The Best Quarantine - A Castle/Beckett Pandemic fic

What if a pandemic happened to Caskett mid-Season 4 (Pre 47 Seconds Arc)

This fic will be in 2 parts. Enjoy!

With a huff of breath, Richard Castle leaned back in his desk chair, folded his hands over his stomach, and stared up at the ceiling. He knew that ceiling well, not just because he'd worked in that office for many years, but because it was the ceiling he stared at daily—for a good hour or so, if he wanted to calculate it out. Just like he knew the order of the books lining his walls by heart. Though he'd never had the best grades in school (thanks to a lack of interest in standardized education—not to mention sitting still for seven-plus hours a day), he bet he would get a passing score if quizzed on the exact order of said books. After all, he'd spent a lot of time staring at them as well. Actually, the more that he thought about it, he was now intimately familiar with most of the walls in his apartment—far more than he'd been previously. It seemed a rather silly concept since he'd lived there for well over a decade, but he hadn't given it much thought until he was trapped inside his apartment and not able to leave.

Ten weeks.

Castle had not been able to leave his apartment for ten weeks. Well, no, that wasn't true. Twice he'd had to go down to the lobby to pick up a delivery, but he had not left his apartment building in ten weeks. Neither had Alexis. Neither had—lord help him—his mother.

If he thought back over his life, Castle could not recall a time when he had spent more than a few days at a time without leaving his home. He'd experienced some low points in his life, particularly around the time of each of his divorce, but he'd always had Alexis around to bring him out of his funk. If nothing else, he had to take care of her, which meant he couldn't sit in his office in his underwear for days on end—no matter how much he wanted to. Now, he and everyone else remained inside for public safety reasons he completely understood—but that didn't make it any easier.

Months earlier, right around the holiday season, Castle heard a news story in passing about that season's flu being a particularly rough strain. As he didn't usually get sick, he didn't think much of it. Then, a week later, Alexis made a similar comment about the flu, and even brought home a letter from her school about family wellness. Again, he didn't give it too much thought.

In January, things really began to change. The flu strain hit New York and hit it hard. Thousands were sick and emergency rooms were being overrun. By that time in the year, the flu had a specific name and news anchors and health officials began throwing around the term "pandemic." That's when Castle started listening.

Thanks to all the research he'd done over the years, he had done some digging into the Spanish Flu epidemic, thinking he might use it at one point in a book. He never did, but some of the knowledge stuck with him, and as soon as comparisons were thrown around, he became genuinely concerned. It was just a few days after that the world began to realize this virus was more aggressive—and more contagious—than everyone initially thought. Schools began to close, then non-essential business. Public transportation schedules were altered and, then, seemingly in the blink of an eye—really, over the course of about ten days—the entire city was at a standstill.

Castle, like many others, could hardly believe his new existence. It felt like living in a movie. Or one of his novels. Certainly, this wasn't real life. Certainly, he wouldn't actually be fined or arrested if he left his home for any reason other than to visit a doctor's office or obtain live-sustaining supplies like groceries or medicine.

Despite never leaving his apartment Castle was equal parts amazed and horrified that somehow the number of sick and dying New Yorkers seemed to be climbing. That was why the lockdown ordered had extended from three weeks to six, from six to eight, and now it was indefinite. Each and every one of those days he'd gotten up, eaten breakfast with his family, and then sat down at his desk to work, but each and every one of those days he'd gotten very little done because he felt trapped—like he was suffocating.

No, it wasn't the isolation that bothered him (though it certainly didn't help things) but the feeling of utter helplessness. The knowledge that while most of his family was safe inside the apartment thanks to the fact that they could afford to have their food and supplies delivered by courier (and actually had for many years), one very important person in his life was not there with him, and he thought about her almost constantly.

Each morning the news reported an updated tally of how many NYPD officers had fallen ill because of the virus and each morning, when that report came on, Castle texted his partner to ask how she was doing. An outside observer could have seen this as merely a courteous question, but it wasn't. Though they never admitted it, it was his way of asking do you have a cough? Did you wake up with a fever? And every time she replied with, 'Doing fine, Castle; how about you?' it was her way of confirming she had no signs of the illness.

