"I want you to tell me how this happened, Christian," Detective Kit McGraw asked him for what seemed like the thousandth time. He'd already explained the previous night's events over and over to various detectives, but it apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the woman that had wormed her way into his life and had helped put him behind bars.

After Escobar and Alejandro had killed the guards at the practice and escaped, they had gone to Sean's. Christian had found out from Sean that Escobar had dispatched of Alejandro in Sean's living room - taking out the only witness to what they'd done to Silvio's body in the Everglades. Escobar had assured him they were now even and had gone on his way. After he'd checked up on his family and called the police, Sean had rushed back to the practice to look after Christian. Now, nearly twelve hours later, the pair were still being questioned by police.

"I've already given statements to all of the other officers and detectives," Christian reminded her.

"And yet you refuse to cooperate with me," Kit said, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

"Oh, I wonder why, sweetheart," Christian said sarcastically. He just knew she had to have something to do with setting him up. He could tell by the smug look on her face that she was loving every moment of seeing him cuffed and injured.

"I would caution you, inmate, that it would be wise of you to cooperate. It is curious how all the other people in the office at the time were murdered and yet you had nary a new scratch upon you," Kit observed.

"All of the other people were guards," He reminded.

"But you were a witness - a loose end. Someone that could identify who helped him and confirm what he did."

"I was handcuffed to this bed," He emphasized, moving his wrist a little to show her the limited range of motion that the cuff allowed. "I didn't see anything. I heard gunshots. I saw blood splatter against the window," Christian insisted, just as he had to the other officers.

"And you didn't see who aided in Escobar Gallardo's escape? He never spoke to you?" Kit asked him.

"I assume it was the corpse you found in Sean's living room," Christian told her bluntly. He knew he would be doing himself no favors by ratting Escobar out or by identifying Alejandro.

As if on cue, Sean entered Christian's room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to check how Christian's healing," He said. He knew that putting Christian and Kit in a room together for too long was a surefire way to push every button Christian had. He didn't want his friend to say or do something that he'd regret later.

"Can this wait?" Kit asked him with a frown.

"This is still a business and Christian is still my patient," He informed her as he put on a fresh pair of gloves. "It's already been longer than I would have liked. I need to change his bandages and apply some ointment to help aid with the healing," He explained.

Kit didn't look happy about it, but she relented. "Fine," She said. "I'm certain you won't mind if I watch."

Christian rolled his eyes. "You think I'm faking, sweetheart?"

"I think you'd do whatever you could in order to get out of prison," Kit told him bluntly. "And I believe that Sean and your other colleagues would do whatever they could now to aid in your evasion of serving your sentence."

"I'm innocent," He told her. "And I've got my lawyer working to prove just that."

Kit smiled like a cheshire cat. "I've been doing this for a long time, Christian. And I can tell you that even the most guilty criminals will continue to insist upon their innocence if they think it might benefit them," Kit told him as she watched Sean carefully removing some of the bandages on Christian's wounds.

"Christian didn't hurt anyone, Kit," Sean told her as he focused on his friend's face. "He was a victim of the Carver himself and he's been through hell. If you don't stop antagonizing him, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room. I-" Sean paused as the door to Christian's room opened and Michelle Landau walked in looking none too happy with him.

"Sean, what is all of this? I leave for a few days and you turn the practice into a crime scene?" Michelle demanded.

"This is your new business partner?" Christian asked Sean, looking her up and down. Christian couldn't help but notice she was gorgeous and wearing a form fitting dress that accentuated every curve. Perhaps in another life he would have tried to sleep with her, but now that was but an after thought. She seemed a little young to have bought into the business, but he recalled the fact that she was a recent widow and the pieces clicked into place for him.

Sean gave Christian a look before turning to Michelle. "I'm with a patient right now-"

"Oh, I know who you're with," Michelle told him, crossing her arms and giving Christian a glare. She'd done her research on the practice before she and her husband had purchased it. "What I'd like to know is why you thought it was okay to bring not one but two convicted murderers into my business without telling me," She demanded.

"Christian didn't murder anyone-"

"I don't care if you think he's innocent. I want him gone," Michelle insisted and Christian felt a panic attack coming on. He wasn't ready to go back.

"Actually, I was going to suggest quite the same," Kit chimed in. She offered her hand to shake. "Detective Kit McGraw," She introduced herself to Michelle.

Sean could see in his best friend's eyes how scared he was and he knew he had to do something.

"I'm still Christian's doctor and he's not going anywhere," He insisted.

"He's already had his surgeries, has he not?" Kit asked him. "I don't see any reason why he needs to stay here any longer."

"He's still recovering and healing from those surgeries. If you put him back in prison, you'll be exposing him to the risk of infection or to the risk of someone exacerbating his injuries," Sean insisted.

"He could be transferred to the prison infirmary," Kit stated. "Though I don't see much of a need. It's not as though he's mortally wounded. Everything he's had done was purely aesthetic."

"So that he wouldn't be maimed for life!" Sean practically shouted at her. "You can't send him back to that prison chop shop with all of those other inmates. There'd be a greater risk of infection."

"He is a prisoner like any other," Kit argued. "Are you prepared to take on every single case from the prison and house them here until they heal? If not, then I see no reason why Christian should receive a better standard of care than any other prisoner."

