Peter, his uncle, Johnny and Maralyn were informed they could see Justin and that he was in his hospital room. The nurse kindly gave them the number adn told them two at a time and the baby could not come in. Even though it was his cousin, he turned to Maralyn. "You wanna go first? I'll hold Sarah."

Nate flinched when the sound of the bullet rang out. He was shocked when the bullet hit the tree he was hiding behind and he cursed when splinters tore into his face.

Did he see me? No he is running away... What the heck? Nate thought before standing up and giving chase. Slowly gaining on his enemy... He had left his (highly modifided) skateboard on the other side of the road... If need be.

Buck returned to the scene of the crime. He stopped by the spot where Kahlynn and Peter claimed to see the van, and sure enough there were black skidd marks headed westward.

"They could at least know enough not to spinn their tires," Buck said disappointedly.

He drove on, following the road to the west until the next intersection... then he got out to look for clues...

*****

It was a long day for Kahlynn, she made one long thoughtful prayer for her freinds and then she settled herself to take a nap.

Johnny was amazed at the casual way the words came out of his father. But maybe it was shock. Yeah, his father was probably in shock.

Like he was.

Just as he was about to reply, another doctor pushed open a light blue door and scanned the room for Johnny. "Mr. Thomas, Susan can see you now."

And Johnny stood there like a little boy, trapped between two siblings he'd failed to keep an eye on. "I--I, um, promised Susan. You know, Su? She didn't sound great when she called me. And...I need to visit her first. Then," Johnny managed. "Then I'll catch up with you all, 'k?" He offered a polite nod to his father and scuttled off to the safety of the other hallway.

They turned right twice, left once, and curved into wing after specialized wing. The building looked a lot smaller from the outside. Along the way, Johnny made note of two fire extinguishers, a whole lot of hand sanitizing stations, and four possible emergency exits. Making an exit sounded rather appealing to Johnny. This definitely felt more and more like an emergency.

-------

Alec blew out a puffy-cheeked sigh in defeat and jammed the folders back into the console. "Well, if Micah is so out of the question, where do you want to be dropped off?"

Emmy smiled faintly at Brian's mention of writing, glad he changed the subject. "I do like writing," she answered. "I guess it comes from loving to read good stories; when I write, I can make up my own people and places and their stories." After she said it, she wondered if that sounded weird to him, and hoped it didn't. "Do you like writing?"

-------

"I'm up for the park," Logan said cheerily. He glanced at Rosamunde, expecting her to say she'd come too; he'd given up hoping she'd leave, since she clearly intended to stay with them. "You coming, Ro? Or maybe you have something better to do...?"

Buck scoured the area, but to no avail...he decided to return and interview Frank at the jail...

"What do you know about todays incident at the park?" he started

*******

Later that day Kahlynn, was feeling a bit better. And the doctors gave her the go ahead to visit her freinds. She knocked on the door to Justin's room... while silently praying that somehow this mess would turn out ok...

Frank smirked at the guard, who let him out to speak to Buck. He chuckled. "What do I know about the day at the park? What I know is nothing gets by me. The little traitor gets what he deserves."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The nurse let her in. "He's in lots of pain. Come on in."

"I said it once, and I'll say it again," Buck said, annoyed by his cruelty, "What he deserves, is up to the judge to decide." What do you know about that other boy, Ian?

****

"Thanks." Kahlynn whispered to the nurse. She smiled at Justin.
"How are you feeling?"

Frank chuckled at the cheif's anger. "UH, he's my idiot nephew, a spawn of my idiot brother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin winced at hte pain in his chest. "Hi. How are you?" For some reason his head felt lighter but still in pain. "I think I'm missing some hair."

Buck sighed. Frank really was getting on his nerves. He decided to go go interview his brother in the next town...

"Do you know anything about the whereabouts of Ian?" He asked. All of this running back and forth was giving Buck a very serious headache.

****

Kahlynn nodded silently, unsure of what to say. She noticed Marylyn at the door and waved at her to come in. "It's not too bad Justin," she said trying to make him feel better, "it's mostly just in the back, and I bet it should heal well. I'm alright just gotta sprained ankle and some water in the lungs..."

Frank's brother shook his head, sadly. "I don't know. Haven't heard form him in a long time. Said he wanted to move to Ditto Town for a new life. My brother had fed this garbage in his head that stealing was bneccessary and my poor Ian just wanted to get away from it all.
~~~~~~~
Justin didn't have time to react, when he saw Maralyn. "Hey, baby. HOw are you? How's our little girl?"

"Justin!?" Maralyn breathed, stepping into the room. She came to the bed and pulled up a chair. "Oh Justin.....Sarah is fine." she said, taking his hand."How are you?" she wondered, feeling some tears go down her cheeks.

**

"Yes...yes I do. If I find time for it, I love doing it." Brian looked over at her. "Like you said, it can take me to a different world sometimes. I actually was kinda, trying to write a novel. I haven't gotten much work on it, but if you'd like to read what I've got sometime I'd love to hear what you think"

"Anywhere is good" Ian snapped. "Like right here. I'd rather walk then be driven by you! I don't take it kindly to being 'kidnapped' and my family and friends shot at."

David looked behind him and like he had expected, saw that Nate was following him. How did I know you were going to do that.... He put his pistol in his coat pocket, and reached for the holster at his side which housed a slightly more powerful gun. He pulled a Uzi, and popped a clip into it, before turning around and opening fire upon Nate. This should slow you down!

***

"Mr. Thomas" the nurse said, opening a door. "Here is Miss Susan's room. You can have 20 minutes" she said, gesturing for him to enter

"Johnny!?" Susan asked, seeing her door open

Justin saw the tears down his wife's eyes and knew he had to be strong for her. "In pain. Can't say you've caused my heart to hurt as badly in our relationship as my chest hurts now," He teased and tried to smile. "Though I'm sure I'm not nearly as handsome now as I was, either." Then, he asked, "How much hair did I lose?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter was waiting patiently for his turn to see his cousin again. He turned to Kahlyn. "How is he?"

A bullet tore through Nate's wooden leg, splintering it on one side; but leaving it mostly intack. Another bullet just nicked his upper left arm, however it didn't leave much more then a bloody ravine where the bullet went though.

Nate rolled behind a garbage can, drawing a revolver from his boot. Now he fired both weapons at the same time "Does either of us know why we are fighting? I'm not even after you! You don't show up in any of my files" he yelled over the gunfire.

After more interviews, and not getting very far, Buck went back to the intersection, and interviewed some of the people living in nearby houses.

"I saw a van speeding earlier," one guy said, "It went north."

Thanks for your help, Buck said in his stern and professional voice. Imediately he headed northward...

*********

Kahlynn answered Peter in a whisper, in pain I think... a bit weak. Oh by the way, maybe you should call Jen now...