When April woke up the next morning, she stretched out on the bed; her eyes opening to a golden morning flow as she thought about the night. At one point, she stretched her hand out to the other side of the bed and caught a glance at the clock.

Her eyes widened at the fact that it was now 8 o'clock and she had exactly an hour before she had to report to work. As she had been a bit under the weather the night before, she had forgotten to set her alarm.

She groaned, hopping out of bed and gathering some clothes to wear before taking a quick shower. When she walked into the kitchen, she was now wearing a maroon shirt and jeans; her hair still wet and wavy as she padded in to find her shoes and keys.

"I thought I heard you up." Daniel mentioned, scooping some eggs onto a plate. "Hungry? I made eggs."

"Yeah." April answered, partially distracted as she looked around the living room. "Did you see where I put my keys?"

"They're probably still in your bag by the door. Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"I didn't call anyone to cover for me." Her expression lit up slightly as she found her keys at the bottom of her bag. "You know you didn't have to stay." Her gaze fell towards the blanket hanging off the couch.

He walked over and kissed her forehead, as if he were checking to see if she was sporting a fever. "I wanted to."

"Like I said before. . . I really think it was just nerves."

"So what made you nervous about going?"

April shrugged lightly as they returned to the kitchen. "I've just never been one to talk about my feelings."

"Now that's true."

She glared at him, then couldn't resist smiling at his boyish grin. "I guess I got it from my dad. He never did like talking about things, which always made it difficult to hold a conversation with him."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to go in today?"

"Did you miss the part where I said that I didn't have anyone to cover my shift? Besides, I've already taken off a couple times in the last week; first when Alex told me take some time off, and now when I had to take off early to go to my appointment-which I now have to take more time off for." She cupped her hand against the side of her face, as if she were shielding her eyes from the sun, or warding off a headache.

"Hey, look at me." He called softly as she slowly met his gaze. "I have no doubt that you're going to make it through this. I am going to be here for you every step of the way. You have your friends and family to lean on and everyone at Baywatch. No one blames you for what happened."

He knew that he had said the wrong thing when her expression grew darker. "His pregnant wife does. You know what the sad thing is? She didn't even get to tell him that she was having their baby."

"Look at me." He called firmly, which got her to meet his gaze again. "What happened is not your fault. I'm sure you did everything you could to save that man, so that he could go back to his wife, but it didn't work out that way."

April shook her head, fighting back the tears. "I could have tried harder. I shouldn't have let him get back into the water-"

"Shh...come here." Scooting the stool closer to hers, he pulled her into his lap, holding her close and allowing her to cry all the emotions she had been holding inside.

"I think my eggs are cold." She quipped after settling down a little.

"Want me to heat them up?"

"No, I should get to work, or I'm going to be late." She looked at her watch and sat up slowly, wiping at her tears. "Thank you for breakfast."

"Of course." He lovingly kissed the top of her forehead as she finished the rest of her cold eggs and stuck her plate in the sink.

"I'm going to clean up and head to work in a little while. I should be home around six-probably no later than six-thirty."

She reached into the fridge to grab a few things for her lunch. "I'll be home around six, or maybe earlier. It all depends on how busy it is today."

"I know you can't take it too easy, but try not to overdo it today." He mentioned as she zipped up her lunch box, she found her shoes and strapped her bag over her shoulder."I love you."

She wiped at her red, puffy eyes. "I love you too."

With five minutes to spare, April walked into the locker room, where JD and Cody were discussing an upcoming race. She put on her best smile for them and just in case anyone else decided to walk through that door, like Mitch or Alex.

"You're on. When's the race?" Cody inquired, lathering some sunscreen on his left arm.

"Tuesday." JD chimed in, giving April a morning greeting. "Hey, April. Got anything planned for this weekend?"

"Not unless the two of you are planning on inviting me to that race on Tuesday."

Cody shrugged at JD. "Why not? The more the merrier."

"Then I would love to." Shoving her bag into the locker, she grabbed a few things from her locker. "I'll see you guys out there." Almost running into Mitch and Alex on the way out, she greeted them with a quick hello in passing.

"April. Got that paperwork for me?"

"I'll have it on your desk by the end of my shift." She told Mitch, before rushing out. According to her watch, she was already a couple minutes late for her shift and the beach was already filling with excited beach dwellers.

By the time that she had reached tower fourteen, April had enough time to clear some of her thoughts away. Not long after, a little boy walked over to her tower, looking quite lost and confused.

"Hi, my name is April. What's yours?"

"Zane." He looked up abruptly from searching the beach. "You're a lifeguard."

"I am. You must come to the beach a lot to know that."

Zane nodded. "Mostly with my sister, but today my mom and dad were not working, so they came too."

"That sounds like fun. Is that who you were with?" She scanned the beach for anyone who might have been searching for a little boy. So far, no luck.

"She's six. . . six. I can't say it." He looked disappointed as he stared at his bare feet that were buried in the sand. "I'm only four."

"That's okay. Is your sister sixteen?"

