Gunner's ears heard the knock at the door, but somehow the sound just
didn't register in his brain as anything he needed to pay attention to.
He also heard someone's footsteps, but made no move to get up and see
who it was - friend or foe.
Only after Hope said
something did Gunner's mind focus enough to realize who it was, and that
she was standing right here in his living room with him. Even so, his
eyes didn't move, as if his senses had grown too sluggish to react.
He
shrugged at her question. "I guess." His gaze remained in a stare, not
really focusing on all the scattered papers. There was a lot of
information here. And all had been read by him over and over, countless
times. What should have been burned was now at the surface again, being
studied and dissected once more. The case of his family's car accident.
All of the trails he'd been on. All the leads. All the dead ends. It was
all right here. Yet instead of reading them closely, they looked liked a
puzzle that had been dumped in a pile with no rhyme or reason. And he
sat on the edge. Just watching.
He swallowed hard and
let his head lean back against the wall. "Missing puzzle pieces are
never really lost," he commented quietly. "Just...misplaced. That's all.
They still exist. Somewhere. You just have to find them...to make it
all fit... Somewhere." His eyes never left the mess. "The piece is just
misplaced... But it's here... somewhere."
Sitting in the grass felt nice, and Jared was glad Grace had suggested going outside. Even the sun was out, and that felt good too. He'd wanted to stay locked inside for so long, but maybe being outside wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Leaned back against a tree, he watched Grace work. She made it look easy, her hands seeming to know exactly what to do. It still hurt sometimes, but even so, he was starting to realize that it was all part of the process, and she was only helping him.
He scrunched his nose at her question. "Eh... kind of. I was talking to the doctor the other day and complaining that things weren't going faster. He explained I'm dealing with muscles that weren't used for a while so they need work, but also nerves that are healing and that's why I can't control much movement yet." He knew Grace already knew all that, but repeating it helped him process the information. "Kinda feels like a vicious cycle... Damaged nerves hinder movement, but without movement, my muscles don't get strong." He sighed, but managed a wry grin. "Guess that doesn't really answer your question though, does it?"
Without warning, he flinched, wincing at the pain in his lower back and leg that Grace was working on. He bit his tongue from complaining though - he knew from experience that griping just made her dig deeper. "I suppose I feel a little stronger," he admitted after the pain subsided. "I mean, I made it to the door today without falling on my face, so that's an improvement."
"Well, duh." Hunter grinned and gave Katie's hand a teasing tug. "If I didn't go out with you, I'd just go get myself in trouble, you know that."
How true that would have been, not all that long ago. Of course, at the moment, there was still a little bit of truth. He hadn't done anything crazy since getting back from Texas, but the temptations were still there - some days stronger than others. But having Katie around helped keep him in check, especially when they had evening dates. Avoiding the bar scene wasn't easy, even though he'd been dry for a short while now. Getting together with Katie guaranteed a clean evening.
Their food being brought interrupted the conversation, and Hunter let Katie's hand go to sit back and make room on the table. A short prayer preceded the meal - a habit Hunter was trying to get back into, though still often forgot.
