A/N: Hey, everybody! This is my second Heartland story. I was overwhelmed and ecstatic for all of the positive feedback I received for my Heartland one-shot. You guys really encouraged me to write more Heartland stories. Now, this one is not going to be as fluffy as that one was. A lot of people wanted me to continue the one-shot, so this story is kind of a continuation of it. If you didn't read the one-shot, it's okay to read this one, there's nothing really you'd be missing. There's going to be a lot of drama and angst. But please stay with the story, you never know what might happen. This prologue might be a little confusing and/or might give some of you a heart attack, but things will become clearer in coming chapters. I hope you all will give this story a chance, just like you did with my last one. Anyway, enjoy. :)

~~ Prologue ~~

The courtroom was filling up slowly with spectators, finding their seats and murmuring low conversations. The spacious room was meticulous, spotless, and plainly boring. All of the wood in the room was mahogany, from the bench seats to the judge's bench and the wood paneling. The lighting was sharp and bright. This was one of the biggest things to happen in Hudson, and everybody was curious and interested to know what will happen. It was late April, a beautiful spring day. Though the sky was blue and there was a warm breeze, all of that was the furthest from some people's mind.

The defendant sat at the defendant's table, hands folded on top of the table and eyes cast downward. His lawyer sat beside him, looking through his papers and preparing to make his case on his client's behalf. The defendant could feel everybody's criticizing gazes on him. They were surely trying to determine just by his posture and such whether he was guilty or innocent. He tried to ignore it and put it out of his mind, but everything that had happened in the past weeks weighed heavily on him.

The bailiff was a broad, tall man in uniform, standing guard over the room. He stepped forward and cleared his throat to get the room's attention. "All rise!" the man announced, in a steady booming voice. "The honorable Judge Victoria Winthrop is presiding."

Everybody stood in unison as the side door opened. An older woman, about in her fifties, with graying blonde hair and a tan, weathered face, dressed in black robes entered the room. She walked confidently to her judge's bench, all eyes trained on her silently. She climbed up, and sat down in her chair, nodding to the audience in her court. "You may be seated," she instructed everybody. Once again, all of the people sat down in unison. The judge studied the papers in front of her, after having slid on her glasses, then she banged her gavel two short times to call everybody to attention again.

"This is case number 7934, the commonwealth vs. Ty Borden," Judge Winthrop announced. She glanced up from the file, peering over her glasses. "Will the defendant please rise?"

Ty stood up from his chair a little too quickly, the legs of the chair squeaking on the wood floor. He smoothed down his blue and white striped tie and his light blue shirt. Ty started to place his hands on the table in front of him, but then thought that that would present him in a negative light. He just clasped his hands together in front of him. He wet his lips, swallowing, as he waited for the judge to continue.

"Mr. Borden, you have been charged with the murder of Hank Caldwell," Judge Winthrop stated. "How do you plead?"

Ty stood quietly, keeping his eyes level on the judge. He allowed his lawyer to speak for him, as he was instructed to do. His lawyer was only an inch shorter than him and was dressed completely in a suit. He had russet brown hair and was a little chunky. "Not guilty, you honor," Ty's lawyer, Joseph Dowell, answered.

"I see," Judge Winthrop replied, raising her eyebrows, looking back down at the papers in front of her. "I see here that bail has been proposed at $100,000 dollars." She glanced back up, expectantly.

"Yes, your honor." This time, the prosecutor stood up. She was a prim and proper woman, her dark hair pulled back on top of her head, and was dressed in a navy blue knee length pencil skirt, a navy blue blazer, and red orange blouse underneath. "The defendant's lawyer and I have come to an agreement that Mr. Borden does not present a threat to the public as of now. We propose that he be placed on house arrest until the date of his trial."

Judge Winthrop sighed, taking off her glasses. She looked out at the two lawyers and Ty. "Well, I disagree. I'm denying bail," the judge said.

Ty felt his heart sink down to his stomach as his breath caught in his throat. He heard muffled gasps of protest from behind him, and he had to forcibly tell himself not to turn around. If Ty looked at his family and friends, he would for sure lose his strength and resolve.

Judge Winthrop continued, "This is not some fight in the school yard, counselors. This is murder. From what I see here, Mr. Borden has a record and a past of trying to evade the police. I deem Mr. Borden a flight risk, and order that he be transported to the Hudson Penitentiary to await trial on May 6th." Judge Winthrop banged her gavel once. "Court is adjourned." She gathered her papers together, and climbed down from the bench, departing the courtroom.

Ty remained standing as two guards approached him. He kept his chin up, while the guards handcuffed his hands behind his back a little roughly. Ty stared straight ahead, at an unknown and bleak future.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Across town, someone else was facing an unknown future in a different kind of way. In Hudson Memorial, on the fifth floor in the Intensive Care Unit, a patient lay completely still in a hospital bed. She was attached to many screens and machines, monitoring all of her vitals and nearly everything her body was doing. She was in a coma from a bad head injury she sustained a couple weeks ago. Her family stood around her bed, along with the doctor.

"So, what exactly are we looking at?" one of the family members asked. This one's voice was quiet and strained, from all the crying she'd done and like more tears were on the horizon.

Dr. Seymour looked upon the family with compassion and sympathy. "I'm not going to sugarcoat things. You all need to know what you're facing," the doctor told them, truthfully. "You're in for a long and hard road. She sustained a very bad injury to the back of her skull. There was bleeding on the brain, but we fixed that with surgery. However, that could happen again. We're keeping a close eye on her, she's in the best care possible, and we'll get her out of the critical phase."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" another person asked, this time it was male. He had been facing the window, and now turned to face the doctor.

"The best you can do is just to be here with her," Dr. Seymour explained. "Show her that you're here. It's been said that comatose patients can feel when someone is talking to them or holding their hand. They've may not have been able to respond right away, but it's something for them to hold on to. Good news is that she is young and she has a good chance of waking up from this. This is just her body's way of healing what's been broken."

The man put his arm around the woman when she made a soft, whimpering sound. They both nodded understandingly at Dr. Seymour's words. She leaned her head against his chest and he rubbed his hand up and down her arm soothingly. They stared down at the girl on the bed. She was completely still, her hair fanned out on the pillow under her head and her arms lying by her side. She had a breathing tube down her throat helping her breathe, her chest rising and falling softly.

A machine counted off her heartbeats. One...Two...Three...

A/N: Well, how is that for a first chapter. I know this was very short, but I promise the rest of the chapters will be long. Now, if anyone of you are still capable after all the angst I put you through, review and tell me what you thought of it. Ty's in prison for murder :O, and someone is in a coma? Who do you think it is? What happened? Review and you'll get the answers to these questions soon.