A half an hour to forty-five minutes later Bradin is sitting upright in a hospital bed with x-rays of his knee on an examining light on the wall behind him. Jay is sitting in the corner when Ava rushes in and hugs Bradin, " Bradin are you alright?"

" Yeah, I'm Fine; I have one question though. They called you and Johnny from school 45 minutes ago before I left. I had them call Jay before I went down to get x-rays half an hour ago. He's been here twenty minutes."

" I can explain…"

" Really I'd like to hear it because ever since your honeymoon, it seems like Nikki, Derrick and I are last resort."

"Bradin, I was in a meeting, then I had to find Susannah and tell her, and I had to…"

" You should have dropped everything; what if I had been shot and you just now showed up."

"Bradin…"

" They can't perform surgery without consent of a guardian and I would have died."

"Bradin, I am truly sorry for everything."

There is a knock on the door the doctor appears.

" Mrs. Durant, your son has broken his knee into several sections as you can see from the scans. In order to repair this he needs surgery as soon as possible, either today or tomorrow."

" Can I discuss this with my husband?"

" Yes, but the longer you wait the more difficult of recovery it will be."

Bradin speaks up, " I'm going to be eighteen in a few months; can I sign for the surgery."

" If you have a legal adult sign with you."

"Jay will you sign for me; if you could have done anything to different in order to have stayed on the circuit would you?"

" Ava I'm sorry."

The Doctor hands the clipboard of papers to Bradin who begins to fill them out.

"As soon as you finish the nurse will be by to prep you for surgery."

He hands the papers to Jay signs his name on the allotted lines and gives them back to the Doctor who turns and leaves.

Twenty minutes later Bradin is in surgery; meanwhile at the house Johnny drops off Nikki and Derrick. They drop their bags on the floor; Nikki yells to see if anyone is home.

"Bradin! Aunt Ava." Susannah deceases down the stairs to meet them.

" Hey, how was school?"

" Good, I guess, where are Bradin and Aunt Ava?"

"They're at the hospital Bradin is having surgery this afternoon she'll be back later this evening."

" Oh."

"Where's Johnny at?"

" He had to go to a meeting in town."

" Oh, ok, well do you guys want a snack, before you start your homework."

"Sure."

Susannah goes to the kitchen to make them something to eat.