Rose hadn't gotten her way. April had forced her - well not forced, just explained that the only way they'd have a solid case against her attacker was if they took the evidence tonight - to file a police report that night. She had, at first, resisted, before she realized that April was right and if she wanted justice, she didn't want any evidence to be compromised. So, she went through the pictures and the questions, detailing how it had started out as a simple argument over laundry which had turned physical when he swung at her. Somehow that fight had escalated further, and he hadn't been able to stop. The assault had ended only when she kneed him so hard that she was certain he never would get up again.

Now, after the questions and pictures were done, Rose asked April, "You're going to call him, aren't you?"

"He'd never forgive me if I didn't."

"He's got a stone heart, that way. Didn't used to always be like that, you know. There was a time when he'd forgive someone for just about anything."

"Lauren?"

"You've heard about her?"

"I've met her."

Rose laughed through the pain; she thought she wouldn't be able to laugh again, so shaken up that sometimes it hurt to smile. But this woman - her brother's fiancee - was slowly bringing her back to life with her honesty and her acceptance that Rose no longer wanted to talk about the attack; she respected that this woman wouldn't push the issue. For the first time tonight, Rose actually felt safe alone with another human in a room. "Did she make a good impression?"

"Well, the first time I met her - your brother and I were dating - she came up and said she needed to see him. I asked who she was, and she said she was his wife."

"For all the cheating she did on him, she always had this sick thought that he would never leave her. She always thought he was hers," Rose told her with a shrug. "And, for their marriage, he was. I don't think he ever cheated - or thought about cheating - once. Not even after he found about the affair."

April smiled. "He's a good man."

"You must know that."

She smiled again. "He's definitely had his good moments. He, uh...He said that you two aren't that close."

"We aren't. Haven't been for some time."

April's movements were careful as she sat down in the chair by Rose's bedside; she didn't want to do anything that might startle her soon-to-be-sister-in-law in her fragile state. "Can...Can I ask why?"

Rose smiled. "You don't have to be a nervous nellie about it, you know."

"I don't want to overstep any boundaries," she answered rather timidly.

"You can't do worse than what's already happened," Rose told her, motioning toward her bruised eye and stitched up forehead. "So don't worry about overstepping any boundaries."

"But I do."

Rose smiled at her concern. "Don't worry about me. I...I'm fine."

"You're as bad of a liar as your brother is."

"Is he a terrible liar?"

"Oh, yeah," April told her, remembering when he had first told her he loved her; she had seen right through his lie that noting was on his mind, and the same went for his sister - never mind the fact that it didn't take a brain surgeon to know that Rose wasn't all right after her attack. April was certain - if it were here - she'd be a mess; she was certain she wouldn't have the strength to put up a facade like Rose was. "And you are, too."

Rose sighed. "Clearly, I'm not fine. But'll I'll be all right. I'm stronger than you think."

"Your boyfriend beat you."

"I don't need that reminder."

April recognized the snide tone instantly - and knew with Rose that it was a defensive mechanism, as well. "I'll I'm saying is that...when someone you trust hurts you like that, you aren't fine afterwards. You...Your entire faith is shattered."

"Oh? And you know that for a fact?"

April shrugged. "I've had a couple rough goes of it, but nowhere near as bad as you. Which is how I know that what you're feeling...whatever it is...it's painful."

"I don't need your help."

April smiled. "You are just like your brother."

"I don't need your help," Rose repeated, though she didn't move from the hospital bed.

"No, but you want it."

Rose simply stared at her, coldly. "All right, I'm listening."

"I think you should talk to someone."

"You know what's best for everyone else?"

"I don't pretend to," April answered. "But I know your brother - and even though you aren't the same person - you two are very much alike. And when something is painful for him, he doesn't talk about it. He tries to avoid it as best he can and it eats him alive. If you're anything like him - and you are because you're avoiding what happened to you - then it's going to eat you alive, too, if you don't talk to someone."

