Alone in the solitude of Cody's hospital room Sheriff Daniels had plenty of time to reflect. The events of June 14th flashed through his mind like instant replay tape. All too well he remembered Cody and his friends skinny dipping in Sullivan Lake.

"I could have skinned that young whippersnapper alive on the shore of that lake!" Sheriff Daniels thought to himself. "Right in front of his playmates and the rolling news feeds covering the scene when Fred Taylor approached Cody with his loaded .357 Magnum in his hand."

All he could say was, "There most definitely was more than one full moon rising that day."

Sheriff Daniels wondered, "Since I was positioned behind the Astatula Assassin at the time was there anything I could have done differently to prevent Cody from being shot?"

And he realized "No there wasn't except shoot Fred Taylor in the back."

"Perhaps I should have squeezed the trigger on my weapon and let the pieces fall where they may?" he stated to himself.

Hind sight being 20-20 if the situation could be redone he probably would. According to several eye witnesses Cody bolted out of the lake to draw Taylor away from harming the other boys. That was an established fact and Cody's undoing. It was Taylor's Selfies with his victims Cody discovered burglarizing the Astatula Assassin's house. This evidence proved what the Sheriff's suspicions had become.

At the recent VFW Fish Fry celebration Cody overheard a comment about Fred Taylor's unique photographic talents. Cody never mentioned anything to the Sheriff about that trivial insight. However, this comment aroused curiosity in Cody. It was later Sheriff Daniels learned Cody rummaged through Taylor's desk in the Sheriff's Station but came up empty. It was not until he broke into Taylor's residence he found the pictures. There would be no criminal charges levied for Cody's crime.

With the exception of Cody, Sheriff Daniels had known every single one of the boys at Sullivan Lake that day since they were born. The whole lot of them. They came from good stock and knew better than to pull the stunt that they pulled. Harmless fun though it seemed to them to be at the time.

Yes, there was significant fall-out from their now infamous display of exhibitionism. Sheriff Daniels could not blame any of their parents for the way they handled the uh-hem, exposure shall we say, Astatula received on several news networks as well as the yahoo homepage. Certainly too many news affiliates to name them all.

Sheriff Daniels believed from what he was told that tail feathers of the pale and pink varieties still floated around Sullivan Lake. They probably always would. However, the town was resilient. Astatula would bounce back. This too shall pass.

The Sheriff's next thought was "Cody can some times be quite a handful of shining moments in the spotlight of life. However, considering the background in Palo Pinto he came from before becoming my ward, I suppose some wrong decisions are to be expected. We burn those bridges when they come along."

"Cody has certainly traveled a long distance since those days," Sheriff Daniels decided, "but there is still room for more improvement. Cody will learn. The hard way, no doubt."

Sitting there looking at the boy the Sheriff longed for a million more experiences with him. Would he get them? That remained the question. Sheriff Daniels certainly hoped he would.

For now Cody just lay in that hospital bed. His innocent cherubic face staring up at the same spot on the ceiling he had been fixated on for the last month. Sheriff Daniels desperately wanted his Little Man back. Little Man. That was the Sheriff's favorite pet name for Cody.

Beth returned from her three day sojourn to Dallas. Her campaign for Mayor of Astatula was blossoming in full swing. Most assuredly she would easily become the next political leader of the little town and a very good one. Her heart was always in the right place and Sheriff Daniels supported Beth one hundred percent no matter what she did. Come what may they had each other's backs.

To say the least Beth was flabbergasted by Brock Daniels decision to step aside as the Sheriff. However, she understood his desire to be with Cody. In addition to everything else Beth was currently wrapped up in she was pulling almost as many night time hours with Cody as he carried day time ones. Never a word of complaint. Beth's hectic schedule dictated that was all she could do at the moment. She would have done more. Much more. If time permitted.

Noting the deep black circles growing larger under the Sheriff's eyes with each passing day, Beth commented to him, "It's not going to do Cody any good if you end up in a hospital bed from exhaustion, Brock."

"Exhaustion will wait for another time and place," Sheriff Daniels replied.

He held no patience for such an animal on his main line. Nor did he want such a beast hanging on to his coat tails.

Kissing Beth's tender rosy red lips, one of the Sheriff's most favorite past times, he stated, "Sweetheart, as long as you can spell me a couple hours a night I'll be okay."

Then he remarked, "I'll be fine when Cody wakes up. Until he does we'll keep on keeping on. Just you, me, Cody, and the watermelon patch. Like it has always been."

Sheriff Daniels latest "keeping on" stint consumed about 96 straight hours without leaving Cody's bedside. Perhaps it was his wild imagination rampantly running away with his tired mind but lately he thought he saw little signs Cody heard every word the Sheriff spoke to him. And there were many.

Now if the boy would just wake up.