"It's time to leave now, Mr. Morgan," a friendly looking nurse walked into the room, after knocking at the door, where Penelope was lying at.
"Visiting time is almost over."
Derek sighed but nodded. He didn't want to leave Penelope on her own. He knew she needed him right now. And a look at her face showed him everything: she wanted him to stay.
"Is there no way to stay for the night?" He asked the nurse who shook her head.
"If the family member is in a critical condition then yes, but now that you feel better, Mrs. Morgan we aren't allowed lot let a family member stay. I'm sorry."
"Alright, give us a minute, and I'll be gone."
"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Morgan."
The nurse left the room, and Derek rose to his feet just to sit down on the bed next to his wife.
"I'll be back as soon as the doors are open, Goddess," he told her, caressing her cheek with his thumb.
Penelope nodded with watery eyes. She had a hard time being alone and had told him about it earlier. He didn't want to leave her either.
"Do you need something?" He asked her, trying to focus her on other things than being alone for the next hours.
"Maybe fresh clothes...," she murmured, averting his eyes and looking at her folded hands.
"Sure Baby Girl, everything you need," Derek said. Penelope was sitting on the bed, so it was easy to pull her into his arms. She moved her arms around him, slowly she was gaining strength but this evening was the first time she was able to hug him back, and it brought tears to his eyes to feel her arms around his waist again.
"I love you my God Given Solace, don't you ever forget that," he whispered into her ears as she leaned her head against his chest.
"I love you too Handsome. I'm gonna miss you," Penelope whispered back, and Derek knew she was about to cry. He understood her feelings all too well.
"I gonna miss you too, baby. Soon you're home with us, and I can't wait to have you where you belong," he said with a low voice, and she nodded in response.
"Night will be over sooner than you think," he whispered and gave her a soft kiss on her lips as she looked up into his eyes.
Oh, dare he couldn't be more wrong!

Penelope woke up in the middle of the night with a loud gasp. Someone had touched her thigh she could feel it! In a few seconds, she would get chained and then there would be no running away from being raped again!
Her body froze in panic as she tried to focus on any sound around her. She was safe, Derek had found her. Or was it just a dream? Her fear was playing games with her mind, and soon she thought she would hear someone laughing, just like the men did that had raped her. She began to sweat in fear and threw her blanket aside, eyes fully open.
"Leave me alone!" She cried out loud. Until now she hadn't tried to walk, and as she sat up, she felt very dizzy. But fear and panic caused her to run, and so she attempted, hearing her tormenters laughing behind her. No one was there but in the darkness, all on her own she couldn't realize that.
Breathing heavily she fell to her knees, rocking off the I.V. pole with her. It made a loud noise which tempted her to panic much more. She tried to crawl away, but the I.V. was still on her arm, so the pole followed her making screeching noises. Also, she thought someone would grab her so she ripped the I.V. out of her arm to get away from the guys she thought would be after her.
"Don't! Stop it, please," she begged, crawling in the corner of her room, screaming to her tormenter to stop raping her. She made herself as small as possible, trembling all over her body as the room became enlightened suddenly.
"Mrs. Morgan? Oh my God..."
She could barely hear the nurses voice, in her state of panic. She didn't wear her glasses. So when the nurse came close, she tried to back away, crying in fear.
"Mrs. Morgan, everything is alright, you have a panic attack! Try to calm down. Try to focus on your breathing, and I'll have to get a look on your arm."
A hand tried to grab her by her wrist, which caused her to back away even more even if it wasn't possible anymore. It was too much for her, she didn't understand what was happening to her right now. She thought she was safe, but now, she wasn't anymore.
"No! NO!"
A ringing sound made everything else impossible to hear, so she kept screaming and begging until she felt a stitch in her upper arm. Only seconds later everything turned black when she passed out.

