Aaron thought he had located the same vein Jamie had just used. He lined the needle up and looked at Jamie, hoping to get some sort of indication that he was safe to proceed. From his vantage point, Jamie concurred that it looked like the placement was right. He slowly nodded his head just once, giving Aaron the motivation he needed to follow through. He felt the needle slide into her vein and breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, he pushed down on the plunger, letting the medication flow into her body. As the last few drops exited the syringe, there was a collective exhale from those in observation. Aaron applied pressure to the injection site with a cotton ball and secured it with the Band-Aid. He continued to apply gentle pressure for a few more seconds until he was sure that the bleeding had st

Cadence’s parents must have heard the car out front because her father flung the door open. “Cadence!” he exclaimed, giving her a hug. She heard her mom yell for Cassidy to come downstairs before she, too, embraced their first born.“Oh, Cadence! We are so glad you’re home,” her mother exclaimed, leading her into the living room. “How are you, honey?” she asked, motioning for her to join her on the couch. “Do you need anything, darling? Water? Soda?”

“There is one more thing I wanted to mention to you,” Aaron said, avoiding eye contact with her again, and staring at the floor in front of him.“What’s that?” Cadence asked cautiously.“Well, it has to do with Eliza,” he said folding his arms across his chest.

Cadence and Jack walked off toward the side yard, out of earshot of most anyone who could possibly be attempting to listen. “I’m okay,” he said as he stopped near the fence. He was wearing a dark blue suit, and Cadence remembered how that color had always set his eyes off. Today, however, they didn’t seem quite as bright as what she remembered, and she wondered if he had, indeed, been crying after all.“Good, good,” she said. “I wish I would have been able to spend more time with all of you this week. I just needed some time alone, you know?”

Cadence had taken a nap after she returned from Drew’s house. She had visited with her family and watched some television with her sister. Now, she was sitting on her bed, dressed in comfy pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, perusing Facebook on her phone and waiting for Aaron to arrive. He had sent her a text earlier that he was still planning on coming over but that his trip to Nevada had been a bit longer than he expected, so it might be a little later than he had hoped. Hopefully, by now, he was at least in the air on his way back to ShenandoahShe knew that it was very unprofessional