Special Agent Jack Hudson looked over at the desk next to his, and frowned sadly as he observed the woman sitting there. It had been two months since the injury, and Sue had not been the same since. He could not finish cataloging his feelings on the subject: grief, remorse, pain, and, most importantly, love.

If there was any decision in his life he regretted, it was allowing her to stand on that street corner. If only he could go back in time, and have demanded that she stay put in the safety of the van. If only…his mind travelled back to that day.

"I can't get a good visual," Sue told him. "I have to get closer."

Jack's eyes had roamed over the monitors. She was right. There was no way that anyone could read lips with so many pedestrians in the way.

"Tara, could we reposition our cameras?"

"Not without drawing attention to ourselves," the young woman replied.

"Be careful," Jack had said to Sue, as he unwillingly opened the door and allowed her out of the van with Levi.

She answered with a nod and quickly crossed the intersection. Standing at the street corner, she positioned herself and began to read the lips of the suspects in question.

It had all been going well. Without a doubt, he had thought, Sue would get the whole conversation. She would come back and tell them exactly what they needed to know.

And then, a siren sounded. It was meant to stop a speeding car, but guilty consciences and sirens are a poor mix. The suspects which Sue had been observing bolted, and one of them dashed blindly towards her. Trying to get away, barely conscious of what he was doing, he shoved her aside with a savage force in order to clear a path for himself. She happened to be standing next to a brick building, and her head was the first to make contact with the wall. She fell to the ground lifelessly.

Jack instantly forgot everything else. He dashed out of the van, across the street (nearly being run over by three cars in the process), and to the woman he loved. Almost fighting off the crowd which had gathered, he clasped her to himself. He heard nothing after that. All he could think of was how foolish he had been, not telling her that he loved her when he had the chance – no, a hundred chances. When the ambulance arrived, Myles had to pry his arms away before he would let her go.

The next four days were agony. He spent the ninety-six hours exclusively at Sue's side, praying harder than he had ever done in his life. Other friends filtered in and out, some of them leaving a word of encouragement or force-feeding him a few sips of broth or coffee.

There was no sight as beautiful as the one of her eyes when they finally opened. He greeted her, and although she gave a murmured response, he could instantly see that something had changed. She seemed terrified. She was constantly jumpy. She kept turning her head this way and that. Everyone thought that it would pass. It had not.

Jack stared at Sue. It was so difficult to see the woman who had been so focused on her work have difficulty concentrating during any sort of conversation. Because of her deafness, she occasionally had had to ask for repetition of things she had missed, but now she seemed to follow next to nothing. No matter how deliberately he moved his lips, straight in her line of sight, she only seemed to grasp half of what was said. She had not contributed one idea to the team since her return about four weeks ago. He had caught her popping aspirins as if they were candy. She was constantly rubbing her head, flinching, and showing signs of a raging headache. And the terror in her pupils was still there.