Dominic looked down at his arm, the tears now dried to his face. The four clear cuts along his arm, still gently bleeding, throbbed as he ran his thumb over them, feeling the sting of the salt from his finger in his fresh wounds.

"Dominic! We're going now!" Zosia's voice called through his bedroom door. He hurridely pulled his sleeve down, hiding the four cuts, as well as the others further up that had already begun to scar.

"Here Zosh, sorry, I had to grab some...stuff." He said, running a hand through his hair. Zosia grinned, and hurried to the door, signalling him to follow.

Once they were outside the front of the hospital Dom began to feel the effects of the blood loss. He had never done more than one cut a day, at most, and was now beginning to regret doing so many so soon.

"You ok?" Digby asked from Zosia's side, "You look a little frazzled." Dom snorted, and lifted his head as he sped up his stride.

"I'm fine Digby.

Digby shrugged, and Zosia smiled, linking arms with him and walking after the strutting Dominic.

"Alright people, we have three patients who were involved in a knife fight, two middle aged men, beds 3 and 4 and a young woman in bed 6." Dominic leaned against the front desk as Mrs. Campbell discussed their patients, fumbling with the sleeve of his grey jacket.

"Zosia you can take bed 6, Digby bed 3 and Dominic," Serena paused, and waited for the man to look up at her. "Eh hem!" She coughed, and Dominic startled.

"Urgh, yes Mrs. Campbell?" He said, meeting her gaze with a grin.

Serena sighed, "You can have bed 4." She waved her hand in dismissal, and as Dominic passed her she caught him by the arm. She turned the man towards her and grumbled, "Need I remind you Dr. Copeland, that we do not wear 'jackets' inside the hospital. Take it off."

Dominic flinched and pulled himself free. "Sorry Mrs. Campbell, I'm just... cold." he said, raising an eyebrow gently, and smiling.

Serena made a light smile back and tilted her head towards the locker room. "Take it off please Dominic, no jackets." Dominic slumped, and shuffled towards the locker room, not willing to risk a furious battle between himself and Serena, as he knew she would win.

Dominic had one hand covering the scars down his left arm, his eyes watching cautiously. He made his way to bed 4, and snatched up the clipboard. The man laying before him was, apparently, called Ashton Johnson. He was 28, and had gorgeous eyes. Dominic looked away from the patient and down at his notes.

"Hi there Mr. Johnson, my name is Dr. Copeland, and I will be your doctor today." he said, holding the folder in one hand, the other covering the scars still.

"Hi..." muttered the man, staring blankly to his right. Dominic followed his line of sight and saw Digby standing over the other man.

"It appears-" Dom started, trying to bring the patient back to what he was saying, "that you have a large wound to your lower stomach, and several bruises around you neck. We have you booked in for a chest X-Ray, a CT scan and some bloods. When those come back we can go further, alright?" The man grumbled his response.

"Ok, so not the most talkative." Dominic muttered. The man's head snapped around to face him, his eyes narrowed as he sat forward to fix Dominic with an aggressive glare.

"Oh, and you would be when you and your girlfriend are attacked by a maniac at a bar!" Dominic flinched slightly, and lowered his head slightly.

"I didn't mean any offence, I am just trying to help you." Dominic grumbled, before striding back to the front desk.

The dizziness had eased now, and as he checked the fresher scars, he saw they were already scabbing over. He sighed, they never lasted long enough. He still felt the sting of his patient's words as he sat in the locker room, the accusing look in his eyes, like everything was his fault.

Dominic slumped, his head in his hands, wishing he had brought a razor, or something with him. To ease the pain. He looked up, his hands resting on either side of his head as he scanned the room.

One of the lockers was ajar, and it appeared to be Digby's. Dominic looked at the door cautiously, before leaping up and opening it. Inside was a men's wash bag. Dominic unzipped it and inside was a small razor. He pulled it out and pushed the bag back into the locker.

As he turned around he staggered as he saw Zosia standing in the doorway.

"Oh god, Zosia you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Dominic exclaimed, shoving the razor into his pocket.

"Right," Zosia muttered quietly, coming into the room more, "what were you doing in Arthur's locker?" she asked, suspicion lacing her tone. Dominic gulped.

"Nothing, don't worry about it Zosh. I just needed to grab something for him. He's so busy with that man in bed 3." Dom said, moving to squeeze past her.

Zosia sighed and let him pass, and Dominic scuttled down the halls towards the toilets.

His patient could wait, he needed to deal with his own pain.

