"Is everything all right?"

"…huh?"

"I said, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't they be?" The response was unconvincing even if her voice hadn't jumped half an octave at the end.

"Because Joe said your exact words were 'tell her to call back as soon as possible, I don't care what time it is, I really need to speak with her'."

"Well I… I just wanted someone to talk to tonight! Is that too much to ask of my only sister?" Casey said with a huff.

"I'll always be here whenever you want to talk, Casey," Helen answered reassuringly. "It was just on a bit of short notice and I was still finishing up my day's work, that's all."

It had been rather out of the blue. After Brian told Casey earlier that he wouldn't be coming home with her because he was going out for a guys night with Roy and Antonio, she felt a burning want to speak to her sister for some reason. Joe had picked up and told her that Helen was still practicing cello at that time, but he would get her to call back once she had finished. Casey was originally planning to make dinner and eat in the meantime, but ended up just lying on the couch waiting for the phone to ring.

"Sorry about that. It's just that… well, I have the house to myself tonight so thought it would be a good chance for us to catch up," Casey said with a frown.

"To yourself? Brian's not there?" Helen asked.

"No, he told me he was going out tonight so I came home by myself."

"…some hot date?"

"No!" Casey exclaimed loudly before she could catch herself. "…I mean, I don't think so. He said he was going for dinner and drinks with Roy and Antonio."

Helen snorted a laugh. "What's with that reaction?" she chided, wishing that Casey could have seen her mischievous grin through the phone.

Clearly flustered now, Casey began to ramble. "Well he shouldn't be going out and drinking and partying or whatever in his condi…" Wait a minute.

Too late.

Helen's voice became serious. "Condition? What condition? Casey?"

Casey froze, realizing what she had done. She didn't know whether Brian had told Joe and Helen about his broken ribs yet. All she could do was squeak out a fit of nervous laughter that was more suspicious than any cover-up she might have tried to come up with right now.

"I already know about his injury, if that's what you're worried about," Helen continued matter-of-factly.

Casey let out an audible sigh of relief. "Why didn't you just say that before then?"

"We barely just started talking, Casey," Helen replied with a sigh. She knew her sister could be all over the place at times, especially when she was worried about something. She was also somewhat curious about why her sister's initial reaction had been to try and hide that piece of information from her.

"How did you find out? Did he call you earlier?" Casey asked curiously. She thought that Brian would have told her for sure if he had made a call to Joe and Helen since that night at the hospital.

"He hasn't called us lately, but he mentioned it in his last email to Joe a few days ago," Helen replied. "He said he was doing okay though, and not to worry."

"I suppose you could say he's doing fine… if you put aside the fact that he can't fly right now."

"What? Brian can't fly?!" Helen gasped.

Casey froze again. "…did he not mention that part?" she asked slowly.

"Casey, what's going on? Tell me what happened, please. All of it," Helen said, sounding very concerned now.

"…okay, I'll tell you. But could you maybe…" Casey paused, unsure of whether her request was reasonable, or even something she should be asking.

"I won't tell Joe if you don't want me to," Helen said, seemingly reading her mind. "But you have to at least tell me why."

"It's… complicated," Casey began. "I don't know what Brian's been thinking lately. He didn't tell me anything when it happened, I had no idea he was even hurt until I got a call saying he was in the hospital."

"The HOSPITAL?!" Helen shouted. The sound of something falling over could be heard in the background.

"…why don't you tell me what you know first?" Casey suggested as she rubbed her forehead with her free hand. This conversation was becoming more difficult than she had wanted.

"Well…" Helen paused for a moment as she tried to remember what Joe had told her about Brian's message. "Brian's note said that he hurt his chest and it feels a bit tight here and there… and I think that was about it," she recalled.

I guess that's one way of putting it, Casey thought to herself. It was probably better to just cut right to the chase. "…he's not wrong," she started, but before she could continue she heard sounds of movement on Helen's side, followed by a door opening.

"No no honey, I'm fine," she heard Helen speaking away from the phone. "I just got a little… excited over something Casey was telling me about. "I'll be right up after we're done," Helen said, followed by the sound of a door closing. "Sorry Casey, Joe came in after he heard me knock the chair over."

"Are you okay?" Casey asked with concern.

"I'm fine, it was nothing," Helen answered. "I was just caught off guard, that's all. Now what were you saying?" she pressed.

"Are you standing or sitting right now?" Casey asked carefully.

