Sara ignored her cousin as he put his arm around her shoulders.

She asked Jeffrey, "Who are you seeing for this?"

"Lindley," Jeffrey answered.

"Did you tell him about your father?" Sara snapped the chart closed. "I can't believe he didn't give you an inhaler. What's your cholesterol like?"

"Sara." Hare snatched the chart from her hands. "Shut up."

Jeffrey laughed. "Thank you."

Sara crossed her arms, anger welling up. She had been so worried on the drive over, expecting the worst, and now that she was here, Jeffrey was fine. She was inordinately relieved that he was okay, but for some reason she was feeling tricked by her emotions.

"Lookit," Hare said, popping an X ray into the lightbox mounted on the wall. He gasped audibly, saying, "Oh my God, that's the worst I've ever seen."

Sara cut him with a look, turning the X ray right side up.

"Oh, thank God." Hare sighed dramatically. When he saw she wasn't enjoying his sideshow, he frowned. The thing that made Sara both love and hate her cousin was he seldom took things very seriously.

Hare said, "Missed his artery, missed his bone. Cut right through here on the inside." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Nothing bad at all."

Sara ignored the evaluation, leaning closer to double-check Hare's findings. Aside from the fact that her relationship with her cousin had always been riddled with fierce competition, she wanted to make sure for herself that nothing had been missed.

"Let's turn you over on your left side," Hare suggested to Jeffrey, waiting for Sara to help. Sara kept Jeffrey's injured right leg stable as they turned him, offering, "This should help bring your blood pressure down a little. Are you due for your medication tonight?"

Jeffrey supplied, "I'm late on a few doses."

"Late?" Sara felt her own blood pressure rise. "Are you an idiot?"

"I ran out," Jeffrey mumbled.

"Ran out? You're within walking distance of the pharmacy." She leveled a deep frown at Jeffrey. "What were you thinking?"

"Sara?" Jeffrey interrupted. "Did you come all the way over here to yell at me?"

She did not have an answer.

Hare suggested, "Maybe she can give you a second opinion on whether or not you should go home tonight?"

"Ah." Jeffrey's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Well, since you're giving a second opinion, Dr. Linton, I've been experiencing some tenderness in my groin. Do you mind taking a look?"

Sara offered a tight smile. "I could do a rectal exam."

"It's about time you got your turn."

"Je-e-sus," Hare groaned. "I'm gonna leave you two lovebirds alone."

"Thanks, Hare," Jeffrey called. Hare tossed a wave over his shoulder as he left the room.

"So," Sara began, crossing her arms.

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"What happened? Did her husband come home?"

Jeffrey laughed, but there was a strained look in his eyes. "Close the door."

Sara did as she was told. "What happened?" she repeated.

Jeffrey put his hand to his eyes. "I don't know. It was so fast."

Sara took a step closer, taking his hand despite her better judgment.

"Will Harris's house was vandalized today."

"Will from the diner?" Sara asked. "For God's sake, why?"

He shrugged. "I guess some people got it into their heads that he was involved with what happened to Sibyl Adams."

"He wasn't even there when it happened," Sara answered, not understanding. "Why would anyone think that?"

"I don't know, Sara." He sighed, dropping his hand. "I knew something bad would happen. Too many people are jumping to conclusions. Too many people are pushing this thing out of hand."

"Like who?"

"I don't know," he managed. "I was staying at Will's house to make sure he was safe. We were watching a movie when I heard something outside." He shook his head, as if he still could not believe what had happened. "I got up off the couch to see what was going on, and one of the side windows just exploded like that." He snapped his fingers. "Next thing I know, I'm on the floor, my leg's on fire. Thank God Will was sitting in his chair or he would've been hit, too."

"Who did it?"

"I don't know," he answered, but she could tell from the set of his jaw that he had a good guess.

She was about to question him further when he reached his hand out, resting it on her hip. "You look beautiful."

Sara felt a small jolt of electricity as his thumb slipped under her shirt, stroking her side. His fingers slipped under the back of her shirt. They were warm against her skin.

"I had a date," she said, feeling a rush of guilt for leaving Jeb at her house. He had been very understanding, as usual, but she still felt bad about abandoning him.

Jeffrey watched her through half-closed eyes. He either did not believe her about the date or he would not accept that it could have been anything serious. "I love it when your hair is down," he said. "Did you know that?"

"Yeah," she said, putting her hand over his, stopping him, breaking the spell. "Why didn't you tell me you have high blood pressure?"

Jeffrey let his arm drop. "I didn't want to give you one more fault to add to your list." His smile was a little forced and incongruous with the glassy look in his eyes. Like Sara, he seldom took anything stronger than aspirin, and the Demerol seemed to be working fast.

"Give me your hand," Jeffrey said. She shook her head, but he persisted, holding his hand out to her. "Hold my hand."

"Why should I?"

"Because you could've seen me at the morgue tonight instead of the hospital."

Sara bit her lip, fighting back the tears that wanted to come. "You're okay now," she said, putting her hand to his cheek. "Go to sleep."

He closed his eyes. She could tell that he was fighting to stay awake for her benefit.

"I don't want to go to sleep," he said, then fell asleep.

Sara stared at him, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. She reached out, smoothing his hair back off his forehead, leaving her hand there for a few seconds before putting her palm to his cheek. His beard was coming in, a speckled black against his face and neck. She brushed her fingers lightly along the stubble, smiling at the memories that came. Sleeping, he reminded her of the Jeffrey she had fallen in love with: the man who listened to her talk about her day, the man who opened doors for her and killed spiders and changed the batteries in the smoke detectors. Sara finally took his hand and kissed it before leaving the room.

She took her time walking back up the hallway toward the nurses' station, feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. The clock on the wall showed she had been here an hour, and Sara realized with a start that she was back on hospital time, where eight hours went by like eight seconds.

"He asleep?" Ellen asked.

Sara leaned her elbows on the counter of the admitting desk. "Yeah," she answered. "He'll be okay."

Ellen smiled. "Sure he will."

"There you are," Hare said, rubbing Sara's shoulders. "Hows it feel to be in a real hospital with the big doctors?"

Sara exchanged a look with Ellen. "You'll have to excuse my cousin, Ellen. What he lacks in hair and height he makes up for by being an asshole."

"Ow." Hare winced, pressing his thumbs into Sara's shoulders. "Want to fill in for me while I run out for a bite to eat?"

"What've we got?" Sara asked, thinking that going home right now probably was not the best thing for her.

Ellen gave a small smile. "We've got a frequent flier getting fluorescent light therapy in two."

Sara laughed out loud. In the obscure language of hospital lingo, Ellen had just informed her that the patient in room two was a hypochondriac who had been left to stare at the overhead lights until he felt better.

"Microdeckia," Hare concluded. The patient was not playing with a full deck.