Thanks for the lovely words of encouragement. Here's the next one, hope you enjoy and please, tell me what you think :)

Chapter Three

"Just hold that to your face. I'll be right back," The nurse said, pressing the icepack into Tony's hand as she left to get the dressings for his head. Tony leant back, staring around the small examination room in the hospital. The adrenalin was only just wearing off and the lack of sleep over the past week was quickly catching up with him.

"No! Get away from me!" The voice was slightly muffled, but he recognized it quickly. Number seven. Abby.

Tony slid off the bed, walking in the direction of the voice. The curtain was drawn around the bed in the room next to his, but he could recognize the black platform boots resting on the floor. He slowly approached, peeping his head around the curtain. He was a detective after all, Tony reasoned. He had every right to check up on his witness.

The girl, Abby, was surrounded by several nurses and doctors. "No, please, stay away!" she cried, drawing her legs up under her body. Her hair was hanging loose and she'd been dressed in a hospital gown. Recognition sparked in her eyes as she saw Tony enter.

"Excuse me sir, you can't be in here." A nurse said to him, but Abby interrupted him.

"Tony." She reached out and took his hand, fingers clasping tightly around it.

"What's going on here?" It was obvious Abby wasn't going to let go of him anytime soon.

"We were just discussing – we need to conduct a rape kit on Ms Scuito."

"No you don't." Abby said. Tony was surprised by the strength in her voice. "He didn't... do anything to me… Tony saved me."

After that, and Abby's apparent inability to release Tony's hand, the medical staff permitted him to stay with her. The young lady was still in a state of shock after the attack, Tony could feel her body trembling even under the layers of blankets she'd been covered with. He was relieved to hear that her injuries were mostly superficial; an assortment of cuts and grazes where her skin had come in contact with the gravel of the alleyway as well as dark bruises blossoming on her knees and elbows. All consistent with the other six victims, although in comparison Abby had been extremely lucky, her injuries relatively mild. What set her apart from the other six women was the sets of scratches running down her forearms from wrist to elbow.

Defensive marks.

Abby had fought back. Sustained some nasty fingernail-scratches in the process, deep enough to scar, but Tony suspected that these scratches indicated the real reason the incident was classified as an assault rather than a rape. The other six victims hadn't been so lucky. They'd been taken by surprise, overcome by the rapist such that they couldn't even cry out. Abby had a chance to defend herself, opening up the opportunity to call for help and eventually allow for her rescue.

She was definitely a tough chick.

He sat beside her, holding her hand as the medical staff tended to her injuries, applying salve and wrapping each wrist in thick gauze. She was, not surprisingly, content to sit in complete silence. Tony wasn't about to press her to talk. She'd have plenty of time for that later. The curtain rippled and a body entered the room. It was the nurse who'd been treating Tony earlier. She frowned.

"I've been looking for you. I still need to bandage your head."

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, not wanting to leave Abby.

"You're still bleeding," the nurse pointed out. Tony looked down, cursing softly. She was right, the gash on the back of his head was bleeding, a trickle of blood running down his neck and pooling in a spreading stain on the collar of his shirt.

"I'll get a nurse to sit with this young lady," the nurse said kindly. "This won't take long, but we do need to get you fixed up." Tony sighed, squeezing Abby's hand before gently prising her fingers away. A junior nurse entered the room, pulling the blankets up over Abby's shoulders.

"I'll be right back, I promise."

Abby blinked slowly but said nothing. Tony slid off the bed, following the nurse back to the examination room where a doctor was waiting. The gash on his head required three stitches and a bandage and he was given another icepack to reduce the swelling on his face. Finally Tony was allowed to get back to his detective duties.

He returned to Abby's room. Her doctor was waiting for him. "Ms Scuito has indicated her preference to leave. We've treated her injuries so there's no need for her to stay overnight. I do have trepidations about letting her go alone, do you have a contact number for someone she can stay with?"

"No, but I'll ask her." Tony replied. "Do you have something she could change into?" He nodded toward the thin white and blue hospital gown Abby was wearing. From what he'd seen of her at the bar, she was a girl with attitude. A girl who wouldn't appreciate the rest of the world seeing her in a backless hospital gown.

The doctor nodded. "I'll see what I can find."

Through a somewhat stilted conversation, Tony discovered several key facts about Abigail Scuito. She lived in Washington DC and was employed by NCIS. He knew this stood for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, although he'd never personally dealt with them before. She was in town for the forensics convention and was expected back sometime over the weekend.

"Have you got any family or friends you want me to contact?"

Abby nodded. "My boss. Gibbs. Number's in there." She pointed to the scratched but still functional cell phone sitting on the table beside the bed. She'd been carrying it in her pocket at the time.

The doctor re-entered, handing Tony a set of scrubs. "I'm sorry, this is the best I could find. She doesn't need to worry about returning them. Did you find her a friend to stay with?"

Tony shook his head. "No, but I've got a number. I'll take her back to my place, she can rest there."

The doctor passed Tony a script. "Okay. I've prescribed a mild sedative to help her sleep. Two tablets will knock her out for several hours."

Once the doctor was gone Tony gave the scrubs to Abby. "These are slightly better than the gown, I guess. Get changed and we can get out of this place."

Abby nodded, her hand dropping down to her lap. She glanced up at Tony, one eyebrow raised. "These are pink. Seriously?"

TBC