Eddie held the taxi door open for Rachel as she slowly pulled herself from the rear seat of the cab. It was late and it was dark outside. He held out his hand to offer assistance but it was neither acknowledged nor accepted. She was dressed in blue hospital scrubs given to her by one of her nurses; the police had taken her clothes – something which she had expressed annoyance at as she had not given them permission to do so. The nurses had apologised but insisted they had no choice. They reached her front door and Rachel stopped, staring blankly at the broken lock and cracked frame.
"We had to…" Eddie started to explain quietly. Rachel nodded as she stepped through the door into her house,
"Yeah…" she cleared her throat, "I need a shower."
She turned to the stairs; holding onto the wall and banister, she took the first step, closing her eyes and biting her lip to prevent herself from crying out at the pain which shot through her. Eddie saw her falter and hurried to her side, wrapping his right arm around her waist. She reluctantly accepted his help; holding onto his shoulder and leaning back into his right arm, they slowly eased themselves up the stairs.
"Thank you" she murmured once they had reached the top. She headed along the landing to her bedroom, slowly gathered together her pyjamas and dressing gown and headed back towards her bathroom. Eddie watched her movements constantly, noticing each flinch and expression of pain. His eyes followed her to the bathroom. She entered and turned to close the door, nervously avoiding eye contact with him as she did so. Once alone, she leant back heavily against the door and gave in to the shakes which had been threatening to overtake her body all day. She inhaled frequently and deeply, trying to calm herself. She blew out her breath harshly once tears threatened to fall. She rushed forward to turn on the shower, hoping the rushing water would hide her sounds from Eddie.

Outside the door Eddie heard the shower running. He knew what she was doing and it saddened him. He wanted her to trust him, to know that he would never let her down. Her stubbornness frustrated him but he couldn't help admire her determination. He just hoped that her determination would pull her through this without her stubbornness causing her destruction. He headed downstairs.

She sat on the edge of her bath and harshly wiped away the single tear which had spilled down her right cheek. She took another deep breath, attempting to regain composure, angry at herself for breaking. She pulled down the scrubs she was wearing and stepped out of them before standing to remove her top. She cried out loud as she lifted the shirt over her head, pleased that she had turned the shower on before getting undressed or Eddie would have been in like a shot after hearing her cry. She quickly glanced down at her battered body, noting for the first time her blackened ribs and sporadically spaced bruising. She looked up as once again her chin began to quiver and her composure threatened to crumble. She took another deep breath and stepped under the running water.