Rayna stared at the silent TV in front of her, Maddie's hand gripping hers. She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. Six hours. He'd been in there for six hours.

She heard the door open behind her and turned.

"Rayna, might I talk to you privately?" Dr. Rand asked from the door.

She dropped Maddie's hand and stood up to follow him into the hallway. She stood looking at him, the walls beginning to close in on her.

"I have some bad news," he began.

"Mom?"

She turned to see Maddie standing behind her, her face white.

"Mom!"

She looked past Maddie at Daphne who was still on the couch, but now pointing at the television where she could see Teddy...Teddy walking away from the federal courthouse in handcuffs.

She turned back to Dr. Rand. "What? What happened?"

He looked at her and then at the girls. "Where is Scarlett?"

Rayna shook her head. "No, what happened? Is it Deacon? Beverly?"

He reached over and took her hand. "We don't have to expect the worst."

She snatched her hand back from him as Maddie came up and put her arms around Rayna. "Just say it. What happened?"

"The surgery went well, we were able to remove the lobe of Beverly's liver and transplant it in Deacon. The organ looks really good."

"But?" Rayna asked.

"But there was a complication, with Deacon, after the transplant."

"What kind of complication?" Maddie asked as she moved even closer to her mom.

"I really think I should talk to you alone," Caleb replied.

Rayna shook her head. "No, we both wanted to be honest with the girls. What happened? Is he dead?"

"No, but we did have to resuscitate him on the table," the doctor answered.

"Resuscitate?" Rayna asked. "His heart stopped?"

The doctor nodded. "But it restarted and we're doing everything we can, but we'll have to just wait and see."

"Wait and see what?" Maddie asked.

Caleb looked over at Deacon's daughter.

"We have to wait and see...we'll know more when he wakes up," Caleb responded.

Rayna pulled Maddie close to her, then turned to look back at Daphne. She had not come out of the waiting room, but stayed on the couch, her eyes fixed on the news report. The TV volume wasn't blaring, but Rayna could hear Teddy's name being repeated along with others like "extortion, bribery, and solicitation."

Caleb put his arm on her shoulder. "He's still in recovery. We'll get him moved upstairs in the next hour or so into the ICU unit. I'll come back when you can come see him."

She stood there as the doctor began walking down the hallway.

"Doctor Rand," she called out after him. He stopped and turned back toward her. "And what about Beverly?"

He smiled. "She did great. She's awake and in her room on the fifth floor."

Rayna nodded. Of course she was.

"Mom?"

She turned to see Maddie standing there, her face crestfallen. Rayna took her by the hand and led her back into the waiting room where Daphne sat, her eyes transfixed on the screen listening as the US Attorney held a press conference in front of the courthouse.

Damn you, Deacon. Damn you, Teddy.

She pulled the girls close again, hoping that somehow, someway, things would be okay.

Scarlett pulled back from Gunnar's kiss as her phone vibrated. She pulled it out to look at the screen.

"It's a text from Caleb. My momma's back in her room," she said, her facing turning pink with the blush from what they had just done.

Gunnar set his guitar aside. "You want me to go down with you? See how she's doing?"

Scarlett took in a breath. She knew that Caleb wouldn't understand if she showed up with Gunnar, but at the same time, she hadn't been able to truly explain to her boyfriend just how complicated that mother/daughter relationship was. That was the thing with Gunnar-more often than not, he knew. He knew everything.

She raised her hand up and touched her lips where Gunnar's had just been pressed to hers.

"I'm not sorry," he said as he trailed his fingers along the edge of her face.

"I should go," she replied. She stood up when the door opened and Caleb walked out.

"I was looking for you," he said. "Did you get my text?"

"I was just headin' down there," Scarlett answered. "Is she askin' for me?"

Caleb looked from Scarlett to Gunnar and back to her and nodded. "She is. And I need to talk to you about something."

Scarlett pushed her notebook into her bag and turned to him. "Need to tell me what?" She looked from Caleb back to Gunnar. Gunnar set down his guitar and walked up next to her. "You can talk in front of Gunnar-he's practically family, after all.

"I need to talk to you about Deacon," he answered.

TBC

Just a teaser to set the scene and transition us out of the season finale. This isn't any kind of a prediction of what might happen next season, but just a kernel of an idea I had after watching. Hope you enjoy.