else. He was still stumped and still determined to find out what was going on. Though he knew Angel had already checked Jason over, he does as well, finding him stable. It was hard to see Jason like that... so still and lifeless. And even harder to see Katie, trying her best to be strong but Rick knew she hated the separation.

He couldn't confirm if Jason had indeed experienced seizures, but any in-depth examinations would have to wait for more advanced equipment than what they had here. Rick could only hope that if that was the case, that no brain damage had occurred. As for the rest of Jason's physical state, only time would tell, now. Was he in pain? They didn't even know. All they could do was wait. And all of them hated waiting. Rick made the decision that if Jason remained asleep for too much longer, he would want to have him moved to a hospital where they would be able to monitor him more closely and determine if he were simply resting as they thought or if it had moved past that into a coma. In the meantime though... it was still a waiting game.

By the next morning, everyone was even more weary, more from worry than activity. Rick had fallen asleep in one of Angel's office chairs while Cindy had relented to go sleep in one of the guest houses so she could rest better in a real bed. And in the back room of the doctor's office, there is finally, finally a sign of life.

Jason slowly opens his eyes, finding even the dim light painful. Swallowing, it hurt from the dryness in his mouth and throat. Lying still, he tried to sort through where he was, but it was difficult. His half-open eyes roam the room, finding it unfamiliar. Just a little scared, he tries to move, then stops with a quiet groan. His entire body felt like one big lead weight that had been run over by a freight train.

"Katie?" he mumbles. Was she near?
Where am I?
He suddenly realizes that he's sending no signals at all... he's simply talking to himself in his own mind. Come to think of it... emotionally he wasn't feeling much of anything. What was going on? Slight panic set in. What had happened? Where was Katie? Why couldn't he feel her?
"Katie?" he mumbles again, finding it just a little hard to speak clearly. Squinting, he tries to bring things into focus but the light felt so bright to his eyes. Was that her hand he felt in his? "Where am I? What's happening?"


Brown smiles widely and nods at Stacy. "I think Reese is going to like you. I'll get a hold of him and let you know when he wants to meet." He looks around his desk. "And... I guess that's it. You're dismissed."


"You've got to be kidding me." Eric glances in his side mirror to see the flashing lights before looking back at his speedometer. Not now... not this evening... He was already late for a pick-up and now was going to be even later. He hadn't been going that much over the speed limit... kind of... sort of... okay, so he'd definitely been speeding. But it was still light enough out, maybe the cop hadn't noticed that he had a tail light out on the trailer... maybe? Hopefully?

Grouchy the way it was, getting a ticket was just icing on the cake. There went the spare money he thought he'd have left at the end of this run. Pulling off to the side of the road, his truck complains with rattling and grinding, making him cringe. He couldn't afford repairs. Not now. And stopping at the moment wasn't helping matters any. He didn't have time for this. He wasn't in the mood for this. Everything lately was going to pot... why not this?

Putting the semi in park, he watches in his mirror. Sure enough, the police cruiser came in behind his trailer. Great. Sighing, he retrieves his wallet and hunts for his truck registration. He wasn't going to try and fight this one - there really was no point. Straightening in his seat, he glances over to the empty passenger seat and swallows the lump in his throat. This was one truck run that would go down in history as his very worst. And this time through town, he wasn't stopping to see anybody. He couldn't stomach crow right now.

Tilting his cowboy hat back on his head and rolling down the window, he waits for the stern face to appear at his door. Holding out the papers he knew they'd ask for, he just sits, unamused.


Carson slows his run to a jog then a walk, breathing heavily in the still-dark morning air. He tucks his hands in his hoodie pockets and pulls his baseball cap down a little more against the chilly breeze. It wasn't that he liked getting up before the sun, but if he wanted to get in a good run outside rather than on the treadmill, he had to do it before work.

Checking his watch, he noted it had been half an hour, so he turns right to swing back around to the apartment complex. Once he reaches the house though, he stops and cocks his head, looking at the driveway. He hadn't parked his car in the garage last night... had he? No, he'd left it out. But... it wasn't here now. Had Misty taken it for some reason?

He approaches the driveway slowly, his eyes catching a small object exposed by the beam from the street light. Bending down, he picks it up to see that it was a watch with a broken band. A man's watch. A watch that had "ADB" scratched into the back of it out of boredom at some point.

"What on earth..." Carson heads straight for the front door, noting that it was not completely latched - he'd locked it when he'd left the house earlier and he did remember that. Getting inside, he saw the security system had been turned off. "Misty?"

He goes through the kitchen, spotting immediately that his car keys were gone from their place on the counter. He heads straight for the bedroom where he'd left Misty sleeping earlier. It didn't look like she was up yet, but at this point, he needed to make sure she was okay. "Misty?"