Nick had two missed calls from Amanda. He was in the interrogation room and couldn't answer, but now that he came back to his desk it seemed a bit strange that she didn't leave a message or sent a text. When he dialed back Amanda didn't pick up.

Nick figured she was in the shower or something so he waited a while and called again, but still, after a few rings he got her voicemail. It felt weird, it wasn't like Amanda not to answer, specially not when she was the one who called first.

"I'll be right back" Nick let one of the detectives know. He had to make sure, she'd probably laugh at him, say he's paranoid and that she only wanted to ask him to get something on his way home, something simple like that.

On the way home Nick tried again, if earlier he tried telling himself everything was fine, now he was officially worried, there was no way she didn't notice the ten, if not more, missed calls.

When he opened the door the first thing Nick noticed was the stains of blood and when he looked up he saw Amanda lying on the floor.

"Amanda" he rushed to her side and grabbed her hand, he could feel her pulse. There was some blood by her head "hey" he caressed her head gently "Amanda…it's gonna be fine" he reached for his phone and called an ambulance.

Frannie ran to him and he noticed there was a little blood on her teeth, she must have bitten whoever did this.

"You're gonna be fine Amanda" she wasn't moving, her eyes were closed, but there was a pulse, she was alive. Why didn't he answer when she called?

The paramedics showed up quickly and Nick tried to explain, he had no idea what happened, or how long it's been. He gave them space as they worked, petting Frannie who wasn't calm. He called her partner and his squad, someone had to send CSU to the house, he couldn't handle that. Nick asked Fin to take care of the dog, he couldn't take her to the hospital but he couldn't stay away from Amanda.

"Detective Rollins is going to be fine, she has a mild concussion" the doctor told Nick, he ran a few tests and was back to update him "I do want to keep her here for observation, for the next 24 hours, you can go see her now"

"Thank you doctor" Nick quickly walked into Amanda's room. She was awake and gave him a slight smile when he entered

"Hey babe" her grin widened.

Nick placed the chair by her bed and sat down, carefully taking her hand in his "Amanda" he softly kissed her palm "I love you"

"Is this what it takes for you to say that?" she joked.

"I'm glad you think it's funny" her hand was still by his lips "I'm sorry I didn't answer right away"

"It's not your fault"

"What happened?" he looked at her, she seemed tired but she was going to be alright.

"Johnson, he came over looking for you and…he was high. I'm fine Nick" she smiled reassuringly, her head hurt, so did her back and legs. But they gave her painkillers, so it wasn't that bad.

Nick caressed her forehead, he was so happy to see her smiling, hear her voice "I love you" he repeated.

"Then kiss me already"

Nick spent the night at the hospital, it was against protocol, but he couldn't leave. The detectives questioned her and she told them everything, he was glad her memory wasn't impaired. The nurse came by a few times, ran more tests and said everything seemed to be fine.

A few hours later he got a call letting him know they caught Johnson not too far away from their house, he didn't really care what would happen to him, Amanda was lucky, she could have been seriously hurt, he could have lost her.

He didn't get much sleep, he spent hours just watching her. It hasn't even been a few days since they'd seen the lawyer, discussed their options and here they were, in a hospital room. What if it was something more serious? If he had to…if he lost her?

The thought terrified him, horrified him. They were going to get old and wrinkled together, that's the promised they'd made.

They decided not to tell Zara right away, Amanda wanted the girl to have a nice time at her friend's, everything was fine so there was no need for her to worry. Nick decided to pick her up from Melody's in the morning and talk to her then.

"You should have gone home" Amanda smiled at him when she woke up.

"I wanted to be with you" Nick caressed her hand "didn't feel like being alone at home" he leaned in for a quick kiss when a nurse walked in, not very happy to find a visitor in the room.

"My dad said he's gonna be here in fifteen minutes" Zara read the text Nick just sent her, she was eating breakfast with Melody and her mother.

"Is he taking you to school?" Melody asked.

"I don't know" she shrugged "I'll check" she quickly sent him a reply.

Nick called and asked her to wait for him, he was on his way and had to talk to her alone.

"Weird" Zara finished eating and getting ready. She said goodbye to Melody and walked out of the building.

Nick was there a minute later and she got into the car. The bizarre text and call almost distracted her from what Christina had said.

"Hey dad, what's going on?"

"Everything's alright" Nick wanted to reassure "but…"

Zara didn't like the use of that word, everything's alright but meant something wasn't right.

"Amanda's been hurt, but she will be fine" he wasn't sure how she'd take it "she got hit on her head and she's at the hospital, but she is alright"

"She was hurt?"

"Yes, she was at home last night and…" there was no use hiding this from her "you remember the detective who showed up at our place?"

Zara nodded, of course she remembered.

"He came back, he's not doing very well and I guess…he hit her, but she's alright, they are keeping her at the hospital for observation"

Zara nodded again "can I see her?"

"Of course" Nick caressed her hair "I'll drive you there now, she will be fine"

Zara looked out the window but she didn't notice the view, all she could think about was that Amanda was hurt, someone came into their house and attacked her. If she didn't go to Melody's, if she stayed at home like she was supposed to, maybe nothing would have happened to her. Amanda would have been safe.

"Amanda!" Zara rushed to the bed.

"Hey hon" Amanda smiled and sat up a bit, she could tell the girl was really concerned, Nick must have told her she was going to be alright "I'm fine"

"Can I…can I…" she started sobbing "hug you?"