Derek was in a good mood this morning. He'd bought Penelope some clothes he'd swear she would love. She was much thinner now, but Derek loved her anyway. Also, he'd bought her some makeup. He didn't know if she would like some, but since she'd always used it, maybe it would bring a smile to her face.
He walked through the entrance of the hospital and to the elevator. Once inside he pressed the button for Penelope's ward.
Derek moved one step out of the elevator when he was greeted with Dr. Harrel.
"Mr. Morgan, good that you're here."
"What happened?" Derek asked and eventually checked his cellphone. There were no missing calls from the hospital but Dr. Harrel sounded so severe it couldn't be something good.
"Penelope had a full-grown panic attack last night."
"What? Why didn't you call me like I told you?" Derek began to get angry. He'd told everyone to call him anytime often enough. He wanted Penelope to feel safe, and now something like that had to happen, while he was asleep. It made him angry to the bones with the hospital staff.
"It was in the middle of the night, Mr. Morgan."
"I don't fucking care! Where is she now?"
He began to walk in the direction of her room.
"She's sleeping, maybe you come back later!" Dr. Harrel tried to stop him, but he refused. He would be with his wife when she would wake up, there was nothing to discuss.
"I stay with her until she wakes up. AND I'm going to stay here every night as long as she's here!" He growled towards Dr. Harrel and walked to his wife's room.
She was lying in bed, unconscious. Derek put the bags on the table and pulled himself a chair to sit down beside Penelope.
"I'm sorry, that I wasn't here for you Baby Girl," he whispered and pulled her hand into his, waiting for her to wake up once more.

Penelope wasn't brave enough to open her eyes. Her body felt limp, and she was so afraid to be back in her cell. She knew she couldn't handle that.
"Yes mom, I call you as soon as she's awake."
Derek.
At once she opened her eyes just to see Derek sitting at her side, holding her hand. There was no way to describe how relieved she felt at this moment.
Derek was talking to Fran, Penelope could hear her voice from where she was lying in bed.
"Alright Baby Boy, tell her I love her."
"I'll do that, bye mom." He ended the call and pulled his cellphone back in his trousers. Derek sighed and looked at her with sad eyes that suddenly beamed when he caught her watching him.
"You're awake!"
He moved closer to kiss her forehead.
"How're you doing, baby?"
"I think I'm doing good," she said slowly, feeling the relief rush over her like a drug. She was safe, she was with Derek. It wasn't a dream to be back with her family.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked her gently, and she nodded. She couldn't look into his eyes while she was telling him what happened last night, but she needed to tell someone. And she trusted Derek with her life.
"I thought my kidnapper's men were in my room. I thought...I thought they wanted to... to rape me again. And I wanted to run away but I couldn't, I was too weak and fell down...," she began to talk faster and faster, still refusing to look into his eyes.
"I was so afraid, Derek, I thought I just had dreamed that you and the team saved me, I thought I would be back in my cell...," suddenly, she began to sob without control. God, how she hated, being weak but the relief was too much, she needed to let the tears flow. Penelope covered her eyes with her hands when she felt the mattress shifting beside her.
"Come here, Baby Girl," Derek whispered in a hoarse voice and pulled her into his arms to hold her close. Penelope cuddled up against him, allowing herself to cry for a while, while Derek held her close to his body. Inhaling his scent, she felt a bit better with every moment that passed by.
"I won't ever let you go anymore, no one will harm you for the rest of your life, Penelope Morgan. I'm so sorry that I wasn't here when you needed me most." He whispered in a tearful voice, and Penelope just couldn't stop crying. It wasn't his fault, and she wanted to tell him, but she wasn't able to form only one word right now, so she shook her head.
After a while, she was able to calm down a bit. Derek still held her in his strong arms, and she began to feel safe again. She moved her head to look at him and saw that he was crying too, so she put her hand on his cheek to wipe his tears away.
"It's not your fault, Hot Stuff. You weren't allowed to stay," she said in a low voice. She needed to tell him that. He shouldn't be too hard on himself. Penelope caressed his cheek when he nodded slowly.
"So there's one good thing. I'm gonna stay here for the night as long as you have to stay here," he said with a small smile which made her simper too.
"Sounds good," she whispered, leaning her head against his chest. Tonight and any other nights she would be safe.

