A/N – Thanks for the comments! * leeleelayla5 – Didn't have any plans for other OLTL peeps. This is after Nash is dead. Ford never happened. Antonio happened, but Jessica/Tess does not have any children. Lol I was always Team Nicole. She cracked me up. * leki luuucky, butterflyliz – Nicole hasn't even done anything but make a comment. Try to judge her on how I write her and not what she became on the show. Thanks! * kcke2pen – Thanks! * babeboo1968 – It's okay that you didn't watch DOOl cause I'm writing her the way I want to anyway (still keeping that she's sarcastic). * arcoiris0502 – Aww thanks! * Liasonisthebomb – lol Thanks. Nicole won't be as crazy. * Mel4113 – lol Can you blame her? * Kikimoo – There are just rules. You can't attack staff. Unfortunately, not all staff are created equally. * Christica2, ilovedana53, Virgy15, Twisted Musalih – Thanks!

Chapter 3 - Surviving

They all got up and went outside. Liz listened to them talk. She was younger than them and she couldn't believe some of the things they were discussing. Several minutes later, she saw Jason in the window of the rec room and Sonny noticed that Liz couldn't keep her eyes off of him.

"I'll be right back. I want to get a sketch pad from the art room."

John looked up at her. "If you're not back in five, I'll come check on you."

Liz nodded and left.

"Why are you so protective of her?" Tess asked.

"She's young and has been through a lot."

Nicole cleared her throat. "A lot how?"

"We don't know for sure but she doesn't like people touching her," Sonny said.

Nicole looked away. She had a pretty good idea what was going on and so did Tess.

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Elizabeth went into the art room and grabbed her sketchbook and some pencils.

"What are you doing in here?"

Her eyes snapped up and met with an orderly that had tased Jason. "I—I'm just getting some art supplies."

He shut the door and walked forward. "You got me in a lot of trouble."

She moved backwards until her back hit the wall. "I—I just told the truth."

"I should teach you a lesson," he said touching his belt.

Elizabeth flashed back to that night.

Liz struggled against the man who held her down as he struck her several times.

"Stop fighting me or I'll have to teach you a lesson."

The orderly moved forward. "You are beautiful even if you are a bitch."

Liz dropped the sketchbook as tears flowed down her face. "Please, don't hurt me."

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John looked down at his watch. "It's been six minutes."

"She probably just got sidetracked," Carly said.

He stood up. And that's when they heard a scream. "Shit."

Jason had already jumped up and started running. He had seen Liz walk in that direction when she passed the rec room.

Everyone got up and followed, hoping it wasn't her.

Jason got to the door of the room and flung it open. A nurse and an orderly ran in behind him.

The man who had confronted Elizabeth turned around. "She's freaking out. I was just trying to help her."

Elizabeth was shaking and was clearly reliving what happened to her. "No—please—don't." She was sobbing and it sounded like she was being tortured. Her eyes snapped shut as she started to scream again.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Jason asked angrily.

John and the rest of the group were in the doorway.

"I told you, I found her that way."

Sonny growled. "No you didn't. I can tell that you're lying."

Another nurse slipped in with a syringe and told the orderly to back off.

"No, don't. No drugs," Jason said moving forward. "Let me try."

The nurse looked at him skeptically and Dr. Turner pushed through the group.

"It's okay. Let him try."

Jason moved a little closer and knelt down on the floor. "Elizabeth, you're safe now. He can't hurt you."

"It hurts. It hurts so bad. Make him stop."

Jason felt sick to his stomach. "Elizabeth, it's Jason. Please look at me. I won't let him hurt you again. I promise."

Liz looked up and her eyes locked with his as her body trembled. "You can't help me. I see him everywhere. He's haunting me."

"Then I'll chase him away."

The nurse cleared the room and advised everyone to go back to the recreational room.

John reluctantly left. They were all shaken by what they had seen.

Jason moved closer. "Let me help you. Please."

"You can't. No one can."

He was struck by the pure anguish in her eyes. "Will you come with me? I'll take you to your room. I don't want them to drug you."

She thought about it for a moment while she looked around the room at all the faces staring at her. "Yes."

