Hello again everyone! Here's the next chapter of the story. I hope no one is disappointed with the way it goes, I just had to write it as I saw fit. I also hope it's not too disturbing for anyone, it was quite difficult to write so parts of it may be quite difficult to read.

Thanks again for all the reviews etc, I love reading them and they give me a little bit more confidence each time I do!

The walls were green. She hated green. The walls in her bedroom when she lived with her parents were green and she'd spent too long in that room, staring at the walls and trying to block out the screaming and shouting. They weren't even a fresh, bright green. They were dull and murky, perhaps appropriately so, she thought. Her head felt dull and murky at this moment in time. She was in the hospital and the walls in her room were green. She was in a part of the hospital that she'd visited a few times before during cases but the familiarity wasn't helping her at all. She wasn't there as a detective now, she was there as a victim. A victim of rape. That's what she was. It didn't sit right in her head, she couldn't think of that word and see herself but deep down, she knew it was true. She knew what was going to happen here, she'd even stayed in the room during a rape kit exam with a victim once when the young girl had asked her stay, terrified of being on her own. In a way she could prepare herself but how do you prepare yourself for something like that? She'd chosen to go it alone, to have Voight and Halstead remain outside. She didn't need for them to see what was about to happen here or hear the answers to the questions that she was no doubt going to be asked. She couldn't take any more humiliation for one day.

Outside

Voight was pacing the hallway, glancing at the room Erin was in every few seconds. He couldn't believe everything that had happened in such a short space of time. If only he'd tackled Charlie when he first learned he'd come back to town rather than leaving Erin to deal with it on her own, maybe this would never have happened. Maybe she wouldn't be in that room about to go through hell. He, like Erin, knew what was about to happen. He'd worked on many rape cases in his years as a detective but he really wished he hadn't done in that moment. All sorts of images of Erin and Charlie were cruelly playing in his head and making him feel sick. He should have been there for her, he should have done more.

Jay's eyes followed Voight as he walked up and down the corridor. He almost wanted to get up and pace with him but he didn't really have the energy. Sitting here was doing him no good though. Part of him wished that he'd stayed back at the station with the rest of the unit so that they could work out their plan of action against Radnor and Pugliesi. He knew though that there's nowhere he would rather be than with Erin at the moment. She would probably never admit that she needed them there for support but Jay knew that she wasn't as tough as she liked to make out. No one should have to go through something like this on their own and he fully intended to make sure that she didn't.

Inside the hospital room

The doctor passed Erin a gown.

"I'm going to need you to take off your clothes and I'll get bags for us to gather them in."

"That's not necessary. The bags, I mean. They're for police, right? For evidence? It's not necessary."

The doctor looked at Erin, confused.

"I'm not reporting it. I'm not doing this to gather evidence, I just want to be checked over and given whatever kind of medication I need to make sure that I don't catch anything. That's all I want."

"A lot of women in your position think that way at first, Miss Lindsay, and then later change their minds. It would be a shame not to have the evidence if that's what happened."

"It won't. Trust me on that. I'm not reporting this, ok? I just need to get this over with as quick as possible."

"No one's going to force you to do anything that you don't want to do here, Miss Lindsay-"

"Erin, please."

"Erin, ok. As I said, no one is going to make you do this if you don't want to but I'm just urging you to think about it, please."

"It's too complicated, I can't. I'm police, I'm a detective, I understand what's involved in reporting something like this and it's just not something I can do. I know that makes me a hypocrite but I just can't do it..."

Erin trailed off as she felt her emotions build up closer to the surface. She knew that she couldn't report it because then everything would be looked into; why she was at Charlie's house, alone, the robbery, her past... she wouldn't come out of it looking good and if everything went to plan back at the station, Charlie was going to prison anyway.

The doctor stepped closer to Erin and put a caring hand on her shoulder.

"You're not a hypocrite, Erin. It is absolutely your choice what you do here today and if you don't want to report it then that's ok. We'll still check you over and we'll still help you. I understand that you fainted earlier on this evening too?"

Erin smiled at the doctor and finally allowed herself to relax a little. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Outside

"What the hell is taking so long in there?"

Voight had finally stopped pacing and was not sat down next to Halstead.

"I'm sure they're just being thorough. We both know what goes on in these things."

"But this is Erin... I should be in there with her."

Usually Voight did whatever he could to hide his feelings from the rest of the team, he was much like Erin in that respect, he never wanted to appear weak. Now, however, he didn't care what he let show.

"I know, ok? Trust me, I know but you're too close to her, Voight. You're practically her father, of course she's not going to want you in there with her."

Voight's head snapped over to Jay's direction.

"What the hell would you know about my relationship with Erin?"

Jay hadn't even really realised what he'd said. He was just trying to comfort Voight. He considered lying to him and making out like he didn't know anything but it had been a long day and that required more effort than he could find.

"She's told me a bit about it. Not a lot but enough. I know you took her in when she was 16."

"Why would she have told you that? Is there something going on between the two of you? I thought I made my feelings on that perfectly clear."

"Oh don't worry, you did. There's nothing going on. I just... I found her CI file, ok?"

Voight closed his eyes and scolded himself internally. He should have gotten rid of that. He'd thought he'd tied up all the loose ends all those years ago, obviously not.