"Casey…" Helen said in a threatening tone.

"Okay okay!" Casey flinched. While she would always be older than Helen, she knew better than anyone that her sister's anger point was not to be trifled with. "The truth is… Brian's got broken ribs."

"What?!" Helen shouted, very loudly again.

"We're still waiting for his latest test result to see if it's there's anything more than that, but…" Casey wasn't sure she should continue, but this was why she had so desperately wanted to talk to her sister. She needed some kind of outlet; she just couldn't keep all her thoughts bottled up inside anymore. She had to talk to someone.

"…but what?" Helen asked anxiously.

"I… I don't really know," Casey continued after a moment. "I just… there's something wrong with him, Helen. I can feel it."

Helen didn't quite know how to interpret that, but she didn't want the conversation to go off the rails again. "How did it happen, Casey?"

Casey explained everything that happened that night from the beginning; first receiving the call from the hospital, to her figuring out how to get there ("You drove my Jeep without insurance?!" Helen scolded), and finally everything that happened at the hospital afterwards. Well, almost everything. She left out the part where she had broken down and ended up crying uncontrollably in Brian's arms. That wasn't something she wanted to field any follow-up questions from her sister about right now.

"…wow," was all Helen could say at the end of her story. "That sounds like it was quite a day."

"I know," Casey sighed. "I barely slept that night, and to be honest I haven't really slept that well since."

"That's not good… have you still been going to work or just staying home to help him?"

"He hasn't even been staying home himself," Casey answered with exasperation. "I told him he should rest, but he says that there's Sandpiper business he needs to take care of even if he can't fly. So, I've been driving both of us to the airport every day and we've been working like usual."

"What is he thinking?" Helen huffed disapprovingly. "Of all the times for Brian to suddenly take interest in working hard!"

"He's been flying all the flights by himself up until now, so he's been trying hard to find a replacement pilot," Casey said uneasily. "…I can understand why; no flights means no money. No money means no airline."

"When you put it like that, I think I might know why he's acting like this," Helen said. After a pause, she continued, "It's not about the money, it's about Sandpiper and the promise he made to Joe."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked curiously. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Well think about it," Helen continued. "Money isn't an issue right now for Brian, so why is he still killing himself just to keep maintaining the business? He could just walk away from it any time if it became too difficult to run on his own, but he promised Joe that he would look after it while we're away, and I think he's really holding onto that."

Helen's explanation made sense, but Casey's institution was telling her that it wasn't quite that simple. Brian working himself into the ground for the sake of protecting his brother's business was one thing, but there was something else that actually concerned her more.

Over the past three years, she had gradually gotten to know Brian better, little by little. While the two of them often bickered and annoyed each other even now, they were also comfortable enough by now to talk and be open about almost anything. But lately it seemed like he had become more… withdrawn and evasive. She had already caught him trying to hide things from her, most notably his recent injury but also some little things that he wouldn't have before. She couldn't tell whether this sudden change in behavior was the result of him being overworked, or if he was burying himself in work to avoid dealing with something else.

Whatever the reason was, Casey knew that she had to get to the bottom of it before something really bad happened. Falling off a ladder certainly seemed like a warning, one that Brian had not been treating with the appropriate level of concern these past few days despite his assurances that he would.

"You're probably right," she finally answered to Helen. "And I suppose he doesn't want to tell Joe anything that would make him concerned about Sandpiper."

"It's something like this that makes me…" Helen stopped to pick her words carefully. "Well, not regret coming here, but I just wish we could still be over there, you know? We'd be able to…" her voice cracked slightly as she trailed off.

"Helen, stop that right now," Casey scolded, trying to project a confident air. "You studying in Vienna right now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, something that you've wanted ever since you picked up music. That's where you're meant to be, so don't worry about anything over here."

"Aw, sis…" Helen said as she stifled a small sob. "But, Casey?"

"…yeah?"

"Please look after him, okay? For me and for Joe," Helen pleaded.

"Of course I will," Casey answered. "…I don't want anything to happen to him either," she added quietly.

"Speaking of which, there was something I was meaning to ask," Helen began. "After that night, you and Brian, are you two going…"

Casey's eyes widened as she realized what Helen was about to ask. "No! No no no no no, nothing of the sort!" she declared, waving her free arm in front of her face for emphasis, despite the fact that Helen obviously could not see her.

"…I was going to ask if you two were going to use my Jeep again," Helen finished after a (seemingly) long pause.

