Amanda was stretched out in bed holding Mark’s hand while he slept. She was on her side facing him while he laid on his back. She studied the dark purple, almost black, bruise on his over his ribs.

Her phone blinged as a text message came in so she reached over to grab it. She read it to herself 'how's the big guy doing?' She smiled. It was a text from Ian. She checked the time to see that it was almost midnight before she texted back 'He's healing, just sleeping now.'

She put the phone down and waited, another message came in. 'Good. How about you? How are you doing?'

'Terrible. Freaked. Tired. Wanting to punch him in the face or pull my hair out in frustration.' She hit send.

'Want to talk?'

'Give me a second.' Amanda looked over at Mark to make sure he was still comfortable and climbed out of bed. She grabbed her robe and put it over her large nightie before heading to the living room as she dialed.

"Hey, how you doing now?" Ian said as he answered, he had a soft voice.

"Still ready to murder someone, but someone already tried to do that." Amanda weakly chuckled at her poor attempt at a joke.

"That's to be expected." Ian said, "Just remember though that he's home safe now..."

"He is now, but that doesn't mean he isn't going back out. He's still working there, and there's stuff still going on." Amanda leaned against the fridge, spilling her issues out all at once. "It really sucks. Something's happening and he won't tell me a thing, at all. He just keeps it to himself bottled up and I only get to hear about it when he explodes and we have no choice but to deal with it."

"You could just tap his ribs until he talks." Ian joked. Amanda laughed at the idea. At least somebody gets it. She didn't feel so alone talking to Ian.

The two met three months ago on a dating site. As bad as that sounded, she didn't go there looking to cheat on Mark. She actually went there looking to make friends. Somebody outside her own sphere. Since they couldn't talk about Mark’s work she wasn't able to make too many friends around her neighbourhood, so she had to resort to going online.

She was up front though on her profile. She put it out there that she was happily married and not looking to cheat, or sexting. A few men tried to talk her into something but she would send them off, then she would be called a lesbian or bitch. Ian contacted her though, a contractor from just outside the city that seemed kind and friendly and actually interested in having conversations.

After a few weeks of talking online they exchanged numbers so ended up texting and then occasionally chatted by phone when Mark would be away over night. That was when the house would feel twice as empty, hollow and always left her sad.

"How do I make him quit?"

"I don't know if you can, Amanda," Ian said softly, "Men are who they are, and if he wants to quit...he'll quit."

"I'm scared for him..." She put her hand to her forehead. "My stomach hurts, and I don't know how much longer I can watch it."

"That's ok Amanda. It's kind of tough. Nobody would wish this on anybody else."

"Mmmmm." Amanda said. "Ok. So, what's going on in your world?"

"Well, less interesting stuff by comparison." Ian chuckled. "Kind of boring really."

"That's alright, I could use a dose of boring." Amanda stood up and walked around as they talked. Ian went into his day taking out an elder couple’s walls to get at the wiring. The place was fifty years old and had a build up of dead rodents in the wall. He had to put on a hazmat suit to clean the place out before rewiring the whole place.

"It's two, you know." Amanda said.

"Two what?"

"Two in the morning, stupid." Amanda smiled, "We've been talking for two hours, and you've got to get up early don't you?"

"I do. I will let you go and try to get some sleep." Ian said.

"You too." Amanda replied, "Good night Ian."

"Night."

Amanda hung up and got herself a glass of milk. As she was drinking, her phone bleeped again. She found another message from Ian. 'Know what would help me sleep better?'

Amanda chuckled and typed back, 'Probably.'

'I'm just saying, you could make me a happy man. More relaxed.'

'Uh uh.' She replied, she knew what he's thinking.

'Are you going to leave me hanging?'

'Hold on, I'm thinking.' Amanda chewed on her thumbnail as she thought about what she was going to do. Once decided she went into the downstairs bathroom and took off her robe and shirt, leaving herself in only her panties. She didn't want to give him too much so covered her nipples with her forearm. She quickly snapped a picture in the mirror of her chin down to her knees and hit send.

Amanda had her shirt back on and was halfway to her room when the reply came in. 'Oh my god, you're beautiful.'

She replied 'You sound like you've never seen boobs before.'

'Not this good.'

'Shut-up and go to bed.' She hit send and smirked to herself.

'Can’t sleep now, busy.' She giggled and typed back 'Night.'

Amanda turned her phone off and climbed back into bed, curling up next to Mark as she held his hand again. She enjoyed the moment, one of feeling wanted.

Kevin woke with a startle the next morning, taking in a deep breathe as his eyes shot open. He didn't remember where he was.

"Good morning." Kevin looked over at Carlton, who stared back at him. "I have started the coffee. Would you like some?"

"No." Kevin said as he checked his side, the bandages were still in place under the shirt.

"Ohhh, I have wasted coffee." Carlton said.

"Where is everybody?" Kevin asked.

"Austin has gone to work. Jenny has called in sick and is presently in the living room."

Kevin stood up, tested his balance and made his way to the living room with the robot behind him. On his way he made note that his side hurt less than it did before but still felt the need to hold it.

Jenny looked up from her tablet as Kevin came down the hall. She paused the video she was watching and stood up. "You're up. You want something to eat?"

"No." Kevin stopped to think about what he needed. He was still fuzzy headed but it was clearing and he could see the paused image she had synced to the television. He moved closer for a better look when he saw the image of military vehicles on the highway. "Where?"

"Outside the reserve," Jenny said. "They're saying some Indians jumped the fence, and killed campers. Is that what happened?"

"Yeah," Kevin looked for a controller. "Can you hit play?"

"It's bullshit." Jenny said.

"How do you know?"

"Everybody knows." She shrugged.

"Everybody knows what?" Kevin studied her.

"The war’s over. We'd see more of it if it was still going on, wouldn't we? Is it?" Jenny wasn't sure actually. There was an Indian in front of her with a bullet hole but that might've been because of the other rumors that people hear on the Internet. "Did you kill them?"

"Yes."

"Because they were hunting you?" She tested the waters.

"Not me." Kevin challenged her. "People know this?"

"Some do...yes."

"And they let it happen?" Kevin waited for an answer but all she did was shrug. He moved back to his stool and sat. He had to consider what his options were.

"I need an address, or a phone number. I need to look somebody up. Can I do that?"

"I guess. Ask Carlton?" Jenny answered with a question.

Kevin ran through the names in his head. "Elizabeth Olden."

"Searching." Carlton's blue eyes got smaller as he processed the information. "Elizabeth Olden."

The television flickered as the search results appeared on the screen. Her name and address popped up as well as a phone number.

"Is that near here?" Kevin asked.

"It's...maybe six blocks away." Jenny answered. "Is that where you were going?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure, ‘cause that's...kind of a well off neighbourhood." Jenny explained, "You might stand out a bit during the day."

Kevin sighed. She was right. He would have to wait until after dark when people were more likely to be in bed. "’K."

"And Leila might not like you going out yet, ‘cause just the other day she was taking a bullet out of you."

Kevin stared at her.