The soft moan slowly brought Niles out of his slumber but he wasn't entirely sure that it wasn't a dream. He adjusted his position in the small, poor excuse for a chair and tried to go back to sleep. But then the sound came again. He opened his eyes and glanced at his watch, surprised to find that several hours had passed. He squinted, adjusting his eyes to the fluorescent lights and that's when he saw her. She was thrashing beneath the sheets, and the moans became whimpers.

He was out of his chair in a flash, stroking her hair as he held her hand in his.

"Help me, please! Where am I?" Daphne cried.

"Daphne, Daphne, Daphne…" Niles pleaded, doing his best to calm her. When she continued to move about, he took her into his arms with extreme caution. "Shh… It's all right. I'm here. Everything is okay."
Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped at the sight of him and drew back slowly. "Dr. Crane?"
He couldn't help but smile at the sound of his name, no matter how formal. "I-I'm here." He said.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked, frantically looking around the room as her breathing became more rapid. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital." Niles aid hoarsely. "Y-you were in an accident and Eddie-."
She gasped and sat up straight. "Eddie… Oh my God is he all right?"
"Shh… He'll be fine. He's at the animal hospital. They're taking good care of him."
A sigh of relief escaped her but she continued to move restlessly. "I-I have to get out of here. To make sure that he's okay. Your father-."

When she attempted to throw her legs to the side of the bed, Niles used more force than he intended to coax her to lie still. "Daphne, no. You can't!"
"The hell I can't!" She snapped, sounding more like herself. "You can't tell me what to do, Dr. Crane! I-Ow!" She stopped suddenly wincing in pain when she saw the IV attached to her arm. "Me arm! Oh God. What happened to me arm? What happened, Dr. Crane?"

Carefully Niles pulled her toward him, trying to calm her once more. Her tear streaked cheek rested against his. "I was hoping that you could tell me." He said softly. "When I woke up and heard Eddie whimpering in the hallway, I didn't know what was going on and then I saw you… I was so scared, Daphne. I thought-."
She began to sob and moved closer to him. "Oh God…"

"It's all right." Niles whispered, rubbing her back. "You're safe now."
But she shook her head vehemently. "No! No… I-I'll never be all right!"
"Daphne, what happened?"
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Crane! It was my fault! Eddie… he started barking and I didn't want him to wake you so I took him for a walk. I knew it was dangerous, but we weren't going very far and this man... he-he…"

Niles heart raced. "What, Daphne... What did he do?"
She cried even harder. "He was trying to hurt Eddie and then he-."
She was sobbing uncontrollably, shuddering against him. Niles knew how hard it must have been for her to talk about the ordeal and he hated to pressure her into reliving that horrible memory. But he also knew the long term effects of keeping things inside. It simply wasn't healthy.

"Daphne, your arm…"
"Oh God, it hurts, Niles...it hurts so badly!"
Completely overlooking the fact that she had said his name, his mind raced, at a loss for what to do. "I'm going to get the doctor."
"NO!" She yelled, clinging to him.

"Sweetheart, it's all right. I'm only going to be gone for a moment."
"No, please… Don't leave me!"
He held her even closer and with some relief, pushed the call button to summon the nurse. "I won't… I promise. I'll stay right here."