So far, for seventy-some days she had replied in that manner. She had told him several times during phone conversations that he didn't need to worry about her. She was wearing her police-issued face mask, albeit for much longer than the manufacturer recommended duration due to the short supply of personal protective equipment for everyone, doctors and nurses included. She already wore gloves at crime scenes. They had re-arranged the interview room so that the interviewer and interviewee sat at least six feet apart. They were doing what they could to stay safe and she assured him she was not taking any unnecessary risks.

Logically, Castle knew all this was true and he didn't question her cautiousness. Kate was one of the best detectives on the force and, as a homicide detective, she was not on the front lines like so many brave and noble officers protecting the streets were, but that didn't lessen his worry. Each day with more and more NYPD illnesses being reported, the knot in his stomach tightened. The longer their quarantine went on and the more officers fell ill, the more the NYPD had staffing issues, which resulted in Kate working nearly every single day for the prior month. This also increased his worry, for not only did more working hours exponentially increase her chance of exposure, but increased her exhaustion, which surely did not help her immunity.

Because of the lockdown Castle had not seen his partner in person for a few days longer than he had been stuck in his apartment. They'd texted a lot, spoken on the phone every other day on average, and had even video chatted once before the internet at Kate's place became too unstable for them to continue. Still, it wasn't the same. Nothing was the same without Kate Beckett's smile to lighten up his heart.

He wanted to see her face, to hand over that mug of coffee for that fleeing moment when her fingers delicately brushed over his. He wanted her shoulder to bump against his arm as they stepped into the elevator, to stand just a little bit too close to her on the ride down (as long as they were alone in the car, of course). He just… wanted her.

Castle knew that instead of moping around his office, pacing back and forth across the same path he must have done tens of thousands of times, he should be grateful. Staying inside was the one thing he could do to help everyone. His mother and child were safe there at home with him. They had food, shelter, and no concerns about future income. He knew how very lucky they were and tried not to take it for granted despite his desperate wish for just a little fresh air (and no, that tiny window in Alexis's bathroom that opened barely three inches wasn't cutting it). But more than fresh air and more than a nice stroll down some of his favorite city streets, he wanted Kate.

As time passed, he was reminded more and more of their time apart the prior summer. True, it was different in the sense that they were talking. Not just occasionally, either. That did make a world of difference. But still he was reminded because this was yet another time that she was hurting and he couldn't be there for her.

The prior summer during their time apart Castle had felt and ever-growing ache in his chest just wanting to be beside her. After their reconciliation, he vowed never to feel that ache again, but now it was back simply because of the unknown future. They didn't know when the lockdown would be lifted, and even if it was lifted, or reduced slightly, how often would they be able to see each other? Surely it would not be advisable for him to continue his civilian consulting in the short term, so how long would it take to get back to that version of normal? The unknowing was worse than the waiting.

An hour later after he'd given up staring at the ceiling and decided to take a few walking laps around his office, Castle heard his cell phone ring and practically dove across his desk for it. Since both his mother and daughter were in the apartment with him, Kate was his most frequent caller. Seeing as it was nearing dinner time he hoped that she was calling him at the end of her shift and, thankfully, when he saw the display screen on the phone, he realized he was right.

"Beckett," he answered the phone with a lightness in his chest that he hadn't felt since her call the prior day. "How are you?"

"Good Castle; I'm good. How about you?"

He shut his eyes and savored the sound of her voice in his ear for a moment. God, he missed her. These calls were the best part of his day, even if they weren't quite the same as in-person interaction. "I'm, ah, I'm doing well."

"Good; that's good. So, listen, I have some kind of good news. Gates has, ah, taken pity on me I guess and is forcing me to take some vacation time since I haven't had a day off in, um, gosh, about a month now."

He smiled and scuffed his toe against the edge of the rug in his office. "Well that's great, Beckett; really. You've been working so hard I don't know how you're still standing. How much time are you getting off? A long weekend I hope."

"Two weeks, actually."

Surprised, he response came out as a bit of a squeak, "Really?"

"Yeah. I was going to just take one week, but Gates said two and…well, I'm not going to lie: I really need it," she added with a breathy laugh.

"Of course. Of course you do, Kate. You need to take a break before you…" Castle's voice drifted off as her statements processed in his mind. Kate was going to take two weeks off. Two weeks was fourteen days. Fourteen days was the CDC's recommended time for isolating one's self after possible exposure to the virus as it had been showed that, while unlikely, the virus could incubate for up to fourteen days inside of someone's body before they showed signs of illness. If Kate wasn't going to work for fourteen days she could isolate and then they could see each other!

