Elizabeth's leg still hurt, even with the extra aspirin. She could easily have slept a few more hours, but instead she was up at the crack of dawn, as per usual. She finished pouring the fresh coffee into two mugs as Johnston ambled into the kitchen. Heading for the table, he chose an apple out of the wicker basket in the center as he sat down. Elizabeth placed a mug in front of him, grabbing a banana when she joined him.
"Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I didn't really expect to see you up this early."
Sending a smile his way, she said, "Thanks. Seriously, Dad, not even the apocalypse is going to keep me in bed."
Johnston smiled, taking comfort in this little piece of normalcy. Both he and Elizabeth were early risers and this ritual allowed them an opportunity to spend a little time together every morning, just the two of them. Some days they read the paper together, talking about current events or debating some important topic. Other days they worked the crossword. During the last few re-election campaigns, Johnston had occasionally used their mornings to run his speeches by Elizabeth. Often it was the only time they saw each other- especially during the election and track seasons. They'd vowed to never let anything interfere with their morning routine; not even the flu. Even when Elizabeth visited Jake in New York last Christmas, she had spent "their" hour on the phone with him.
"No, I wouldn't expect it would. I just figured you might want to rest your leg after last night."
"And miss our morning time? Not happening." Giving a little snort, she continued, "Besides, now that Jake's back, we'll probably only get a half-hour alone."
"Speaking of Jake…"
"Yeah. I scared him yesterday, didn't I?" Elizabeth interrupted as she went to toss her banana peel in the trash, and fill the toaster.
"He's never seen you like that," Johnston said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I told him you'd be okay; that you've been through worse."
Leaning back against the kitchen counter she stared at her feet. "Should I tell him about Topeka?" she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.
"Well, honey, we've talked about this. I think Jake needs to know. But it's not for me to decide what you should do."
"Yeah. I'm just scared the nightmares will come back" She turned away to put the hot toast on a plate. Putting the plate on the table, she took the top piece for herself. She took a bite and chewed for a moment. "You know what I was thinking? I was thinking that if Topeka had never happened, then we wouldn't have our ritual. So—in a way—it was kind of a blessing in disguise."
They sat in silence, finishing their toast. Swallowing the last of his coffee, Johnston stood up, taking Elizabeth's empty mug with him. At the counter he refilled both mugs. Jake limped into the kitchen, trying to smooth down the tuft of hair on his head that insisted on sticking straight up. He looked even worse now than when he'd gotten off the bus, dried blood covering his face. Johnston wondered how often he'd looked that haggard after a sleepless night watching over his son.
"Good morning, son."
"Morning, Dad. Hey, happy birthday, El." Jake replied, dropping into another seat at the table. "You're up early."
"You know I'm always up this early," Elizabeth shot back.
"So, what have you two been talking about?" he asked, stealing a sip of coffee from Elizabeth's mug. She started brushing bread crumbs into her hand, clearly avoiding the question. The move was not lost on Jake. He glanced at his father.
"We were just talking about where we wanted to go on our walk this morning, weren't we, honey?"
"Yes" she replied. "And I think we should just walk; see where we end up."
Elizabeth reclaimed her coffee cup from Jake for one last mouthful. Relinquishing the cup to Jake with a teasing grin, she took the plate to the sink to rinse it. Glancing at his prize, Jake tilted his chair back to reach for the coffeepot.
"I'll meet you out front, Dad," Elizabeth told Johnston on her way upstairs. "I'm just going to get my jacket."
Jake waited until Elizabeth was out of earshot. "Dad, I don't think going for a walk is a good idea after last night."
"She's fine, Jake. She can handle a little bit of pain" Johnston answered.
"I'm still worried about her. You have no idea…"
Johnston held up his hand, interrupting him. "Son, if I know anything, it's just how much a father worries. You never stop worrying about your kids, no matter how old they are." A slight smile appeared on Johnston's face. "Even when they're thirty-two years old and are out there saving the world, facing God knows what kind of danger."
Surprised by his father's comments, Jake tried to explain himself: "Dad, I…"
"When your mother wakes up, tell her we went for our walk, and that I'll stop by the Medical Center to see her later" Johnston said, walking out of the room.
Jake rushed back inside the Medical Center, looking for April. Spotting his mother heading toward him he called out, "Mom, where's April?"
"Jake, where have you been?"
"Where is she?"
"She's down the hall. What's going on?"
Ignoring her question, he brushed past her and kept limping down the hall, looking into every open room. He found April a few doors down the cross-hall, securing a brace around Heather's leg. Gail stopped behind Jake in the doorway.
"April, does the clinic have a fallout shelter?"
Puzzled, she answered. "Yes. What's going on?"
"It's bad. Come on." She takes him to look at it, leaving Gail with Heather.
Heather spoke first, concerned. "A fallout shelter? Why would he need to know about a fallout shel—"
Realization flashed across her face. She swung her legs off the exam table, and reached for the crutches leaning against the wall.