"I'm going to pick you up okay?"

She nodded, slightly flinching when he first made contact. Dr. Turner was stunned when Elizabeth grabbed Jason's shirt and buried her face into it as he carried her out.

John watched Jason walk by with Elizabeth in his arms. "It should have been me. I should have gone with her."

Tess touched his arm. "You can't blame yourself."

"Oh, I don't. I blame that asshole. I'm going to kick the shit out of him," John said angrily.

Sonny looked over at John. "Don't. You'll get in trouble. Let me handle it."

John thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "Make him hurt Sonny."

"I will." The bastard set Elizabeth back and he would pay for making her relive whatever happened to her. His men would see to it. "I'll get word to them after dinner." He was going to talk to one of the nurses and find out the guy's name.

"Thank you." John felt like shit because he had promised to protect her.

Nicole got up and walked over to the window. It had gotten very intense and made her have bad memories of her own. Sonny came up behind her. "You okay."

She nodded. She knew who Sonny was. The media broadcasted his freak-out and she happened to catch it.

"Nicole, did your father try to have sex with you?"

She let out a harsh breath. "He forced me to do porn when I was younger."

Sonny was seething. "Where is he now?"

She wiped a tear away. "I shot him. He was trying to blackmail me into going back to that life. Unfortunately, he survived and then I just spiraled out of control."

"Give me his name and I will make sure that he suffers."

She looked over at him. "Why? You just met me. I'm nothing."

"Because he's a filthy pig and no one deserves what he did to you."

She suddenly looked enraged. "His name is Paul Mendez. I'll write down his last known address and anything else I can remember. Make sure you torture his ass like he tortured me." There weren't words to describe how much she hated him.

Sonny nodded and walked away leaving Nicole feeling a little better knowing her father would never be able to hurt anyone again.

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Jason sat Elizabeth on the bed.

"Thank you Jason," the doctor said coming in behind him.

He took one more look at Elizabeth before leaving.

"Elizabeth, can you tell me what happened?"

She wiped her face. "I don't want to because he'll come back and hurt me."

"Who?"

"The orderly."

Her comment totally surprised Violet. "Did he try to hurt you?"

Liz nodded.

"I'll make sure that it never happens again. Did he touch you?"

"No because Jason walked in when he was…"

"Take a deep breath."

Liz sucked in some air and closed her eyes. "He started to unbuckle his belt."

The doctor was livid. "I'm so sorry Elizabeth. I'll make sure it's handled. You don't have to worry okay?" The man would be fired.

She nodded. "Thank you."

"May I ask you something?" Violet asked as she handed her some water.

Liz took a sip. "Yes."

"Why aren't you afraid of Jason?"

Liz kind of looked at her like she was confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's a large man and frankly, quite intimating. How come he doesn't scare you?"

She looked away and thought for a moment. "His eyes are kind. He sees me."

Violet nodded. "How long have you been seeing the man that hurt you?"

"It's been a month or so. I was doing a lot better until then, but I fell apart the more I saw him. He was everywhere—watching me. That's why I hurt myself. I felt like I was going crazy."

This whole thing was troubling her. It just seemed off. "Elizabeth, have you see him here?"

Liz shook her head. "No."

"Did you ever see him in your house?"

"No."

"Let's see if that continues. You must tell me the first time that you see him okay?"

"Okay."

"Get some rest."

She left and Liz took out her diary and began to write.

Today was a bad day. It didn't start out that way, but I still feel like I can't escape what happened. Right now, I don't want to think about it so I'll write about something else. I've made some friends believe it or not. John is my favorite. He is funny and makes me forget what happened for a while. Carly is a force to be reckoned with. She's a fighter. Sonny is like the dad of the group. He looks out for everyone, but I can tell that he's been hurt before. Maybe I recognize the look. He has a way of making me feel safe so I like being around him.

