Sitting in his hospital bed, Jack tuned is guitar once again. He began to strum out a few cords of a Green Day song. Life had become very boring for the youngest Mercer brother since being brought to the hospital after the shoot out in front of his mother's house.

The ambulance had arrived just as Jack felt himself slipping into darkness. After he had come to, inside the emergency vehicle, Bobby, his oldest brother had explained the most up-to-date plan to him. Jack was to be considered dead, while Bobby, Jeremiah, and Angel worked on getting revenge from Victor Sweet.

Jack presumed his fake death was just another way for Bobby to be overprotective about him, but considering the fact that Jack had about three very real bullets in him, he wasn't going to complain about the break.

After missing a cord in the song he was playing, Jack shook his head and started the song over. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack spotted a spectator watching him from the doorway.

"You like Green Day?" Jack asked without looking up from his guitar.

"Yeah, their my favorite," a girl's voice quietly replied from the doorway. "What are you in for?"

"I was shot yesterday," Jack told her. "Three bullets were pulled from me, you?"

"About ten more hours of community service," the girl admitted. This really caught Jack's attention.

"What'd you do?" Jack asked wide-eyed and looking the girl up and down. He decided she was kind of pretty. Her long black hair was hidden under a pea green hat. Her green eyes were shining brightly out from under the bill. She wore a black tank top under a red mesh long-sleeved shirt. She was also wearing a plaid skirt and a pair of knee-high black boots. A black chocker was tied around her neck. This was exactly Jack's type of girl.

"This dumbass was gropin' my butt, so I broke his wrist and a beer bottle over his head," the girl told him. "The courts probably would have let me off, saying it was self-defense, had the fucker not been a congressman."

Jack let out a hearty laugh and continued to say, "That's awesome!"

"Yeah, but in the meantime, my foster parents are pissed as hell!" the girl exclaimed.

"You're living with foster parents?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I've got another year an' a half in the system," she shrugged. "Frank and Shelly are pissed because their stuck with me for the rest of that time; me, the fuckin' juvenile delinquent."

"I understand that," Jack said with a nod. "I was a foster kid, too. Then Evelyn Mercer took me in. When she couldn't find a good home for me, she adopted me. In thirty years of dealing with the system, she never gave up on a kid. There were only four of us she couldn't adopt out, so she adopted us."

"Man, wish I could find a place like that," the girl said, as Jack realized just how lucky he'd actually been. "I just have to keep reminding myself that I've only got fifteen more months. Oh, an nine hours, forty-five minutes." Jack let out another laugh, which she decided she really liked the sound of. "By the way, I'm Kara."

"Jack," he nodded, his guitar pick between his teeth as he shook hands with Kara. "So, how many other kids are Frank and Shelly fostering right now?"

"Five, while I make six," Kara stated, taking a seat in the chair next to Jack's bed. "I spend as much time as possible away from that place though."

"You still in school?" Jack asked her.

"Yeah, but I can't wait to be rid of that shit hole," Kara answered while picking at her black fingernail polish. "I'm a damn charity case to those bastards."

"Are you planning on going to college?" Jack began playing with his guitar again.

"Are you in college?" Kara tipped her head to one side.

"I've taken a few classes at a community college," he told her.

"I don't think I'll be able to go to college," Kara said, she seemed almost upset about that fact. "Not enough money."

"Kara Brookes, please report to Dr. Andrews, Kara Brooks to Dr. Andrews, a voice repeated over the intercom system.

"That's my cue," Kara sighed, pushing herself to her feet.

"Come back when your shift's over, 'kay?" Jack said as Kara was walking toward the door.

"Will do," Kara called back over her shoulder.