Walt comes into the office earlier than usual on Monday morning. He needs to get some things figured out in his head and for some reason was having a hard time doing that at his cabin. The inherent nature of the office is one with more clearly defined guidelines and boundaries than what he feels at home. He thinks he would benefit from a reinforcement of law and order. His efforts at working prove fruitless however as his mind keeps straying to other matters. Ruby wanders in around 7:30 and sticks her head into his office.

"Morning Walt, I didn't expect you to be here this early. Thanks for starting the coffee."

"Sure, Is there anything I missed last Friday while I was out that I need to tend to?"

He's hoping for something that will require some focus to take his mind off a certain blond deputy. Even the need to continue looking for who really killed Miller Beck and secure Henry's long term freedom was not enough to distract him from the memory of how it had felt to hold her in his arms at the hospital.

"No, Vic and Shaun's abduction was the only thing."

Walt sits back in his chair and drums his fingers on the edge of his desk. He cannot help but to stare at the phone. He assumes Vic isn't planning on coming in today but they didn't discuss it. In fact, they hadn't discussed anything from the time Vic had joined he and Shaun in the waiting room at the hospital.

He picks up the phone and starts to dial her home but hangs up before he is finished punching in the numbers. After a moment, he picks it up again and dials her cell phone instead.

"Hello Walt."

"Ah...Shaun"

"You were expecting someone else?"

"Nope. I just wanted to check in on Vic. How's she doing this morning?"

"Still asleep"

"Good."

"Would you like me to wake her up?"

"No, That's not necessary."

"Isn't it? I 'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about."

Walt pauses.

"I'm glad to hear she is resting. Take care of her."

"I intend to."

Walt hears the call disconnect. He sits and looks at the handset for a moment before sighing and hanging it up.

"Vic okay?"

Ruby has moved into the doorway.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I've been concerned. Is there anything we can do to help? Anything she needs?"

"Nope, Shaun says he's got everything under control."

"Well, I'm going to make a casserole to take over there anyway. I can't imagine Vic is much of a cook without a concussion much less with one. You can't heal properly when you're malnourished."

"That would be nice Ruby. You go ahead and do whatever you think is best."

She nods and once again leaves Walt alone with his wandering thoughts. He pictures Vic as she looked when he dropped her and Shaun off the day before. The exhaustion and pain had been clear in her eyes but there was something else lingering there that he couldn't identify. It was present in the quiet look she had given him after Shaun had gotten out of the truck and before she joined him and walked into the house. The ride to their home had been awkward to say the least. He still isn't sure how much Vic had heard of the conversation between him and her husband. He keeps running it through his head over and over again, wondering how everything got to this point, when this had happened. Maybe he first realized it when he was up on that mountain chasing those escaped prisoners. Perhaps it happened when he found out Gorski was threatening her. He for sure knew that he was in trouble during the trip to Arizona but after dodging that bullet in the motel he settled into safe denial. He guessed it didn't really matter when he had fallen in love with Vic, just that he had. He had been so focused on everything else that had been going on with Martha, Cady, Branch and Henry that he had almost missed it. After his wife's death he could have never imagined ever opening his heart up to another woman. It seemed just his luck that now when he finally had, it was someone who was off limits, someone he would never be able to have as his own. He knew he needed to stay away from her, create some space, but how? As long as she hadn't heard Shaun's question and his response there was still a chance everything would be okay. He could hold his feelings to himself as long as he needed to. It was something with which he had had lots of practice.