Jack and Peter entered the house to find Amy at the stove. Peter sighed inwardly out of appreciation for her. There was going to be food at the table tonight, and it wouldn't be just takeout.

"You guys are finally here." Amy acknowledged their presence with a nod of her head. "Where's Lou?"

"In the barn," said Jack, pressing his lips together.

Amy stopped stirring, and let her hand swing to her side. "I'm gonna go check on her, then. Dinner's ready." She turned the stove dial to OFF and walked out of the house.

Amy entered the barn and saw Lou standing at Phoenix's stall, one hand hanging over the stall door and the other in her hair. "Lou."

She didn't turn, but shifted a little, indicating to Amy that her sister had heard her. That it was okay to come closer. Amy stepped forward. "You guys took forever. I was waiting all day."

Lou brought her hand down to place on her forearm. "She was standing in here when everything happened."

Amy had already expected the events of that day to be playing in Lou's head, but even then, her lips parted in surprise.

"Maybe right where I'm standing." Lou shook her head slightly.

"Lou, look—"

"I know what you're going to say. That I shouldn't keep thinking about it, that I should have a little mercy for myself. But it's all I can think about. She was…I could hear it in her voice, Amy, she was terrified. But somehow she still stood her ground. For me."

Lou had said that last part with outward disgust, for herself, no doubt. Amy held her breath.

"One thing I didn't hear, though, was her screaming. She didn't make a sound when the gun went off."

There was a glimmer of hope in her sister's voice that propelled Amy forward. "So, you think…"

"She's out there. She has to be."

"She's a really smart girl. I'm sure she got through to him."

Lou turned her head to the side, so Amy could see her profile. "She told me to stay alive."

"This is you being alive?"

It seemed her sister had been ready with that response.

Amy extended an arm and touched it to Lou's shoulder, turning her to face her. "Look at me."

Lou turned. She watched as concern filled Amy's eyes.

"Your forehead."

Lou sighed, placing a hand on the stall and finding a seat on the hay bale.

"Let me get the first aid."

"No, forget it."

The two of them got quiet for a few moments.

"You know, I had this…this ache, this stinging in my chest," Lou began. "The day it happened. It lasted for three days, and then it went away." Her voice faltered, tears forming in her eyes. "It went away, like…like everything was okay again. Except it wasn't."

Amy shifted her weight.

"Why did it go away?" Lou asked, her voice heavy.

The pain and frustration in Lou's voice prompted Amy to go and sit beside her.

Lou turned away from her, burying her face in her hand.

Amy clutched Lou's wrist, trying to move her hand down so she could see her sister's face. "Hey, look at me."

When Lou didn't budge, Amy decided her voice was probably enough to get through to her. It had to be. She began, "Look, I know you don't feel like eating. I don't blame you for that. And I can understand why you might not be sleeping. You're restless, you want to—"

"I keep seeing Georgie." Lou interrupted her, her head still resting in the cradle of her hand. "Every time I close my eyes to try and find some peace, all I can see is…"

Lou didn't finish her train of thought, and Amy was grateful for it. "I didn't know. I'm sorry." Amy thought that Lou would have been crying harder by this point, tears streaming down her face, but it seemed all the water inside her had dried out, like she had no energy left.

Amy felt ridiculous for what she was about to say next, but otherwise found herself at a loss. "Let's go inside. I made dinner." Without waiting for an answer, Amy stood and helped Lou do the same.

Once Lou and Amy were inside the house, Amy led her sister to the dining table, where Jack, Peter and Tim were seated. She then went back into the kitchen to grab two more cups.

Lou sat down in her chair, aware of Tim's gaze on her.

"What's this I hear about you crashing your truck?"

It took Lou a few seconds to form her thoughts. "The truck's fine."

Tim breathed out, exasperated. "I don't care about the truck! I care that you were in it!"

Lou stared into the empty plate in front of her. "I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"Ever since Katie went away to Archie and Grace's, you've been…" Tim trailed off as he met Amy's gaze. There was a warning in her eyes.

Tim tried to choose his words carefully. "You haven't been sleeping. You haven't been eating. How long can this possibly go on for? I mean, first it was your injuries, and them putting you through that wound therapy. I know it wasn't easy on you, and now that we're done with that, you're onto this…? If things don't get better, we're going to have to have you admitted."

Lou clicked her tongue. "Dad, that's enough."

Tim tried again, retracting to a gentler tone. "We're not asking for much. Honey, if you would just eat a little here and there, and sleep, it would help so much."

Amy interjected. "Dad, she can't sleep. She tries, but then…she's disturbed the entire time."

Tim turned to Peter. "Do we still have those injections?"

Lou began staring into the plate again, and her gaze became unfocused after a few seconds. She couldn't be bothered to take part in the conversation happening around her. And what would she be able to do, anyway? Every decision was already being made for her. Peter had decided she wasn't okay to drive anymore, whether Katie was better off being at her grandparents', and now this sleep issue.

"Lou."

She turned toward Peter's voice.

"Is it okay with you? I'll be the one to do it."

Lou had been up for hours and hours already, and she was losing her grip. She knew she was close to disintegrating, that it wasn't too long until she wouldn't be able to hold her own anymore. She nodded.

Less than a half hour later, Lou lay in bed, the blankets encompassing her like a cocoon. Amy sat at her side, facing the footrest, a hand at Lou's shoulder.

Peter faced away from them, standing in front of the chest of drawers, unpacking the syringe needle. He took it out and inserted it into the medicine bottle, pulling back on the plunger.

Amy outstretched her hand to roll up Lou's sleeve, exposing the skin on her upper arm.

Peter walked over and sank into the mattress, tossing a cotton ball and bandage in front of him carelessly. In his hand remained the syringe and alcohol pad, which he brought up to Lou's arm, which he saw was propped up on a pillow. No doubt due to Amy's quick thinking.

Peter rubbed the alcohol pad in a circular motion on Lou's upper arm.

Lou started at the icy sensation, and turned her head toward Amy, her forehead touching against her sister's leg.

Peter surprised himself with how steady he was when he readied the needle and rested the back of his fingers against her skin. "Breathe in for me, will you?"

As Lou took in her breath, he pushed the needle into her skin. Thankfully, she didn't seem to wince.

Once the barrel of the syringe was emptied out, he told Lou to breathe out. He planted the piece of cotton around the injection site and swiftly drew out the needle.

Lou felt Peter press a ball of cotton against her injection site, firmly for a few seconds. Then the intensity lessened, and the touch was gentler, and Lou was sure Peter had given the responsibility over to Amy.

Amy held onto the piece of cotton with one hand, and took her other hand to press against Lou's hair. She bent down, straining her neck, to kiss Lou's temple. She then turned her attention to Peter. "Are you going to sleep now?"

"No, I have something to get in by tomorrow. I need to get that done and then I'll…I'll head back in," he said, freeing the bandaid from its wrapping. "Are you…?"

"I'm good to stay here until you get back."

"Perfect. Thank you." He waited for Amy to remove the cotton, and then pressed the bandaid to Lou's injection site, peeling away the protective sheets and smoothing down the adhesives.

Amy pulled Lou's sleeve down, being careful not to interfere with the injection site.

Peter retreated, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

Amy leaned her head back against the headrest, looking down momentarily at Lou, and was reminded of Georgie. Amy wondered where her niece was, what sorts of conditions she was faced with, when she'd return. If she'd return.

Amy thought back to her and Lou's conversation earlier. The only reason Georgie had kicked down the ladder that day was to make sure her mother would be okay.

Amy closed her eyes, and vowed to herself that she would not betray Georgie's trust, that she'd see to it that Lou would be alright. I promise.