Dominic sat in the cubicle, the lid down, his eyes fixed on the razor. Gently he removed one of the blades, placing the razor on the window sill beside him. As he took up the blade in between his fingers, he remembered that song he had thought of when he first began to cut himself:

One cut for love

Two cuts for pain

Three cuts for jealousy

Four cuts for blame

Five cuts for sorrow

Six cuts for death

Seven cuts for seeing tomorrow again.

He blinked suddenly and made a soft gasp as he realized that with each verse he had unconsciously cut himself. Seven times. He let out a soft moan of pain, and scrunched up some toilet roll and pressed it against his arm. He had really gone too far this time. There was no way someone wouldn't spot this. Not now. He now had the four from that morning and seven new, fresh cuts, bleeding freely down his arm, and with a sick feeling in his stomach he also noticed, the floor, spattered with his blood. A grand total of eleven new scars. Eleven! That was about how many little white scars decorated his upper arm.

He was in a huge mess. He sighed, and decided he might as well return to the ward, try and patch everything up. He stood, and realized that the uneasy dizziness had returned, and he hurriedly steadied himself against the cubicle door. He knew he would have to take it slow, and quietly unbolted the door.

Luckily there was no one else int eh bathroom, and so he shuffled over to the sink. He quickly turned on the taps and ran the cold water over his cuts. He sighed at the cool relief it gave him.

"Where's Dominic, Mr. Johnson has been left unattended for ages now, and his CT and X-Rays are back?" Digby said, placing the folder on the front desk.

"I saw him heading towards the toilets," Zosia chipped in as she strode passed him o get to her own patient.

"Thanks Zosh." Digby called over his shoulder as he hurried that way.

He entered the toilets, and it was empty. He made to leave when a strong, metallic smell hit his nose. He turned around slowly and headed into the area. The cubicle doors were all half open, except the last one.

With a gasp, Digby realized there was a pool of blood coming out from under the door. He shoved open the cubicle door to find i completely empty...

Apart from a small men's razor, that looked suspiciously like his own, except it was missing a blade. Digby plucked the razor off of the window sill and raced out of the bathroom back towards the ward.

Dominic panted as he stood behind the door to enter the bathroom. He was surprised that it was Digby who had rushed in, and was suddenly panicking when he saw how quickly Arthur legged it back to the ward.

He sighed, and looked down at his arm. The bleeding had stopped, but it hadn't scabbed yet and looked very fresh. He knew that he had to get back to Keller, without anyone realizing what he had done.

Dominic sneaked out from around the door and checked that there was no one around before dashing back across to the locker room.

Once inside, he hurriedly locked the door, and looked around to see if there was anything he could use to hide his scars. His jacket was out of the question, gloves would look ridiculous, and bandages would be too obvious.

His eyes suddenly lighted on Zosia's makeup bag. Slowly, Dominic made his way across the floor, and unzipped the bag, the contents falling onto the floor with a collective clatter. Dom winced, and looked towards the door, but no one could be heard, yet. Once he was sure he wouldn't be interrupted, he searched for the concealer. He grinned, picking up the little tin, and was satisfied by its reasonably heavy weights, indicating there was plenty of it to be used.

Dominic scooped the products back into their owner's bag and slid it back into the locker, and made to sit on the bench when he heard hurrying feet and raised voices. His eyes widened with alarm and he hurriedly ducked behind the lockers.

"Mrs. Campbell!" Arthur cried, racing around the corner into Keller, "Sacha!" he slammed to a stop as he collided with Mr. Self.

"Arthur..?" Guy asked, looking down his nose at the F2, his eyes narrowing, "what are you doing, running through the halls and shouting?"

Arthur panted, doubled over, and looked up at Guy, "Sorry Mr. Self, I was just in the men's toilet and there was-" Mr. Self rolled his eyes, placing a hand on his hips.

"This had better be good Dr. Digby." he grumbled.

"Well," continued Arthur, voice tipping on annoyed, "there was a pool of blood in the end cubicle, and I found a razor... a blade is missing," he said, producing the item.

Guy looked in surprise, eyes darting from Arthur to the razor, and then back again. "I see," he said, turning to Sacha who was now strolling over, "Mr. Levy, can you call security, we have a large pool of blood in the men's toilet cubicles." Sacha opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut, and headed for the phone.

While Guy briefed the men, Arthur turned to look at the main desk, Zosia was there, leaning across so she could hear what her father was talking about, but there was no Dom. Dominic, the center of all gossip and goings on, and he wasn't there...