Yeah! You know how to count?"

"I learned how to count when I was just a little older than you were. My mom taught me and I helped teach my little brother."

"Really? How old were you?"

"Five, was when I really learned how to count. When I was about ten, was when I taught my little brother."

"Oh. My sister never teaches me how to count." Shrugging, he wiggled his toes out from underneath the sand.

She leaned her hands against her knees, so she was at his level. "Maybe your mom could teach you? Or even your dad would probably teach you." He gave a tight-lipped shake of his head. "Have you ever asked them to teach you?"

"No."

In the distance, she spotted a yellow truck driving slowly down the beach. "Hey Zane? Have you ever ridden in a lifeguard truck?"

Parking in her usual spot, she could hardly keep the queasiness down. Although it hadn't been plaguing her all day, she hadn't much of an appetite and had opted to leave her lunch in the fridge-heading to the pier instead to take a much needed break- before returning back to work.

She figured out now that skipping lunch, definitely the wrong idea as her stomach lurched forward. It took another few minutes for her to catch her breath, before she was able to walk up the stairs to her apartment. As she slid her key into the lock, she kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen-instead of letting sleep outweigh her need for food.

The pan, spatula and cutting board that was used that morning, were now in the drainer beside the sink. The counter that had been meticulously cleaned, put a much needed smile on her face. It was just the way that she liked it, and she was thankful that she had someone who knew her so well.

So when he walked through the door carrying a bag of groceries, she was reassured that she had picked the right man. "Good you're awake. How was work?"

"Today was pretty uneventful." Stretching her legs out onto the couch, she watched as he unloaded the bag of groceries. " There were a lot of minor rescues: a couple of teenagers that were playing around and went too far into the water, a little boy that got separated from his family on the beach, people trying to sneak beer in with their belongings. What's for dinner?"

"My mom's famous chicken noodle soup." He pulled out a big pan from the cabinet. "Did I ever tell you about the time my friends snuck beer onto the beach?"

April shook her head, hand now resting on her stomach. "I think you must have left that part out when we met."

"Trust me, it wasn't really that memorable. One of my friends, who unfortunately could swim to save his life, was goofing around and ended up falling into the water. Thankfully my parents had made me take swimming lessons since the age of seven, so I was able to dive in after him and pull him out of the water. Since it was one of the more dangerous areas of the beach, I still remember my subtle and touching words to him-"

"I can only imagine."

"Yeah. . . remind me to kill you if we get out of this." He minced vegetables as he went on. "Thankfully, he promised to sober up after that. I think he even learned how to swim, if I remember correctly. How's your stomach?"

"Honestly, I felt a little nauseous on my way home. Now that I'm off my feet, I'm feeling a bit better."

"Good. You can stay there until I'm finished. And I hate to tell you I told you so, but will you think about staying home tomorrow?"

"If I can get someone to cover for me." April settled back down into the couch, letting her eyes close. "I probably just need some food in me and some sleep."

"You rest. I'll let you know when dinner is ready?"

"April." Daniel gently shook her awake. "Here sit up. It'll help you wake up faster."

"Mmm… That smells delicious. How come you've never made this before?"

"I've never had the need to. You've never been sick."

"Neither have you." She pulled the tray into her lap, smiling as she saw a small vase of flowers resting above her bowl. "The flowers give the tray a nice touch."

"I'm glad you think so."

Talking had been replaced with silence and silver spoons scraping against the bowl. Just when she had finished half of her soup, was when her stomach lurched forward. A few drops of soup landed on the tray as she set it down abruptly on the coffee table and ran for the bathroom.

When she came back a few minutes later, she had an apologetic glance as she sat back down next to him. "Feeling better?"

Nodding, she picked up her soup. "I'm just going to put this in the fridge for later. I think I have a phone call to make." Patting his knee, she got up with a sigh; put the bowl in the fridge and walked into the bedroom.

When she had found the found she had needed from her address book, she waited for someone to answer on the other end.

"Hello?"

"JD, it's April."

"Hey April. What's going on?"

"I have a favor to ask. I know that you're not working tomorrow, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind covering for me?"

"Sure. What's going on?"

"I'm just a little under the weather, that's all. I think I need a day to rest and do nothing, and I'm not sure that I would be any help being there tomorrow."

"So that's where you were. I was wondering where you were today. Of course, so were Alex and Jesse."

"Yeah, I ended up at the pier for my break, and went back to work afterwards." Curling her legs into her a body, a thought ran through her mind if she should have told him that. Now she would have to find somewhere else to go when she needed to think.

"Do you need me to bring anything by?"

"No." She offered a little too quickly. "I mean. . . I actually have someone that's taking care of me, but thanks for the offer."

"Sure. Let me know if there's anything that I can do. You should probably also call Mitch or Alex and give them a head's up that you won't be in tomorrow."

"I will. I'm hoping that it's nothing other than some kind of 24-hour bug." April chimed in hopefully. As they ended their conversation, she had some unsettling thoughts as she laid her head back against her pillow.