"Castle?" Kate asked, presumably at his several-second-long silence.

"We can see each other," he said in a barely audible tone, almost as though he was afraid to say it too loudly or else it wouldn't be true.

"What?"

"If you don't work for two weeks then you'll have time to quarantine and we can see each other."

"Oh, Castle that's sweet, but I'll have to go back to work on the day I come out of quarantine."

"We can still see each other!" he insisted and his mind began to spin. If they were very literally about the fourteen-day period it began the second Kate stepped into her apartment after her last shift. That meant it was lifted the night before she would have to go into work so he could see her that night. Or maybe the next morning for breakfast. Yes, that would be good. She could stop by the loft on the way into her shift and they could have an early breakfast together. True it might be only forty-five minutes or an hour at most, but since, by that point, it would be three full months since they saw one another he'd take it. Hell, he'd take five minutes.

"We can definitely see each other, Beckett. In fact we…" again, his voice drifted off when his eyes landed on his bed. He'd begun to pace as he thought about how they could work out seeing each other, but it hadn't hit him until that exact moment, but it was so obvious! Why hadn't he thought of it right from the start? "Here..."

"What?"

"Here; you should isolate here—here at the loft."

"Um, no, Castle. The point of isolating is to be away from people, remember?"

"So, you're going to hole up in your apartment alone for fourteen days? How boring is that? Plus, what if you get sick? No one can bring you soup."

"I'll be fine, Castle."

"No, no hear me out. C'mon," he said, practically begging. "Come to the loft and you can have the master suite. You can have the bedroom and the bathroom and no one else will be close to you. We'll give you food. And entertainment. We'll never get closer than six feet until you're out of quarantine—I promise."

"Castle." He could tell her voice was wary, but not in outright protest, which was a positive sign. "I…I don't know. I mean, I don't think that is the spirit of all this "stay at home" stuff."

Without a beat he jumped in with, "This can be your home. It was once—temporarily." When she was silent for a few seconds he added a bit more pleadingly, "Kate. Please. I want to see you."

"I want to see you, too, but I… we couldn't have any interaction at all, you know."

Since her statement made it clear she was considering his offer, Castle's heart began to soar, and he was convinced his feet might have left the ground for a moment. "Sure, we can—six feet apart," he said, repeating the government's guidelines for keeping appropriate distances from others to limit the spread of the virus.

"More than six feet—I don't want to risk getting anyone in your family sick."

"Eight feet, then. I'll mark tape lines on the floor around the entrance to the bedroom, okay?"

She was silent for twenty painful seconds but then she said, "Okay."

He punched the air with glee and fought the urge to do a jig. "Oh, Beckett, great—this is wonderful. I'll, um, I'll get the bedroom all set up for you then. When do you think you'll be here? An hour or-"

"Oh, I'm sorry—I wasn't clear. I still have to work tomorrow; my time off starts Thursday."

"Oh, okay. Well that's just as well; gives us a day to do all the laundry so you can be stocked with towels and other linens."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to-"

"Beckett, please," he said dismissively. "It's no problem at all. So…you'll be here after your shift tomorrow?"

"Ah, yeah, probably about seven-thirty or eight? I'll text you when I'm on my way."

"Perfect; we'll be waiting."

"Ah…you're sure this won't be too much of an inconvenience?"

He almost laughed. He'd have done just about anything for an hour with her, but two whole weeks? Such a word had no meaning in his vocabulary. "You could never be an inconvenience Kate; never. We'll see you tomorrow. Okay?"

"Tomorrow."

With that, they ended their call. Castle set his phone down on his desk and stared at it with amazement for several moments then clapped his hands together in excitement; the next two weeks were going to be awesome!

Just before seven-thirty the following evening, Castle was crouched in front of the kitchen island trying to tie a string around a blown-up yellow balloon and that string to the handle on a drawer so it would stay up. It was the last in a series of decorations now strewn across the apartment and he was trying to make it all look perfect. Well, as perfect as it could look with the supplies they had in the house since he couldn't leave to get more and delivery wasn't an option because, for some reason, stores that sold party supplies weren't considered "essential."

He heard a huff of breath behind him just as he finished the last knot. "I cannot believe you put up balloons, Dad."

He grunted when his knees cracked as he tried to stand. Turning around, he rested his hand on the counter and said, "Why wouldn't there be balloons; we're celebrating."

