Georgie had helped Katie put on her jacket and boots, and the two girls made their way out the door. As they walked across the yard, Georgie looked down at her sister. Katie was dragging her feet, her head was hung low. Georgie wondered what Katie must be thinking, how she was handling seeing Lou all scraped up. Georgie worried what effect this would have on her little sister.

Georgie wanted to talk to Katie, to try and distract her from whatever she was thinking, but she figured she'd let Katie be for a couple minutes. She didn't want to say the wrong thing because she worried Katie would bolt from her just as she had from their parents. Georgie wanted to create a safe space for Katie, so that she understood that Georgie was on her side, and she wouldn't make her go inside again to see Lou.

Being reminded of Lou, Georgie hoped she was okay too. She sighed regretfully.

Once they arrived inside, Georgie and Katie worked together to get Pogie in the aisle so they could brush him.

Georgie's mind wandered once Katie took the brush from her and began grooming her pony. Georgie hadn't expected Katie to react so strongly to Lou. Peter had sat Katie down the night before and told her that Lou would be in bad shape when she got home, and Katie even seemed to understand and seemed to accept it. Katie had seemed fine the night before…but Georgie knew it was one thing to hear about a loved one being hurt or sick, and another thing to see it firsthand, up close and personal.

Georgie herself had experienced complete shock when she'd seen Lou that first time in the hospital room. Even now, when she knew what to expect, Georgie felt awful seeing Lou so scraped up. She wanted to look away at times, but she knew it would hurt Lou, and she couldn't do that.

For herself, Georgie knew the reason she hated seeing her mother hurt. It terrified her seeing Lou like that because she worried her mother was in pain, or that her injuries would get worse if she weren't careful, or that something would happen unexpectedly and out of the blue, and that she was going to lose her. It brought all sorts of paranoia to her that she couldn't explain or even get rid of.

After a few minutes of silence, Katie said to Georgie, "Is mommy going to die?"

Georgie snapped out of her reverie, her head turning sharply to Katie's direction. "No! Mommy is going to be fine! What—what are you talking about?"

Katie quieted, and Georgie worried she had confused her, or mislead her train of thought. But Katie was right on track. "Mommy looked really sick. Is she going to—?"

"Katie," said Georgie abruptly, interrupting Katie's speech. She knelt on the ground, getting down to Katie's level. She held onto Katie's arm. "Look at me. Katie, mom isn't sick. She's been hurt. You know, it's just like when you and I fall off a horse. We can get scraped up because of that. You understand that right?"

Katie nodded, humming a yes.

"Yeah, so just like when we get hurt, mom helps fix us. She gets us ice, or even bandages if it's really bad. Just like that…mom's been hurt. So, if we take care of her, just like she takes care of us, she will be back to normal. Mommy will be fine…and she won't die."

"Ever?"

Georgie's heart skipped a beat. This was the same worry she had delved on for the past few days. Georgie knew her parents wouldn't be around forever, but she hoped and prayed that when they did depart from this world, that it would happen at a time far off in the future, a time that she couldn't foresee. "Ever. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright, let's get back to brushing your horse."

"Peter! Hurry up!" Amy made her way to the hall.

Peter rushed toward the direction of Amy's voice. "What is it? What's happened?"

"Lou's having a panic attack."

"What!?" He immediately lowered his voice. "Okay, you—you go call Tricia right now. Tell her what's happened, and tell her that she needs to come here as soon as she can. I'll go handle Lou."

"Tricia?"

"Yeah, you heard me. And make sure the girls stay out of the house for a bit."

"No, Lou's not going to want Tricia coming over. It'll just—"

Peter waved a hand. "Amy, this is not up for discussion. I need you to go do as I say."

Peter walked into Lou's room. He saw her blanket and pillow were thrown across the floor. He made his way to her bed, and sat down in front of her. He worried that his touch would make things worse, so he began by just talking. "Lou? It's me, it's Peter. Just listen to my voice."