One week later.

Penelope was finally released from the hospital. Her drug addiction treatment had worked out very well so she could go home with Derek and Annie.
Dr. Harrel met with her for one last talk before Derek would pick her up.
"How are you today, Penelope?" The doctor asked her as he sat next to her of her hospital bed.
"I'm a bit nervous," she answered truthfully. Indeed she was. She would go to therapy three times a week for the beginning to talk about what happened to her in the past two years. Also, she would have to go for a blood test every month. She would have to take many pills for her drug withdrawal. Every day she was fighting against her involuntary addiction to heroin and other drugs, the doctors had made out in her bloodstream. It would take months to a year until she would be fully recovered.
"That's normal. You have to be patient with yourself, don't forget that. There will be good, and there will be hard days for you."
She nodded a bit. Penelope knew the upcoming year would be hard for her, she would have to fight every day. But she felt like she would make it, she was optimistic today. Derek and Annie were glued to her side, they made her feel safe and needed.
She'd also began to eat a bit more. The first days had been hard when she'd tried to eat, she'd felt sick, and her stomach had poorly hurt, but the last two days had been better.
"I'm trying every day. Thank you, Dr. Harrel."
"We've already sent your patient file to your doctor in Quantico. I talked to her that morning. She awaits you tomorrow at 9 a.m. to talk with you about the following therapy. Your therapist received his file too, so you don't have to worry about anything."
Penelope nodded gratefully. She didn't feel like being able to do all these things, and Derek had too much to do with her, she didn't want to burden him with much more.
"Your husband will be there in a few, I'm gonna get going. Good luck Penelope. I wish you all the best," Dr. Harrel said to her as he rose up to his feet. He shook her hand and smiled at her before leaving the room.
Being alone for a few moment, Penelope stood up and slowly walked over to the window, watching the people on the streets.

Annie couldn't be more excited. Today her mommy would fly home with her and daddy. She hadn't slept the whole night, watching the clock to move faster forward. She didn't want to have breakfast, she just wanted to pick her mom up and fly home with her and Dad. She
"Daddy, can we go now?" Annie asked, standing in front of the door of their hotel room.
"Say goodbye to your grannie, than we can head to pick up your mom, alright?"
Annie nodded and ran over to her grannie, who would leave with another flight. Her aunties were gone last week for they were needed at their jobs. Grannie would come to them in a few weeks for a visit, and Annie was looking forward to this.
"Bye grandma!" She hugged her grannie and snuggled against her for a while until her daddy was ready for them o leave.
"Bye my little rainbow," grannie Fran told her and gave her a goodbye kiss.
They left the hotel together and parted at the street. Grannie Fran took a taxi, her and dad drove with a second one to the hospital.
Annie jumped out of the taxi as soon as it stopped, causing her daddy to call after her. But Annie couldn't wait, she ran into the hospital, barely able to call the elevator, for she was too little to press the button.
Her daddy reached her, and together they walked to her momma's room where she was waiting for them.
Annie didn't knock on the door she opened it and walked in with a bright smile.
"Momma!" She called out, walking to her. She would've loved to run to her and threw herself into her momma's arms, but daddy had told her to take it slow for a while, and so she did.
Her mother slowly knelt down in front of her and pulled her into his arms. It was the best feeling in like forever, and she cuddled up to her mom with a happy sigh.
"Ready to fly home?" Daddy's voice sounded behind them, and she nodded, her momma did too.
"Ready!" Both of them said at one go and Annie giggled happily. They left the patient's room together, daddy carried her momma's supplies and Annie reached for her mother's hand to walk beside her. The left the hospital and drove to the airport from where they would fly home.