Manny is interesting. He has a lot of tattoos. That in itself is intimidating, but his eyes are so kind. He is very nice to me and he's a great artist too. There were some new people today named Nicole and Tess. Tess reminds me a little of Carly and I'm not sure what to think of Nicole, but she seems okay. Who am I kidding, I was jealous of her for a moment because she looked at Jason and said he was going to be her husband. Isn't that crazy? I mean I barely know Jason. He's troubled and supposedly has anger issues. I don't see that at all when I talk to him though. I think he's just misunderstood. Anyway, I'm going to try to talk to him more tomorrow.

Liz put the diary back in the drawer and flopped onto her back. The girls were all older than her. They had so much experience, both good and bad, but they were surviving and it gave her hope. Things would probably never be perfect. She just hoped that one day, they'd be slightly normal again. Being in Shadybrook made her even more determined to try to get her life back. She didn't want to let him win anymore.

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Jason had stormed out of the building. He felt like he couldn't breathe and he knew what was coming. The rage was filling him and he couldn't stop it. He smashed his fist into a tree and then kicked it several times.

"What did that tree do to you?" Nicole asked walking around it to face him. When she saw his face—the fury and pain, instead of being scared, she completely understood. "Have at it. Don't let me stop you."

Jason was really struggling to hold it together.

"Incoming," Nicole said watching the nurse and orderly run towards them.

He didn't register what she said as his body shook and then suddenly, he felt a prick. Spinning around, he looked at the nurse wildly who held up her hands and stepped backwards. Jason sucked in some air as he felt the sedative start coursing through his body. Nicole watched him slump to his knees and knelt in front of him; even though the nurse told her to stay back because Jason was dangerous.

"No, he's not. He wouldn't hurt a woman."

Tears were starting to run down his face and she could see how much mental anguish he was in, like he was begging her to help him.

"Take some deep breaths. You're going to be okay."

"It never gets better."

"I know how that feels, but I just can't believe that the pain is all there is. Fight it Jason. Don't let it win."

He started to collapse and Nicole eased him down as she cradled him. "Help her," he muttered.

She realized that he was talking about Elizabeth. "She'll be okay too. It will just take time."

His eyes closed and the orderly stepped forward.

"You need to step away from him."

Nicole glared at him. "Or what? You going to use the taser on me? He needs help. You look at him like he's a monster. I think you're the one that needs to step away."

Dr. Turner walked towards them. "What happened?"

Nicole tore her eyes away from the orderly and took a deep breath. "He had a little problem with his anger because he was upset about Elizabeth. They sedated him. He was in a lot of pain."

Violet could see the wetness on Jason's face. "I'll have them take him to his room. We'll take care of him." This was another interesting development that somehow Jason and Nicole had connected. Nicole was hardened. Life had been cruel to her, but somehow she could see Jason—really see him. Maybe the rag tag group was actually helping each other more than any of them realized.

Nicole looked down at Jason and wiped the tears off of his face. "Don't punish him. I think he does that enough himself. His knuckles need to be cleaned." His right hand looked like it had road rash.

Dr. Turner nodded as Nicole gently laid Jason down. After walking away, she sat on a bench and wiped a tear away. All the pain she had seen in Jason's eyes is how she felt on a daily basis.

Manny sat down next to her. "I saw what you did. You showed compassion and loyalty. I don't know who hurt you, but I can tell you're a fighter."

Nicole chuckled trying to lighten the moment. "God, did you ever think you'd end up in a place like this?"

Manny smirked as he watched her wipe her face. "Never crossed my mind."

"I could use a good martini right now."

"I'll make sure I buy you one when we're on the other side."

She turned to him and smiled. "I will definitely take you up on that."

Carly walked over and plopped down. "You think they'll punish him?" She had seen everything from the window.

"I hope not. I think Dr. Turner is actually fair. He didn't hurt anyone but himself," Nicole said.

"We have to all stick together," Manny said.

Carly and Nicole nodded.

"I never thought I'd make any friends here," Carly said.

"That's something that I'm not used to either," Manny said.

Carly took one of his hands and Nicole the other.

"Get used to it," Nicole said. It felt good to know that other people had her back. She hadn't felt that in a really long time. While she probably would have never given any of them the time of day in the real world, it made her realize that she shouldn't judge because a common thread ran through all of them. They were survivors.