As the sun rose over the horizon, Adam sat outside the ranch, his back leaning up against the house and a cup of coffee in his hand. His head began to bob forward and his eyes shut. He caught himself once, forcing his eyes open. As his head dipped forward once again, a horse pulled up to the front of the house.

"Adam," Tess said. Adam jumped, knocking his cup to the ground. "I didn't mean to scare ya."

"That's alright," Adam said rubbing his eyes. "I just haven't been sleeping to well lately."

"How'r you all holdin' up?" Tess dismounted her horse and approached him.

"It's been over two weeks," Adam said. "It's still rough. It doesn't look good."

"Has the doctor said anything?"

"It's getting less and less likely that Hoss'll ever see again."

"How is he?"

Adam shrugged. "I don't want to say he's accepting it, he's not. It is better than in the beginning. He's starting to get around a little on his own."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Adam asked leaning over to pick up his cup.

"You haven't had much to say about the whole thing. I just thought..."

"I'm fine," he said abruptly. "Hoss is inside." Adam changed the subject. "He'll be glad you're here."

Tess started inside, pausing for a quick second in the doorway to glance at Adam, who had leaned back against the house and started staring at the horizon. She continued inside and back towards the bunk room. She slowly turned to enter and was surprised to see Hoss out of bed and standing by the window.

"Do you hear it, Tess?" he asked her. "Listen."

Tess approached him "Hoe did you know it was..."

"Shh," he interrupted. "Listen. Do you hear it?"

"What do you hear, Hoss?" she asked. "I don't hear anything unusual."

"Don't ya see, Tess, that's just it." He paused. "Little Joe is out by the corral. Don't ya hear'm?"

Tess looked out the window, and sure enough, there was Little Joe, riding his horse by the corral. "But how did you know it was Little Joe, and not Adam, or your Pa?"

"Adam wouldn't be ridin' 'round in circles like that. And Pa's in town." Hoss turned around and felt his way slowly to a chair and sat. "Pa's had a lot of stuff to do in town lately. He says it's cuza Christmas."

Tess moved closer to him. "You don't think so?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "He hasn't spent time like this in town since we moved here."

"Well...couldn't he just be workin' on something special? Maybe for Little Joe?"

"I guess." Hoss paused. "I just keep thinking that all of this has something to do with me."

"He's just upset and confused, Hoss."

"How do you think I feel?" Hoss raised his voice quickly, but then became silent. " It's just... I was right when I said it wouldn't be the same. We all know it's over, me seein and all. It's just hard to accept, it's really hard."

Tess walked behind Hoss and put her arms around him. "It'll get better," she said. "I promise, Hoss. It'll get better."

***************************************************************

Ben Cartwright's horse pulled up infront of the saloon. he just sat there for a moment, thinking of what he wanted to do before dismounting his horse and slowly walking inside. Ben didn't make a habit of going in there, but today he felt as if he needed to.

Taking a seat at the bar, Ben rested his head in his hands.

"What can I get for ya, Ben?" Shelby asked. "Food'r drink?"

Ben was silent for a moment. "Just coffee, please, Shelby."

Ben rubbed his eyes as Shelby turned and got him a cup. "What's wrong, Ben?" she asked. "You're lookin' pretty down in the dumps."

"I have a lot on my mind."

Shelby stood back. "Hoss?" she asked him. Ben didn't answer. "You know," she said. "I ain't much for talkin' 'bout this kinda stuff, but if ya need it, I'll always listen."

Ben took a sip from his cup. As Shelby began to turn from him, he spoke. "He's...not getting better. Probably never will." Shelby approached him once again. Ben continued. "I know that there must be something I can do for him, but the harder I search... the more I come up with nothing. It's the worst feeling as a father, seeing your sons in pain, and knowing that there's nothing you can do...If I could lift all this from him and place it on myself I would."

"Look, Ben," Shelby said. "I ain't never been anybody's Ma. Heck, I don't think I'm ever gonna have the chance. But if I do, I wish I could as good a parent as you are. I ain't never seen anything that you Cartwrights couldn't get through. And I know that this ain't gonna be no different."

Ben put his elbows on the bar and was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, Shelby."