High School. A Teens Best Friend. Yeah Right.
By Risty Maskell and Silver15
Disclaimer: Nope, not ours.
Summary: Oh come on…
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(Billee's POV)

As soon as Jaime told me the good news, I realised that something wasn't right. Emma hated hospitals and she was obviously still going to be depressed, so how where they stopping her from cutting herself? And as Elrond had told us, her parents had asked that none of us, not even Elrond, go and see her during those three weeks. They said in their letter that she needed time to recover. Why? They were trying to keep something from us, I was sure of it.

Finally I decided that I had to find out. I couldn't face not knowing. So very early Saturday morning, Legolas and I crept into Elrond's office. While Legolas kept watch, I picked up the phone and called the hospital.

"Hello" I said when a woman finally answered. "I'm calling about Emma Silverblade. I'm her older brother, Billee"

"Fine" the woman, sounded totally exhausted, but at least she didn't question my story. "What do you want to know?"

"Just how she is," I said quickly. "All I know is that she had a stomach operation about four days ago and that it went okay. I was only wondering how she is now"

"Oh yes, the operation was a success" the woman agreed. "But when she woke up, she wasn't in a good state. She started going mad and had to be sedated. We can't do anything with her, especially since she tried suicide again last night"

"Did she succeed?"

"No she didn't" the woman informed me. "But she's being kept under 24 hour supervision and is being heavily drugged to control her. She's also on a drip because she won't eat. The doctors are unsure of what else to do"

"How long are they going to keep her on the drugs for?" I asked softly. "Are they actually doing her any good?"

"Impossible to say" she told me. "At the moment, she truly is a danger to both herself and possibly other people. We hope about three or four weeks, but it all depends"

"I see. Thank you" I put the phone down and told Legolas exactly what I had been told. I was as angry as hell and I could tell that he was as shocked as I was.

"She doesn't need drugs," I said angrily. "All she needs is someone she can talk to. Someone who understands what she is going through. They're treating her no better than an animal! How is that going to help her?"

"I don't see that it is" Legolas agreed. "Are you going to tell Elrond?"

"How can I?" I shook my head. "I don't know what her parents are playing at, but the letter they sent has made everyone so happy. How can I tell them that Emma is still in a bad way?" Legolas put his arm around me and guided me outside where we sat under a tree. It was still early and people were just starting to get up. I looked down at the ground and tried to think back to when Emma and me were children. Since her cutting dated back to then, there was something she wasn't talking about. Something had happened back then and the things that had happened this year had triggered off memories.

I thought about her parents, her selfish, disinterested mother and her stern, silent father. He had always struck me as strange somehow. And I knew that Emma had always been scared of him. Suddenly I had an idea. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Why Emma wouldn't trust male teachers, why she was scared of her father, why she hated comments about her appearance and why she really wanted to die. I didn't want to believe it, but I was almost certain that I was right.

"Legolas" I got to my feet and looked down at my friend. "I'm going to see Emma. Look after Colan for me and if anyone asks where I've gone, don't tell them. Not even Jaime"

"I won't. Take care Billee"

"Will do," I promised him. As he went back to the dorm, I jumped on Starlight and rode to the hospital.

It didn't take me long to get there. The woman on the front desk recognized my voice and instantly let me in, warning me to be prepared for what I would see. But nothing could have prepared me for that sight.

Emma lay on her bed, a drip attached to her left arm. She seemed to be awake, but she was staring at the ceiling, taking no notice of anything. She was pale and her weight loss was painfully obvious. She seemed really frail and my heart bled for her. I was right; the hospital wasn't doing her any good.

"Emma" I said softly, stepping nearer to her bed. "Emma, it's me"

"Billee" her voice was barely more than a whisper and I had to kneel down to hear her properly. "Is it really you?"

"It is" Carefully I took her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I hate it here" she whispered. "I feel so lonely. And they give me things to make my head funny"

"Do you remember how you ended up in here?" she shook her head. "Do you remember anyone talking to you before today? Any of your friends?" she shook her head again.

"Billee" she said after a second or two. "When I woke up when my parents were here, I heard them talking to a doctor"

"When was this?"

"Last night just before they left me" she told me, her voice trembling. "Billee, they were telling the doctors all this stuff I was supposed to have done. Bad stuff. They said I was out of control and that I should be locked up properly. I think…I think they are going to try and prove that I'm uncontrollable so I'll be locked up for a long time" Her fingers tightened around my hand and she began sobbing. "Please get me out of here" she begged. "I want to be back with you and the others"

"Emma, I'll do what I can," I promised. "But first I need to ask you a question? Will you give me a honest answer?" She nodded. I took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes.

"Did your father sexually abuse you?" I asked. There was complete silence for a moment, and then slowly, her hands shaking, she nodded her head. I had been right and now I was ready to kill her father for what he had done to her.

"I have to go now," I told her, trying to hide the anger in my voice. "But I will do something about this. Have I ever let you down?"

She gave a weak smile as she began to drift back into a drug filled sleep. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and was just about to leave when she called my name again.

"Don't tell everyone," she said sleepily. "Just Jamie and Legolas. I don't want people to…" she broke off as the strong drugs took their full affect.

As I rode back to school, I tried to decide what to do for the best. I felt like I should go to Elrond, this was important and it could be the key to doing something about getting Emma out of hospital. Finally, I decided that I would.

As soon as I had stabled Starlight, I went to Elrond's office. Elrond listened in shock as I told him about the phone call I had made, my visit to Emma, her parent's evil plan and finally the secret she had finally told me. He just listened, not saying a word until I had finished.

"You did good, Billee" he said when I had finished. "And maybe we can get Emma back amongst us much sooner if this is true. I suppose it's all down to one thing. If I go down there, will she talk to me?"

"Maybe" I said with a shrug. "It's worth a try at any rate"

"Then it's out of your hands now Billee" he patted me on the shoulder and smiled. "I'll go down there tonight and see if I can talk to her. Then I'll speak to the hospital staff and see what I can do"

"Thank you sir" I got up and left his office, my heart feeling lighter. Now I just had to go and explain thing to Jaime and Legolas.