Lou seemed to grasp on to the fact that Peter was talking to her. She gestured to her neck, saying, "I can't breathe. I think I'm going to die."

Peter was startled. He'd read about these attacks. The victim would think they were in danger of dying, and they'd be unable to breathe, even though physically, they were in good shape. "No, you're perfectly fine, you're okay…" Peter trailed off. "Lou, I need you to breathe."

"I can't." Lou gasped. "I can't. I'm think I'm—I'm going to—"

"You're fine. You're absolutely fine. Just breathe for me…I know you can do it."

Images kept flashing through her mind. Some were from real life occurrences, and some were from dreams. She could barely distinguish from them. The thing they all had in common, though, was that they terrified her. Warren was in every single one of them. She needed to get out this, but to do that, she needed something real to grasp, something to hold onto that would get her out.

"Lou, give me your hand," said Peter.

Lou immediately registered that this was Peter talking to her. What she didn't understand was whether or not he was real. Hesitantly, she brought her hand out.

Peter was relieved Lou was reaching out to him. Slowly but surely, he moved his own hand ahead and took Lou's hand. "Lou, it's Peter. I'm real. I'm with you, and you're safe."

Something seemed to shift. Lou suddenly began to understand that she was safe with Peter, that he was real, and that there was no one else around.

Minutes later, with Peter's guidance, Lou was back to normal. Immediately, she asked about Katie.

"She's alright. Georgie is with her." He quieted a moment. "Lou?" Peter checked. "You okay?"

She nodded, looking down. "Yeah."

He sighed, upset that she had to go through something like this. "Come here," he said, moving to hug her. He figured this was the least he could do to comfort her. He knew how scary these attacks could be, so he wanted to make sure she wasn't alone in this. "You're okay."

"Peter, I was so scared."

"I know…but you don't need to be. I'm here. No one's going to be able to lay a finger on you. Tricia's on her way, alright? You're going to be fine."

Lou closed her eyes. She was able to let her guard down with Peter. He'd been her shelter for so many years, and still continued to be. He'd broken her heart, but somehow, it was still capable of loving him. He was the only one she could trust like this, and he was the only one who could protect her like this. So what had she been thinking when she got with Bennett? She hadn't been thinking, she decided. She shut her eyes tight again, and held onto Peter as if her life depended on it.

They were silent for a bit. Then a couple minutes later, still holding her against him, Peter asked, "Do you know what happened to you just now?"

Lou nodded. "Pretty sure it was a panic attack."

"Right. Just…don't worry about it, okay? It's normal after you've experienced something this traumatic."

"Yeah…I know. I just wish it hadn't happened. Now I'm even more frightened."

"I know, I know. I wish it hadn't happened either. I just think it was because of stress overload. First, we got the news from the police, then the situation with Katie…"

"And grandpa."

"What?" Peter said, gently moving out of the hug. "What's going on with Jack?"

Lou shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine. I want to see him, talk to him…but I feel as if he's avoiding me. Not knowing why is just…killing me."

Peter nodded, understanding. "He'll come around. He needs time to process."

Lou looked up. "You think so?"

"I'm positive, okay? Just don't worry about it," said Peter, smiling at her. A moment later, he stood up, his hand slipping from Lou's.

Peter went and grabbed her pillow from the floor. He brought it behind her so she could lean back on it. Next, he grabbed the blanket from the floor and folded it, putting it at the foot of the bed. He then began looking around, making sure the room was in good shape for when Tricia arrived.

"Peter, what are you doing?" Lou was confused.

"Uh…I'm just making sure the room looks okay for when Tricia gets here."

Lou chuckled. "Peter, I'm not twelve years old. I know how to keep my room clean."

It was Peter's turn to laugh. "No, I know, I just…"

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Both Lou and Peter turned to the door. Tricia had arrived.

Peter immediately moved forward. "Tricia…Dr. Virani, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It's not a problem. I'm just glad to be able to help," smiled Tricia.