"He's just had reconstructive surgery on his nose. We had to reset his cheekbone and he's got two huge wounds on his face that are still healing. If someone hits him-"

"Then perhaps we should consider putting him in protective custody instead," Kit suggested.

"Solitary? You want to send me to solitary?" Christian asked wide eyed. Kit's latest suggestion put him into even more of a panic than before. He'd heard horror stories about solitary and as awful as it was being in with the general population, he knew solitary would be a different hell entirely. What very little freedom he had in prison would be taken from him in solitary confinement. Not only that, but if the other inmates caught wind of his protective custody, they might get the wrong idea and make him even more of a target when he eventually re-entered the general population.

"I thought you'd be pleased. It seems like the perfect solution to your problem. No other inmate will be able to harm your precious face again," Kit said smugly.

"Until they put me back in gen pop and someone tries to kill me because they think I'm a snitch or getting special treatment," Christian insisted.

"Isn't that exactly what you've done here? Isn't that exactly what you're asking for?" Kit asked.

"I just want to be able to heal before you throw me back to the wolves," Christian told her.

"Of which you are one," Kit reminded him. "You've maimed and raped and killed and yet you still think yourself better than the other inmates. 25 to life was too good for you, Christian. You should be thankful that you're not on death row where you belong awaiting a lethal injection," She told him.

"You need to go," Sean said to her, his frustrations already threatening to bubble over.

"Are you trying to obstruct justice, Dr. McNamara?" Kit questioned him.

"I have yet to see any justice at all. We've both cooperated with all the legitimate questions you and every other officer have had," Sean reminded her. "Now you're just antagonizing my patient. He's been through enough already. We all have. You're more than welcome to come back when you've thought of something relevant to ask."

Kit wasn't happy, but she could see that Sean wasn't backing down so easily. "Fine, but this isn't over. Should either of you think of any more details about the case, let us know," She said before walking out of the room to join her colleagues in the thick of the crime scene. Michelle was still in the room with them though and she was still incredibly pissed.

"He's not going to be your patient for long," Michelle insisted again once Kit had left the room.

"I still have a stake in this business," Sean argued.

"But not a controlling interest," Michelle was quick to remind him. "Get rid of him, Sean or I'm going to," She warned him. She gave Christian another glare before she left the room, leaving the two alone.

"I can't go back this soon, Sean," Christian told him desperately. He didn't want to go back at all, but he knew he had no choice. He thought about it a moment. "Tell them I need another surgery," He insisted quietly.

"What?" Sean was taken aback by his friend's request.

"Tell them I need another rhinoplasty or that you've reassessed my condition and have to put in the plate in my cheekbone after all," He suggested to him.

"Have you gone insane?" Sean hissed at his friend. "You know anything I tell them we actually have to do-"

"I know," Christian told him, sounding resigned to it already.

"I'm not going to do any unnecessary procedures on you," Sean told him. "Jesus, would you ilisten/i to yourself?"

"I am listening, Sean. I'm listening to your new tits and ass of a boss ready to kick me out of here. I'm listening to Kit threatening to have me put in back in prison. God only knows what they're going to do to me in there now that Gallardo's gone. Even with as much shit as he put me through, I think his guys were protecting me from everybody else. Without that protection, I don't know if I'll make it," Christian explained to his friend.

"So then maybe the protective custody she suggested might not be such a bad option," Sean suggested to him, thinking it might be the lesser of all the evils.

"You'd think that, but I've heard it's worse. I don't even know if I'd get to go outside at all if they stuck me in solitary," Christian admitted. "The best part of my day is getting to run around the yard for a little while. Christ, how sad is that?" Christian asked, feeling a little pathetic even admitting it.

Sean could see that his best friend was struggling and he didn't need his own short temper to worsen things. "I just don't know what you expect me to do, Christian," Sean said to him softly.

"Whatever you have to," Christian told him. "Whatever you can to keep me here. Please," He begged him. "I don't care if it means you have to cut me open again in order to do it. I trust you."

Sean looked torn about that. It was an impossible situation but he couldn't in good conscience operate on Christian again without reason. He was quiet for a few moments, trying to think of some solution. "I'm sorry," He apologized to him. "I'm not going to do anything that doesn't need to be done."

Christian felt betrayed by him all over again. "Then I'll make sure something needs to be done," He decided, reaching up with his free hand towards the plaster cast on his nose.

"What are you doing?" Sean asked him.

"I'm taking off this cast and re-breaking my nose," Christian said to him. The cast wasn't even ready to come off yet for several more days and he could feel that it was still far too stuck to come off. He reached over to the water he had nearby and stuck his hand in the cup to get it wet in order to help loosen the plaster to remove the cast.

Sean reached out to stop him and caught his hand before it reached his nose again. "I'm not going to let you mutilate yourself to buy a little more time. Chances are they wouldn't let you get another procedure anyway," He said to him. Still, he could see how dire the situation was. The last time Christian had broken his nose it had been an accident and he had demanded nothing but perfection. Now he was ready to hurt himself and to settle for whatever Sean could do to prolong his stay - aesthetics be damned. This wasn't the Christian he knew. "We'll find another way. Just give me a little time before you do anything you'll regret," He asked of him.

Christian gave a little nod. "Just hurry," He urged his friend. He knew that once the wheels were moving to get him sent back to prison that things would move quickly and they wouldn't have much of a chance to convince the authorities to let him stay, especially with pressure from both Kit and Michelle Landau mounting.