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Carol to the living room, plopping down on the floor in
front of her.
    “Here you go, sweetie,
Happy Birthday,” she said as she handed him a big box wrapped
in shiny blue wrapping paper.
    Brandon started tearing into his
present and Tyler gave Carol a wink, knowing the present was exactly
what Brandon had wanted. He knew he was right within two seconds when
Brandon start yelling “Yes, an Xbox. Yes!” loudly over
and over as he punched his fists wildly into the air. Carol just
laughed.
    After Brandon carefully
inspected his new Xbox, Tyler retrieved the present he’d gotten
him. “Okay, bub, here’s my gift for you,” Tyler
said, handing him another present.
    Brandon opened it up and his
eyes widened and Tyler smiled until he looked over and saw Carol’s
pale face.
    “Don’t worry, Mom,
it’s just a .22 rifle, and it’ll be locked up in the gun
cabinet when it’s not being used. He knows he won’t be
able to touch it unless I’m with him,” Tyler said knowing
his mom was about to have a heart attack.
    “Brandon, you be careful
with that thing, and you make sure you listen to your father, okay?”
she chastised, her hand absently rubbing at her chest.
    Tyler shook his head, knowing
his mom had always been a worrier.
    “Yes, nana, I know. Hey,
Dad, can we shoot this tomorrow?” Brandon asked holding his new
gun in the air.
    “Yeah, we can.”
    “Now, Brandon, I know
you’re not a fan of cake so I made you a homemade cookie cake
instead,” Carol said as she headed into the kitchen to get the
food prepared.
    Brandon absently nodded as he
stared at the new Xbox and gun in his hands and Tyler knew he’d
be up all night playing it.
    Hours later, after the sun had
already descended below the hills, Tyler told Brandon good night and
made his way to bed himself. It was late now since they had all
stayed up so long talking and spending time together. His mom didn’t
get the chance to come down often and she could only stay until
tomorrow afternoon because of a church function she had on Sunday
that she couldn’t miss.
    Tyler took off his hat, tossed
it on his dresser, and ran a hand through his dark hair. He climbed
in bed and hoped this weekend would go by slowly. He wasn’t
ready to see his mom off tomorrow, or take his son home on Sunday,
but he knew he couldn’t stop time.
Chapter 4

    Paige made her way up the
limestone steps towards Anderson hospital. It was six a.m. and she
was already exhausted. After being woken up several times last night
by a fussy Kyra, she thought she was going to have to call in to work
today, but she had somehow managed to get going. She wasn’t
sure what was going on with her last night; she rarely woke Paige up
any other time, but last night she just couldn’t stay asleep
for some reason. As she got to the last step, she felt her foot hit
the edge; before she knew it she was lying on the concrete sidewalk,
her hands splayed out in front of her, her face resting on the cold
limestone.
    “Shit,” she grumbled
into the concrete before managing to get to her feet.
    “You okay?” an
older, gray haired guy asked, coming up behind her and placing his
hand on her elbow to help her steady herself.
    She smiled, embarrassed and
said, “Yeah, that last step just came out of nowhere. Too
little sleep last night, I guess.” She dusted off her navy
scrubs, adjusted her purse on her shoulder, and grimaced as she felt
her cheeks reddening. God, she was such a klutz sometimes.
    The old guy let out a deep
chuckle and said, “Yep, I hear you there. Have a good day.”
    She smiled, “Thanks, you
too,” and followed behind him into the hospital.
    The elevator door dinged and she
walked out onto the fifth floor, hit the button to be buzzed into the
psychiatric wing, and then made her way to the break room to put her
stuff away. She glanced down at her watch and saw it was only a few
more minutes until their morning meeting. She rushed to put her
things away and as she shut her locker