Hearing the door close, she opened her eyes and let out a small sigh. She had spent the better part of a week on his couch. A total of 12 days since the attack. Most of the bruises had healed, however between her arm, knee, and ribs, she knew she would still incur the wrath of Layla. What she couldn't figure out was what was going to cause the most yelling; her damaged state or that she had been gone for close to two weeks. With another loud sigh, she forced herself up right. Twenty minutes later, she was standing in his bathroom. Caitlin cursed the entire time. With her left arm in a cast and her right leg in a brace, the 10 foot walk to the bathroom took all of her energy.

Her limp hair fell to the middle of her back. While Mac had been an excellent care taker, she drew the line at sponge baths. The soft curves of her body held little trace of what happened. Finally, she stared at the pale blue cast. Underneath it was a large gauze bandage that covered the 37 stitches. It was the broken arm or stitches that bothered her, she had had both before. It was the fact that the gash went through the intricate knot- work cross tattoo that covered her forearm. Heaving another sigh, she set to work at the long process of making herself presentable.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Carrie, "What happened to you?"

Glancing from the office, Mac watched as Caitlin hobbled in. He set down his pen and joined Carrie.

"Mickey and I got into a bit of tangle. It'll be fine." She lied

"A bit of a tangle?! You're right fucked up." Cried Mac

"Ran into a few blokes who said Da' owed them money. As we well know, Da' makes it a point to never owe anybody. A fight happened. I was laid up. That's why I didn't make it back sooner. How pissed is she?"

"She might forgive you when she sees you."

Caitlin sighed, "I'm sorry Mac, but I don't think I can work for a few weeks. Least not behind the bar."

Giving her a kiss on the cheek, he smiled at her. "You can straighten out the books, love. That'll take a couple take a few weeks. Tonight how about you just stake a table as your own? I'll bring you some food and drinks."

"Thank you." She whispered.

"I bet you haven't heard." Said Carrie, leading Caitlin back to a table.

"Heard what?" she asked, propping up her leg

"Remember those two blokes from about two weeks back? The really thrashed ones. You ejected them from place."

"Aye."

"Their bodies were pulled out of the harbor. They were beaten, and then shot. Cops are fuckin' clueless as to what happened. You didn't off them did you?"

"What?! No. I was busy getting into a fight of my own."

Carried gave her a brief once over before cracking a grin." Shot or pint?"

"Pint."

"Fries with cheese sauce?"

"I really gotta start eating other things…"

Laughing again, Carried headed for the kitchen. Caitlin settled in and waited for her best friend to make an appearance.

"Still no word!" Layla bellowed, barging into the bar nearly two hours later. "No phone call. No email. No letter. If she's not already dead, she will be when she gets back." Mac and Carrie grinned at her. "What?" she asked, "What's with the smiles?"

"Just take this pint to the back table." Said Mac, sliding one to her

With a slight cringe towards him, she did as she was asked. "Here's your drink mate."

"Thanks love." Said Caitlin

Layla's head whipped around. Her green eyes seemed to flare with anger. "You right bloody…Where the fuck have you been? Never mind! I don't want to know. Bitch can't be bothered to keep in contact with me! Fuck you!" she paused when she realized that Caitlin was trying very hard to not laugh out loud. "Fucking Pikey whore! Just go ahead and laugh!"

Deliberately, Caitlin raised her left arm to wipe a tear away, then cover her mouth as Layla continued to rage for a moment.

"And what fresh piece of hell did you get into to do that?"

"Fights with Mickey. I would've been back sooner, but…" Caitlin moved her leg out so Layla could see it, "…I was a bit laid up. That was from a good old, drunken fall."

"You're a right whore. A total bitch. I hate you. And you have to sleep outside."

"I'm sorry I didn't let you know where I was. You know that when Mickey's around, I just sort of go."

Layla sighed, but leaned over and gave her a small hug. "You owe me a damn good story when we get home, but for right now…I'm glad your back. Even if you are damaged. You owe me a damn big tip too." She said before heading back to the crowded bar.

Caitlin smiled, sipping at her pint.

Murphy spotted her almost immediately. Her smile, while seemingly forced, was nice to see. As Conner continued to flirt with the bar tender, Murphy ordered a second pint and walked to her table.

"Buy you a drink?" he asked, holding the pint out

"I got one, but you could have a seat."

"Are you sure?"

Caitlin nodded, "I've been sitting here alone for most of the night. It'd be nice to talk to someone."

Taking a seat, he set the second pint down in the middle of the table. He noticed her tremble slightly, but she didn't turn him away. "That looks rough." He said, glancing at her arm

"Gave as good as got." She joked, "I'm Caitlin."

"Murphy."

"Who's the guy you came in with? The one flirting with Layla."

"My brother Conner."

"Bit of a warning," said Caitlin, "Layla's on a rampage tonight…because of me. Unless your brother wants a pummeling tonight, he should probably stay clear of her."

Murphy laughed, "I think he can handle himself." He took a long drink and lit a smoke. "Why's she mad at you?"

"I have a nasty habit of wandering off for a few days at a time. I always come home, but I get the urge to leave and I do. She hates that about me, but as long as I drop a line, she's normally okay. I didn't this time and she's mad."

"Seems like an odd reason to get mad."

"Not really. We've been friends for the majority of our lives. She's like an older sister. And because of that, she's a tad protective."

Murphy chuckled, "Fair enough. Can I ask what you did to your arm?"

Caitlin gave him a small smile as she reached for the pint he brought, "Now, that's a bit of a story."

"What the hell is this?" asked Layla, tossing a book onto Caitlin's bed.

Groaning, Caitlin opened her eyes, "I've been back for three days. What the fuck are you yelling at me about?" she mumbled. Layla tossed another book. This time it landed on Caitlin's stomach. With a groan, she sat up and looked at what had been tossed on her. To her dismay, it was her Biology and Anatomy books from Harvard Medical.

"What the fuck are those?"

"Text books from Harvard?"

"I read that." snapped Layla, "Why the fuck do you have them? You're names written on the inside of them. When the hell did you go to Boston?"

Caitlin sighed, "It's gonna be one of those weeks is it?" She sat up in bed and glanced at Layla, "Sit. I'm gonna tell you this story once and then I'm leaving for a couple days. I don't want to be around you during the aftermath."

"Aftermath of what?" she asked, sitting

"Those are my books. I attended Harvard about 6 years ago. I was there for about a year then I came home."

Layla's eyes grew wide as a familiar look of remembrance crossed her face. "I'm the reason you came back…my accident."

"Aye. The car accident brought me back. You didn't remember that I had left and I didn't feel like you needed to remember that. And in a few days, you're not going to remember. Curse of a traumatic brain injury."

"I ruined your life."

"You didn't. Family comes first. And while you spend the next couple days thinking you ruined my life, I'm going to leave. I don't have the energy."

"What makes you think I'm going to forget this time?"

Caitlin sighed, "Because we've had this conversation before. You'll wake up in a few days and your brain will reset."

Hey there! Sorry for long delay in posting. I hope you enjoyed this little bit. I will work harder at getting a new chapter posted sooner rather than later. I promise there are good things coming.