"Kevin! Uhh, ummm... good morning!" Misty said, not sure of what to say.

"Hello, Misty. I'm surprised to see you back so early from D's," he said as he pulled the eggs from the refrigerator.

"Uh-huh... and what about you, Kevin?!" Misty asked suspiciously. She had a naughty look in her eyes as well. Kevin just laughed and shook his head.

"Misty, before you even say anything, I slept in your room last night," Kevin said, getting out the milk and orange juice. "Laura figured you weren't here to use it anyway, so you wouldn't mind," he added with a laugh. Misty laughed too.

"Uh-huh," Misty said again, still stunned to see Kevin still there, regardless if anything happened between him and Laura or not. "So I see you're making some breakfast," she said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah," Kevin said, smiling. "I thought I'd surprise Laura with breakfast in bed."

"Uh-huh," Misty said yet again, pushing Kevin over the edge, so to speak.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop saying, 'uh-huh,' you're driving me nuts!" Kevin said smiling, and Misty laughed. "I'm sorry, Kevin, but I'm still surprised that you're here, that's all."

Kevin put the plate and glass of juice on a tray to take to Laura's room, took it and looked at Misty as he passed her on his way out of the kitchen. "You'll find I'm full of surprises," he said with a wink, then walked down to Laura's room. Misty just laughed as she decided to take Buck out for a walk.

It wasn't long after Kevin came into Laura's room that she started waking up. "Kevin?" she said, her voice cracking a little because of just waking up. Laura rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair back out of her face, revealing her flushed cheeks. "Kevin, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," Kevin said, sitting on the edge of Laura's bed. He bent down and kissed Laura's forehead. "Good morning!"

"Well, good--" Laura paused, smelling the air. "Wait... what am I smelling? It smells good!"

Kevin smiled. "Nothing, just your breakfast. Here, sit up," he said, pulling her up and propping her pillows up so she had something to rest against. Kevin then got up for a second to get the tray he brought in and placed it on her lap.

"Kevin! Awww, you didn't have to do that. That's so sweet!" Laura said, almost crying she was so touched. Kevin reached over and pushed a piece of hair out of her face. "I know I didn't. I wanted to. I hope you're hungry," he said, taking the cover off of the plate.

"Actually I'm usually not right away in the morning but this morning I feel famished!" Laura said, yawning. "Well, what do we have then?"

"I made a ham and cheese omelet, with some toast, and a big glass of orange juice," Kevin said, as Laura found her fork and began to eat. After a couple bites, Laura was pretty silent. "You're so quiet! You OK? Food poisoning isn't setting in, is it?" he asked with a laugh.

Laura felt around slowly for her juice glass, and Kevin helped her out by softly taking her hand and putting it around the glass. "Thanks," she said softly, then continued. "Yeah, it's great! I can't believe you went to all this trouble. I hope you're having some too," she said, taking another drink.

"Actually, I ate a little while ago already. I was up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I peeked in on you, and you were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to bother you. I figured I'd let you sleep a little longer." Kevin stood up and opened Laura's window shade.

"That's much better. It was too dark in here," Laura said, smiling.

"You can see that it's light or dark?"

"Yeah, a lot of blind people can't, but I can. I just can't see anything else," Laura replied, a bit of frustration coming out in her voice. Kevin picked up on her frustration.

"I'm sorry, Laura, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," Kevin said, brushing her cheek lightly with his hand.

Laura sighed. "No, no, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything," she said, her voice a little shaky. Oh no, don't cry now, please don't cry now, Laura thought to herself. She was always the picture of contentment, and she didn't want anyone to see otherwise. She took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. "Sometimes I start thinking, 'What if?' You know... 'What if my family weren't in that fire?' or 'What if I had made it out a bit sooner?' or 'What if there had been no fire at all?' I wear myself out sometimes trying to answer questions that just don't have answers."