Silence fell between the two men as they both contemplated what was on that file. Jay had thought about it so many times since he'd first seen it and had almost asked Erin about what was written on it on more than one occasion. Something always held him back though. He didn't want to force her into telling him about her past, he wanted it to be her choice.

Inside

The doctor felt extremely sorry for the Erin. They were of similar age and it scared her to think that it could just as easily have been her sitting in that bed, feeling exposed in a hospital gown.

"Just because you're not reporting it doesn't mean that you can't talk about it. You can tell me what happened, if you want to. Anything you say in here will stay in this room, I can promise you that."

"I don't know what happened."

"Do you think you were drugged?"

Erin shook her head, knowing that the doctor had misunderstood her.

"No. I wasn't drugged... I just... I don't know what happened. I didn't expect him to do what he did but I should have been more prepared, I don't know."

"You know this man?"

She nodded her head, unsure of why she was even engaging in conversation with the doctor but she felt she was basically just thinking aloud, attempting to get her head in order.

"I know him from a long time ago. I just don't understand how everything got so bad so quickly, I should have done more to stop him, I'm a police officer for goodness sake!"

"You mustn't blame yourself, Erin. This could happen to anyone."

Erin nodded silently but it didn't make her feel any better. She couldn't help feeling that she'd let herself down. She should have been able to defend herself, that's what all her training was for but something had paralysed her and she hadn't been able to do a thing.

"I'm going to start the exam now but please don't hesitate to stop me at any point if you feel uncomfortable or you've just had enough, ok?"

Again, Erin nodded. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. This wasn't how her day was supposed to have gone.

Outside

"She was really angry, you know."

Jay looked up at Voight, confused by what he'd just said. They hadn't spoken to each other in a while, both of them lost in thought.

"What?"

"I figure you must have told her about our little conversation regarding the two of you because she came to my office and gave me what for... she was angry."

Jay smiled slightly, enjoying the image of Erin shouting at Voight. Not many people got away with that.

"She doesn't like being told what to do."

"You can say that again! She just about took my door off the hinges on the way out. She was really pissed off."

"Yeah, she's got a bit of a temper on her, huh?"

"I think we both know it's more than that."

Jay again looked at Voight. Was he really confirming to him that Erin had some sort of feelings towards him?

"Maybe. I suppose we'll never know seeing as how you vetoed it."

"In-house romances get messy, Halstead. She's been hurt too many times for me to risk that happening to her again."

"I would never hurt her. If you don't know that, then you don't know me at all. But hey, she's with Severide now so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Does he know anything about what's happened today?"

"I doubt it. I don't really know how close they are though. We don't really talk about it."

Voight was silent for a few moments, contemplating what he was about to say.

"She won't talk to you about Severide because she likes you. She'd kill me for telling you that but it's true, I think you know that anyway. There's a connection between the two of you, you'd have to be blind not to see it. It's why you make good partners."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"I never thought I'd be sat outside a hospital room door waiting on Erin having a rape exam but here I am. And here you are, sitting waiting with me. That counts for something."

The two men locked eyes and there was a moment of understanding between them. Erin was their main priority, they were both in agreement about that.

"I care an awful lot about her. I'll do whatever it takes to get her though this."

"I know you will. You're a good man, I've never doubted that. I know we've not always seen eye to eye on everything but I've always trusted you as a police officer. I wouldn't have partnered you with Erin if I didn't. If she's told you a bit about her past then you know how much she means to me, I wouldn't have put her with you if I didn't think you'd have her back."

Before Jay could reply, the door to Erin's room opened. There she stood, looking like death, tear stains down her cheeks, shaking hands. Without thinking, he leapt up and put his arm around her. Voight mirrored his actions and stood at the other side of her.

"You ok?"

"It's done now. I just want to go home."

Voight glanced over at the doctor who was standing behind Erin.

"She's ok to go home. She was dehydrated so she needs to get plenty of fluids into her but she's not doing too badly. A few bruises but nothing that would make us keep her in overnight."

He nodded his appreciation and turned his attentions back to Erin.

"Come on, let's get you home kid."

Erin turned around to look at the doctor.

"Thank you, really... I appreciate everything that you've done for me."

"No problem. Just take care of yourself, ok? And remember what I said. This wasn't your fault."

She looked away and tried desperately to make herself believe that it hadn't been her fault.

"You're coming back with me, ok? You've still got some stuff there and I don't want you to be on your own tonight."

Usually Erin would have refused Voight's offer but she just didn't have the energy. The examination had taken the last piece of energy she'd had. She felt sick and dirty, all she wanted was a shower and to sleep. It didn't matter to her where she did that.

Jay squeezed her arm lightly in an attempt to get her attention.

"I'll come back with you for a bit, if that's ok?"

He looked up at Voight as he finished his sentence.

"It's getting late. Just stay the night, you can have Justin's room... as long as that's what you want, Erin?"

She looked up at Jay and she immediately felt a little bit of calmness spread through her. She felt better if Jay was at her side, maybe it was habit because they were partners but something about him made her feel better.

"Yeah. That's fine with me. Let's just go, I'm really tired."

She took another look at Jay and mouthed a silent 'thank you' at him. She knew she would never have asked him to stay so she was grateful that he had volunteered.

The three of them walked towards the hospital exit, lost in their own thoughts.