"Rachel I think you should go to a private school rather than going back to the school you used to go to." Elizabeth reiterated.

Rachel took a spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar and began to eat it. "This is because you don't want me to go back to my friends there isn't it?" She asked angrily.

"Rachel you are a beautiful, capable, intelligent young woman. You've gone through a lot over the past few months and I don't think public school is the best place for you to be dealing with all of it." Elizabeth said gently. "I want you to be in the best place for you to get an education."

"I don't want to be some freak who goes to an expensive public school because of her family problems." Rachel replied without looking up.

"Rachel it's not that kind of school." Elizabeth tried again. "It's an academy that focuses mainly on thought rather than memorization."

"So?" Rachel replied, obviously not caring.

"Rachel you're an incredible person. Your father seized in front of you and you preformed the proper treatment without having to be told what to do." Elizabeth said softly. "At this school you can study medicine without having to spend your time learning a standard high school education. Or if medicine isn't what you want to study there's twenty other fields of study."

Rachel looked up in surprise at the mention of her father's seizure. "How do you know about that?" She asked quietly.

"I was married to Mark…" Elizabeth pointed out. "We did talk about things when you weren't there."

Rachel sighed. "I've always wanted to be a doctor, just like dad." She admitted. "But I don't want a stressful school situation on top of everything else."

"Rachel I've already talked to the board of the school." Elizabeth admitted.

"You what?!" Rachel asked angrily.

"Rachel do you really want to end your life the way you almost ended Ella's?!" Elizabeth retorted.

Rachel looked up at her, hurt evident in her eyes. She shook her head. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have come to you…" She apologized quietly before running out the front door, only in a pair of grey sweats and a Hawaii t-shirt.

"RACHEL!" Elizabeth tried to follow her, while carrying Ella, but she had already ran down the street and around the corner. "Crap…" She muttered under her breath. "Alright Ella mummy messed up and we're going to have another strange day."

"Play?" Ella asked hopefully.

Elizabeth shook her head. "We've got to find Rachel… And I've got to…" She began before she felt incredibly nauseated. She quickly set Ella down on the couch and ran to the bathroom downstairs. It was nearly ten minutes later and Elizabeth was resting her head uncomfortably on the toilet seat, waiting to see if anything else was going to come up, when she heard Ella scream from the living room.

Elizabeth jumped up faster than she thought was possible. "Ella?" She asked, unknowing what she was going to find in the next room.

Ella was on the floor, surrounded by shards of glass from the picture frame that had fallen off from the entertainment center. "Ella don't move." Elizabeth said sharply as she grabbed her shoes from by the front door. She carefully picked Ella up from the pile of glass and tried to comfort the screaming toddler. "Ella did you touch the glass?" She asked as she searched for any signs of glass embedded in her skin. Not finding anything she pulled her in close. "Shh… It was just scary… You're fine Ella, I promise."

"Daddy." Ella said softly.

Elizabeth looked back at the pile and realized the picture frame that had broken was the one that had a photograph of Ella and Mark in it. She quickly picked up the picture and handed it to Ella. "This is what you wanted isn't it Ella?" She asked softly as Ella clutched the picture to her chest. "Okay…" Elizabeth said through a sigh as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Okay."


"Elizabeth you're late!" Romano called toward her as she went into her office. Elizabeth ignored him and continued moving through her office, trying to get as much done as quickly as possible.

"Lizzie?" Romano questioned as he knocked on the door to her office.

"Robert not now!" Elizabeth replied curtly, still trying to keep the nausea at bay in addition to dealing with everything else that was going on.

"Why's Ella here?" He asked as he waved to the toddler in the playpen on the other side of her office.

"Robert I can't do this." She said angrily as she sat down at her desk and began to pick up the phone.

Robert gently pressed his hand down on hers. "Lizzie?" He asked, genuinely concerned for her.

"Trash can." She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Robert asked confused.

"Hand me the trash can!" She insisted through clenched teeth.

Robert did as she asked before she promptly vomited into it. "Morning sickness?" He asked softly.

Elizabeth nodded without opening her mouth, not trusting herself enough yet.

"Where's Rachel?" Robert asked softly. "Is she back at your house?"

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair before replying. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Robert asked her, clearly confused.

"She ran out of the house this morning…. I tried driving around looking for her… I didn't find her…" Elizabeth explained softly. "It's not too big of a deal… She'll probably go back to the house sometime today."

