Author's Notes: I'm really sorry that it took me ages to update! But I was very busy lately and had trouble with my computer .. but now hopefully all is sorted out. ; )
And here's the third and last chapter of this story. I hope you won't be disappointed .. but I didn't want to write more or less the same I did in "Hurt" .. so I hope you'll enjoy it anyway! Thank you for all the encouraging reviews!!
And thank you Jo for beta reading! ::hugs::



It's amazing how close we've come since she's been working here. We share every break together, go for walks along the river or just talk about this and that, especially about her family.
I've never felt that close to someone before. And I miss her immediately when she's not here.

"Have you seen Abby today?" I ask Susan as I meet her at the admit desk.
She shakes her head. "No, I didn't see her yet. But yesterday she said she'd be on at nine. Maybe she missed the El or something. I'm sure she's fine," she adds with a smile.
I nod. "Probably," I say absent-mindedly.

But she doesn't know about her husband. Abby and I have become best friends since she's working here – but we didn't talk about her husband yet. All I know is that his name is Richard. But she seemed fine lately and I wanted to wait until she's ready to tell me. But now that she's late for work I begin to worry.

"Can you cover for me, Susan?"
"Sure."
"Thank you," is all I say before I run out of the hospital and to her apartment.

On my way to her I have the worst scenarios in my head.
What if he hurt her again? What if he hurt her more than he ever hurt her before?

And the bad feeling in my guts doesn't go away when I finally reach her apartment door.
It's standing wide open and I can't hear anything. All I find inside is an eerie silence.

"Abby?" I whisper carefully – in case Richard is still here – as I search for her in the apartment. "Abby. Where are you? It's me, John. Please tell me where you are."

But I don't get an answer, which makes me even more worried.
I sigh with relief when I finally hear something behind one door.

"Abby?" I ask again, knocking at the door carefully. "Are you in there?"
I open the door anyway when I get no answer.

I feel a sting in my heart when I finally spot her. She's crouched in one corner of – what seems to be – their bedroom, her legs pulled up to her chest, her face buried in her hands, a full bottle of Vodka standing next to her.

I feel anger and pain at the same time as I walk towards her slowly, trying not to startle her.
"Abby?" I whisper, putting one hand on her knee. "What happened"?
She jumps slightly. But she calms down as she sees that it's me.
I can't say the same about me. I feel even more anger when I see her bruised face, one eye almost swollen shut.

"Abby, tell me what happened. Did Richard do this to you?" I ask her, running my finger lightly over her bruised skin.
Her eyes get wide when she hears his name. "Carter … I'm scared," she says, hardly above a whisper as I kneel down next to her.
"Don't worry, he's not here," I try to reassure her. "I won't let him touch you again, okay?"
She nods and I can see tears run down her face.
"I'm here now," I say as I sit down next to her and pull her into my arms and begin to rub her back gently. "I won't let him hurt you again," I promise her as she's crying in my arms.

***

"I can't go with you to your apartment," I try to protest as we're driving in his jeep.
"I won't leave you alone with him again."
"But … I can't," I object again. Though honestly I'm glad that I'm not alone. That I have a friend like him. I feel secure with him. But I don't want to be a burden in his life. "What about Alison? I don't think she'll be happy to see me."

"Don't worry about her," he tries to reassure me. "She'll understand."
"I'm not sure."

I don't think she will. And I know he thinks the same. She won't ever understand the bond between Carter and me. She's always jealous and gives me these looks when we're together. But I don't really want to argue with him. I'm glad that he offered for me to stay with him.

"You'll see, she'll understand," he says as we reach his home and climb up the stairs to his apartment door. "Don't worry about it."

But I can see in his face that he is worried about her reaction as he opens the door.
I can hear her squeal immediately.
"John!"

But she's quiet as soon as she sees me. "What's she doing here?" she asks, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"She's staying here for a while," he explains while he motions me into another room. "You can lie down on the bed if you want. I'll be right back," he tells me before he closes the door.

I sit down on the bed and look around. It's his bedroom – apparently. It looks nice. But the walls are pretty thin. I can hear Alison yelling. It sounds like she gives him an ultimatum. Her or me. I feel bad. I don't want to be the reason for the end of his relationship.
Then there is nothing until I hear someone slam a door shut.

"Did she leave?" I ask him as he comes back to me.
He nods.
"I'm sorry. You should go after her and I should leave now," I say, standing up to get my stuff and go. "I don't want to be the reason why she's angry at you."
"No," he says, putting his hand on my shoulder and making me sit down again. "It's not your fault. She never understood me and I'm glad that I had the guts to end it now."
I want to protest but he interrupts me before I can say anything. "And now tell me what happened today, okay?"

I look down, embarrassed, playing nervously with the rim of my shirt. I don't want anyone to know what happened. I'm too embarrassed. But when I look up into his eyes I know that I can trust him. That he won't judge me.
"I'm so stupid and so embarrassed," I blurt out.
"You're not," he says, rubbing my back. "He is stupid and should be the one who is embarrassed for doing what he did. Nothing is your fault, okay?"

"I know it's not," I say, sniffling slightly. "I've met enough women who were victims of their violent husband as a nurse at the hospital. And I told them all that it's not their fault. But … now that it's me I feel really stupid. I never understood why women let their men do that to them you know?"

He nods, not saying anything, letting me speak.

"But … he was always so nice, you know? When I met him he was really nice. I felt like I was everything to him. But after we got married … everything changed. He was moody and began drinking more and more. But he … he never hurt me in any physical way. He only hurt me with words … and he was only like that when he was drunk. That's when I began drinking, too. And I … I had an abortion."

I sigh deeply and I feel him tighten his embrace around me, giving me the strength to go on while a tear trickles down my face slowly.
"And he … he cheated on me. And the night I faced him … asked him what's going on … that was the first time that he … that he hurt me physically. And after that I was just scared. I was scared that he'd hurt me even more. And I was scared that other people would find out and only make it worse … that he'll hurt these people, too. And I just didn't know what to do," I tell him, finally breaking down, sobbing.

I feel him pulling me into his arms, holding me tight and it makes me feel better immediately.
"It's okay now, I'm here. Just let it all out. You're safe now, I won't let him near you again. It's over now."

I hope he's right.
But it feels good already just crying, and finally being able to tell someone about it. And I know he means it, he'll help me. And that makes me feel a lot better.