A/N: IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ. This chapter is slightly shorter than my others, but it also contains a storyline about the specifics of rape. I've tried to be as sensitive to the subject as possible, but if this is something that affects and/or triggers you, please don't read this, and feel free to message me with any questions.

I'm outside. Iain x

Lily slowly opened the door, peering around, refusing to open the door until she saw Iain on the other side. Stepping aside, she let him step through, before closing and locking the door securely behind him.

After Cal had let them out, they had gone their separate ways to continue their shift, but had arranged for Iain to come round to her flat after work, and he had stopped off for a takeaway on the way.

Taking the food off him, and setting it down in the kitchen, she led him into the living room and invited him to sit down.

Iain smiled when he realised that she was pointing to the seat next to her, rather than the armchair opposite. Sitting down, he placed his hand exactly halfway between them, and watched as Lily loosely linked their little fingers together.

"How are you doing?" he asked, hoping that he'd get an honest answer.

Lily frowned slightly as she considered exactly how truthful to be.

"I'm better than I was yesterday," she started, "But I can't guarantee that I'll be better tomorrow than I am today."

Iain nodded, not feeling the need to answer that response verbally.

"Are you sure you feel comfortable, with me being here?" Iain asked, still unsure.

Lily chewed at her lip, before answering.

"Yes, Iain, I'm sure. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. I just find it hard to distinguish between care and threatening behaviour at the moment."

"I know that I behaved in a way that looked threatening, but I promise that I would never purposefully hurt you. I'm so sorry that I put you through even more pain that you should ever have to deal with."

Lily nodded. "I know that now. I'm trying to retrain my brain, but it's going to take time."

Iain nodded, smiling gently, before bending his little finger that was linked with Lily's, hoping to emulate the squeezing of a hand on a smaller scale. More than anything, he wanted to fully take her hand in his, but that wasn't something she was comfortable with; at least not today, and he didn't want to push her into something that she didn't feel safe doing.

They sat in a comfortable silence, until Lily asked the question that she had asked several days ago, which had led to the events that meant they hadn't spoken in over a week.

"What would you like to know?"

This time, Iain didn't want to ask specific questions.

"I'd like to know whatever you're willing to tell me."

Lily paused for a few moments as she considered her options.

Closing her eyes, she pulled her hand away from Iain's, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I want to tell you what happened."

Lily was tying her coat around her as she left work. Glancing both left and right, she crossed the road on to the public footpath opposite the hospital, and started heading home.

She was deep in thought about a patient that she had handed over to Alicia; had she ordered the right tests, or missed a detail that might have been important?

She didn't notice the man stood in the alleyway until it was too late, and he grabbed her wrist, covered her mouth, and dragged her into the darkened walkway.

He forced her on to the floor, before punching her in the stomach; knocking the wind out of her.

Eyes watering, she nodded as he made her promise to stay quiet. She didn't want him to carry out the threats to the women she worked with that he made if she made even the slightest sound.

She kept her word.

She didn't let out even a whimper as he kicked her, spat on her, hit her, before dragging her along the uneven, gravel pathway behind a set of bins.

She cried, but didn't cry out, as he pulled up her skirt, and pulled down her tights as he wrapped his hands tightly around her wrists, bit her lower lip, and invaded her body in the worst way possible.

She stayed silent as he pressed his hand against her throat, pushing into her until he was done, when he punched her body over, and over, and over again.

And she didn't make a sound when he-

"What happened, Lily?" Iain asked gently, as she paused in her story.

Instead of answering, Lily simply stood up. Facing Iain, with tears rolling silently down her cheeks, she closed her eyes and lifted her shirt slightly, exposing her stomach to the man in front of her.

Presented on her stomach in the form of angry, red, scars, made by a sharp blade, was just one word; four letters.

USED