Loony Bin

Rosalyn was more than happy to settle in to Chad's lap, just leaning her head on his shoulder and listening. She sighed deeply, but was glad to know he hadn't had any encounters with her dad. And even though she'd sworn Clint to secrecy, she couldn't be mad at him for pointing Chad in the right direction.

"I don't want to keep you from anything important... but I can't say I'm not glad you can stick around for a little while." Her fingers fiddled with a button on his shirt. "I've got some cleaning jobs now, but the hours are a bit flexible if I'm creative so... I should be able to spend time with you." 

It felt odd...talking about a job. She'd just worked at the ranch as a part of daily life for so long, that having actual jobs that she couldn't just reschedule however she wanted was a new sort of sensation. And at the moment, it was also a bit depressing, since all she wanted to do was spend every moment with Chad. "I have Wednesdays and Sundays off too," she added.

She glanced up before leaning in and giving his lips another soft kiss, then returned to nuzzling into his chest. "Things have been...so...hard." Her voice started to quiver as tears filled her eyes. "I... I just... I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want you to feel responsible." She sniffed. "Dad, he... Things just got worse and worse. I couldn't.... I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm...so sorry I pushed you away. Clint's the only one who knows I'm here. I couldn't even tell my mom and...and it just breaks my heart."

She wiped her eyes, though tears remained. "But... This...having you here... It at least makes what I did worth it. I know I already said thank you for coming, but...thank you...again."


After taking another bite of the sub, Garret's eyebrows rose at Sapphire's offer to help with her workload. He thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Don't know if I'm any good at it, but I can follow directions."

He cocked his head, giving her a queer look. Was her behavior...normal? In his world, he'd feel the need to be quite suspicious at this point about her motives. But what about in this world? "I'd actually like something to do, other than stare at four cell walls the rest of the afternoon. You might wanna clear it with Nate though. I'm not sure anybody wants me near any of your computers."

"You as good with computers as you are beating people up?"

Garret glanced across the table to Jason. "Truth? I'm computer savvy, not tech savvy."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Meaning...?"

"Meaning I can navigate, and I can type better than a five-year-old. I've got passwords, access codes and more, but I can't do the hacking." Garret tried to ignore Jason's mistrusting stare. "So if you're worried, don't be."

"Oh, I'm not worried. We've got kiddie locks on the important stuff." Jason stood and cleared off what was left of his lunch, throwing Sapphire a warning glance. He wasn't trying to be arrogant, and he wasn't upset - he just wanted to make sure she was careful. Truth be told, he was envious of Sapphire's ability to connect to people. He just didn't want anything bad to happen with Garret. "While you two work, wanna finish that paperwork on the Fulmer case?" He grinned. "Then I'll owe you one..."

It wasn't too long before Garret was in Sapphire's cubicle on an extra chair, taking a swig of Mountain Dew. He scrunched his eyes as he swallowed hard, and put a hand to his chest. "Man...been a while since I had this stuff. Forgot how sweet it was." He shrugged and took another sip. "Okay so...now that I'm headed towards a sugar high, what do you want me to do?"


Justin thumbed through the book Hope handed him, and nodded. "Thanks. I really appreciate this." He glanced around her office for a moment and grinned. "I've always wondered about working in an actual office, rather than running all over the place to visit my clients. And then I wonder about my claustrophobia kicking in."


Glancing first left then right, Gunner put a finger to his lips, winking at the young patient smiing at him. There was momentarily no one at the nurse's station. 

Hopping up to sit on the counter, Gunner grabbed the phone and hit the intercom. "Calling Nurse Bree to the front office. Calling Nurse Bree. Your vampire awaits."

"Mr. Franklin!" One of the nurses had returned, and swatted his arm before grabbing for the receiver. "Get your hind end off this counter at once!"

"Help!" Gunner struggled to get his last words in before she hung up. "I'm being abducted by aliens!"

Giggles made him look over his shoulder at a couple kids on their way back to their rooms, and he waved.

"Gunner!" It was the little girl that trotted over to him, despite the orderly's promptings to remain on task.

Gunner slid off the counter and gave the girl a gentle hug. "Hey there, kiddo. They're trying to kick me out. Can I come hide under your bed?"

"Yes!"

"With a teddy bear? I'm scared of the dark."

"Uh-huh!"

"No." The nurse smirked. "Has anyone ever told you that you belong in a loony bin?"

Gunner laughed. "You have no idea."

Bar of Gold

Chad can't help but laugh at all Rosalyn's questions as he shook his head slightly. She was so adorable and it made it even more so that she didn't know she was. Every breath, word, question, moment was special with her. 

Taking her hand and lowering himself down on the step Chad pulled her into his lap and just wrapped his arms around her. Giving her a kiss to the top of her head he just leaned his onto hers as the sun warmed his face.

   "I can stay as long as you need or want me too. My brother is covering the on field work for me, and I have my laptop with me I can work on some research, and what not from there. So I wont be totally slacking...though if I did it would be for a great reason."

Leaning back and letting out a small breath of air Chad was quiet for a moment thinking about the rest of Rosalyn's questions. He could see the slight worry in her eyes and it made him sad that she even had to. He new part of it was his fault and he did feel a little bad.

   "I'll more than likely be staying at a hotel here in town. Yes it was Clint, and I original called the ranch when I couldn't get you on your phone but no one answered there. I was getting worried so I did go to the ranch and talked with Clint. I didn't see you dad, so I dont know if he new I was there or not."

   "You'll get use to people like Justin being here one moment and than gone the next. In a hurry they always are, but I guess its with good reason."

Leaning back in her chair Sapphire give a yawn and a groan that followed. She had a pile of work waiting for her but she really didn't want to work on it. Today was just one of those days and she'd rather be else where.

Looking at Garret for a long moment she wondered if maybe he could help her? Work wouldn't be to bad if there was someone to char with every now and than or at least maybe it would go faster. 
  
   "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be good at sorting, and data input would you? I've got a mountain of work waiting for me and very little motivation to do it. It would be nice to have some help. I'll even share a Mountain Dew with you as payment and thats like getting a bar of gold right there."
   
Waving back at Gunner Hope shook her head. They had, had a good session today and she was thankful for that. They had been making progress even if it was small amounts at a time. It was still something and it pleased her.

Taking the notes from Justin Hope flips through them quickly for a moment. Seeing they were about Garret she was thankful for them. In case anything happened and Justin wasn't around she'd be prepaired. It was nice to be included as well.

   "Great, thank you. These will come in handy. I hope I wont even need to use them, but definitely nice to have to look over so I am not in the dark. Just in case."

Putting the paper work on Garret into her desk Hope turns her attachen to Justin once again as he has a new question. Thinking for a moment she chews on the tip of her pen absentmindedly. Getting up and wondering over to her bookshelf Hope scans them all before reaching out and grabbing one. Thumbing through it for a moment she figured this might be the best on for what little she new.

   "Here you go. This book covers a wide verity of different things dealing with depression, and loss. Some stuff might not even pertain to what you are handling but I think it would be the best thing to look through and see what does. I know I have another book too but I think its at home. I'll take a look tonight and let you know next time I see you."