Gunnar

Gunnar stood against the wall in the hospital, not sure if he should stay or go. Things, as always, were so weird with Scarlett, but he couldn't imagine not being here for her, for Deacon, for Rayna. Even with things the way they were, this was all the family he really had anymore.

The doctors and nurses came rushing down the hall and into Rayna's room and then it seemed like the world stopped. It felt like that moment when the police officer walked him into the morgue and showed him Jason's still body lying on the table. He stood there, frozen as Scarlett moved toward the sound of Maddie and Daphne. They were crying. He could hear Deacon now and suddenly he was propelled, into the room, his arms around Deacon, holding him, helping him away as the doctors tried to save Rayna.

He held Deacon as they leaned against the wall, Gunnar could feel him shaking, his emotions on his face and coursing through his body. He knew, but he didn't know, what Deacon was going through.

They waited outside the room for Deacon to say his goodbyes when his phone buzzed. It was Will texting 911. He called him back immediately.

"Zach's plane is reach to go as soon as Rayna's sister gets there. Any updates we should give her?" Will asked.

"Shit," Gunnar replied. He didn't really want to be the person to start passing around this news, but people would have to be told.

"I'm really sorry, Will," he started.

"No," Will replied. "Seriously?"

"Yep," Gunnar responded. "Uh...I'll...I'll call Tandy. I know her, a little bit. You said she's taking off soon?"

He got the details from Will and hung up. He stood there for a moment trying to decide if he should ask Scarlett what to do. But she was still with Deacon. He looked over and saw her phone sitting on the couch and decided to just call Tandy himself.

"Yes," Tandy said, her voice hesitant when she answered.

Gunnar took a deep breath. "Uh...Ms Hampton, it's Gunnar Scott. I...I have very bad news. I'm so very, very sorry."

"What?" she asked.

He paused, not wanting to have to actually say the words, to hurt Rayna's sister that way. "I'm so very sorry. It just...it just went so fast."

"But I talked to her...I talked to her this afternoon and she was fine. She was fine," Tandy said, her voice breaking.

"I'm sure they can explain it better when you get here, but it was a complication. It...it just, it just happened so fast.

"Uh, they're going to fly you to John Tone, so I can pick you up there. I know that you'll want to see the girls and…" His voice trailed off, he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Thank you, Gunnar," she finally replied. "I'll...I'll see you when I get there."

He ended the call and put the phone back on the couch. It just never got an easier.

He looked up as Scarlett walked out of Rayna's room, she paused to look at the girls and then came over to him.

"He okay?" Gunnar asked.

Scarlett shook her head. "No, but I don't know how he could be...how any of us will be."

"I talked to Will-Zach's gonna arrange for a plane to fly Tandy out here. There weren't any regular flights that could get her here tonight."

"Has anyone talked to her?" Scarlett asked.

"I...I called her," Gunnar said. "When I knew what the arrangements would be. I called and told her while you were in there with Deacon. I hope that was okay."

"Thank you," Scarlett said, putting her hand on his arm. "That must have been incredibly hard."

Gunnar looked at her, his eyes filled with sadness. "There's nothin' that feels like losing a brother or a sister."

"Miss O'Connor?" a nurse asked as she walked up to Scarlett.

There were two orderlies standing behind the nurse. Gunnar knew why they were here and wondered what Scarlett would do about Deacon.

"I...I don't want to rush anyone, but they're here...from the morgue…" The nurse stumbled slightly over her words.

Gunnar took in a deep breath. He tried to imagine what it would feel like if that was Scarlett in there...how Deacon could...no...he couldn't got there. And hopefully never would have to.

After Bo put Deacon and the girls into Juliette's car, Gunnar waited for a moment for Scarlett. "Do you? Do you want to follow me? Or we can leave your car here and get it in the morning," he offered.

Scarlett looked at him, her face was still awash with pain. "I'm not even sure I remember where I parked," she admitted.

He held out his hand, which she took after a moment. "C'mon...we'll figure it out later."

They walked across the parking lot in silence until they reached Gunnar's car.

"Thank you," she said as he opened the door for her.

He shrugged.

"No, not for this...for before, with Deacon. Thank you for being here."

He looked over at her. "I don't want to be anywhere else, Scarlett."

She nodded and got into the car.

"You doing okay?" Gunnar asked as he paused at a red light. He reached over and took her hand in his.

"I don't know if there is any way to be okay with this," she replied. "I just feel like I gotta get Deacon somewhere where maybe he can close his eyes, somewhere quiet for the girls, for just a minute."

"Probably a good idea not to take them home," Gunnar replied.

Scarlett was quiet. He wished he could say the right thing now, which it seemed like wasn't possible, but then again, there wasn't anything to say that would make any of this okay.

"Scarlett…" he started as he parked in front of the house.

"I just need to get them through tonight," Scarlett said, her voice clipped. "Get them in the house, try to get them to sleep. Everything else can wait until tomorrow."

"I was just gonna say that I'll go pick Tandy up," Gunnar said, quietly. He had to ease back, give her space now. That's how Scarlett was.

