The next morning Alex and Olivia knew that they had to go down to the station with Haddie to start getting her ready for the trail, but they weren't in any great hurry. Alex and Olivia both woke up when the alarm went off. They both got out of bed and fumbled around the bedroom and bathroom trying to get ready. Eventually they both made their way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Alex was about to go check the guest bedroom and wake Haddie up, but she looked up and realized that the teenager was outside on the balcony strumming Olivia's guitar. As she started to walk closer Olivia stopped her and urged her to wait and see what the teen was doing before they intervened. Sure enough after tuning the guitar the ten started to play and sing along to a rather morbid country song.
If I die young bury me in satin Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother The sharp knife of a short life, well If I die young bury me in satin The sharp knife of a short life, well And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom The sharp knife of a short life, well So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls A penny for my thoughts, oh no I'll sell them for a dollar If I die young bury me in satin The ballad of a dove The sharp knife of a short life, well So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls.
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
oh oh oh oh
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
ain't even grey, but she buries her baby
I've had just enough time
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
I've had just enough time
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger
I've never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand
There's a boy here in town says he'll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
I've had just enough time
What I never did is done
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
oh oh
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when your really gonna need 'em oh
I've had just enough time
Alex immediately became concerned, but Olivia stayed calm, she knew that the song was simply that, but she wondered if Haddie took the lyrics to heart. She motioned to Alex to stay inside and she walked out onto the balcony and took a seat next to Haddie.
"I see you found my guitar."
"I sorry I used it without your permission; I just needed to do something with my hands."
"No apologies, anything in this house is yours to use, and I would rather you use your hands to play this to hurt yourself."
An intense look of shame came across the teens face and she stared down at her feet. Olivia grabbed the guitar out of her hands and put it down against the wall and then she knelt down so that her eyes met Haddie, "can you show me where? I'm not going to get mad; I just want to make sure that the cuts don't get infected." Haddie slowly rolled up her left arm sleeve and revealed to Olivia about 5 fresh cuts that had only recently stopped bleeding. Olivia went into the apartment and came back with a roll of gauze and a first aid kit. She quickly tended to the teens arm and did so without saying a word. When she finished she started to walk back inside, "you feel like some breakfast?"
"You aren't mad at me?"
"Mad, no. Worried, yes. When we go into the office there is a friend of mine that I want you to meet, would that be ok?"
"Let me guess, it's a shrink?"
"You don't have to keep seeing him, but Alex and I need to know where we go from here in order to help you the best way we can, ok?"
"Ok." The teen grabbed the guitar and followed Olivia inside. Haddie went into her room to change clothes and Alex looked at Olivia waiting for an explanation.
"She cut herself this morning."
"What are going to do Liv, we can't watch her 24/7 and she needs real help?"
"I called George and asked if for right now he can talk to her and give us a sense of where we stand. Maybe get her to a point where court won't seem so bad and that she can handle it."
"How can you be so calm about this, Liv she is hurting herself in our house?"
"Alex right now she needs to know someone supports her and will keep picking her up when she falls. This kind of healing, takes time and patience."
"If you saw so, do you think she's going to be ok?"
"She's a fighter, she'll find her way through and she'll be ok." At that moment Haddie repapered dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. All three women sat and ate breakfast quietly and within the hour they were out the door heading toward the 1-6. Once they were there Haddie went off with George, Olivia went to her desk to finish the paper work on the case and Alex went to go meet the ADA who was going to be handling the case as now she was too close to it.
About an hour after they went in Haddie came out of the room and George motioned for Olivia to come in. Olivia closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair that was across from George, "what do you think is she going to be able to handle the trial?"
"I think with a little help she'll be able to handle it, the constant cutting is the main concern though. From what I can tell, she doesn't want to die, so you can rest assured about that, but the chronic need to cut shows to me that she is probably addicted to it. She wants to stop, but she literally needs it to function, or at least her body thinks it does."
"So what do we do to help her?"
"Start her with a therapist, because of her age I would stay away from medications. Tell her that you understand, make her understand that you lived through it and look how well you turned out. Right now she needs to know she is on solid ground before she moves forward."
"Thanks, I owe you, ok?" Olivia walked out of the office and went to find Haddie. She found the teen sitting at her desk and saw that she was reading her own file. Olivia reached for the file, but she was stopped when Haddie stop her hand. The teen looked up at Olivia, "are you really charging my parents with attempted murder?"
"They would have killed you if your neighbors hadn't called the police when they did."
"What if they get off, you can't try them twice and they will come after me." Olivia knelt down so that her gaze met the teenager's, "listen to me ok, on my life I promise you, no one will ever hurt you like that again, even if it means I have to stand over you with my gun for the rest of my life, ok no one will hurt you. Now how about we go see Alex and meet the prosecutor in charge of your case." The teen quickly got up and followed Olivia out of the office and both of them made their way over to Alex's office where they found her slightly hidden behind a massive pile of papers.
"Alex are you under there?"
"Liz wasn't kidding when she said I should get used to paperwork for a few days. What are you two doing down here anyway?"
"You told us to come by and met up with the prosecutor that is taking over for you, they here yet?"
"Yes, she is in with Liz, some rookie fresh from the bar exam."
"Seriously, we catch a case this big and they are handing it to a wet behind the ears baby lawyer."
Just as Olivia was about to continue ranting the shadow that had been standing in the doorway spoke, "now I have been called a great many things, by a great many people, but the last thing I am is wet behind the ears Liv."
With a rather shocked expression spread across her face Olivia turned around and soon looked like she had seen a ghost, "Casey."
"You going to stand there all day Liv or are going to do something productive with my law degree?"
