Welcome to Gaia! ::

*Bard smiles and pats Tavin on the shoulder* You'll see me in the future I imagine. Good luck, friend.

*with a twinge of regret he walks away from Tavin* What would I tell him, anyway. What, really, does he have to look forward to....

*he passes down the beverage aisle, pauses on a whim, and selects three large bottles of red-flavored gatorade.* Got to keep those electrolytes up, Miss Dowling.

*No one is in line at checkout. He dumps the medicine and gatorade in front of the sleepy-looking clerk, who in turn looks at him as if he's out of his skull. With a sigh, the clerk begins to ring up the medicine*

*Bard watches Tavin walk off with a sad smile on his face* See you in the future, my friend.

*He turns back to the clerk who is rather peevishly scanning all the meds.*

"I'll need to see some ID," *the clerk says, waggling a bottle of cough medicine at Bard.*

For cough medicine? *Bard stares at the kid*

"It has alcohol in it."

It's cough medicine. Who drinks cough medicine?

"I couldn't say, Sir."

I'm thirty-three for God's sake.

*The clerk just waits impassively. With a sigh Bard fishes out his driver's license.* There.

"Thank you, Sir." *he scrutinizes it carefully before handing it back. He finishes ringing everything up. * "The total is $134.58. Will that be cash or credit?"

*Bard hands him his AmEx card. The clerk has to pass it through the reader three times before getting it to work. The register prints up the receipts. Bard signs one hastily, grabs the bag of supplies and hurries out the door.*

*He gets in his car, and he sets the bag in his lap. He doesn't want to take the time to drive home, so the car will have to do. He's not sure how much time has passed in the Brink. He wonders if maybe... no... best not think of it.*

Faith... I need faith.... *he squints his eyes shut, breathing in deeply. Reaching under his shirt he draws out a tiny gold crucifix and rubs it gently with his fingers.*

I believe... I believe... I am in the Brink.

*He visualizes it perfectly in his mind, like a movie set or a scene from the play. He can almost imagine he hears people in the bar talking over drinks*

** Exit Bard to Brink Main Room, 277 **

**End of "Open 24 Hours"**

** Begin Portland, Oregon - "Into Thy Hands" **

*The interior of the private room in St. Vincent's Medical Center is pleasant, in a sterile sort of way. An older woman, Christina May Johnson, lies in the room's only bed. Her frame is slight and her skin drawn and pale. Her fight with cancer has been a long, hard one, but now even the doctors admit that it's nearly at an end*

*Bard sits in a chair at her bedside, slumped over, napping. His bible is clenched in his hand*

*Bard shifts in his seat, coming awake at the sound of her voice. He's looked better. He hasn't shaved in a week, and he's eaten about as much as she has.*

*He gives the nurse a weary smile and shakes his head softly. He's long since given up arguing with his mother about the pain killers*

*Bard's smile falters a little but he still manages to hold onto it.*

Are you hungry, Mom? *his voice is softened by tenderness and fatigue.* You should eat something...

*Bard accepts the barb from his mom without so much as flinching. In the last four weeks, it's become something of a ritual*

*he nods to the nurse* Thanks so much, Theresa.

*Bard puts his hand on his mom's hand, speaking gently* Mom we talked about this. It is my name. I legally changed it years ago, and...

*Bard's smile fades, and he says tiredly* Yes, Mom...