Vincent sat in the drivers' seat, staring straight ahead as he drove down the darkened streets of Hartford. He made no effort to look behind him as he concentrated on the street signs, trying not to recall what he'd seen. He had little luck getting the mental picture out of his head however and had to physically shake himself free of the memory every 30 seconds in order to drive safely.

Maxine had put the moment almost entirely out of her head, she knew that dwelling on the moment wouldn't do anyone any good, and her chief concern was getting to a doctor quickly. She knew there was a strong possibility that Amy was merely suffering from a nasty virus and being overworked, but what she'd seen in a short time had convinced her of the need to get to a hospital as quickly as possible. She sat in the back, holding Amy close to her, kissing the top of her head every couple minutes for security.

For Amy, the moment had not ended; it was like a long nightmare. She was semi-aware of the urge to vomit, and had felt herself being dragged away from her bed and towards the bathroom. Vincent was leaving, she noticed an annoyed look on her mother's face as she tried to position herself so she could walk on her own. The world changed quickly as she no longer felt ill, instead feeling dizzy and cold, the room went dark for what seemed like a moment and then she suddenly found herself in Vincent's arms being carried down the front stairs to a car. Where they were going, or if she was dressed appropriately didn't concern her as she felt someone slide in next to her and prop her up. Whoever it was felt warm and soft and Amy lay her head down as the someone placed a kiss knowingly on her head. The ride seemed to go on forever, but she barely remembered any of it as she faded in and out of consciousness.


Gillian pulled up just in time to see Peter pacing back and forth like a nervous wreck. Something was going on, and he wasn't doing a good job of hiding his concern from the world. Fortunately, her niece was so engrossed in a conversation with someone she wasn't even looking in Peter's direction. Wondering how long Peter had been waiting didn't concern her as she'd been plenty annoyed to have received his call in the first place. She knew it was something she needed to do, but at a huge inconvenience. Walt had finally settled into his car seat for a nap and Ned was reading a Dr. Seuss book to himself, so she didn't honk the horn.

'With my luck, I'll have to get out and remind him to get in the car,' she thought. As it stood, luck seemed to be on her side as Peter immediately noticed them pull up and grabbed Lauren by the elbow, hurrying her over to the mini-van.

"Hey Uncle Peter? Can you guys just drop me off at Taylor's house? We can pick up my stuff tomorrow before we leave; besides it's on the way." She hoped the answer would be yes. Going to Taylor's house seemed like a much nicer alternative then trying to deal with whatever was going on at home… besides, Taylor had asked and it was rude to turn down an invitation, wasn't it?

"Uh, I don't know Lauren… now might not be a very good time…" Peter hesitated, not knowing how much to tell her as he didn't know a lot in the first place. "Maybe when we get home you can ask your mom."

"But then you'd waste more gas and it would be totally bad for the environment and make the hole in the ozone layer way bigger!" Lauren protested.

"Oh, if your mother said it was alright then I could drop you off on the way home from your house, Lauren." Gillian volunteered, not aware of the situation.

"No! I mean… no, it'd still be wasting gas and make more fumes and maybe Walt would wake up and shouldn't Ned go to bed soon and…" she trailed off, knowing it was a losing battle.

"Well, Peter maybe we can drop her off and then if Amy says no we can always just pick her up again." Gillian suggested.

"Yes! I know she'll say yes!" Lauren grinned from ear to ear. "I'm going to call Taylor and tell her we're on our way. Oh, Aunt Gillian, turn left here."