The phone dropped to her side, falling closed as it hit the mattress and bounced, leaving Mary Connell feeling… What? What did she feel?

She felt tears sliding down her cheek, expected given the situation, but when it had happened she didn't know. She tried to move, but it felt like she was glued to where she sat, stuck in that same position. She shook her head to herself – No, this wasn't what she should be doing, thinking of herself and of how much Danny's father had meant to her. She'd think about that later, sometime when she wasn't needed somewhere else right now.

She determinedly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, drying it again on the white linen of the sheets she was sitting on. She grabbed her cell phone, found Danny's name on speed dial and hit the call button. The line didn't even ring, all she got was a message saying the phone was switched off and clicked straight over to the answer machine. It wasn't unexpected, but it still gave her a chill.

"Hi," she said into the phone, her voice shakey and broken. "Danny, it's me. Listen, Mike just called to tell me… Call me when you get this message. Please, Danny, I just need to know that you're okay. Please… Just call me, okay?"

She flipped the phone closed again, peeling herself out of the position she was sitting in and kneeling next to the suitcase on the floor. Again, she rummaged through her belongings for something to wear, eventually coming up with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She rushed herself into the bathroom, re-appearing a few moments later with the clothes she had just taken off and the clothes that she had left in there when she had taken a shower. Wow, she thought to herself as she stuffed them into the suitcase without folding them, three costume changes in one day. Delinda would be so proud.

She went around the room, gathering everything that belonged to her, which wasn't much since she'd neglected to unpack. A fact she was more than thankful for now. Finding a pair of shoes and a light jacket in her luggage, she threw them on and pocketing the cell phone as she flipped the case closed again and zipped it up.

She pulled on the case to stand it up so she could pull it out, but it didn't seem to want to move. She thought she might have learnt since she tried this not an hour ago and had the same result, but she hefted again, hoping for some sudden burst of strength. No, definitely not moving, and now was not the time to care. She shook her head to herself, resolving to leave it where it was. She had other clothes, and she would figure out some way of getting it back, but right now it didn't matter.

She left the room, pulling out her cell phone as she closed the bedroom door behind her and hit the redial button on Danny's number. Once again, it switched straight to voicemail, and Mary felt her heart thudding against her chest.

"Danny," she said impatiently. "Danny, it's me, again. Listen, please call me, okay? I just want to hear your voice. I just want to speak to you. Please, as soon as you get this…"

And then, she said something she swore she'd never say to him again. "I love you…"

She paused where she stood, taking a deep breath to calm herself – like that was an option – and looked down the long, dark hall of the dark house. Which room had Jake said was his?

There were doors – lot of them – but Mary didn't have the time or the inclination to try them all. Remember, remember… she urged herself. She thought back to earlier, when he was showing her around. She glanced at them in turn. That one's a bathroom, that one's… Why was she making this so difficult? There was no one else in the house other than them. She opened one door, then another…

Okay, what was the plan? She silently asked herself. Take a cab to the airport and wait for a flight? It was the only thing, wasn't it? She could phone ahead before she got there, get herself put on standby for any outgoing flights. Driving was certainly out of the question, what with the whole ocean thing…

She opened another door, stopping in her tracks when she saw the guy sleeping in the bed. He looked sweet when he slept, she thought, and she wondered absently if she would ever get to see him sleep again. That was swiftly followed by a wave of guilt that she was thinking of something so trivial after what had happened.

"Jake?" she said quietly, feeling her throat blocked by something. When he didn't stir, she tried again, "Jake?" Her voice was a little louder this time, and in return he made a small noise and rolled onto his back.

Mary cleared her throat and tried once more. "Jake?" she said, and she realised it had come out louder than she had intended when she made herself start in the otherwise silent room.

Jake sat bolt upright in his bed, the sheet that had been covering him falling to his waist to reveal a naked torso.

It took a second to register for Mary, but as soon as she recovered her hand flew up to her eyes to cover them because she didn't really want to know if he slept in the nude.

"Mary," he said, when he looked at her, suddenly wide-awake. While she couldn't see him, she could hear the pleasant surprise in his voice. "Hi."

"Hi," she said quickly, "I'm sorry for…"

"Hey, it's okay," he told her, pulling the sheet around himself. He watched her, standing there with her hand over her eyes, and a smile began to form. Until he realised there was a jacket and shoes, and suddenly he felt very under-dressed for this conversation. "Are you going someplace?" he asked.

Mary removed her hand, looking at him and feeling thankful it was dark so he couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I… I have to go back to Vegas."

He immediately looked concerned and she knew she'd always be grateful for that. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

She tried to breathe steadily, suddenly finding her own hands very interesting. "There is," she confirmed. "Danny…" she said as she looked back up at him, but that seemed to be all she could manage before she felt that choking sensation again.

Jake looked blankly back at her, and she could almost hear him thinking, Again? Because it felt like all she ever did was say his name and talk about him, but what was she supposed to do when he was such a big part of her past?

"He, uh…" she began, and then she was fidgeting again, fingers twisting and intertwining. "His father died."

Jake didn't reply, just turned to reach for the nightstand at the side of the bed and grabbed his cell phone. He pressed a sequence into the number pad and waited for a reply on the other end of the line.

"It's me," he said. "Make sure the plane's ready to take us back to Vegas. We'll be there in half an hour."

"No," Mary said, her hands up and shaking her head. "Jake, you don't have to do this," she told him. "I didn't mean for… I mean, I only came in here to tell you I was leaving. I didn't want you to think I just left without telling you why."

"I know," he told her, the call finished. "I want to do this for you."

And then he smiled, and Mary knew this was just another thing that proved what a great guy he was. In other circumstances, she maybe would've argued some more that it wasn't necessary, but on this occasion speed was definitely of the essence.

She nodded, and turned to leave while Jake changed, checking her watch and pulling out her cell phone yet again.