Casey felt herself flushing hot. "Oh!" she spilled out nervously.

"You can use it since it's sitting there anyway, but just get it re-insured first," Helen continued cheerfully. "…but it sounds like that won't be an issue after that many 'no's," she added with playful smugness.

"Well… he can't drive right now anyway so we'll see how it goes later!" Casey stuttered, wishing that she could steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Casey, is there anything else that you want to tell me?" Helen pressed with a giggle.

"No!" Casey squeaked. She desperately wanted to come up with some kind of excuse to end the call right there, but her mind seemed to be frozen.

Helen knew she had her sister cornered, but decided to let her off the hook for now. "Well when you do, I'll be here for you," she said with a chuckle.

"Enough talking about stupid nonsense!" Casey burst out. "You still haven't told me how things are going with you over there!"

Helen's face lit up. "Oh Casey, I really wish you could be here to see it…" she said as she launched into the first of many stories about what she and Joe had been up to in Vienna.

Casey couldn't help but feel a bit envious as she listened to her sister speak glowingly about all the experiences she was having in her new home, but more than that she also felt an overwhelming sense of happiness for her. While Casey had never been to Austria herself, she had done her fair share of traveling when she was married before, a luxury that Helen had never been able to get a taste of. In fact, after the Chappels had moved from Texas and settled in Nantucket, Casey wasn't certain whether Helen had even traveled any farther than New York until now. While her own memories of travel had soured somewhat now after her marriage failed, Casey still remembered all those feelings of excitement and happiness whenever she went somewhere new. Now her baby sister was able to feel that joy for herself, with the love of her life at her side to boot.

She didn't realize that she had started crying as she thought about all this. "…Casey?" she heard Helen say, snapping her back to reality. "What's wrong? Are you… crying?"

"No no, I'm fine," Casey said with a sniffle, reaching for a tissue as she tried to compose herself. "I was just thinking about how… happy you and Joe must be getting to see and do all these new and exciting things."

"Oh Casey, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that," Helen gasped as she realized her mistake. "I just got so excited and… you're my sister, of course I would have wanted to share with…"

"Helen, stop," Casey interrupted her again. "You didn't upset me, really. I'm honestly really, really happy for you." The joy in her voice came through loud and clear this time.

Now it was Helen's turn to get choked up. "I really wish you could be here too," she said.

"As much as I would love that, who's going to run the lunch counter if we're both not here?" Casey said with a chuckle.

Helen couldn't help but laugh at that. "So… have you gotten used to it yet?" she asked, remembering her parting words to Casey right before she left.

"Honestly, not really," Casey answered with a sigh. "I don't know how you used to handle it all by yourself. Managing supplies, taking deliveries, cleaning everything… and then having to make the food on top of that!"

"You've figured that out too, huh?" Helen said knowingly. "The truth was, I always did have a bit of help here and there. Lowell was a big help when he was still around, being so handy and all. He could even help with the cooking in a pinch."

"Really?" Casey asked. She remembered Brian telling her before that Lowell was a more-than-decent cook, but unfortunately had never been able to confirm it firsthand before he had to leave the island.

"Yep, you wouldn't guess it but it's true," Helen continued. "Joe tried to pitch in after Lowell left. He's definitely not as handy, but having another set of hands to help is better than going it alone, especially in the mornings."

"…Brian's been helping me with that some days," Casey admitted.

"Really?" Helen said with surprise. "But he's flying everything himself now, right? And that first flight out to Hyannis is always at 7…" she continued, slowly connecting the dots in her mind.

"I tell him not to but he insists!" Casey answered with a pang of shame. "And I can't even avoid him because we usually drive in together most days. But… I'd be lying if I said I didn't really need the help. I can barely get set up in time for breakfast as it is."

Helen's mood dropped as her feeling of helplessness returned. When she had suggested that Casey take over the lunch counter as she was leaving, she had almost meant it jokingly, just an impulsive suggestion she had in the spur of the moment. Truth be told; after having some time to think about it, she had no idea how Casey was going to manage. Helen hadn't given her any training or even told her where anything was. Thank goodness the notebook where she had written down all of her business contact information was still in the house, so at least she could get supplies and ingredients. She assumed that Brian would pitch in to help Casey get the business side of things up and running again, but then what? How would she run the day-to-day without any experience and no other help? At least before when Helen took over the business previously, she had the benefit of learning under their mother's watchful eye for awhile.