"Shall we go, you can lead the way Dr. Digby." Guy's voice broke Arthur's flow of thought and he nodded.

"Of course Mr. Self." He said sharply before leading them back down the hall he had gone down.

The band of men, led by Arthur and Guy, raced down the corridor towards the toilets. Upon entering Guy halted at the door, the stench of iron strong in the room.

"Clean this up, and barricade it from the public," Guy instructed the men, now turning to Arthur, "Now you, Dr. Digby, are going to take a sample of the blood and run it through our database and see if you can find a match of a patient or staff member."

Arthur nodded and bent down under the already erected stand clear tape covering the door. Crouching down and collecting the sample he needed before heading back towards Keller.

He moved a little slower, eyeing the staff room. An easy escape, he thought. But when Guy bellowed at him to get a move on, he gently jogged the remaining distance to Keller

Dominic sighed, the ruckus outside his sanctity now going still, he began applying the concealer to his arm. He let out a gasp at the sting it caused that now rippled up his arm. But he continued until the marks were barely visible at all, now only small lumps beneath the makeup.

Now content with his work, Dom dropped the tin into his pocket in case he needed to apply more later, and exited the staff room.

"Ah Dr. Copeland there you are." Dominic turned slowly, and smiled at Mr. Self.

"Yes, hello Mr. Self." he said, lowering his gaze slightly. Guy was wearing rubber gloves, and Dominic returned his gaze to the man's eyes, suppressing a nervous shiver.

"I believe Dr. Digby was looking for you." Guy gave Dominic a gently push in the right direction and Dominic didn't hesitate for a moment to evacuate the area.

Once he was sure he was out of Guy's sight, he leaned against the nearest wall and sighed, dropping his eyes to his arm, as he subconsciously ran his index finger over the little scarred lumps of skin.

"Dom!" Dominic startled, but relaxed at Digby's presence.

"Hello Diggers." Dominic joked lightly, pushing off of the wall to stand by his friend. What Dom hadn't counted on was his blood loss finally catching up to him, and he was starting to feel that now. However he continued to smile at Digby as his world spiraled from the now ceasing adrenaline that had been keeping him on his fet since the event.

"I've been looking all over for you. But now I've found you," Digby reached into his pocket and produced the little vile of blood, "I found a pool of blood in the men's toilets, and Mr. Self has asked me to run a DNA match test on it and see if it belongs to anyone in the hospital." Dominic's eyes widened as he went pale. The one thing he had overlooked. His own bloodied mess.

"Oh," Dominic said, faking interest as he reached for the edge of the desk to steady himself, "really. I-I wonder how a whole pool of blood got there."

Digby nodded, barely hearing him as he sent the vile off to the lab, "Yeah well," he said pulling a file down in front of hi,, "I'd hate to be the poor guy who lost that much blood, who ever it is will be feeling that soon," Arthur continued to go through his paperwork as Dom leaned himself against the desk, "anyway-" Digby looked up.

Dominic barely had time to react, his vision blurring and his head feeling light and distant. Everything before him began to go black, as he teetered side ways. Arthur jumped forward, placing his arms under Dominic's and easing the man to the floor.

Dominic lay still, out cold, his eyes fluttering lightly as he internally fought to stay conscious. Digby looked around anxiously, rolling Dominic into the recovery position.

Zosia looked up from the magazine and smiled.

They had moved Dominic into the staff room and let him lay on the sofa. A soft moan from Dominic signaled his rousing.

"Hello you." Zosia chipped in with a smile, moving in her chair to face him.

Dominic's vision began to return as he assessed where he was. The fact he was in the staff room caused him to startle, then he recalled the previous events and eased back. "Hello Zosh." he grumbled drearily.

He sat up, and a smile tickled the corner of his mouth as he realized someone had pulled a blanket over him.

"You fainted." Zosia said again, the smile replaced with a more concerned look.

"Clearly Zosia." Dominic said lightly, pulling the blanket away and sitting on the edge of the sofa while he gathered his thoughts.

"Was it all that talk of the blood in that toilet. Its all been cleaned up and sectioned off. Digby should be getting the results soon." Zosia said, reaching over to place a hand on Dominic's shoulder.

Zosia tilted her head at Dom's shell shocked look. "Don't worry, I used to hate blood too-" Dominic jumped up and moved to the door.

"Thanks Zosia, but I think I should go and see that patient of mine now." Zosia nodded and waved him out, continuing to smile as she turned back to her magazine.

