[Rip resumes his drinking as Mick drawls out his thoughts on the matter. Though they are perhaps not the most eloquently phrased, the man is hardly wrong in his assessment. Rip is haunted by the memories of his wife and son, but there is a deeper truth to that: he wants to be. It is why he's spent countless hours in his office staring at their pictures, or watching that final message he received from Miranda and Jonas before Savage found them.

His son asking him to come home soon.

Miranda's veiled disappointment when she said she'd expected him back already. She didn't want him to feel guilty for the delay--

God, she was a far better woman than Rip ever deserved.]

That's the thing, Mr. Rory. I don't want to "shake it." [He doesn't want to merely cast aside his feelings for them, although he's equally aware that the process is hardly so simple as that.] I know that in the end I will move forward, because that is what people do. It is the heart of our existence: to continue on, in spite of all things.

But when I do--[He swallows.]--when I do. I fear that is the moment I will have truly lost them both.