She arched a skeptical eyebrow at him. "I don't know that we're celebrating. Besides, even if we were celebrating Kate's vacation days—which would be weird—she has to stay in the bedroom; she won't see these balloons."

"Well she'll see it when she walks in but…" Castle frowned as he looked down at his kitchen décor. His daughter did have a point. "I put some streamers on the bathroom mirror but I could-"

"Dad." Alexis walked over, touched his arm, and shook his head. "No one needs balloons in the bathroom."

"Well, yeah but, I-" He was cut off by his phone ringing. He pulled it from his back pocket and, upon seeing his partner's name on the caller ID, he answered with and overzealous, "Hi! Are you here?!"

"Just about to walk into the lobby."

"Great; I'll unlock the door and we'll be waiting in the kitchen for you to come in."

"Okay. Thanks Castle."

After he hung up the phone, he dashed to the front door, unlocked it, and then opened it a crack for her. Then, he walked halfway up the stairs and called out to his mother that Kate would be here in just a minute. After that, he returned to the kitchen where Alexis waited, trying her best to hide her eye-rolls.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Dad, but you know you can't really hang out with her, right?"

He clicked his tongue at his daughter's absurd notion. "Of course we can hang out. If I sit on the couch in the office and she sits on the bed, we're more than far enough apart. If that's the only 'hanging out' we can do for a while, I'll take it."

"Fair enough. Just want to make sure you have realistic expectations. And, I guess it is nice she doesn't have to be totally alone in her apartment. That would be horrible."

"I agree, which is why I'm glad she took me up on the offer."

A minute later his mother descended the stairs and joined their welcoming party at the edge of the kitchen. Two minutes after that, Castle heard footsteps approaching and had to fight to keep himself from jumping with joy. A moment later, Kate rapped her knuckles against the door and pushed it open.

"Hey—welcome. C'mon in!" he called out.

"Hi, guys. I…oh—oh my," Kate laughed, presumably when she saw the over-the-top décor.

Castle felt his heart stutter in his chest when he caught his first glimpse of her face. True, it was covered with a white mask, which actually looked pretty adorable, but he could still see her; she was there—finally. "We thought we'd give you a proper welcome."

"Oh well it's very sweet." She shut the door behind her and then removed her boots and put them by the door with the rest of the family's shoes. Throwing her bag over her shoulder she said, "I had to take a car here so I'm going to shower right away, okay? But thank you guys so much for letting me stay here; I really, really appreciate it."

"Absolutely—there's, um, we left a sandwich on the dresser in there if you're hungry."

She gave them a thumbs up as she walked towards the bedroom. "Thanks! Thank you!"

The grin remained on Castle's face several moments after Kate disappeared. In fact, he probably would have kept smiling had his mother not patted his shoulder and said, "There. She's here now. You can stop fretting."

He grumbled. "I wasn't fretting, Mother; I was worried about her. She's out there risking getting sick for her job… not to mention working every day. She's exhausted."

"Yes, I'm glad she's getting a break. And she gets to take that break here, in your room, while you stay out here."

"What are you implying, Mother?"

She raised up her hands defensively. "I'm implying nothing—merely reminding."

"Well, thank you, but I'm perfectly aware of the rules of quarantine." He was quite familiar as he'd researched at length the tips and suggestions for having one person quarantine inside a home with others inside. He knew exactly what level of interaction was permitted while still limiting exposure—and planed on pushing it to its absolute limits. It had, after all, been over ten weeks since he'd seen his partner.

For the next ten minutes, Castle busied himself with making sure that all of his clothes and laptop were in the guest room and making sure the kitchen was mostly cleaned up before going into his office, placing one of the guest chairs centrally in the doorway that led to his bedroom. This, he figured, was the best way for them to converse while she ate her sandwich. Pleased with himself, he sat down, folded his hands in his lap, and waited.

It only took about five more minutes for him to hear the bathroom door open. He sat up a little bit straighter and leaned slightly forward in anticipation, until a startling thought hit him—what if Kate came out of the bathroom naked? She was supposed to be isolating in his bedroom so it was plausible she would emerge in a state of undress and that could present a problem. Well not a problem per say as he wouldn't be disappointed, but she would probably be angry and embarrassed and he didn't want that. He was just able to scramble out of his seat when he caught a glimpse of her walking, and she clearly had pants on, so he settled back down and waited for her to notice him.