Gail hadn't seen Heather's face. "I don't know. Jake has this tendency to not explain himself," she replied. "Here, let me—"
Noticing the younger woman's confident handling of just one crutch, Gail didn't finish her offer of help. "Let me guess. This wouldn't be your first time on crutches."
The grin on Heather's face said it all. "Nope. Haven't needed them for years now, but I had my share of injuries in school. Mostly from soccer."
"Soccer, huh? Did you play any other sports?"
Heather nodded. "Yep. But soccer and track were my forte."
Heather and Gail stepped out of the exam room, heading toward the front desk.
"Speaking of running… by any chance, has Elizabeth told you why she quit the team this year?"
Elizabeth sat in the rocking chair in Stanley's living room, lost in her thoughts. The pain in her leg had gotten a lot worse. By the time she and Johnston had returned from their short walk, Jake had shifted fully into worry mode. Something bigger than a nuclear bomb was bothering him. Despite his urging, she had stubbornly refused more painkillers; not because she didn't need them—she did—but because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of winning the argument. After Jake finally headed back to the Med Center, Dad had driven her out to Bonnie's house. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be getting her license for a while. Now she sat here, heartily wishing she had capitulated and taken the medicine.
Hearing the screen door slam closed, Elizabeth looked up to find Stanley smiling down at her. She gave him a grimace in return as he sat down next to her.
"Happy birthday. So, how does it feel to be sixteen?"
"No different than fifteen. Although I'm allowed to date now, so—"
"—so now you don't have to hide in my barn to make out with Jordan Casey" he finished for her.
She blushed, ashamed at being found out.
"Hey, don't worry. I won't tell your dad this time. Or even Jake," he said, trying to lighten up the conversation. He could wait to talk to her about what he'd seen in his barn a few nights ago. Now that Jake was home, at least for a while, Elizabeth would find it harder to slip away with Jordan.
"What the hell does Jake have to do with it? Dad's the one who said I couldn't date until I was 16, not my brother" she asked, sending a confused look Stanley's way. "He's back, you know."
"Yeah, I was there when you guys pulled up. The whole town is talking about how he saved that little girl."
"Yeah, he was quite the hero. Good thing he knew how do that…" She stared off into the distance, remembering the previous night.
Elizabeth was sure Jake had assumed the worst about her while they'd headed back to town. She knew she had. Pulling that glass out of her leg had brought back the memories. Then seeing the couple in the other car, dead…It had been too much. Her brain had shut down, trying to keep itself protected. All she could remember during the walk was saying to herself, ̀'not again, not again'…Thank God the bus had still been upright when Lucas and Julie led them back. Somehow, she'd managed to hold on to her sanity enough to help Jake. Jake had treated her like a grownup, not his baby sister, when he'd needed her help. That feeling of being trusted had felt good.
"Yeah" Stanley agreed. Emergency surgery and bus driving, just another couple of Jake's unexpected skills. Someday he was going to write out the list, if only to keep it straight. Maybe not, since Jake didn't have a job that required such a broad range of knowledge. "Hey, when did he get into town?"
"I don't know. I guess around lunch, since he picked me up from school. Man, he was so tired from his flight."
"Flight from where?"
"Japan" Elizabeth said without thinking. She gasped when she realized what she just said. "Crap. I don't think you're supposed to know that."
"My lips are sealed" Stanley assured her, trying to curb some of Elizabeth's guilt.
The front door opened again and Bonnie walked in with her berry baskets. Elizabeth and Stanley waved to her as she headed to the kitchen. Placing the baskets down on the table, she came back to greet Elizabeth.
"I need to get some things done, so I'll leave the two of you to get the house ready for your party." He broke into a grin and made a muscle. "Unless you need my mighty biceps to help lift things for you." He stuck out his other arm in a ridiculous "strongman" pose. Both girls rolled their eyes at him.
"Don't be an idiot, Stanley" Bonnie said out loud. Stanley, faking a hurt look, turned and stomped out to his truck, causing the girls to laugh at him through the screen door.
While Gail and Heather dealt with Heather's discharge paperwork, Jake returned, concern evident in his face. He approached the women to take his mother's hand. Leading her back down the hallway, he prepared himself for an argument. Still, he had to try. Keeping his voice low and calm, he told her about the storm coming in from Denver and the shelter's condition. Then he asked her to pick up Elizabeth and head to Town Hall. Feeling her tug him back, he turned to look at her.
"Jake, I'm not going anywhere." Gail searched his face, trying to gauge how bad the situation really was.
"Mom, I'm not going to argue with you." He glanced around to see if anyone else could hear him. "Go to the other shelter."
She shook her head. "I'm staying."
"Mom! I don't even know if we can fix it." His eyes were starting to look desperate. "And I can't concentrate with you here. Get Elizabeth, and go to the other shelter. Please. I'll be fine." As she continued to look at him doubtfully, he tried again. "I'll be fine. I'm worried about Elizabeth."