Dominic zoned in on Digby, who was hovering by the desk.

"Ah, Dominic," Arthur called over, eyes lighting on the man striding towards him, "glad to see you up and about. Everything ok?" He asked, taking a step towards Dom.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Have those results come through, from that blood sample?" Dominic asked, tilting his head to see a nurse approaching with a folder.

"Well, that will be them now." Digby said smiling, taking the file. "I had better take this to Mr. Self." Dominic felt his heart jump.

"I'll-I'll come with you then." he said, jumping to stand beside Arthur. Digby looked him over quickly and shrugged.

"O-Okay then. Bit keen." Dominic settled quickly and tried to look disinterested. Digby quirked his eyebrows and cast a suspicious glance at him.

Arthur led the way down the hall towards Mr. Self's office. Digby raised his fist and knocked on the door. Mr. Self's booming voice answered. "Come in."

Digby looked at Dominic and tilted his head, "Are you coming in?" Dominic hesitated and shook his head.

"Nah, I'll go and deal with my patient."

"I have the results back for you now Mr. Johnson." The grumbling man looked up at Dominic and sighed.

"Ah yes, finally!" He growled, sitting up. The blood now dried and caking his face, "That maniac has already been treated, but me and my girlfriend are made to wait!" Dominic winced.

"I promise you, Mr. Johnson, my entire concentration is on you from now on." Dominic slid the man's medical folder back into the sleeve at the end of the bed.

"Dr. Copeland," came Mr. Self's voice. Dominic froze, and looked around to find Guy standing with Sacha and Arthur, "Can you come to my office. Now."

Mr. Self began to walk that way, but Dominic hesitated. Arthur was already striding after the man, and Sacha made his way over to Dominic.

"Come on Dom, you're not in any trouble." Sacha placed a firm, yet comforting hand on Dominic's lower back. At first Dom followed the pressure, Mr. Levy guiding him forwards, but then a spark of fear ignited in him, and he froze.

"Dom?" Sacha stopped, facing the man and placing a hand on each shoulder. "It's ok. There is no need to feel nervous. He's not going to eat you." Sacha teased, hoping to settle Dominic's nerves and anxiety.

However Dominic's flight instinct was rapidly taking over, and he felt his feet scrambling backwards to get away.

Sacha's hands remained on his shoulders and Dominic let out a small squeal as he pulled away.

"Dominic calm down, you're having an panic attack. Sit down, breathe." Before Dom could grasp the idea of moving, Sacha had him on the floor, knees to his chest.

Dominic gasped at the air, feeling as though it was being sucked into a vortex. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe, his head swimming. He had never had a panic attack before. He lay his head back against the wall his breaths coming in quick bursts.

"Dominic, concentrate on my voice." Sacha said, a hand on Dom's shoulder. "Breathe in..." he paused as Dominic obeyed, "and out..." again Dominic copied the command, but was feeling less than comfortable.

"Nurse," called Sacha to a nearby woman, "can you get me a blanket please." The nurse scurried off. Sacha continued to command Dominic's breathing until the nurse returned.

"Sit forward Dom." Mr. Levy pulled Dom up and tucked the blanket around him, he noted the beads of sweat on the man's forehead. "I'll page Mr. Self to come and fetch you and take you to his office." Sacha began to page him as Dominic's breathing shuddered back to normal.

"Ah, Mr. Levy there you are, I was wondering what was taking so long." Mr. Self came around the corner and saw Dom sitting on the floor, pale and wrapped in a blanket.

"Yes, Mr. Self, I think Dominic has had a panic attack. Could you help me move him?" Guy stooped down and helped to hoist Dom up whilst he recovered his breathing. From the side, Arthur watched him, eyes narrowed in suspicion as Sacha and Guy moved Dominic to the office.

Once inside the office, Sacha began to set Dominic up in the large chair, with the blanket still wrapped around him.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get him a glass of water." Sacha said, leaving the room. Arthur stood by Guy's desk, while Mr. Self stood behind it.

"Dominic. We need to discuss the results of the DNA test preformed on the blood discovered in the men's toilets." Dominic looked up, his breathing now back to normal, but his heart rate still pounding in his chest.

"The blood matched your own DNA exactly. Is there anything you want to tell us?" Guy asked, leaning forward. Even Digby seemed to tense and lean in closer.

"N-No Mr. Self. I don't have anything to say." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Dominic, stop being so pig headed and accept our help. Where is your injury, it must be substantial to have created that much blood." Arthur growled out, half shouting.