She looked over at him. "Thank you...that's...that's a lot of help right now," she said quietly.

He stood in the kitchen while Deacon and Scarlett took the girls into Deacon's bedroom to try to get them to sleep. He looked at his phone-maybe he should just leave now and go to the airport, wait there. He was about to leave a note for Scarlett and go, but Deacon walked out of the bedroom and it felt like maybe he should stick around for a little bit longer. He watched as Deacon crossed the room and sat down on the couch.

"Can I get you something?" Gunnar offered as Scarlett walked into the living room.

Deacon shook his head, then cleared his throat. "Uh, maybe a glass of water."

Scarlett headed for the kitchen and came back with the glass and a small plastic bottle. "I picked up your pills when I ran over to the house earlier."

Deacon took the water and the pills from her, tossing them into his mouth and washing them down. "Thanks."

"You gotta take care of yourself," Scarlett admonished him. "You should get some sleep, too."

He looked up at her. "Not sure I can," Deacon answered.

"Can you try for me?" she asked.

"What about you?" he responded. He looked over at Gunnar. "I don't know that I remember either one of you leaving the hospital yesterday...I mean, today...how long were we there?"

Gunnar shrugged. He had no idea how long they had all been there. Was it last night? This morning?

"Tandy's coming?" Deacon asked.

"I'm gonna go out and pick her up in a while," Gunnar said. "Her flight gets here a little after eleven."

"I called her when they took Rayna to ICU," Scarlett explained.

Deacon nodded. "I...I can't see her tonight," he stated.

"I'll take her to my house," Gunnar offered. "I can call Will and have him make up Avery's room."

Deacon looked at him. "Thanks...I'm not sure...what would I do without y'all?"

Scarlett came over and sat down next to him, sliding her arm around him. "We're you're family. And we'll be here as long as you need us."

Gunnar pulled into the parking lot near the general aviation terminal. Deacon had tried to get Scarlett to come with him, she wouldn't leave the girls. Gunnar thought it was a good idea, plus it would be easier to just pick up Tandy and get her settled back at his house.

He checked in with the guy in the terminal who said Zach's plane had been cleared to land. As he stood there watching the plane taxi toward the terminal, he wondered again how he'd find the words.

Gunnar stood waiting as Rayna's sister stepped down off the plane. It took her moment, then she recognized Gunnar. He crossed over to her, taking her suitcase from the flight attendant.

"Scarlett asked me to come pick you up," Gunnar explained as they walked to his car. "She took Deacon and the girls back to Deacon's house for the night."

"They didn't go home?" Tandy asked, confused. "Is everything okay?"

"Best as can be expected, of course," Gunnar replied. "There's been a lot of media, and Deacon...well, they're all taking it pretty hard."

He lifted the back gate to his car and put her suitcase in, closing the door before he turned to her.

"If it's okay, I was going to take you to my house for the night," Gunnar explained. "I've got a guest room. I'll take you...I can take you to Rayna's in the morning. Scarlett will bring the girls and Deacon over then. She was just hoping they might sleep a little bit tonight."

Tandy sighed. "That's fine...I...it's...thank you, Gunnar."

If he was being honest, he wasn't sure she was thrilled with this turn of events, but then again, he'd only met Rayna's sister a couple of times, so it was hard to tell if that was how she felt, or if the grief and exhaustion was just shutting her down.

As they got into the car, her phone rang. He looked over to see if it was Scarlett and the plans had changed, but it wasn't. It was Rayna's ex-husband.

He put the car into drive and headed toward East Nashville as she repeated the horrible conversation he'd had with her earlier-this time she was the one delivering the unthinkable news.

She was quiet when the call ended.

"I hated having to talk about it with people," Gunnar said after a minute. "I mean, I didn't so much care if they knew my brother had died, but I hated having to talk about how and what and where and how it was all making me feel."

"You lost a brother?" she asked, looking over at him as Gunnar's eyes stayed fixed on the road ahead.

"A couple of years ago," Gunnar replied. "It's a very hard thing to live through."

Tandy reached over to touch his arm. Gunnar dropped his right hand from the wheel and took her hand in his. It was still so hard to talk about Jason, for so many reasons, but tonight it felt like maybe he could share some of that to make it feel a little bit less lonely for someone else.

"The room's just there at the top of the steps," Gunnar said as he opened the kitchen door and let her into the house. "Can I get you something? Something to eat? Drink?"

Tandy walked into the house and dropped her bag on the floor near the couch.

"You have any bourbon?" she asked.

Gunnar closed the door behind him and crossed to the kitchen, opened one of the cupboards and pulled out two glasses. "Absolutely."

Gunnar walked into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. The covers on his bed were thrown back where he'd left them this morning. Scarlett was the one who made the bed.

It seemed like only yesterday they were back here, together again.

And now Scarlett was gone again. And this terrible thing had happened.

And Gunnar felt alone.

So alone.

Thank you to those who have read and reviewed the story. I appreciate it. One more chapter to go here. - RW