Wait a minute.

"I have an idea," Helen began slowly. "Don't call me crazy."

"…an idea about what?" Casey asked, puzzled.

"Why don't you ask mama to come and help you for bit?" Helen suggested.

Casey was dumbstruck. "That… that actually doesn't seem like a crazy idea," she answered as her brain slowly processed what Helen was saying. "But do you think she'd actually want to come?"

The last time Helen and Casey's mother Deedee had been back in Nantucket was years ago now, when she visited the girls prior to Joe and Helen's wedding. Nowadays, Deedee would still write and call periodically, usually around birthdays and holidays, but had not brought up the idea of potentially making another visit on account of her husband needing more help because of his health over the past little while. It was also no secret that Deedee much preferred her lifestyle in Texas over Nantucket, and so the main and probably only reason for her to return now would be to see her daughters.

"She'd want to come see you," Helen offered. "Have you talked to her at all since we left?"

"…no, I haven't," Casey said, feeling a bit guilty at the admission.

"Neither have I," Helen said sadly. "We played phone tag for a bit after I arrived here but the timing was always off. I just ended up leaving a message saying we got here and we're fine, then she left one saying we'll find time for a call later, but it hasn't happened yet. Anyway, she doesn't even know that you took over the lunch counter then, and now seems to be as good a time as any to tell her!"

"I… I don't know, Helen," Casey said shakily as apprehension began to set in. "I'm a mess… I can barely manage even just setting things up every day, and I know my cooking isn't very good. What if mom sees all this and is like…"

"You stop this crazy talk right now, Casey Chappel," Helen cut her off sternly.

"But it's true!" Casey retorted. She felt like she wanted to cry but tried her best to suppress it. "Helen, sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing!" she shouted, feeling her inner despair bubbling to the surface.

"That's not what Brian seems to think."

The mention of Brian seemed to momentarily snap Casey out of her spiral. "…wh-what do you mean?" she asked carefully.

Helen let out a deep sigh. She hadn't been meaning to betray Brian's confidence like that, but she desperately wanted to give her sister some kind of encouragement and had let it slip without thinking. There wasn't any turning back now. "He said you were doing a great job with everything considering how I basically threw you into this situation with no help or training or anything, and that you would be fine even without me around."

"He… he did?" Casey said with disbelief. "…I don't believe you, you're just making this up to try and make me feel better."

Helen rolled her eyes. "I'm not, Casey. Do you remember last time when I tried to call and you weren't there? Brian picked up and we talked for a little bit. I asked about how you were doing with the lunch counter, and that's what he said, I swear."

"…even if he did, he must have just said that so you wouldn't rat him out, whatever he's hiding from me," Casey said with a scoff.

Helen ignored her and kept going. "The point is he BELIEVES in you, Casey. Just like I do. So please, believe in yourself. You can do this."

The urge to cry suddenly overcame Casey again, and this time she made no effort to hide it. "Helen, thank you," she said quietly between sniffles.

"You're welcome," Helen replied cheerfully. "And just remember, there's no shame in asking for help. We all need it sometimes."

Casey understood what she was trying to say. "…I'll call mom later."

"Good, tell her I said hi when you do, okay?" Helen said approvingly. "Listen Casey, I could stay up all night chatting, but I should probably go. I told Joe I wouldn't be long about an hour ago," she said with a laugh.

Casey also didn't realize that they had been on the phone for so long. Her stomach gave her an audible reminder that she hadn't eaten anything yet either. "I need to make some dinner too," she said. "Thanks for calling back. And thanks for… listening."

"I think you ended up listening more than I did once you let me get going," Helen said with a smile. "But are you okay? How are you feeling now?" she asked with a hint of worry.

"I feel… a bit better," Casey replied, resisting the urge to lie. "…better than earlier at least. It was good to talk."

"Like I said, I'll always be here for you, sis. Don't ever feel like you're alone."

"Thanks, Helen. Talk again soon," Casey said as she hung up the phone. She let out another sigh as she put the phone down on the couch beside her and closed her eyes.

The emotional reprieve she had when talking with her sister seemed to drain away as she returned to her reality of being alone in a quiet house. There was a bitter irony in Helen's parting words just now; even if Casey knew that her sister was there in spirit, it didn't change the fact that she was by herself in real life right now. At least if Brian were around, they could have made do with a pizza and whatever happened to be on TV to pass the evening, but he was still out at who knows where doing who knows what.

