Jack looked hesitant at leaving his granddaughter. As much as he longed to be with Lisa, although he knew she'd try to get him to put what he was feeling into words, he found it nigh impossible to leave Amy's side. He hadn't left the hospital since he'd carried her in. It wasn't just Amy he was worried about either; it was Ty. He'd long since adopted the younger man as a son, back when he was still a boy, and it was for reasons that had nothing to do with his relationship with Amy. He knew Ty was hurting, scared, and there was a good chance of him not taking care of himself and keeping his focus on Amy. It didn't help that the first shift was Tim.

"I want to talk to you," he finally told his ex-son-in-law. His face might be clean-shaven, but his voice was just as gruff as ever.

Tim looked at Lou for help, but she was busy with Peter and their girls. He had no choice but to walk away with the older man. "What?"

"Why haven't you gone to see Amy?" It wasn't what he'd meant to say, but it was as good a place to start as any.

"I was just in there, Jack," Tim tried to laugh it off.

"For the first time since she was brought in." Jack studied the younger man. "I know you love those girls. So why?"

Tim looked out the nearby window. Emotions were as hard for him to put into words as they were for Jack. This time, he sensed he had to do it or at least try. "I lost her, Jack. Same as you did. Only…only I lost her twice. And, yeah, the first time, that was all me. Doesn't make it any easier. I'll never…I'll never get to tell her how stupid I was. Never get to say goodbye. Maybe that's why I can be a little hard on Ty, cause of all the second chances he's gotten."

"You've had your share too. You just…"

"Blow them. I know." He rubbed his forehead, as tired as all the others. "I don't want to lose Amy twice too."

"You lost Marion cause you were running. From the accident, from…what happened after the accident…I've seen you do it time and time again with the girls, whether you realize it or not. Stop running, Tim. Stand and fight. Be there for her. She's gonna need all of us. The reason Ty has all the chances is that he stopped running. He grew up. Now you have to too."

"All I've ever done is run, Jack. Maybe I don't know how to do anything else." Tim said seriously, turning back to look at the older man.

"If you don't want to be meeting Lyndy and Katie again in their twenties, you'll learn." It wasn't a threat, but knowledge of the past and possibility of future. "Is that why you hit Ty?"

Tim shook his head. "It's easier when you have something to fight against…somebody to blame. When he came back without her…I wasn't thinking." He waited for Jack's response but all he got was a 'hmphrf'. "It was easier to blame him than admit the whole thing was, is, out of our control."

"He came back without her because Amy risked her life for Lyndy. He couldn't very well ignore her wishes. A scared little girl DOES NOT belong on a search party." He looked at Lisa who was loading that same little girl into her arms, trying not to wake her. "You gotta promise me that you'll try to watch out for him too." Tim was silent. "Fine. Then I'll stay here with you the whole time."

Tim sighed, not really wanting that. Although his relationship with Jack tended towards the partners and friends these days, he could do without the 24/7 exposure. "Fine."

"And that you'll call me if Amy so much as hiccups wrong."

"I'll call you, Jack. I wouldn't do that to you." Jack had been the father to both girls that Tim himself was always supposed to be. Even he could admit that.

Jack rejoined Lisa, taking Lyndy, needing the comfort of her against his chest. He remembered when Amy was this small; in fact, the two acted a lot alike. He watched as Peter loaded Katie against him and exchanged a worried glance at Lou, then back at Peter who nodded.

After a hot shower and making sure the girls were asleep in her room, Lou found Peter in the girls' room. "What was that earlier, with Grandpa?"

"What?" He turned to face her, his eyes searching her face.

"That look. I'm fine. You know that, right? It's Amy…" She couldn't even say the words, but her sister had very nearly died. Maybe she had died and been revived. Lou wasn't sure and didn't want to even attempt wrapping her tired brain around something she wouldn't want to revisit during normal times, whatever those were.

"Lou." Peter knew better than to argue with her, but he also knew that she was on the verge of breaking. He also knew that she couldn't show it around Ty, the kids, Tim, or even Jack, which left only himself and Lisa.

"She said she saw Mom." She sat on the twin bed, holding one of Katie's stuffed bears, the one that had been hers all those years ago. "That she talked to her."

Peter didn't act like she was crazy or that Amy was, just nodded. "What did Marion say?" He would have loved to meet her, but he hadn't met Lou until several years after Marion's death.

Lou bit her bottom lip. "She told Georgie that she loved her and Katie." Lou was sure that Marion had included Lyndy as well as her third granddaughter, but it was the look on Georgie's face when Amy had said that that meant the most to Lou.

