A/N: Thank you for the new reader who reviewed the last chapter! It really made me smile and I hope to hear from you again on this chapter :) Who's ready for some drama? Enjoy everyone xx Mariah


When Katie found out that Ned had called Evelyn and Steve, she threw a book at him. She couldn't believe he'd done this after everything. He knew she did not want them to see her like this. When she was so pale, thin, and weak. She wasn't ready yet. She had to get herself together first.

"Come on," Ned begged, sitting on the edge of her bed. He leaned in to kiss her cheek, begging for her to look at him. "Just look at me. It's been three days, Katie."

She glanced at him momentarily and then turned her head. She wanted to yell at him so much but remembered what the psychiatrist had said. She was supposed to control her feelings and use them correctly.

Jim had taken to walking to the cafeteria to get himself to eat. He still was a bit distraught about finding out that he was a father. That he and Melinda had created someone and that someone happened to be the girl who was trapped tightly in Daniel Larson's gang. It was his worst nightmare coming true, but all he knew was that he had to save her from all of this. He had tried his best to be there for her every day this week in between his shifts at work. Ned had been given a week's leave and was sleeping in the lounge chair in Katie's hospital room.

There were a few knocks and Ned went to open the hospital room door, fixing the collar on his shirt and trying to smooth out his hair first.

"This might be them," he warned her. "Are you ready?"

She shrugged and then nodded. Ned went to open the door and Evelyn pushed her way through as soon as the door was cracked.

"Oh Katherine, you're awake! I'm so sorry we couldn't come any sooner." Evelyn sat next to her and hugged her tightly, her hand touching Katherine's face softly. "What did he do to you? Was this that drug dealer?"

"She can't talk," Ned answered. "Her jaw is wired shut while it heals. Her attacker broke it. She should be able to get them out in a few days."

Steve came in behind her quietly, going to close the door just as Jim slipped in as well. Katie saw as Ned slipped out into the hall with him and she looked back down at her hands.

"You need to leave that man in your past," Evelyn said as she went to hug her again. "I didn't know if you were still alive... you hadn't called in so long. Katie, I'm so sorry."

She pulled back and laid down against the pillow, looking at Steve and then wondering where her supposed little brother was. Liam had to be eight by now. Why wouldn't they have brought him with?

"Hey you," Steve smiled as Evelyn pulled back enough to let Steve come in, going to hug their son and say something to him. "I missed you kiddo." Steve cupped her cheek and she leaned into it, smiling at him. "You look so grown up. Last time I saw you, you were what, sixteen?"

She glanced at Steve and sat up, wincing at the pain in her ribs and then nearly crying from moving her jaw. Steve hugged her then and she felt better. He'd always been the good guy in this. Evelyn was the one who never tried to fix anything when she doted on Liam constantly.

"I'm so sorry all this happened to you," Steve whispered.

She nodded and then looked away as she laid back into bed as comfortably as she could. Ned came back into the room slowly, coming over to the clear side of the bed.

"Hey, Jim had to go back to the station. Sarge needed him for something. He's gonna try and get tomorrow off." Ned explained, pulling a chair over as he sat down. "Should we tell them about him reaching out to your mother?"

Katie hadn't even had a chance to think about it before Evelyn had an opinion, chuckling from where she was across the room.

"I'm Katie's mother more than the woman who gave you up ever was," Evelyn muttered softly to herself as Steve came over and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I just can't process everything right now."

"Don't start this fight again," Steve whispered, rubbing her side. "That's how we lost her in the first place..." He turned back to Ned. "What have you learned?"

"Well Katie opened the letter," Ned explained, pulling it out of his back pocket. "And we learned that my partner at work is her biological father. He's reached out to Katie's mother. She hasn't called back yet."

"What changed your mind about her?" Evelyn asked.

"I have nothing to say to you. I'm not speaking for Katie for you," he looked up away. "I just don't understand why everything you told Katie about her mother was a lie."

"Anyone can lie in a letter. How do you know what she wrote is the truth?" Evelyn turned away, wiping her tears away. She grabbed her discarded purse off the nearby lounge chair and then turned back to Katie. "Maybe now isn't a great time for me to be here. I should go back to the hotel and check on Liam. He shouldn't be alone for long. He's only nine." She gave Katie a light hug and kiss on the cheek. "I just wanna know why you'd call us here if you didn't want to see me?"

"She didn't. I did," Ned said softly. "She was mad at me for calling you. She didn't want you to see her like this."

"We gave you a home when no one else wanted you," Evelyn cried, holding her hand. "And trust me when I say no one wanted you. They all thought you had problems and it turns out that they were right... look at you! You need to wake up and see that you are in the hospital because of some drug dealer you fell for! The next time I see you, you'll probably be some Jane Doe in a morgue."

"All she wanted was to find where she was from!" Steve yelled. "I've had enough of you scolding her like this Eve. She was just a sixteen-year-old searching for where she came from and you just let her walk out that front door! You didn't even fight her, you let pack a bag and leave."

"What was I to do?" Evelyn sighed, looking at her husband. "Was I to lock her in her room? Or was I to let her go find her mother and have her dreams of being a perfect family crushed?"

"You didn't even give her the right name according to Ned and our daughter!" Steve cried. "How could you do that?"

"When we realized she was gone after I gave her that name... I thought I was hoping she'd come right back," Evelyn sighed.

"Evelyn," Steve said. "How could you send her a wild goose chase? Did you ever even look into finding her like you said you would?"

"Yeah, of course, I did." Evelyn sighed. "I found her. It wasn't very hard. When she found out that someone looked into the case, she came to the office and everything. I hid any photos of her and told her I didn't know anything about her daughter that she willingly gave up sixteen years prior."

