A/N: Here we are, back in the present for another short chapter. And one of my reader's predictions is about to come true: Madison will soon have to face her uncomfortableness with hospitals.

Review!

)O(

"Is there anything you miss about your life before?" Madison blurted out that night. She had been talking about her past with Dr. Eberson, and she found herself wondering about his. The good parts, too, not just the bad ones.

"My life mostly revolved around work, so I can't say I miss that much." But even this wasn't entirely true, as he did in fact remember certain aspects of the job fondly. At least back then he was doing something important. Jayden tapped his fingers absently on the tabletop. "I suppose I do miss my piano though."

Long before the days of ARI and tripto, it had been the one thing that offered some kind of escape.

"Really? Huh...I never would have pegged you as the type."

"Yeah, neither would I." Jayden muttered, watching the snow fall. This city really was magnificent in the winter.

"Well," Madison grinned devilishly. "You know what happens now, right?"

"Sorry?" He looked at her, confused. What the hell was this crazy woman planning?

"You have to show me, of course." she said. "I know of a place with a piano that's open this late. I want you to play for me. Please?"

Jayden was more than happy to oblige.

)O(

The frost had a way of turning all the trees silver.

Madison still didn't trust him to ride on her motorcycle, which wasn't entirely without good reason. So they walked the nine blocks instead, consistently attacked by bitter cold wind.

The bar was alive with its typical patrons, which included the usual regulars and some unfamiliar faces who appeared to be new to life at the bottom of the barrel. And as always, the unappreciated piano dutifully remained in its own corner, like a diamond in the rough. Its ivory keys, which had once gleamed, were now dull with age and neglect. Truly, the instrument was a pitiful sight indeed.

Madison waited patiently for the bartender to notice them standing there.

Finally, she did. "What do you want?"

"Um, hi there, Kathy...Don't you remember me? We've met several times."

"Look, honey, a lot of people come in here. I can't be expected to remember all of them, can I?"

"I'm a friend of your husband's." Madison said, though she was unsure of exactly why she cared so much whether the woman knew who she was or not.

"Wait," Kathy frowned. "I have seen you before; you're the girl with the nice ass...Melissa, right?"

"Actually, it's Madison. And this is my friend, Norman."

Kathy nodded. "Uh-huh. Now what do you want?"

She ordered a gin and tonic and Jayden ordered vodka with no ice. It took only a few minutes before they had their drinks. Despite all her bitchiness, Kathy was an incredibly efficent bartender.

Then they picked their way through the crowd to where the lonely piano still waited.

It hadn't been tuned in years, so anything he played sounded just a little off, but the effect was the same. She marveled over his 'extraordinary' ability, even more so as she continued to drink. So there's more to him than profiling and waffles. How very...interesting.

It was a good evening, but one fated to end in disaster.

At first it was something as innocent as Kathy dropping a customer's drink, the glass shattering into a million pieces on the ground. That kind of thing happened all the time; there was nothing you could do about it after the fact, but then...

"I-I can't feel my arm..." Kathy said, utterly shocked and probably scared half to death. She had been perfectly fine a minute ago, and now she didn't even seem to fully comprehend what was happening. "That's...strange...isn't it?"

Madison had only a second to react before the bartender fell face first onto the glass-covered floor. Her mind struggled to think quickly and rationally through the haze caused by alcohol consumption, but all she could conclude was that this was very bad indeed.

She vaguely registered the blaring of sirens in the distance. Jayden was saying something, something urgent, but for some reason she couldn't make out the words. Kathy tried to fight the paramedics as they lifted her onto a stretcher which they then hastily loaded into the back of a waiting ambulance.

All this had stirred up quite a commotion; interested spectators gathered around, hoping for a glimpse of the action. It suffocated Madison, who was still having difficulty thinking properly. And so, without thinking, she forced her way through the mass of drunken onlookers and did not stop until she found herself standing in the snow.

If need be, she would run after that ambulance all the way to the hospital.

I owe Sam at least that much.