It was one o'clock in the morning on a Saturday when Doug received the telephone call every parent dreads. Grabbing the receiver, he held it to his ear, and Jo watched as his face turned pale. "I'll be there just as soon as I can." Jo heard his voice shake as he hung up. "It's Clay," he told her. "He was shot in the shoulder while attempting to stop a convenience store robbery. He's in surgery now. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Let me drive you to the hospital," Jo offered. "As upset as you are, you're in no condition. I'll wake Jamie and have her watch Bethany." She raced to her older daughter's room and shook he awake. "I need you to do me a favor, hon."

"Huh?" Jamie's voice was thick with sleep.

"I need you to listen out for Bethany in case she wakes up. I have to drive Doug to the hospital. Clay's been shot."

"Oh my God!" Jamie was fully awake now. "Is he still alive?"

"Yes, but he's lost a lot of blood. He's in surgery now. I don't know how long we'll be gone. If we're not back by the time Bethy wakes up, you know where we keep her cereal and juice."

"Yeah, she'll be fine."

Jo drove to the hospital as quickly as possible, then dropped Doug off and searched for a parking place. When she finally found one, she hurried into the emergency room and frantically looked around for her husband. Finally seeing him talking to a physician, she quickly made her way to where they stood. "The bullet was still lodged in his shoulder," the physician was saying. "We've given him two units of blood, and the bleeding's under control. He's resting now. You can go back and see him in a little bit."

"Thank God!" Weak with relief, Doug slumped into the closest seat available, and Jo sat down beside him. He turned to her. "Where the hell was Earl when this happened?"

"He's not a magician, Doug. He helps whenever he can, but bad stuff is still gonna happen sometimes. He didn't prevent Jamie's arm being broken, and this could have been a lot worse, you know. That bullet could have just as easily gone into his head...or his heart."

"Yeah, I know," Doug mumbled. "I sound real selfish, don't I?"

"You sound like a worried Dad, and that's perfectly understandable, but he's gonna be fine." She gave him a reassuring hug, and he rested his head on her shoulder for a minute.

Clay looked quite pale but seemed awake and alert when they went back to see him. "Son." Overcome with emotion, all Doug could do was to hold him and sob.

"I'm fine, Dad." Clay looked very uncomfortable. "It just grazed my shoulder a little."

"I'm sorry." Doug looked terribly embarrassed. "It's just that every time something like this happens, it takes me right back to the day your mother..." He couldn't finish.

"Are you in any pain?" Jo asked her stepson.

"Nah. They're givin' me somethin' in my IV."

"Any idea how long they're gonna keep you here?" asked Doug.

"Hopefully just a couple of days." Clay gave a sheepish smile. "To be honest, I kind of dread goin' back on the beat after this, but the guys from the station keep tellin' me if I don't go back right away, I never will.'

"I'm sure they're right, but I kinda dread it too," said Doug.

As it turned out, they made it back home before Bethany woke up. Jo was so exhausted that she went right to bed, but Doug spent several hours pacing the living room floor.

As predicted, Clay was released from the hospital several days later. Jamie came home from school to find him in his bedroom, watching television. "Hi," she said.

"Hey, sis." He grinned at her.

"How's your shoulder?"

"It's all right."

"Can I see?"

Clay removed his shirt to reveal the neat white bandage covering his wound. "Wow, I'll be that sure hurt!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Felt like my whole arm was on fire."

Sunday arrived. When Jo got to church that morning, she saw that Buck and Paige were there with little Prairie. The little girl had dark brown eyes and honey-colored hair. She was wearing a white dress with strawberries on it and a matching white hat and toddling up and down the aisle. "She's so pretty!" Jo exclaimed.

"Thank you," said Paige.

"How old is she?"

"She just turned a year old."

"How's you shoulder?" Earl asked Clay.

"Much better, thanks."

"I knew you'd be fine," said Earl. "It's good to see you up and about again."