"I can't even look at you right now," Steve went to their daughter, whispering in her ear. "I"m sorry. I want to be here, but I can't be here right now. I'll be back in a little bit."

She nodded, understanding that he'd never known that Evelyn had done that. Katie hadn't even known to the full extent. She winced and laid back, feeling as though her entire stomach was being ripped out.

"I'm gonna go too," Evelyn sighed. "This is just all too much. I love you, but this is just too much."

As Steve walked toward the door, it opened to reveal and nurse. "Well hello, you have a full room today. That's nice to see," the nurse said happily. "Let's take a look at your jaw. The doctor said you might be clear to get your wires out." Katie winced as the nurse felt around her jaw lightly with her fingers. "Ooh, I think today might be the lucky day. It feels healed enough, but I'll have the doctor come check. Just in time. I brought your prenatal vitamins. Congrats."

Evelyn and Steve both turned around then and Ned just sighed. This was not what they needed right now.

"I'm here for you, no matter what. You know that?" Evelyn touched her daughter's hand and then smiled.

"We both are," Steve added.

"I'm sorry about what I did," Evelyn whispered as she walked over and hugged her. "Please know that... I did what I thought was right. You don't know who your mother could be. Then one day she came into the office so desperate to reconnect with you... I just panicked. I was afraid you'd want to go with her. That she'd take you back if she saw how amazing you were."

Katie sighed and then just shook her head. SHe couldn't deal with this right now either.

"Come back later," Ned said. "Both of you. She'll be able to talk then."

"We will," Steve said, pulling Evelyn back. "After dinner. Maybe we'll bring Liam?"

"I don't know if he should see her like this," Evelyn whispered. "When she looks better maybe, but not now."

"That's probably a good idea," Ned reassured Steve, opening the door. "We'll see you later." Once they left and the door was closed, Ned sighed against the door. "That was... a lot. I'm sorry if I eve doubted you on how crazy Evelyn can be." He went and sat by her bedside, only to see her roll her eyes at him. "Oh stop it. I'll quit talking and just lay with you. It's been a day."

She shrugged and smiled at him a little as he carefully laid beside her, pressing a kiss to her neck.


The doctor stepped back from her, the last wire in between the scissors he'd cut them out with.

"Now just because you're wires out does not mean your jaw is completely healed," the doctor reminded her. "Be very careful with how far you open your mouth. "

Katie nodded, lying back into bed with Ned's and the nurse's support. Steve knocked on the door just as the clock turned seven and Evelyn came in quietly behind him. "You'll be able to go home tomorrow if you're in these spirits." Her doctor grinned. "I cannot morally let you out on your own, you will have to be under care to make sure you don't relapse on those drugs you have a knack for getting into. How are your cravings?"

"They are there," she gulped, suddenly feeling hot. Her jaw hurt even as she moved it slightly, but she soldiered on. "I'm controlling them for now and should be able to contain them."

"For now," her doctor reminded her. "And I'm guessing you're her parents?"

"Yes, they are my parents," she whispered.

"Oh great. Will you be taking her home?" Her doctor asked.

Steve and Evelyn looked at her and she shrugged, not exactly wanting to go home with them because she is an adult and can take care of herself. She looked at Ned and knew she couldn't exactly go stay with him and his mom either.

"We haven't decided that yet," Evelyn answered. "We'll have to talk about that."

"As long as she won't be on her own, I'd let her leave with anyone she is comfortable with, but the person who did this to her." Her doctor said. "Speaking of the assault, there is an officer who wants to speak to you, Katherine. I'm going to send him in."

She nodded and then looked at her parents who just squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

Jim entered and he smiled at her, sitting near her feet. "Hey kiddo," he said softly, holding out a jello cup. "I got this from one of the nurses."

"Thanks," she smiled. "You're the cop on my case?"

"I found you," Jim nodded. He was happy to see she looked better. There was a little more color in her face since he'd seen her this morning. "I'm doing the paperwork, so yeah. I do the interview. Are you okay with that?"

She nodded slowly.

"You said when I brought you in that someone did this to you. Is that correct?" Jim asked.

"Yes," she answered. "I remember who did this to me."

"Who?" The officer asked.

"Will you protect the ones I love?" She asked. "If you can't tell me they will be safe than I can't tell you.

He'll hurt them. You know that."

"We will do our best keep them safe," Jim said, reaching out to hold her hand. "I will make sure of that."

"My... I don't know what he was.. he was an off and on boyfriend of mine. He would supply me with anything I wanted as long as I stripped at his brother's club, Cray Z's." She explained. "His name is Danny Larson. I know everything about him sadly." she sighed. "But I liked the thrill for a while."

"If you could help us with our case against him, we can make sure goes away," Jim said.

"I'll do anything to make sure he doesn't do this to another person," she replied. "As long as the ones I love are safe."

"Katie," Evelyn muttered. "You can't go back there."

"I'll probably have to. I can't have some other young girl get sucked into this and die," she explained softly. "Mom, you don't know what he did to me those first few weeks... what he did to me in the weeks after and how he trained me to be able to do things for him."

"She'd be completely cleared of anything she possibly could have done with him that was illegal, ma'am," Jim explained. "It's a good deal. I don't know if we've met before, but I'm Ned's partner. Jim." He held his hand out to Steve and Evelyn as he stood and walked around the bed to greet them. "I'm Katherine's..."

"Biological father, yes, we know. We just didn't realize it was you," Evelyn sighed, looking at him. "It's... it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Jim shook her hand and then Steve's. "I can promise you all that Ned and I will do everything to collar Daniel. He has to be stopped."

"That's something we all agree on and I'm grateful for that," Katie laughed, coughing and then shaking her head when it hurt too much for her to talk anymore.

They all understood, each finding a seat to enjoy the company of being together and safe. And that was everything Katie needed at that moment, even if she didn't realize it yet.