When she did, she gasped. "Oh—Castle; don't come any closer."

"I'm not; I'm sitting right here—more than six feet away from you," he pointed out.

She eyed him skeptically for a moment, but then nodded and combed her fingers back through her wet hair.

"Oh, um, sorry—there's a hair dryer in the bathroom if you want it."

She waved her hand dismissively before she began to rummage in her bag. "I saw it, but I'm too tired to blow it out tonight. Thanks though." From her bag she retrieved a pair of socks and sat on the edge of the mattress to put them on. Castle observed her face, now mask-free, though still showing indentation lines across the bridge of her nose and cheeks where the mask had rested, presumably for most of the day. She looked lovely as always—perhaps even lovelier freshly showered with no makeup on at all—but tired. He could tell she was weary all the way down to her bones, which made him even gladder she'd come to stay with them, where she'd get the perfect balance of rest and entertainment.

With her socks on, she plucked the plate off the nearby dresser, put it down on the bed, and then sat with her legs folded as she ate. She hummed after the first bite. "This is perfect; thank you. I… sorry." She shook her head and put the sandwich down. "I was going to say something to you, but now I forget. I'm just…I'm really tired."

He shook his head a little. "I can't imagine."

She tore off a corner of the sandwich and put it in her mouth. "I thought I was fine, you know? I felt tired, but not that tired, but I guess it was just because that was the mindset I had to have in order to keep going, but now that I'm here and able to take a breath I have no idea how I kept going as long as I did."

He gave her a soft smile. He knew how incredible she was at her job and how she'd sacrifice everything—including herself—to be as dedicated as she could be. He could imagine her soldering on despite long, difficult days, fitful sleep, and no break to speak of. She would have kept going as long as the job required her to, risking full burn-out in the process, but she would have done it because that's just who she was—a person he admired greatly.

"Well, you're here now and you can sleep in tomorrow as late as you'd like. In fact, that's encouraged around here."

She flashed him a soft smile. "I'm sure. You're in the guest room?"

"Yep. And I took my laptop and everything else out of the office, so I won't bother or wake you."

"You're not a bother, Castle. I'm the one bothering you."

His gaze was steadfast as he said, "Never. I'm glad you're here."

"So am I."

He smiled at her, then gestured towards the area in front of his closet where some water bottles and snacks had been piled so she could have something without fully depending on them. "Can you think of anything else you might need?" he asked. When she shook her head, he stood from his chair and said, "Okay, then; I'll let you rest. Just text me when you're awake and I'll bring you breakfast."

She nodded. "Will do. Castle? I really can't thank you enough."

"Don't worry about it, Beckett; sleep well." With that, he walked out of the office and towards the stairs, bound to try and get some work done from bed, though he was sure he'd be thinking about his partner almost the entire time.

The following morning Castle awoke atypically early but did not allow himself to get out of bed. Thankfully, he'd bought a cheap two-cup coffee maker for the guest room, so he didn't have to leave the bedroom for his caffeine fix. Normally he would have loved nothing more than to go down to the kitchen and brew something for himself and his new guest, but on that morning he did not want to risk waking her up with the aroma of her favorite beverage. She had just looked so worn down the night before, he wanted her to rest as long as she was able.

As he sipped his coffee, he pulled up the news on his laptop, but felt worse and worse with each headline he read. They were allegedly in the "peak illness" time at that moment so the death count was as high as ever, which was extraordinarily sad to read about. Plus, there were articles about people breaking the quarantine rules in New York and surrounding states that frustrated him more than anything. Of course, he wanted to go outside, but he didn't, because it was what was best for everyone—especially people on the front lines like Kate.

He'd been awake for about an hour when he received a text from his partner informing him that she was awake, but he shouldn't feel the need to rush with food or coffee. Naturally, he bounded from bed immediately and jogged down to the kitchen where he created the best 'first morning in quarantine' breakfast he could with their limited supplies. He even made a latte using his fancy coffee machine. He arranged the mug, plate of food, napkin and utensils on a tray and carried it into the office, where he found Kate sitting in the chair beside the bed, phone in hand.

"Morning. Sleep well?" he asked while setting the tray down at the entrance of the bedroom where she would be able to pick it up. He then retreated to the center of his office so she could take the tray while they remained more than six feet apart.

