In a corner of the ambulance bay at St Clare County Hospital, Jane sat slumped forward on a low concrete wall. He raised his head to hear Lisbon's side of a cellphone conversation with Agent Cho. As soon as he was discharged, Jane had changed back into a gray three-piece suit. It was fairly rumpled from the day's events; but at that moment, with the jacket folded folded over his crossed arms, he managed to appear careless and formal at the same time.

It was well after midnight. Lisbon, too, had been allowed to change out of the hospital's tie-on gown. She was standing left of Jane, leaning wearily against the bricks on the back of the ER building. According to the nurse tech, her walk-out papers were being prepared (she had finally produced evidence of rehydration and proper kidney function), so she had stepped outside to personally contact her team for the first time in over eight hours.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," she said into the phone. "Nothing a lot of sleep won't cure." She swayed a bit on her feet. "Turns out Freezer Guy was Jerry Reed...the cook at Pete's BBQ... They haven't declared a cause of death yet. Pete, Jr, is in the wind and the APB is out. Everyone's looking for him. The county cops questioned the assistant manager. Two of them came by a couple of hours ago to give us an update and make sure we weren't dead."

Jane rolled his eyes and nodded as he remembered one of them saying exactly that. He passed a hand over his stubbled face as Lisbon continued: "We plan to talk to him first thing in the morning, unless something new turns up beforehand." She listened quietly as Cho related the few pertinent details on the original case that the rest of the team had put together that afternoon.

"I agree - it's gonna be a really big coincidence if Jerry Reed's death turns out to be unrelated to Katie Boren's."

Jane yawned loudly and was too far gone to try very hard to cover it up. Lisbon started the next yawn and tried to stifle it before answering Cho again.

"There's a Motel 7 down the road. It's the only place in town. I'll text you the address when we check in. It may be a while, though." She yawned again, after Cho started up on the other end of the phone. "They haven't cleared me yet. Jane's already been discharged... We're out in the ambulance bay. It's so quiet around here! I think we were the biggest thing to hit them all day."

She chuckled at something the other agent said. "Yeah, it's a hole," she admitted, though not unkindly, of what they'd seen so far of the town. "That's probably why we got lost."

She glanced at Jane. He was practically asleep, staring absently past his shoes.

"Right, I'll email it, then," she said, a bit louder. "This time, if you can't reach us again, you'll know where to start looking."

"Oh, Ha-Ha," Jane piped in blearily. Lisbon smirked tiredly. Jane stood up as he recognized the ER nurse motioning them back inside. He touched Lisbon's elbow to direct her attention, and both looked desperately relieved at the clipboard in the woman's hands. Lisbon made a motion to indicate to her that she was wrapping things up on her cellphone. She was inwardly gratified at having chosen to contact the one agent on her team who kept things short and to-the-point.

"We're okay with just us out here for now," she assured him. "I'll let you know. Just keep working your end and keep me informed on whatever turns up."

Jane stood impatiently beside her, ready to trigger the automatic doors.

"Alright - and Cho? Tell VanPelt thanks for making that call. I think it may have helped to secure a more cooperative relationship with the local sheriff's office... Given what we put them through tonight."

She closed her phone and they headed back inside. Down the hall and to the right, toward the only 'occupied' room at this time of night (which was early morning). They had spent the last several hours lying on gurneys getting poked, pricked, prodded, etc; and questioned by every rubber-necking emergency room employee on duty. They'd had EKG's run and their temperatures taken regularly. Mostly they had been made to sip warm liquids, and follow those up with sweet, high-caloric offerings from the vending machines that were meant to keep their blood sugars from plummeting.

Later, they'd had the privilege of being objects of interest for staff relieving the evening shift. True to his crabby-patient persona (which was not an act), Jane was having almost none of their questions by that time. Except at one point: when asked to describe the environment where they had been found. He'd replied almost cheerfully: "It was like being inside a refrigerator - they even have a light that goes on and off when the door is opened and closed!"

There was a privacy curtain down the middle of the room, but it hadn't actually keep either of them from overhearing what was going on on the other side of it. Not that there was anything to be embarrassed about.

The nurse with Lisbon's discharge paperwork ('Wanda,' per her nametag) was obviously still basking in the excitement of being on the schedule that night. She was thrilled that two of her patients had come in with such a sensational story, and she didn't even know about the corpse that had shared the cold storage room with them. Jane gave her every sign that he was in no mood to chat, but that didn't stop her from bubbling over about what a miracle it was that they had survived unscathed.

Lisbon took the clipboard from her and started signing by all the 'X'-s.

"I mean, thank God that man saw your car!" Nurse Wanda gushed. "It definitely saved your life! At the very least, if they'd found you just a little while later we might have had to keep you overnight." She was unaware, of course, that a few minutes after Craig Davies (assistant manager at Pete's BBQ) had called to report the abandoned vehicle, CBI agent Grace VanPelt had called the local sheriff to brief him on Jane and Lisbon's intended arrival in town and their recently unaccounted-for status.