"…some hot date?" Helen's voice echoed.

Casey's mind began to wander as her sister's earlier teasing lingered in her subconscious. She knew that Helen had said it just to mess with her, but… what if he really was on a date and the story about being out with Roy and Antonio was just a cover? What if he was out having fun with… some floozy while she was at home by herself?

…why did she care so much?

Casey's eyes snapped wide open and she shook her head rapidly. "I need to calm down," she said as she pulled herself off the couch, her hands slightly trembling. Maybe a glass of wine will help, she thought, making her way to the kitchen.

Brian and Casey didn't keep much alcohol at their old rental house, but at a minimum there was usually some beer and wine stored for when they had… company. Neither of them had had any 'company' since they moved back into Joe and Helen's house, and the two of them never felt an urge to drink together when just hanging out at home. Casey wasn't entirely sure if there was even any wine around as she opened all the unfamiliar cabinets in the kitchen.

Wait a minute, she did have wine. How could she forget?

Back in the living room, Casey dug through a pile of unsorted items that had just been building up in a corner of the room. It seemed that anytime she or Brian had acquired something they were too lazy to sort right away or do something with, it would be left there to be dealt with later. "Aha!" she beamed as she pulled out a gift bag, one of those uniquely shaped to hold a bottle of wine.

When Casey had gone out with her old coworkers from Henley's recently, one of them had gifted her that bottle of wine. Her friend had said it was some kind of quarterly recognition award, but the problem was that they didn't drink alcohol at all. Casey's friend thought it would be a nice gift to commemorate the 'grand re-opening' of the airport lunch counter under her stewardship. Casey had been appreciative of the present, but had no idea when she would drink it or where she would put it, so it had just been left in the big corner pile.

"Pinot noir, perfect," Casey mused as she pulled the bottle out of the bag and looked it over. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would do. While she knew enough about wine from her previous life to be at least somewhat discerning about it, she also knew that beggars couldn't be choosers. A bit of red wine should be just what she needed to rein in her wandering mind right now.

Luckily for her, the bottle had a screw-top cap so she didn't need to worry about finding a corkscrew to open it. The only thing she would need is a glass, but as she surveyed her surroundings, she spied the empty coffee mug that she had been using for water earlier. A bit unorthodox, but still better than drinking straight from the bottle. Probably.

With a bit of effort, Casey pulled off the cap and filled up the mug. She set the bottle down on the coffee table and flopped back down on the couch. "Cheers," she said to no one in particular as she raised the mug up in the air before taking a big gulp. She shuddered as she felt the alcohol begin to wash through her system.

Whether it was actually the wine or merely a placebo effect, Casey did seem to feel calmer almost immediately. She sighed as she sank back into the sofa, wondering what to do next. She knew that she was still hungry but felt little motivation to get up and try to cook right now, or call to order something in. Let's see what's on TV, she thought as she reached for the remote and turned on the television. The channel she had left it on previously was showing a movie, something she had seen before actually. It was about two friends whose relationship hit a rough patch when one of them started dating another person while the other was secretly pining for them… wait.

You have got to be kidding me! Casey cursed in her mind as she grabbed the remote again and immediately changed the channel, taking another large swig of wine as she did so. She flipped through the channels rapidly looking for something 'safe' to watch. She settled on the local Nantucket station, whose news team appeared to be running an investigative report on where men in secret relationships were going to meet their partners on the island.

"No television!" Casey yelled out loud as she hit the power button on the remote and threw it off to the side. Almost reflexively, she grabbed her mug again and downed the remainder of the wine she had poured. It did not seem to be helping any more.

As she laid back against a cushion on the sofa once more, her hand brushed against the phone handset that she had put down after her call earlier. She picked it up and cradled it absentmindedly, and before she realized what she was doing she found herself dialing the number to Brian's cellular phone.

Wait what am I doing what am I doing? Casey thought to herself in a daze as she heard the line ringing. She wanted to hang up but somehow couldn't bring herself to press the red button on the handset. Just then, the line stopped ringing, replaced by the sound of commotion in a busy place.

"Hello?" she heard Brian's voice cut through the noise. Suddenly she felt a sensation of comfort all over. She wanted to say something, but when she tried to speak nothing came out.

"…hello?" Brian's voice said again, a bit louder this time. "I can't hear… Casey, is that you?"

Casey tried to answer him again, but before she could the sound of another voice came through the phone. "Who is that, your girlfriend?" the voice said, loud enough for her to hear. A sultry female voice, its owner obviously very close to his phone given how audible it was.

