Thanks for the reviews so far. On the advice of garrettelliot I will slow down a bit and allow the drama to unfold more. Hope everyone enjoys and keep telling me what you think:)


Jen sat in the small room waiting for Dr. Stiles to call her in his office. She was exhausted…only having gotten a few hours of sleep. After leaving the morgue yesterday, she walked for hours…nowhere in particular really, just trying to clear her head. Her cellphone rang a few times, but she didn't bother answering. Later when she checked her messages she found they were from Garret. Having been in court all afternoon for a case, he had got wind of what happened earlier that day and wanted to see how she was doing. In the end she never returned his calls.

Hearing the door to Stiles' office open, she turned to see him walk out. "Good morning Jen…ready?"

She took a deep breath and walked inside. For the next hour, they talked about her childhood, mostly little things at first. He wanted her to feel comfortable talking with him. By the end of the session she was able to open up a little bit about what happened to her and it took several more sessions before the full story finally came out.

After that, Jen met with Stiles every other day for the next three weeks. After the first meeting he prescribed her with sleeping pills since she had mentioned her trouble lately with nightmares and insomnia. Now, due to a week-long conference he was required to attend, she wouldn't able to schedule another appointment until he came back. A part of this worried her…afraid she might have a setback in the progress they were making. He assured her that she would be fine and if she needed anything, all she had to do was call.


The week passed by quickly and Friday afternoon Stiles stopped by to see how she was doing. Surprising to her, she only called him twice while he was gone and that was only early in the week.

"You look good…how do you feel?"

"I'm fine…been sleeping better at night and…"

They were interrupted when Garret walked in. "Jen…" She watched as he paused in the doorway and then look at who she was talking to. "I didn't realize you were in the middle of something…I'll come back later."

"No…you're not interrupting. We're just talking. Was there something you needed?" She kept her gaze on him. Neither had talked much to the other the last few weeks and she knew it was partly her fault.

Uncomfortable, Garret walked back in. "I just came by to see if you had the file on the Lindsey case."

"It's right here." She quickly grabbed it and walked over to him. Jen felt Garret's hand brush against hers as he took the file. Looking at him, she watched as he looked past her and towards Stiles.

"Howard…good to see you." Without another word he left.

During the whole time, Stiles observed the awkward interaction between the two. A few times when they talked she mentioned Garret, but she always said they were friends. He got the impression that there was more to it and this seemed to confirm it, unfortunately he never got a chance to bring it up.


Garret was pacing his office trying to figure out what to do. The morgue had a total of five new bodies awaiting autopsy…Jordan was on call for a homicide…Bug and Nigel were trying to fill in where needed. To make matters worse, he didn't have a clue where Jen was. She was more than an hour late with not even a phone call from her. He couldn't understand how one small kiss could change things the way that had.

He was jolted from his thoughts when the phone rang.

"Macy!" He snapped.

"Garret…its Jen."

"Jen…where the hell are you?"

"I'm…I'm at the airport."

"What do you mean your at the airport…I don't remember authorizing a vacation. We have five new bodies that came in last night…your needed here."

"Garret…give me a chance to explain. I'm at the airport because I'm catching the next flight out to Ohio…I have to go home for a few days."

He could hear a change in her tone causing him to worry. "What's wrong?"

"My mother…she…passed away last night. I have to go home for a few days and take care of things."

Taking in a deep breath, Garret felt like kicking himself for snapping at her initially. "Jen…I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do…"

"No…look…my flight is boarding. I'll see you in a few days."

Before he could say anymore the line went dead.