It was several years later when Cassandra found herself mopping up the floor in a hospital hallway. The redhead had developed a love/hate relationship with hospitals. She hated them in the sense that the worst moments of her life had been spent in them. But, at the same time, she had spent so much time in hospitals over the years that they had become a place that she was so incredibly comfortable in. As much as she hated them, she couldn't help but feel at peace while walking these halls, and it was for that reason she had taken the job as a janitor at her local hospital.

This wasn't how Cassandra had imagined her life would end up. She had been a smart kid, with top grades and a wall full of trophies. Her parents had had big plans for her. But life is funny, and things rarely tend to go as planned. Fate had different plans in store for Cassandra and it was because of that she found herself working the night shift as the hospital janitor.

It wasn't all bad though. Cassandra glanced up from her mopping to steal a glance at Phillip Porter, the handsome young doctor that she had been seeing the past couple years. Phil had been there for her when no one else had, and she couldn't believe her luck that she had found a man like him. Cassandra smiled as he looked up from his clipboard and met her gaze. He returned it, half heartedly, before starting towards her. However, instead of stopping to say hello, or even acknowledging that she was in the hallway at all, Phil walked past her as if she wasn't even there.

It was okay, though. Cassandra was used to that. Phil was a busy man, and an asset to the hospital. He didn't always have time for her when he was at work. She understood that. Cassandra had work to do, too. Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, she turned her attention back to her mop and the dirty floor.

…

Jake walked through the door to his favourite bar for the first time in a long time. Nothing had changed. Of course nothing had changed. Nothing ever changed in this place.

He spotted his old friend Lamia sitting alone at the bar and made his way over to her. He took a seat in the stool next to her and signalled to the bartender to bring him a beer.

"Took you long enough, cowboy," Lamia didn't bother to look in his direction as she spoke. "You've been out of prison for what, two days now? And you're just finally making your way back to this old place?"

Jake shrugged, sipping the bottle the bartender had brought him. "I figured I should lay low a bit. Try and get my life straightened out first, ya know?"

"You do all that in two days?"

"Nope," Jake smiled. "But I got a job and that's a start."

"Well then, I suppose that means you can buy me a drink, then?" Lamia finally turned to him, a sly smile on her face.

Jake didn't say anything, but signalled to the bartender to bring a second beer over. He had known Lamia long enough to know that was her drink of choice. Once it was delivered, she raised her bottle to Jake.

"Cheers," she said as he clinked his bottle to hers.

"So what have you been up to since I last saw ya, Lamia?" Jake asked.

"Oh you know, same old same old," she answered casually. "Oh, there is one thing that's changed."

"And what's that?"

It was at that moment that a burly looking man approached the two, a sour look on his face.

Lamia smiled. "Just that there's a man I've been seeing."

Jake turned to look at the man that had approached, realizing immediately that he must be Lamia's boyfriend. "Hey man. This ain't what it looks like."

"It looks like you're buying drinks for my girl," the man grumbled as he raised his fist.

Jake hit the ground before he even had a chance to apologize, to explain that he and Lamia were just old friends who hadn't seen each other in awhile.

…

Cassandra didn't know what happened. One moment she was in the hospital lobby, silently mopping, the next she was laying in a heap on the floor. She had stumbled over her cart of janitorial supplies on her way down, knocking it over with her.

"Not this, not again,' she thought to herself as people came running over to her aid. Amongst those rushing over were Phil, as well as Ezekiel Jones, an orderly she had befriended during her time at the hospital.

"Cassandra, are you okay? Ezekiel asked, helping her up.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled weakly. She wasn't fine, but she didn't want to admit that. "It's okay, Jones. You should get back to work, I'm fine. Really."

Ezekiel looked hesitant, but he nodded and walked off, glancing over his shoulder at his friend to make sure she was still standing. The other people who had come over also started to drift off, leaving just Cassandra and Phil.

"Not this again, Cassandra," the doctor said, not a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"No," Cassandra shook her head. "It's not like that, Phil. I just tripped, that's all."

Phil sighed. "You're sure? Maybe you should go home and get some rest," he said, a little more caring this time.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," she said.

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

Cassandra smiled. "Yes, of course I would."

Phil nodded in understanding and then walked off without another word. Cassandra hadn't exactly lied. She had a history of random outbursts, but this felt different somehow. For one thing, her eye hurt. She hadn't fallen that hard, and she didn't remember her face hitting anything on the way down. So why was her eye throbbing?

…

The lights were on in his trailer when Jake returned home that night. Remembering that he had left them off, that meant someone else must have broken in. He should have been more concerned, but he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

"Baird?" he asked as he opened the door, not even bothering to look around to see if she was there. Instead he headed straight to his freezer to get an ice pack for his eye. He hadn't looked in a mirror yet but he was pretty sure it would have already started to bruise.

"So the rumours are true? Two days out of prison and you're already getting into bar brawls?" the blonde woman called out from his couch.

"Not my fault," he mumbled, making his way over to her. "I didn't even fight back this time. The hell you hear about this already, anyways? It only just happened!"

"Word travels fast around here," Baird shrugged. "Not to mention I'm a cop. When Jacob Stone returns home after two years in prison, we kind of make a point to keep tabs on him."

"Yeah well, you're wasting your time," he plopped down in a recliner across from the couch Baird was sitting in. "I'm not looking for trouble."

"No, but it still has a way of finding you," she raised an eyebrow at him. "Listen, Stone. We're friends, but I'm still a cop. I have a job to do, whether I want to or not. So can you please try a little harder to stay out of trouble?"

"Honestly, Baird. Have a little faith," he smiled.

"Says the man with an ice pack on his eye," she said as she got up and headed to the door. "I mean it, Stone. You're out on parole, it's not a free ride. One wrong move and I'll personally see to it that you're back in prison."

Jake waved his free hand at her. "Yeah yeah. I can always count on you, Eve."

He watched as she rolled her eyes at him before slipping out the door. She was tough, but he was glad to have her in his life. These days especially, he needed someone he could count on to keep him straight. Baird was always there for him, whether he wanted her to be or not.