"I still can't believe you got out of there with those body temperatures and not a bit of frostbite!"

Lisbon flipped the clipboard around and pushed it toward the woman without saying a word. Somewhat startled, Nurse Wanda took the hint, and began pulling off carbon copies for the sleep-jonesing cops. "So here are your discharge instructions," she said brightly. "- and please take these very seriously. I'm sure you're both exhausted right now, but if you follow these to the letter, you'll be feeling right again in no time. Keep those fluids coming. It would be very easy for you to slip back into dehydration over the next few days. You must absolutely stay away from alcohol during that time. If at any point you start to experience any of these symptoms..." She pointed to a list she began reading off of Lisbon's copy. These were exactly the same discharge instructions that Lisbon had had the pleasure of listening to when Jane was being signed out.

"I know- " Lisbon cut the recitation short. "If any of this comes up, I'll call the doctor immediately." She offered the pen back to the nurse and took the paperwork from her hands. "Thank you very much."

"Yes, thank you," Jane turned around and spoke quietly but earnestly, bowing slightly, as Lisbon had already begun heading down the hall toward the exit. Neither could wait to get back into the SUV and hit the nearest shower-and-sack. A county employee present at the rescue scene had borrowed the car keys from Lisbon and followed the bus that brought them to the hospital earlier. The same, an Officer Black, had returned to exchange updates a few hours later. He'd written short but accurate driving directions to the motel for them on a sheet of typing paper from the nurses station.

Jane drew the folded paper from his pocket as they walked to their government-issued vehicle. He heard the automatic locks release, and handed the directions over to Lisbon, who was already pulling open the driver's side door. She climbed into the big car with a groan of protest. A slight chill in the night breeze and basically any move she made reminded her of how stiff and sore she was going to be in the morning. It would take a few days for their muscles to fully recover from the effects of the meat locker ordeal: hours of tensing up and shaking involuntarily.

Jane slurred as he mechanically reached for his seat belt: "Well. I'm not the least bit tired." He didn't settle down in his seat the way he usually did. Lisbon held her hands on the wheel at ten-and-two without realizing it. They were so wiped out that neither could give themselves permission to relax until they reached their destination. Otherwise they'd be snoring with their eyes open.

"This is just down the road," she croaked sleepily. "Doesn't look like it'll be a long drive." She handed the paper back to Jane and realized she hadn't yet started the car. She turned the key and slid the seat forward again, readjusting everything from Officer Black's dimensions. When she reached for the rearview mirror, she was stopped momentarily by her own reflection.

Jane noticed.

"You look fine," he said, as if it were of little consequence.

Lisbon did not think she looked fine. Her eyes were swollen, her lip was cracked and her nose was red. She took this in for moment, then looked over at Jane. He needed a shave and his nose and ears were also chapped. "Thanks." She sighed wearily. "So do you."

They pulled out onto the main road and turned left. In ten minutes they spotted their lodgings for the night.

Lisbon had been ready to snuggle up to her earlobes on a nice soft pillow under a heavy comforter. One look at this place, though, and that wasn't the first thought that came to her mind. The sign by the road had definitely seen better days. Like the one at Pete's BBQ. But the word "vacancy" was clear enough. Up close, it didn't appear to be a seedy establishment. It was cleanly maintained, but very plain and outdated.

"Doesn't look like much in this town has survived the recession," she commented anxiously, her dreams of a comfortable night's sleep almost floating away.

Jane yawned widely. "From the state of things we've seen today, I'd say the recession wasn't the cause for the decline," he remarked. "Though it surely couldn't have helped," he added charitably. "I'm sure we'll learn more tomorrow."

They parked in a space on the side of the motel, and unbuckled their seatbelts. There was one other car in the lot. It probably belonged to the manager. Lisbon sagged down into her seat and pulled out her phone to send the motel's address over to Cho. Their duffel bags were in the back, just something the agents had on hand for out-of-town cases. It had been so long since Lisbon had packed it - weeks, probably - that she couldn't remember what pajamas she had brought, and she sincerely hoped she had an extra pair of socks. She cut the engine and reached for the door handle, and Jane took her other hand.

He'd surprised her again - and himself - but she didn't pull away this time, either.

He squeezed her fingers gently but not hesitantly, in both of his hands, and ran his thumbs across the tops of her knuckles.

"Teresa," he said quietly.

She was ready to fall over from exhaustion, but he had her full attention. "Yes?" she breathed.

He searched her face and then broke into a tired smile. His eyes twinkled. And he nodded, pleased with something.

"Rest well," he said, releasing her hand. And he stepped out of the car.