Casey felt her entire body tense up as she recoiled in both shock and embarrassment at the same time. She somehow had the wherewithal to hit the button on the phone to hang up before she gave off any indication that it was her who had called. Instead of setting the phone down like before, this time she threw it completely off the couch, almost as if she wanted it to be as far away from her as possible as her realization slowly set in.

Brian had not gone out with the guys. He was out on a date right now, and not only that, he had lied to her about it.

The thought made her want to immediately cry, but suddenly the phone started ringing, a loud ring tone coming from both the discarded handset as well as the main receiver at the other end of the room. Upon hearing it, Casey instinctively moved towards the handset on the ground, but as she tried to get up from the sofa, everything suddenly started spinning. She collapsed back onto the couch immediately, dizzy and disoriented.

By the time she got her bearings back, Casey heard that the answering machine had turned on and was preparing to record. That was probably for the best; it was probably Brian calling back to see if it was her who had called, but he was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. As the machine started recording, she heard Fay's voice through the receiver.

"Um Brian, it's Fay. There was a message that came in for you at the terminal this afternoon that I completely forgot about until now, I'm so sorry! It was from a… Summer, I think it was? The message said sorry they couldn't make lunch, but dinner works and they're very interested in meeting up with you. I tried calling your cell phone earlier but you didn't pick up, so thought I'd try you here. Anyway, have a good night and see you tomorrow." The recording stopped.

Casey's heart sank as she felt like she had been punched in the gut. That pretty much confirmed it; Summer was a girl's name, most likely the girl he was out with right now. Fay probably didn't know that he didn't need the message because he had handled the arrangements himself already. How could I have been so foolish? Casey thought to herself, feeling sadness and anger washing over her at the same time.

Against her better judgment, she grabbed the open bottle on the table and began refilling her empty mug. As the bottle emptied, Casey realized the mug was large enough to hold half the bottle at once, which she had basically chugged earlier, and on an empty stomach to boot. "…I shouldn't," she said, pushing the full cup away, and laid her head back down on the cushion along the side of the couch.

Suddenly, another voice echoed in her mind, this time her own. "…what we had… then… was just a physical fling, nothing more."

She had said that to Brian at the hospital, trying to explain why having her as his emergency contact was a stupid idea.

"You're here now, aren't you?" had been his reply with that carefree smile of his.

"Tell me what happened… please. Don't lie to me, or try and hide something from me. Please, Brian. Please."

"…so we'll be each other's burden. Whatever happens, we'll get through it… together, okay?"

Casey felt a sudden heavy throbbing in her head as her vision began to spin again. I need to… go to bed, she thought as she tried to pull herself off the couch again, but ended up lurching forward and almost faceplanting on the coffee table. Realizing that she most likely wouldn't be able to make it upstairs in her current condition, she simply laid her head on the table with her eyes closed, her long autumn hair messily splayed around her face. Brian… where are you?

Why did you leave me alone?

He wasn't there, obviously. Nor would she be able to will him to be just by thinking it. …I'm so pathetic, Casey thought as she opened her eyes wearily and pulled her head up slowly, realizing that her coffee mug was directly in front of her. Against her better judgment (however much of it remained at the moment), she picked up the cup and drank, finishing everything inside. Whatever happened would still be better than being trapped in this vortex of rampaging thoughts and emotion that tormented her right now.

She would not remember anything else that happened from that night until the next morning.

A/N: There's quite a lot happening here. I'm not usually a fan of cliffhangers in between story chapters, but this chapter and the next were originally conceived as one larger standalone scenario and I didn't want to make a single chapter that might be as long as the others put together so far. I will do my best to get the following part out some time this month. Here's a couple of quick notes about this part:

- Casey believes that Helen is about to ask if she and Brian are going out when she launches into a suspiciously over-the-top denial during their call. Her vehement denial is a callback to a similar situation in the classic Big Sandwich episode, when Helen thinks the two of them are sleeping together but they were actually planning a surprise engagement party for her and Joe.

- Creative liberties have definitely been taken with how drunkenness 'works', but let's just assume that downing an entire bottle of wine on an empty stomach will do the job. Fun fact: a 'standard' bottle of wine is actually about 2 regular coffee mugs' worth of liquid, which I tried to slyly use as a mechanism to speed up Casey's drinking.

As always, thanks for reading!