"Do you have someone in mind? Because right now I don't trust anyone." Rose wouldn't divulge that she was beginning to trust April; she had her brother, too, who she trusted more than herself despite their dark differences but who else? She had thought she trusted her boyfriend and now she was in a hospital bed, covered in wounds he had inflicted on her body in a savage rage that she never knew was imaginable. Rose wasn't even sure she trusted herself, anymore, and she hoped a good talking to from her brother - who always kicked sense into her - would change that.

"I don't know...I can get someone in touch with you, though."

"Can we figure that out tomorrow morning?"

April nodded. "Yeah. We can do that."

"You're going to call Rob tonight, aren't you?"

April shrugged. "I'm thinking about it. I'll be here through the night but tomorrow I have to go to work."

"I can handle being alone by myself, you know. I'm not a baby."

"I know you can. I just...I don't think you should be alone right now. It's bad enough what's happened to you. You don't need me abandoning you as well. If it were me, I'd want someone there with me, too."

"Well, I'm not you."

"That's a barrier, isn't it?" When Rose didn't say anything and instead stared, April nodded slowly. "I think I should call Robert."

"Okay."

April was surprised by her quick acceptance. "Really?"

Rose nodded. "I need my brother I think now more than I ever have before."

"Okay. I'll...I'll call him."

She excused herself moments later and pulled her cell phone out, dialing his number with a knot in her stomach. Finally, after three rings, he picked up. "Robert?"

"What's up? Are...Are you all right?"

"I'm fine-"

"Could you not sleep, or...?"

"No, Robert," she cut him off. "I'm...I"m fine."

"Then what's up?"

"When I was going to bed, there was a knock on the door. And when I opened the door, it was your sister. She...Her boyfriend roughed her up pretty bad and I took her to the hospital to get her stitched up and...She looks bad, Robert."

He sighed. "Is she all right?"

"Physically, she could be worse. She has a gash above her forehead, a black eye, and perhaps a broken nose that Dr. Sloan can fix. But emotionally...I don't know. She won't talk to me, which...which I guess is understandable. I mean she doesn't even know me so-"

"April, stop."

His short tone surprised her, like he was agitated and snapped at her. "Robert, I think you should come home."

There was a short pause on the other end as he breathed out, perhaps in a sigh. "No, I think I'm fine here."

Her mouth widened in shock. "I beg your pardon?"

"She doesn't need me," he answered simply.

"She is lying in a hospital bed after getting the shit kicked out of her and she's asking for you - her brother - and you're not even going to come home to make sure she's all right? You're not even-"

"She's fine, April."

"You should see her. You can't just-"

"I don't need to see her," he answered coldly. "Unless something is wrong with you, I'm not coming home."

"She's your sister! You can't just not be here for her!"

"April," his tone turned angry, like he was a doctor and she his student again, like she was one of his residents that annoyed the hell out of him, "I have been here for her my entire life. There is nothing that I haven't done for her. Nothing. I am not having this discussion with you. Not here."

"She is your sister."

"Yeah, and you don't know her like I do."

April had a feeling he hadn't told her the whole story, and before she could get anything out of him, he hung up. Her mouth still open in surprise - as she realized that everything she knew about him as a person was wrong - she turned to look at Rose through the mirror. His sister lay her, her head back as if she was trying to escape to a place other than this hell. April wasn't sure what to say, how to explain to her that Robert wasn't coming back home for her.

She didn't think it was possible, but she thought she was more heartbroken than Rose tonight. To save her from even more pain, April plastered a fake smile on her face and walked into the room where Rose looked up expectantly. Instead of telling her the truth, April said, "I couldn't get a hold of him. I'll try again later."

Maybe she was trying to make herself believe the lie - because right now that was better than the truth that he wasn't coming home for his sister. For some reason - and April couldn't understand why - she felt like he was abandoning her, too.