Rita sobbed. How could she do that to Connie? How did she not see this coming? Why was she letting this piece of scum hurt her again? She felt rage boiling inside her. She snatched the phone from the couch and text back furiously,

'Mark.

I swear to God you hurt one hair on her head and I'll kill you myself. I won't contact the police you have my word. I'm going to find you, and when I do you're going to wish you were never born.

Watch your back,

Rita.'

Slamming her phone on the table, she went to her room and crawled under her covers. She pulled her knees close to her chest.

"Don't worry Connie, I'll find you. Just hold on." she whispered into the darkness before falling into a fitfull sleep.

Connie groaned softly as she came round, her head pounding. She squinted as artifical light filled her vision, blinking several times to pull things back into focus. She was in a small dimly light room, with a small slit of a window a few feet above her head. She was sat on a dingy floor that looked like it hadnt been washed in years.

She shuddered and went to pull her arms around herself for comfort. Upon finding she couldn't, she craned her head round over her shoulder to find her wrists were cable tied together and attached to a rusty pipe behind her. Her ankles were in the same state of affairs (minus the pipe) and she had been stripped of her precious heels. Whoever had brought her here was in no hurry to see her leave.

Who had brought her here? She tried desperately to remember what had happened before she passed out. Had he given her a name? Connies heart thudded in her chest.

Mark.

She struggled against her constraints in an attempt to free herself. She had to tell Rita. She had to warn her.

As she struggled, the door was unlocked, and her kidnapper came strolling in.

"Woah, easy tiger! We dont want you to hurt yourself do we now?"

Connie glared at him.

"Why do you care?" She spat venomusly.

""Because it takes all the fun out of it for me." Mark smiled nastily, kneeling down in front of his captive.

"Such a pretty thing. No wonder my Ritas fallen for you. I bet youre even more beautiful without those clothes on." He leered. Connie spat in his face, glowering at him.

SMACK.

Connies ear rang with the force of the slap as blood trickled down her cheek.

"You sly bitch." he sneered gripping her chin firmly and forcing her to look at him. "Try anything like that again and youll regret it."

He slammed her head into the wall. Conne gasped in pain, not taking her eyes off him.

"Do you understand me?" he demanded. Connie nodded meekly.

"Good. I'll be back to check on you later."

He slammed the door shut and bolted it.

The brunette listened as his footsteps disappeared down the corridor, hot tears slipping down her cheeks. She was terrified.

Did Rita even know where she was, what'd happened? Connie didnt even know how long she'd been there. She had never felt so alone in her life. She shuffled herself into a more comfortable position, praying for this nightmare to come to an end.

Meanwhile, Rita had started her shift in the ED, after having roughly only 4 hours of sleep.

"Rita have you got a minute?" Zoe asked pulling her to one side./p

"Yeah, course, what's up?"

"Have you seen Connie at all? Its not like her to be late."

"Oh, sorry Zo I forgot to tell you. She had to pop off to the US to see Grace. She's not very well. It was all last minute."

"Right thanks Rita. I'll let Hannsen know. Do you know when she'll be back?"

Rita shook her head.

"Alright thanks Rita. Are you okay? You look exauhsted."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. I just need to pop to the loo, can you give us a minute?"

Zoe nodded looking worried. The blonde rushed off into the toilets and locked herself in a cubicle. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. She had a photo message. Opening it Rita let out a little sob.

Unconcious, but very much alive, the photo showed her beloved clinical lead restrained to a pipe. Rita stared at the photo for a good 5 minutes, inspecting her girlfriend closely.

"Rita, are you in there?" came Tess' voice, "We've got a major RTC coming in and we could do with your help."

"I'll be right out Tess!" she called, mopping at her face with a tissue.

She left the toilets and got stuck into her work, allowing it to consume her.