"You wouldn't believe what happened this morning," hestarted. "So I know we messaged earlier this week about having a sessiontoday, so I was going to ...it up the adult store downtown, get a new toyand outfit for today, but since they didn't open until noon I figured I'dgrab a drink next door and watch some of the football game. Well while Iwas sitting there I started talking to this guy and a few drinks andfigured it was as normal morning at the bar. But I didn't know when Iwent to the restroom. You reasoned that you were in a state of shock and imaging the whole situation. It helped to pretend, but you'll never forget seeing the torn flesh, the broken bones, the blood.And then there was the bizarre journey to the hospital, sitting in the back of the ambulance on the gurney, trying to console yourself, feeling frustrated that you couldn't even hold your own hand, how everything just went through you when you tried to touch it. That was hard: trying not to freak out, trying not to. HE noticed his father’s knuckles growing white as his grip on the pummel intensified. A mere slip of a girl seemed to appear out of nowhere. She curtsied in front of her host at the same time Brian rose to greet his new bride. Brian tried to hide the shock that flashed over his whitening face but he wasn’t experienced enough too fully succeed. The girl couldn’t have been more than twelve if that. She was short and petite and looked more like some village brat than a nobleman’s. They still hadn’t had that conversation. But they would. The talk went well. Landon made his points succinctly with the humor and poignancy that he was known for. He enjoyed the applause, thinking of joining Emily rather than taking his seat at the panel, then noticed that she had left the auditorium. Just as well, he might have questions and comments for the other presenters. The last 2 hours of that day’s part of the conference took a little longer than conferences usually did for him. The.