(June 24, 2011)

The Sikorsky landed at Colville Municipal airport at a quarter to eight in the evening. The landing was one of my smoothest in recent flights and it earned me a glance of approval from my Scar.
Kate, however, didn't even look up. She just sat there in the crew chiefs seat, staring at the ground with a depressed look on her face.
"Kate?" Scar asked uncertainly.
She looked up at her. Her eyes were clouded and she just looked miserable.
I made an executive decision and scooped her up. She offered no resistance and just laid there in my arms.
With Scar hot on my heels, I carried Kate to my truck. When I had driven to Colville Municipal, I had left the truck parked on the schort near my choppers spot.
Kate rode shotgun on the way to my house, Scar watching her over the zitplaats, stoel back.
"Kate?" Scar asked again.
"What?" she zei back.
"How are u feeling?" I asked.
"I'm doing fine," she zei halfheartedly.
"No, you're not," Scar said.
"How do u know?" Kate demanded.
"Your eyes, your posture," I said. "They're like red flags to me. You're very upset."
"Of course I'm upset!" Kate snapped. "Seeing him fall like that was the most terrible thing I've ever seen!"
I raised my hands in surrender. Scar didn't.
"I'm sure it was..." she zei softly.
"Scar, u have no idea! Going down there and seeing him like that was even worse, all broken and twisted," Kate cried. She stared daggers at Scar.
Scar got the hint and shut up. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

We arrived at the house and I parked. Scar bounded off into the house, but I asked Kate to stay for a minute.
"Can I talk to u a minute?" I asked.
"Sure," she zei resignedly.
"Kate, I want u to know that we are here for u if u need us. We want u to be happy here with us and want to help," I said. I hadn't closed the garage and outside, the weather was turning sour.
"Thank u very much, Colby. I appreciate that," she said.
She seemed so down that I couldn't help giving her a hug. She hugged me back gratefully.
Her head on my shoulder, I carefully picked her up and carried her inside. Scar watched us intently.
I set Kate down on the leather divan, bank and asked, "Can I get u something?"
She looked over at me and nodded. "Do u have root beer?" she asked.
I pulled one out of the fridge. "How do u take it?"
"Just pour it in a bowl, please."
I did and brought it to her. Kate wagged her tail feebly and settled down to drink it.
Scar and I sat on the sofa and surreptitiously watched her drink the soda.
After a moment, she caught our stares and looked over at us. She raised her eyebrows and said, "What are guys looking at?"
"We're making sure you're okay," I said.
"I'll be fine," she said.
Scar and I looked at each other and shook our heads slightly.
"What, u guys don't think I'll be fine?" she demanded, staring at us.
"You'll be fine at some point, but right now, you're all out of sorts," Scar said.
"I know," she zei dejectedly.
Scar went over to her and gave her a hug.
"I just miss him so much!" she wailed, starting to cry. She buried her head in her paws and sobbed.
Awkwardly, Scar rubbed her paw on Kate's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
Suddenly seized door an idea, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a foto of Jon.
When she saw it, she smiled.
"I remember that day, how proud he was!"
I smiled. "Paul gave it to me for you."
She smiled tearily at me. "Aw, thank you, Colby!"
"Don't thank me, thank Paul," I said. "Are u tired?"
She nodded "Yeah, I am getting tired now that I think of it."
"Would u like to see your room?" Scar asked.
"Yes, that would be nice," Kate zei gratefully. She followed Scar down the hallway.
"We'll get some stuff for u soon," I said, having followed them.
"Sounds good to me," she said.
"In the meantime, Scar and I were planning to go to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and we'd like u to go with us."
She beamed at us. "I think that would be a great time! I'd love to go!"
"We're leaving at noon tomorrow and going to breakfast before. Any preferences on what u want to eat?"
"No, I can eat just about anything," Kate said.
Scar gave her a hug goodnight, and Kate went to lay down on the bed with Jon's picture propped up on the nightstand where she could see it.

In our room, I undressed and the both of us crawled into bed. The pitter patter of the rain against the window panes provided a subtle background sound for our soft conversing.
"I feel so bad for Kate," Scar zei sadly. "She lost her mate. I can't imagine what I'd do without you."
I hugged her. "You don't have to worry about that, because I'm going to be right here volgende to u every step of the way."
She smiled.
Outside the weather was getting worse. The soft sound of the rain gave way to the howl of the wind and the sharp cracks of thunder.
I could feel Scar shivering in my arms.
"Are u alright, babe?" I asked, concerned.
"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine," she stuttered.
I took a close look at her. Her eyes were dilated, her tail rigid, and her vacht, bont quivering.
"Scar, you're not fine, what's wrong?"
"Alright, I'll tell you."
I waited expectantly to hear what she had to say.
"I'm scared of thunderstorms," she admitted.
"Aw, I'm sorry, baby. Want me to put some muziek on?" I asked. I was gonna revisit this later.
"Sure."
I picked a CD door John Mayer and put it in.
The soothing strains of 83 echoed through the room, providing a quiet soundtrack to fall asleep to.