Hi everyone! As usual thank you for the reviews, I really hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it.

Just letting you know that I'm starting my mid-term assessments next week so I might not be updating as much as I have been.

Dt to sandygirl, thank you for the reviews hope you like this one!

Enjoy!

Someone was screaming in her ears, she was in a dark room, she couldn't see anything. Then the silhouette of Jay and the unknown woman flashed in her head, she tried to close her eyes but it was still there, engraved onto the inside of her eyelids. A voice in her ears was saying over and over 'You're just a little crybaby bitch!' then the voice stopped and all she could hear was laughing. Maniacal, sociopathic laughing filling her head. She felt the punches to her ribs, the suffocating pain of the terror stopping her from breathing that she knew so well, yet hadn't felt since she was 15.

It was just a nightmare. Hailey's head and neck were soaked in sweat, the duvet was twisted around her legs and waist from rolling around all night. Flipping her phone over to look at the clock, she realised it was 6am. Her phone was still full of messages and missed calls, but her voicemails were full by now. Suddenly she felt so sick that she forgot everything else. She just made it to the bathroom, and threw up in the toilet. Leaning against the toilet seat, coughing and trying to take a sip of water from the sink, she started thinking about the events of last night.

I've got to go in. I can't skip work. That would be like letting him win.

She still had 3hrs until she had to be at work, but knowing that she neither would, nor did she want to, fall asleep again, she got up and went downstairs.

"Heya," Brett cheerily called from the living room.

"Morning," Hailey croaked back, the result from crying most of the night.

"How's the hand?"

"Eh...it's fine...I guess,"

"Okay," Sylvie giggled slightly at the definite note of sarcasm in her voice. "There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some,"

"Yeah thanks," Hailey went back into the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard. She looked up at the photo frame above the sink whilst she poured it. It was a photo from the Christmas party at Molly's last year. The Firehouse 51 lot were in the centre, but just to the left of them was the intelligence unit. Jay was giving Hailey a piggy back so she would be able to see, and she was kissing him on the cheek. The picture of them after the events of last night made her stomach churn all over again. She went back to the living room, so she didn't have to look at that picture.

"Thank you for this. Really. If I hadn't been able to stay here I probably would have ended up sleeping in my car,"

"Look, whatever you need, I've got you girl. If you want to talk about how you feel, we can do that. If you want to turn the TV on and just sit in silence, then we can do that. Whatever you need."

"Thank you for that, really,"

"Hails I hope you don't mind," Sylvie was talking very cautiously now. "Kim phoned last night to see if you were here. I said you were and that you were safe but I didn't tell her anymore than that,"

"That's...Thank you...No matter how long I sat there I wouldn't have been able to pick up the phone," She could feel her eyes filling with tears again and her throat starting to choke up. "I've gotta go and get ready for work but I'll just grab something to eat on the way,"

There were still black streaks down her cheeks from her mascara running last night and her eyes were red and almost swollen. As Hailey stared at her reflection in the mirror, a single tear rolled down the side of her face.

Pull yourselftogether. You're going to get in the shower, then get dressed and do you makeup. Then you're gonna get in the car and drive to Starbucksget something to drink. And after that you're gonna go to work and give Jay hell and show everyone how absolutely fine you are.

The jet of cold water from the shower head was more effective than anything else in waking Hailey up, and hitting her with reality. She didn't even know who that...that woman was. It took everything she had in order to not cry again, because she knew if they started the tears wouldn't stop. Hailey looked at the time again when she got out of the shower 10 minutes later, it was half past 7. Once again the screen was full of messages and missed calls, but all of them were about an hour old. The last messages were off Jay, just begging her to message him back so he knew she was safe. She didn't have any clean clothes with her, not even a gym bag, but knew she had her makeup bag in her car so she went down to go and get that. Brett's guest room was a really nice bedroom. There was a beautiful dressing table with a gorgeous mirror with an amazing view over the city. Hailey only spent 10 minutes doing her makeup, but then she looked at her hair. It was as though, since seeing Jay in that corridor, her hair had given up, it just seemed to hang limp just below her shoulders. She brushed it out with the comb in the drawer of the dresser and decided to tie it back in two French braids . She couldn't quite explain it but this always seemed to emanate a feeling of badassness.

The Starbucks drive thru was backed up for 15 minutes causing Hailey to nearly be late to work. The bullpen was unusually quite when she went in. In between the stairs and her desk, she could feels everyone's eyes boring into her, but when she sat down everyone was back to looking at their computers or writing something. This was the most awkward time she had ever sat at this desk. The silence was so loud that Hailey could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Standing up to go to the locker room, simply so that she could hear something other than her own tantalising heartbeat, the only person that looked up at this was Kim and after a brief moment of eye contact between the two girls, Hailey broke off and sped up. She forced herself not to cry, she had to get through today at least without crying.

"Hails..." a voice came tentatively from the other side of the lockers.

"Umm...Hey Kim," her voice sounded slightly chocked up. "I...um...I'm sorry I didn't reply to your messages. I couldn- I didn't get a chance to respond,"

"It's fine, really, I just wanted to know you were safe. Hailey, about last night, are you, are you ok,"

"I'm...yeah I'm fine. I just realised this morning, no, I'm just being stupid,"

"Hey what is it, I promise I won't think you're being stupid,"

"I just...I don't even know who...who she is,"

Kim sat on the bench facing Hailey and looked down at her knuckles.

"Kim? Kim what is it?"

"I do. I know who she is, was."

"Kim! Tell me!"

"Her name is Abby McSweeney,"