"Lizzie… I needed to talk to you this morning to let you know that the police department wasn't able to prove anything against David Rodgers without a direct testimony and they let him go this morning." Romano said gently.

Elizabeth stared at him wide-eyed. "No." She insisted. "This isn't happening…"

"Why don't you call your house? See if she's already back?" Romano tried.

Elizabeth picked up the phone and dialed the house, no answer. "What if she's lying beaten in the street somewhere?" She asked worriedly.

"Then they'll bring her here." Robert said, matter-of-factly.

Elizabeth shook her head. "That's not an option… I'm the closest thing she has to a mother right now and I let this happen." She said as she got up from her desk. "Watch Ella for me." She said as she headed for the door.

"No." Robert insisted. "You don't feel well and you're clearly tired. Let me go with Carter or Kovac and you can stay here with Ella."

"You spending time with Carter or Kovac?" Elizabeth asked sarcastically.

"Elizabeth." Robert insisted. "I'll find her."

Elizabeth sat down in a chair and tried to hide the tears that started falling. "Just… please… find her…"

"You have my word."


Rachel woke up on the El and looked around. No one else was on the same cart as she was and she could feel a throbbing pain on her eye. I'm not dead. Was the first thing she recognized. Somehow, he had gotten out and found her and made sure she knew that he didn't love her. He never loved me. She looked out the window and realized they were approaching the stop outside of County. She prepared herself to get off the train and groaned as her body protested her movements. She felt the El jerk to a stop and she pulled herself up and off the train. She could feel her feet making contact with the cold pavement. I should have worn shoes. She thought crankily before beginning the short walk to County.

About three minutes later, she dazedly walked through the doors from the ambulance bay.

"Rachel." Kerry said gently before leading her aside, into Exam 8. "Rachel what happened?" She asked gently as she began to examine the girl.

"I don't understand… He found me…" She said softly, not looking up from her bloodied hand.

Kerry gently pressed on her cheekbone which elicited a small whimper. "Rachel your cheekbone is definitely broken." She said gently. "I'm going to get Elizabeth alright?"

Rachel nodded softly before laying back.

Kerry quickly made her way up to Elizabeth's office. "Elizabeth Rachel's in the ER."

"Please tell me…" Elizabeth began to say as she stood up from her desk.

"He found her." Kerry said softly. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth took in a deep breath. "Did Robert and Carter find her?"

Kerry shook her head. "She came in herself."

Elizabeth followed her into Exam 8. "Rachel I'm so sorry." Elizabeth said gently. "I should have come after you."

Rachel shook her head. "It's my fault."

"Rachel don't you ever think this is your fault." Elizabeth said softly.

"You have Ella to take care of… I'm just in the way here… I'll go back to St. Louis and try to find my mom…" Rachel said softly. "Please just… act like I never came…"

Elizabeth gently took her hand in hers as Kerry began to suture the gash on Rachel's face. "You're not going anywhere." She assured her.

Rachel began to cry softly, partially at the pain partially because she felt so helpless. "He didn't love me…. You were right… He never cared about me..." She whispered, grimacing at the slight pain from the stitches going into her face.

As soon as Kerry finished the stitches she left the two of them alone. "Rachel?" Elizabeth asked, sensing a huge amount of tension in her emotions. Rachel quickly reached toward Elizabeth and buried her head into Elizabeth's shoulder.

After several minutes of sobbing she sat up again. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't cry… I'm sorry…"

Elizabeth shook her head. "It's alright to cry sometimes Rachel." She said gently. "You were hurt, what happened to you isn't fair."

"How come you can be so nice to me?" Rachel asked softly.

"Rachel, every day, through those doors, come girls who have been completely abandoned by everyone with drug overdoses, unexpected pregnancies, rape injuries, and sometimes they die. Maybe I'm not your biological mother, but I'm someone who cares about you and what happens to you." Elizabeth said gently. "I never want you to become one of those girls, completely incapable of understanding that there are people out there who care about them."

"I almost killed Ella…" Rachel said, angrier with herself more than anything else.

"We all make mistakes Rachel. I'm not shutting you out because of yours." Elizabeth insisted. "I said things I shouldn't have this morning and I'm sorry."

Rachel shook her head. "You really don't have to do this."

"Yes. I do." Elizabeth said. "That's that alright? I'm going to take you home and we're going to work this out."

Rachel simply nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Author's Note: Whoops I'm stuck at home all weekend sick… No fun but that means more writing for you :D Please Review!