"Oh, Laura--come here," Kevin said, pulling her into his arms. It was then that Laura couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "I'm sorry I'm crying," she mumbled into his chest. Kevin shook his head. "Shhhh... don't apologize for crying. You have every reason to cry, Laura. I can't even begin to imagine what you've gone through. And I don't mean this in a bad way, but I'm glad I don't know. I think I'd cry all the time," he said, stroking her hair as she sobbed, and he pulled her closer yet. Laura found such comfort feeling herself wrapped in Kevin's strong arms. It wasn't long before her crying stopped.

Kevin released his embrace. Laura sat up a bit, wiped her eyes. Kevin took his thumb and wiped some tears away from her cheek. "I feel so embarrassed," she said, sniffling a little bit. "Why?" Kevin asked. "You have no reason to, Laura."

"Yes I do," Laura replied, sighing. "I sit here and feel sorry for what I've lost, instead of focusing on what I still have. I mean, other then not being able to see, I'm healthy. I've got Misty, Buck, lots of other friends," she said, reaching up until she felt Kevin's arm, then rubbed his shoulder. "I've got you now, too. Thank you, Kevin... thank you for listening to me, for letting me cry to you, and on you," she said, laughing as she felt the wet spot her tears left on his shoulder. Kevin laughed too. "Good to see you smile again, Laura."

"Laughter through tears--it's the best emotion," Laura said, reaching on her nightstand for a tissue. "Well, thank you, again, for breakfast too. It's gotta be one of the most thoughtful things anyone's ever done for me," she said, standing up and walking to her closet to take out some clothes. Kevin once again was amazed at how she remembered where everything was. He smiled as he grabbed the tray and headed to the bedroom door.

"You're welcome, Laura. I'll just go wash the dishes while you change," Kevin said, looking at her one last time before walking out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen.

Kevin walked into the kitchen to find Misty at the table reading the paper. He noticed the dishes were done too. "Oh man, you didn't have to clean up, Misty. I made the mess, I would have cleaned it up," he said, placing Laura's dishes in the sink.

Misty put her newspaper aside as Kevin sat down at the table across from her. "Oh it's no problem, Kevin," she said, then noticed the look on his face. "Uhh, something wrong, Kevin?"

"Wrong? Not really wrong, just... well, wrong," Kevin said with a laugh. He may have laughed, but Misty could tell he wasn't really in the joking mood. "Uh-oh, what happened?"

Kevin sighed. "Laura, she started crying. Talking about her blindness," he said, putting his face in his hands. "I feel like a doofus. I kinda brought it up, and all of a sudden, she started crying. Not that I don't understand why, 'cause I do, but still--"

"Still you feel bad? Trust me, I know. I've been listening to her cry for the past 15 years. I get so worried about her, that she's putting herself through all of this for nothing."

"Nothing?!" Kevin was stunned. "Care to explain that, Misty? I mean, I'd hardly consider Laura losing her sight in a tragic fire 'nothing!'" Kevin was feeling himself get warm. Where did she get off saying something like that?!?

Misty sensed Kevin's anger, so she felt she better explain herself. "Chill out, Kev. I didn't mean it the way you think I meant it," she said, taking a breath then continuing. "I just meant that, she's so unwilling to try that experimental surgery that she's setting herself up for more sorrow, I mean anything's worth a try, and she doesn't have anything to lose."

It took a minute for Kevin to fully comprehend what Misty had just told him. "You mean to tell me, that there's surgery Laura can get that might give her her sight back? And she hasn't gotten it yet??"

Misty stood up as she started to walk out of the room. "Nope. No one's been able to convince her to go try it," she said, walking out and leaving Kevin alone in the kitchen.

Kevin grabbed the newspaper to wait for Laura to finish getting dressed. We'll see about that, he thought as Laura made her way into the kitchen. Kevin looked at her and smiled. "You ready to go?" he asked. They were going to go over to AJ's for the day.

"Ready as I'm gonna get," Laura said, as she got Buck and they headed for AJ's place.