"Honey, she's not even home. She went to Stanley's."
"She's at Stanley's?" he repeated. "Yeah, he's got a storm cellar; she should be safe there." He'd rather she was at Town Hall with his parents, but Stanley had always taken care of Elizabeth as well as he did Bonnie. Jake knew his friend wouldn't let him down. "Okay, Mom, just go. Please."
Gail realized there was no arguing with her son, so she reluctantly agreed to head to the other shelter. She hugged Jake and left. Relieved he now had one less person to worry about; Jake leaned on his knees and let out the breath he had been holding.
"Is there anything I can to help?" Startled, Jake looked up to see Heather's concerned blue eyes.
"You know anything about ventilators?" Jake asked, turning to head back down to the basement.
"…and I think he might like me too" Bonnie told Elizabeth, giggling, as they grabbed the firewood and headed back along the porch to the front door. "Stanley doesn't like him."
Looking seriously at the older girl, Elizabeth replied, "Stanley's not going to like any boy you go out with. It's like part of the big brother code or something. Jake and Eric are really on my case too, you know."
Coming around to the front of the house, they discovered Emily Sullivan standing at the door with a man dressed in a Jericho sheriff's uniform.
"Miss Sullivan" Bonnie said, "What a surprise."
"Hey, Bonnie, Elizabeth."
"Emily," Elizabeth said, not happy to see her. Before Jake left she had idolized Emily. But when Chris died, Emily had changed. Elizabeth still didn't see how Jake was to blame for Chris getting shot.
Ignoring Bonnie, Emily, even the strange man with her, Elizabeth focused on the scene. Emily and the officer were in front of her. The patrol car was parked next to the fuel tank, another uniformed man standing at the open trunk. She didn't recognize either man as a member of the Sherriff's Department. Nor could she shake the feeling they were trouble. Something about the man at the car unnerved her, especially the way he kept looking around. As much as she didn't want to speak to Emily, she knew she would have to somehow let her know that these men weren't who they pretended to be.
"Hey, kid." The older man forced Elizabeth's focus back to the conversation at hand. "Come inside with the rest of us." He held the door open, waiting for her. Following him, she walked into the house and headed to the fireplace. There she dropped her armload of wood into the rack.
"So, we'll just use your pump and be on our way" the younger man said in a friendly way as he closed the door behind him.
Bonnie looked up from straightening the wood. "Stanley has the key."
Confusion replaced the smile on his face. His intense eyes moved from face to face. "What did she just say?"
"Oh, her brother Stanley. He has the key to the pump" Elizabeth explained.
"Wait a minute. She's deaf?" The question came from the other man as he turned around in the kitchen.
"Yes." Bonnie replied, following Emily's glance around. At his dumbfounded look, she explained, "I read lips."
Emily moved towards the girls, trying to block the man's view. "When do you think Stanley gets back?" Emily asked, looking at Elizabeth and Bonnie.
"Another hour. He went…" Bonnie started.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What'd she just say?" the younger man interrupted, rather rudely.
"She said it's going to be an hour." Elizabeth was losing her patience now. It wasn't all that difficult to understand Bonnie's speech.
"Oh. We can wait an hour, can't we?" The older man walked back across the living room toward his partner. Elizabeth looked between Emily and Bonnie, hoping to catch their eyes. Instead, both of them watched the men whispering together. Emily looked worried.
Bonnie noticed it too. "Miss Sullivan, are you alright?" The men stopped talking to look at them. Emily tried to laugh it off.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just hungry."
Elizabeth caught the hint. "Why don't we make some food for the officers," she suggested.
It seemed to work. The older man's face lit up. "Oh, I want eggs. It's a farmhouse. You've got eggs, right?" He led the way back into the kitchen at Bonnie's invitation.
Emily looked again at Elizabeth, and shot a quick glance to the far wall, where the couch sat. As the second man approached, Elizabeth followed her hint, noticing the display sitting on the sofa table; including the heirloom handgun that had belonged to Bonnie's grandfather.
"Hey, why don't we all go make something to eat," he broke in, ushering them in front of him to the kitchen. Elizabeth answered Emily's raised eyebrow with a slight nod.
They joined Bonnie at the counter and started preparing eggs and bacon for the officers. Bonnie moved to join Emily at the stove, but Elizabeth stopped her with a touch on the arm.
"Bonnie, I'll help Emily here. You should get the officers something to drink, okay?" At Bonnie's surprised look, Elizabeth looked down between their bodies and quickly signed 'be quiet' and 'danger' while indicating the men behind her. Bonnie's eyes widened as she stepped back to join the men near the sink.
Elizabeth and Emily turned toward the stove and started frying the bacon and eggs. When she thought the men were ignoring them, Elizabeth casually shifted her hands to catch Emily's attention. Looking over her shoulder to make sure the men were still distracted by Bonnie, she caught Emily's eye and signed the words 'trouble' and 'gun'. Emily nodded, mouthing "I know."