"Of course you can" Amanda let the girl wrap her arms around her and exchanged a look with Nick "and I will be back home tonight"

"I'm sorry" Zara didn't let go "I'm sorry for leaving you alone"

"What?" Amanda looked at her "honey, you have nothing to be sorry about"

"If I didn't go away…" she was crying and Nick walked over to her, he knew this wasn't easy on her, she cared about Amanda, so seeing her in the hospital bed was rough.

"It's my fault, because I left" Zara hugged Nick.

"Zara, this isn't your fault" he said "Amanda will be perfectly fine"

"I'm sorry" she kept on sobbing. She was afraid to tell them why she wanted to go to Melody's. But she left Amanda alone and she got hurt.

"It's alright" Nick kissed the top of her head. They stayed there for a few more minutes when Amanda had to have another test so Nick offered to take Zara to school. He didn't want her to go home yet, he still had to clean it up.

"Careful…" Nick helped Amanda out of the bed, she insisted on going home early and the doctor agreed to release her.

"I'm fine Nick" she smiled at him and sat in the wheelchair.

"I know, but I'm still going to take care of you" he handed Amanda her things.

"You mean smother me?" she chuckled but Nick nodded and gave her a quick kiss "just take me out of here"

"Just a heads up, Zara planned a whole welcome back dinner" he let her know.

"Is she ok? She's been acting kinda weird when she was here"

"I think she's worried about you, we both love you" Nick helped her get into the car "but we'll talk to her today, make sure she's fine"

Nick opened the door and they were greeted by a cloud of heavenly smell, Zara took the welcome home dinner seriously.

"How are you feeling?" Zara walked over to them and hugged Amanda.

"I am alright" Amanda nodded "and I will be even better after I eat whatever you made, I'm just gonna take a quick shower"

"We'll set the table" Nick kissed her cheek and she walked to the bedroom and Nick looked at Zara, she was concerned, even more than Nick was, even after she visited her at the hospital and saw that Amanda was going to be fine.

When Amanda was out of the shower she sat down and Zara served her the food "thank you" Amanda smiled, she could tell something was up with the young girl, there was something on her mind and she wasn't talking to them.

"So…" Amanda said after a few minutes of silence "what's going on Zara? We can tell you've been upset"

"I…"

"Zara" Nick gave her a serious look "what is it?"

"It's stupid" she shook her head.

"I'm sure it isn't" Amanda said "you can tell us everything"

Zara wasn't sure whether she should tell them, but they were both looking at her, waiting for her to talk "I just feel bad for not being here, that you were alone"

"Honey, you don't need to worry about that, because it's not your fault"

"Yes it is" Zara dropped her fork on the plate "if I didn't listen to Christina and…"

"Listen to Christina?" Nick exchanged a look with Amanda.

"She said something and…"

"What did she say?" Nick could see she was reluctant to speak, but he wasn't going to accept that.

"That you cheated on mom with Amanda" Zara whispered after a few moments.

Nick heard her, but he though that maybe she said something else, how did that woman come up with this story? He stared at the table in silence.

"It's not true" Amanda tried to sound calm but she had to admit that it offended her.

"Of course it isn't true!" Nick raised his voice and stood up "why would you even listen to something like that?"

"I don't know" Zara felt bad, her dad was angry and Amanda seemed upset.

"I can't believe she did this! And you should know better Zara" Nick tried to control his tone when he talked to his daughter.

"Ok, let's just…" Amanda reached for Nick, she wanted him to sit down.

"Maybe I should…" Nick shrugged, what could he do? Threaten her?

"I'm going to my room" Zara left the table, feeling even worse.

"What kind of person does this? I want to say I don't believe it, but with her…" Nick shrugged, he was about to say something else when he noticed the look on Amanda's face "I'm sorry she said that" he sat down next to her "I don't know why Zara thought it may be true, I will talk to her"

"Let me, ok?"

Nick nodded and watched as she stood up and walked over to Zara's room.

"Can we talk?" Amanda peeked in and Zara nodded. Amanda sat down on the bed next to her.

"I'm sorry" Zara said.

"Look Zara, you need to know it's not true, I don't know why she said that to you. Whatever happened between your dad and me…he never cheated on your mom. I know he loved her very much"

"I know" Zara looked at her.

"Is that why you went to Melody's that night?"

"Yeah" the girl nodded "that's why I wasn't here to…"

"Zara" Amanda looked into her eyes "I'm glad you weren't here, this guy was dangerous, and it's a good thing you were away"

"Maybe I could have helped"

"I'm glad we didn't have to find out" Amanda smiled "I get that it's hard to hear something like that about your father, and I don't know why she made it up, but…" Amanda wasn't sure how to phrase it, not sure what she wanted to say. She couldn't tell Zara that they started out just sleeping together, finding a sort of comfort with each other, but that comfort turned into so much more.

"I'm glad you and dad are together" Zara said.

"Me too, I love him and I love you"

"We love you too Amanda, it's just that, I didn't want to think my mom got hurt, I miss her" Zara admitted.

Amanda pulled Zara in for a hug, what could she tell her?

"I know" she said quietly.

Nick listened in not due to lack of trust, he listened in because he wanted to be a part of this. It was hard to hear Zara say she missed her mother, of course he knew that and it wasn't something he could fix, but he still wished he could.

It was silent for a few more moments when he heard Zara speak again "thanks for being here" she told Amanda.

"I'm always here for you Zara"

Nick smiled, knowing she really meant that.

"Amanda" he heard Zara's voice "I think she doesn't want you to take mom's place and I know you're not…" Nick loved her next words, he loved that Zara felt this way about the woman he loved so much "but you're more than my step mom"

Nick smiled at her when she walked into their bedroom and gave her a tender kiss "thanks Amanda" he said.

"For?"

Nick kissed Amanda again before replying "for stepping into my life"

The End