Dominic did not show how wounded he felt, he could deal with that later, he raised his head slightly, and cockily replied, "I have no wounds, scars and if I was bleeding you'd see the stain." he snapped back.

"Let me look you over Dr. Copeland." Mr. Self interjected, watching the young doctor closely. Dominic sat forward, the blanket keeping his legs tucked up beside him.

"Do what you want. I'm fine now. Just the panic attack." he said, trying to hide the nerves in his voice.

Guy came around the side of the desk, and knelt down in front of him. Sacha opened the door, causing poor Digby to jump.

"Here you go Dom. Now I had better get back to the ward," said Sacha, ignoring Mr. Self on the floor, "Come on Arthur." Digby hesitated. "Stay then, but be back in twenty minutes." Sacha exited once more, leaving the office eerily quiet.

"Ok Dominic, let's take a look." Guy pulled at the blanket and balled it up, placing it at the foot of the chair. Then he moved to Dominic.

Firstly he checked around his face and neck, but after seeing the annoyed face of Dominic, he moved on. He felt around the man's chest and down his ribs, Dominic didn't flinch, and Guy felt no strange heat coming off any area.

"Alright Dominic, give me your right arm." Dominic felt momentary relief as he presented his clean arm, but his eyes locked on a small drop of dryed blood. It was half way up his arm, and Guy saw it immediately.

"Ah ha. Now where did you get that Dominic?" Dom thought quickly.

"My patient, Mr. Johnson. He has a stab wound. I must have missed it after I washed up." he said, sighing as Guy accepted this.

Over Mr. Self's shoulder he could see Digby growing more and more impatient, eyeing Dom accusingly, like a murderer on trial.

"Ok, now the other arm then." Dominic reluctantly allowed Mr. Self to check his left arm over.

Guy moved his fingers over the man's hand and up his arm. As he did so he began to feel strange lumps. They were not high, or hard like a tumor or muscle cramp, but were thin and rather straight. The further he went up Dominic's forearm, the more he felt. Underneath his fingers he felt something else.

Guy pulled his hand back and turned it over so he could inspect his fingers. Tinting his skin was concealer. He met Dominic's anxious gaze and turned to Digby.

"Dr. Digby, could you pass me those antiseptic wipe behind you?" Dominic scrambled backwards, but Guy had a firm hold on the man's arm. Dominic winced as Guy's hands dug into his skin, and peeled away a scab that had been formed that morning. A gentle flow of blood began to trickle and Arthur's eyes alighted on Dominic's a look of guilt on his face.

Once the concealer had been removed, Dominic was faced with his handiwork. 22 scars caressed his arm. Eleven little white ones, and eleven red, and two bleeding ones.

"Dominic..." Guy could barely speak as he placed a hand to his mouth. "God, Dominic this is extensive, even by my standards." Arthur looked at Dominic again, shock clear on his face.

"W-why would you do this?" Guy asked, a sick look on his face as he tried to pull his eyes away from the sight.

"What. None of you suspected. Ha, shows what kind of 'friends' I have." Dominic said, feeling his heart begin to shatter as a tear made its way down his cheek, "It started ages ago, back when you all hated me, back when you'd do anything to try and get rid of me!" Dominic felt more hot tears burn down his cheeks as he looked a his arm. The drops mixing with his blood.

"Dr. Digby, page Mr. Levy, and order a new bed to be made for Dominic. Can you also get a councilor to wait there." Dominic didn't move, but sat there, still staring at the scars.

"Dominic, come with me please." Guy said. Dominic stood, not meeting Guy's gaze as the man led him from the room.

Arthur raced up beside Dominic, "Why didn't you say anything, why didn't you tell Zosia and I?"

"Why would I?" Dominic retorted, slinking after Guy.

"Sit." Guy instructed as he directed Dominic to a bed. The small private room was not far from Keller which set Dominic's nerves on edge. "Sacha will be here soon to talk to you. Later, Mrs. Campbell and I will sit in on a counselor's meeting with you. Ok?" Dominic nodded, barely realizing what had been said.

"Give me the razor edge please Dr. Copeland." Guy instructed. Dominic didn't even question it. All he could think was. Arthur. Arthur. Arthur.

He handed over the blade, and Guy left, not without giving Dominic a sad glance, which only made Dominic feel more uncomfortable.

Dominic rolled onto the bed, curling up on his side. "Great job Dominic," he whispered, "great job..."