He instructed her in everything he knew about pretending and gave her a few important tips. He made sure that he told her what Sydney had told him. If she could come back to reality from the sim, she could be brain damaged . He then put her through a simple sim that went rather well, and he began to feel a bit more comfortable with the idea of her going through the sim with him.

"Come on, Jarod, let’s get it over with." She begged. "When we know what happened, we’ll feel a lot better."

"I’m not sure that it isn’t too soon for you." Jarod said, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, Jarod. I can withstand a lot. Don’t underestimate me."

"I would never do that." He said, grinning. "O.K., you’ve persuaded me."

"Good." She said, smiling triumphantly. "What do I have to do?"

* * * * *

It was hard. She walked toward the elevator but could not free herself from the knowledge of what would happen.

"Easy, Parker. Try to be Her. Try to forget everything you are and everything you know." Jarod encouraged and came over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don’t try to push it."

"I’m sorry, I can’t…I just can’t." she muttered and shook his hand off.

"O.K., we better take a break and try it again tomorrow, huh?" he said softly, knowing exactly what she was going through.

* * * * *

After taking a shower, Parker felt a lot better. She could not shake the feelings she felt when she sensed someone following her to the elevator. Jarod sat at the kitchen table, his head on his arms, and appeared to be sleeping. Parker dried her hair with a towel and walked slowly toward him. She slowly came up behind him, and reached out to caress his back. She hesitated before touching him, afraid of her own spontineity. They were so much alike. She wondered if he felt for her what she felt for him.

She sat down before him at the table, and he woke. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, focusing on her face.

"Hi. Bathroom’s free now." She said softly, smiling slightly.

"Good." He said sleepily, standing up and walking tiredly to the bathroom.

"Definitely not a morning person." Parker muttered, but could not keep herself from smiling. She shook her head and stood. "Well, at least there’s some coffee left."

She retrieved her cup from the sink and poured herself another cup of coffee. She caught a glimpse of the pile of dishes in the sink and looked around for a dishwasher. She came up empty and grudgingly decided to do the dishes, a chore she had not done since she was in college. After washing the last plate and sitting it in the strainer, she went to bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Jarod came out of the bathroom shortly after,

His hair still damp, clad only in pajama pants, and he saw Parker lying asleep on the bed.

"Great. I wanted to at least toss a coin and see who gets the bed." He muttered darkly, and tried to make himself comfortable on the small couch, without much luck.

* * * * *

BANG!

Parker sat bolt upright in bed, disoriented. She tried to focus in the darkness and listened intently for another sound. She heard a thumping noise and a soft groan.

"Argh…damnit." Jarod muttered, trying to keep quiet despite his obvious pain.

She sat up on her elbow and tried to see something in the darkness of the room. She recognized Jarod’s form standing before the couch.

"Jarod?" she asked, amused. "What are you doing?"

"Mhmp. Ouch." Was his reply.

Parker untangled herself from the sheet and blankets and walked over to him. He was sitting on the couch, simultaneously holding his head and knee. She crouched before him on the floor and looked up at him quizzically.

"What the hell did you do?" he asked, reaching out to him, putting her finger under his chin, forcing him to look at her. A single drop of blood ran down his cheek like a tear.

"Mhm, I guess I jerked in my sleep and fell off the couch. And I must have hit my head on the edge of the glass-topped table." He replied, looking at her pointedly.

"Looks like it. And your knee?" she queried, reaching for a kleenez to wipe off the blood.

"I bumped it on he couch when I tried to stand up." He said, jerking away when she lightly brushed the wound.

"You have a serious cut on your temple. God, you’re a big baby. Do you know where the first aid kit is? I should fix this.

"Yeah, look in the bathroom closet, left drawer."

She flicked on the light as she entered the bathroom. Jarod blinked at he sudden bright light shining in his face. He squinted his eyes, wishing she would hurry up and turn the light off. She busied herself in the bathroom searching for the kit. She located it, and gave herself a quick glimpse in the mirror. She smiled at her reflection and started to walk out of the bathroom. Surprisingly, the kit was actually where he guessed it would be. Parker quickly scanned the contents as she walked back toward Jarod.

"Could you please turn on the lamp and shut off that neon light?"

"Sure." She said graciously, and shut off the bathroom light for him.

"You know, this never would have happened if I could have slept on the bed." He said, a little hurt.

Parker rolled her eyes and stuck a bandaid on his temple after cleaning the cut. "You only had to ask." She said, and drew him close to her.

"You’re not gonna kick my ass now, are you?" Jarod asked, afraid he had pushed his luck with her too much tonight.

"No, but if you don’t shut up right now, I’ll think about it. Now, come on big baby."

She made him sit down on one side of the bed and she lay on the other side. When he did not move, she asked, "What are gonna do? Sit there all night? You can sit in the couch if you aren’t going to sleep."

"No, um, no." he mumbled and climbed under the covers.

The next few minutes were quiet. Jarod moaned as he tried to turn over. He had a huge dent in his knee and it hurt like hell. Parker heard him whine and was reminded of Broots. She never thought Jarod would be like him. As long as he continued to whine, Parker was not going to be able to sleep. She threw off the blankets and rushed to the refridgerator, taking out some ice trays. She grabbed a plastic bag off of the counter and tossed ice into it and shut it. She walked back over to the bed and pulled off the covers and pushed his pants up past his knee. She put the ice pack on his now blue-green and swollen knee.

"Now, be quiet." She ordered, flashing him a dark look.

"Thanks." He said tightly, watching her unbelievingly. Such sympathy for the injured man.

"Now you can call me Mother Theresa." She said sarcastically, grinning at him.

Jarod held up the covers for her and replied, "But I can’t call you mother. Well, not now. Maybe…"

"Shut up and go to sleep. Hell, at least let me get some sleep. I can get extremely rude if I don’t get enough sleep."

"When did you get so patient?" he teased.

"Jarod!" she called warningly, and pushed herself up on er elbow again. "Do I have to knock you out or are you gonna shut up?"

"I guess a headache would be much worse than the cut tomorrow." he said, his lips pressed together.

"You can count on it."

Jarod tried to sit up but Parker grabbed him and pinned him to the bed. She looked down at him and replied, "You make me more nervous than Broots. Would you do me a favor and let me sleep?"

"Sure. But could you stay this way?" he teased and she realized that she was laying on top of him.

"Moron!" she cried and crawled back to her side of the bed.

* * * * *