Charlotte walked through the Emergency department doors, yawning slightly as she did so. She had decided to come in early do finish off some paperwork Frank had wanted her to get done - not that he'd notice if she did or not. The E.D was empty at this hour of morning, and Charlotte's footsteps echoed down the tiled hall. Unlocking the door o Frank's office, she sat down and began to write on some forms that had been left out.

Only 15 minutes into this, however, she heard someone enter the E.D., then their footsteps as they faded away. After some 5 minutes of hearing rustling noises, she stepped out into the hall.

"Hello?" She asked, her voice echoing down the hallway as she walked out. Claire gave a start as she saw Charlotte walking down the hall towards her. She dropped a few packets that she'd been cradling in her arms, and bent down hastily to pick them up."Oh, good morning Claire," Charlotte said. "You're here early, aren't you?" She smiled. Claire looked very shaky and seemed to be trembling.
" Uh, uh, morning, Charlotte. Same could be said about you, right?" Claire gave a nervous laugh, hugging the packets to her chest as if to conceal them from view.
Charlotte nodded at the packets in Claire's arms. "What's up? Got a headache?"
She looked at the ground. "Yeah, something like that." Charlotte saw a small tear form in her eye, and Claire must have felt it, because she faked a yawn to hide it.
"I'm calling in sick again, but I just sort of needed medicine…you know, cramps, headache. Must be the flu." She laughed again, the same nervous, shaky laugh.
"Okay…" Charlotte said. She spied a packet on the ground and bent over, picked it up. Lifting the label to her eyes, she read it.
"Morphine….?" She asked. "They must be really bad cramps, especially in that amount." She nodded at Claire's arms.
Claire was quiet for a moment. Then she sank to the ground, her arms going loose, spilling multiple packets of morphine, sleeping tablets and painkillers to the ground.

"Charlotte…" she whispered. "I can't do this."

Charlotte's mind went into overdrive. She had heard those words once before, from another woman. A woman in pain, distress, a woman depressed and confused.
"Oh, Claire…" she whispered back, kneeling. She reached out to put a hand on Claire's shoulder, but the woman pushed herself back, the small movement releasing a wave of tears that cascaded down her cheeks, washing away the heavy concealer Claire had put on.

The purple and black bruise that covered the lower right half of Claire's cheek was now visible. Charlotte stared in shock.

"He won't stop," Claire cried, "no matter where I go, who I become, he always finds me! I can't get away from him!" She covered her eyes with her hands, scrunched into fists, and started to sob heavily, much like a small child.
"Come here," Charlotte said simply, moving to Claire and holding her while she cried. They sat for a while, Claire emptying her heart out onto Charlotte's shoulder, sobbing so heavily. Charlotte felt like her heart was being ripped in two. Such a beautiful, lovely girl…an abused, innocent girl.

"He raped me," Claire whimpered, "he raped me and I said stop, stop, stop, but he wouldn't listen to me!" Charlotte felt like she'd been punched in the gut.
"Oh, sweetheart…I'm so sorry…" she whispered into Claire's hair. "I promise, he'll never touch you again. Do you hear me? I won't let him near you ever again."
Claire nodded, laying her head onto Charlotte's shoulder, pretending that what Charlotte said was true, pretending it would all be okay.