Peter smiled. "Who doesn't?"

Lou managed a small smile at that. "She told Dad that she was proud of him, that she loved him." She knew nothing anyone could have told Tim would have meant more to him. "She said she was proud of me, Peter." She looked up at the ceiling and gave the bear a gentle squeeze before looking back at him. "I remember when I started taking over Heartland, right after Mom died. There were so many changes we had to make. I didn't have a choice. The ranch…We were in so deep all I could think to do was get a bucket and start bailing." She'd been there since that, in her marriage with Peter. "I think a part of Amy hated me for that for awhile, because I wasn't doing things the way Mom wanted, the way they've always been done. The dude ranch, so many other 'projects'…I've had to fight tooth and nail." He nodded. "She's proud of me. For that and as a mom." She paused. "It's easy to think sometimes that…that I'm not a good enough Mom."

"You're a great mom." Peter said, meaning every word.

"I was so scared when I found out I was pregnant with Katie, remember?" He nodded. "And then we got Georgie…Mom was…amazing. She and Amy spoke the same language, of course, but even with me…I was always afraid of not living up to her. I mean, she raised two girls completely on her own, except for Grandpa Jack. Dad…" She paused. "I know firsthand how lucky our girls were. Dad…Dad wasn't able to be in our lives, not like you are with the girls. Some of that was because of Grandpa, yes, but…some of it was Dad. But Mom did it, by herself. That still just floors me. At the ranch, as a mom…I guess I always felt…second best. It's not exactly a feeling I'm great with."

"No one is," Peter said, sitting across from her, listening.

"I remember on our wedding day…Things were moving so fast, seemed like they were so out of control…I remember thinking I wanted her there. And she was. She always was. When Katie was born, when we got Georgie…she was there for all of it." Slowly, the tears began to flow.

*****

Caleb brought Ty another cup of coffee and a plate from the cafeteria. "Man, you gotta eat."

Ty shook his head, taking the coffee and the food, but laying the tray down on the table nearby. "Thanks, but…" His stomach was still tied in one giant knot.

"She's okay now, right? She's just sleeping…" Ty could tell Caleb was thinking about things.

"For right now, but she was earlier too, and…" He looked away, just for a moment. He wasn't about to let another man see him cry and, if Amy were to wake up, she'd worry. "I nearly lost her. For good this time."

"Do you think she really did see her mom?" He'd heard some of the others in the hall talking.

"Amy thinks she did and that's enough for me. That's all that really matters." He thought of how little he'd missed meeting Marion by. Amy hadn't even started school after the accident before he came to the ranch.

Caleb nodded. "Lyndy went home with Lisa and Jack."

Ty nodded. "Good. She shouldn't…she shouldn't be up here. She's so little; she doesn't understand. I don't understand…" He paused. "I don't know what I would do without her. I mean, we've been separated before, but…even when I was overseas, I could still see her, still hear her. And those times we broke up, she was always right here." He had never thought at the time of that as a good thing. "And Lyndy? We could have the biggest family in the world, and sometimes I think we do, but Lyndy is always gonna need Amy. The last thing Amy wants is Lyndy growing up without her."

"I wish I knew what to tell you. I know…I know how I would feel if it were Cass. I think. And I know what it is to see the woman you love slipping away." He remembered his divorce from Ashley, how much he had hurt, but in his case, something good had grown in its place. "But I also know how Amy feels about you. She's going to be scared to death if she wakes up and sees you like this. You look like a zombie." He paused. "You have to try to take care of yourself, if not for you, then for her and Lyndy. They're both depending on you. You can't take care of her if you can't take care of you. And right now, you're the only parent Lyndy has."

The very phrase scared Ty and, while he knew he couldn't even attempt to sleep until he was more assured of her stability, he knew Amy would want him to try to eat. Slowly, a bite at a time, he ended up eating half of the plate and drinking all of his coffee. "Thanks."

Caleb nodded. "Cass and I are the next shift after Tim, so we're gonna be around for a while. If you need anything…even if you think you can sleep or need to leave the room for a bit, let me know, all right?" Ty nodded, watching Caleb leave before turning his attention back to Amy.

Ty gently lay down beside his wife, careful not to get on any tube or wire she needed, and brushed blonde hair out of her face, kissing her forehead gently. "We've got a pretty good family. All of them." He and Amy had long since considered Caleb and Cass part of the Heartland family, whether or not actual blood existed between them. "They all need you. I need you. And we're gonna get through this. We don't have a choice." Nothing else was acceptable to him.