"Um, yeah. Pretty well, though I think I might be more tired today than I was yesterday," she added with a sad laugh. She walked over to the tray, picked it up, and then sat down on the floor with her back against the foot of the bed so she could eat. "Thanks for this by the way; it looks great."

"Oh. Sure. We're, ah, kind of at the mercy of what the grocery delivery service brings us in terms of ingredients…"

She glanced down at the plate, which had one egg scrambled, two slices of toast, lightly buttered, and clementine, and then back up to him, amused. "Eggs, toast, and fruit are a pretty good breakfast, Castle."

He gave a shrug, wishing he could have given her light, fluffy pancakes dripping with syrup and butter, but they'd ran out of pancake mix and had only a few cups of flour remaining, and he knew Alexis wanted to bake something. On top of that, they could only get two dozen eggs a week, but with four adults to feed that meant using them sparingly. "The supply chain does seem to be getting better, but it's been rough. I know I shouldn't complain to you, though."

She chuckled as she picked up her fork. "You say that like stale donuts haven't been a staple in my diet recently. What...why are you sitting on the floor…"

He gave a little shrug when he sat down at the edge of the rug in his office. He could have dragged over a chair, but then they wouldn't have been eye-level with each other. "It feels like we're sitting closer this way. From the edge of that rug to this one is seven feet."

She chuckled. "You measured? Oohh great coffee, Castle."

He smiled, and for a brief moment felt sad that they hadn't been able to touch as he handed the mug to her, but he also knew that for them—well, at least for him—coffee was more than just a caffeinated beverage. It was his way of showing how much he cared for her, and now he could finally show that again. Arguably inviting her to stay in his room was the biggest demonstration of his feelings he could provide without outright saying anything, but he was glad that coffee was back in their relationship, too.

"Glad you like it. And yes, I measured the distance between the rugs; how else was I going to know how close I could get while still maintaining appropriate social distancing."

She hummed and then picked up a slice of toast. "Mmhm. Well, whatever makes you happy, Castle."

You make me happy, he answered inside of his own head. He would have sat there for hours on that floor just staring at her, trying to make up lost time from when he didn't get to see her smile, or the little mole beneath her eye. He tried not to stare too intently as she ate, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but he watched casually until she'd finished her plate and asked how he wanted to handle the dishes.

"Ah, got that covered," he said, pulling a pair of yellow rubber gloves from his back pocket. "You want more coffee?"

"Yes please, but just black; nothing fancy."

He nodded in agreement, donned his gloves, and then carried her dishes to the kitchen. He placed what he could in the dishwasher, then wiped the tray down with a sanitizing wipe before taking the gloves off again. He then got her a fresh mug of coffee and returned to his office. She was once again on the chair, so he placed the mug on the floor just in front of the bedroom rug. They then played their strange dance of moving back and then forwards again to stay out of each other's way while she got her drink until they were once again sitting on either side of the seven-foot floor gap in the rugs.

"So…have I missed any good murders in the past few months?"

Tapping her fingers against the edge of the mug she pointed out, "I don't think there are any good murders, Castle."

He twisted his lips and said, "You know what I meant. Interesting—interesting murders."

She shook her head. "No. Murder rate is down a little bit, which is good. There've been some robberies, but honestly, the majority of the cases have been domestic."

"Oh." Castle felt his stomach twist and fought the urge to wince. He had seen a few news headlines about increases in domestic violence, but the prospect was so upsetting he could hardly think about it. He could imagine that being trapped with family members in as tight quarters as New York apartments tended to come with could cause tension. Heck, he could attest to this firsthand as his mother could, on occasion, make him wish he could jump out his fifth story window—or throw her out of it, whichever seemed easier. Add to that an individual with an already short fuse or tendency towards violence and a catastrophe was bound to happen. Worse yet was the fact that because of the stay at home orders, some victims who might have otherwise been able to escape, were unable to do anything to save themselves.

Domestic murders had always been gut-wrenching to deal with before the pandemic, so he could only imagine how much more devastating they were now. "I'm sorry; I know how hard those are."

She gave a sad smile. "I think all of them are hard right now. If there was any time for people to try and be better, to make the world better, it's now right."

He bobbed his head. "I couldn't agree more, but you know maybe some good will come out of this. I certainly hope so."

"Yeah," she sighed, bringing her coffee mug closer to her chest, "me too."

Thanks for reading. part 2 will be up on Saturday