"I—uh…" Peter glanced over at Lou, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'll be out in the living room." Peter then stepped out of the room, closing the door shut behind him.

Ty was finished his shift at the clinic, and he figured he'd get a cup of coffee for himself on the way home. He could barely keep his eyes open. He'd been at the hospital all night. He'd slept for maybe one hour. The chair he'd slept in was uncomfortable, to say the least. He had a hard time falling asleep, but it wasn't just the chair, he figured. The situation with Lou had unhinged him more than he admitted to himself. It brought back too much, and he had spent the entire night trying to forget all that as well.

Last night, Ty had called Cassandra and asked if she could make it in a little earlier than she usually did. Thankfully, she had agreed to cover for him until he could make it in. Instead of heading home when Tim and Jack had arrived, he'd gone straight to work.

Ty walked into Maggie's. Looking around, he suddenly noticed Jack sitting alone at a table far off in the corner. Just something about that image saddened Ty. He was confused, as well as concerned. He wondered why Jack was in here. He should be home with Lou and the rest of the family, right?

Ty walked over. "Jack?"

Jack looked up from his empty cup. "Ty, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. I just…came in for coffee."

"Yeah…me too," Jack said, gesturing to his cup.

"Can I join you?"

"Sure."

Ty moved to sit across from Jack. "Okay, Jack…what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on."

"Really? Because I spoke to Amy on the phone a couple hours ago, and she said you haven't been home all day."

"Well, I was working. Then I came here for the coffee. I just like the quiet of this place."

"Jack, this is a diner. I doubt it's quiet in here. Besides, it's plenty quiet at home."

Jack went silent, unsure of what to say.

"What's going on? Why haven't you been to see Lou? She's been asking for you."

Jack looked up, his eyes full of pain. "I don't know, to be honest with you. This is all just too much to take in."

It was silent for a bit. By the way Jack was conducting himself, Ty figured the conversation was over. Jack didn't seem to be in the mood to talk.

But a moment later, Jack spoke. "It's a number of things, I guess…like the fact that she never told me what was happening to her, what he had been doing to her. And I was completely clueless, and for so long too…I can't even begin to imagine what he put her through."

"I get that," Ty said quietly.

"And the fact that I wasn't able to protect her," said Jack, pursing his lips, trying to keep himself together. "I almost lost her, Ty. And I was completely oblivious to it…you remember she hinted that day when she was angry that Tim and I were leaving. She was agitated, she was nervous, and I completely ignored it. And then the next morning. How did I not notice her bedroom door swinging wide open?"

Ty saw that Jack was getting himself worked up. Immediately, he was worried. Ty knew he had to say something, to help lessen Jack's guilt. "Jack, listen to me. None of us noticed. We were all oblivious. It wasn't just you."

"Doesn't matter if nobody else noticed. I'm her grandfather. It's my job to notice. I've always protected and guarded her from the time she could fit in my arms," said Jack, shaking his head. "How did I miss this? How could I let this happen? Can you just imagine…" said Jack, his gaze unfocused on the table in front of him. "...how much pain she must've been in, how scared and alone she must've been…?" Jack sighed. "How will I face her?"

"Jack, please. Don't do this."

Again, Jack was silent.

"Jack, why don't we go home? You've been here long enough."

"Can we stay here a while longer?"

Ty was a little relieved. It seemed Jack wanted his company, and he wouldn't ask him to leave or anything of the sort. "We can stay for as long as you need."

The two men sat in their little bubble for the next little while. The diner was emptying out, and Ty noticed it was only a few minutes to closing time, but he didn't say anything, wanting Jack to be able to have this time to himself before he went home. Ty worried for him though, and he wanted to reach out, but he figured Jack's healing process would take some time. He just hoped that the stress of this situation wouldn't affect Jack's health.

"It's getting late. We should get going," said Jack.

Ty looked up. "I'll drive."