"Yelina, we've seen countless women come through here dead because they didn't get out of a relationship."
"I fell, Horatio. Why can't you understand that?"
"Because I know it's not true."
He gave her that caring smile that had once melted her heart. He knew it wouldn't make her open up, but at least she would know he was here for her when she did want to talk.
"Listen, If you're not going to tell me about it, you should go talk to this lady I know. She'll listen and she won't judge you."
He handed her a slip of paper with the information on it. She looked at it for awhile; then looked up at him, her face questioning his note.
"This is the ICU wing of the hospital. Who would be there for me to talk to?"
"You would be surprised."
He rubbed the side of her face gently with the backside of his fingers. She didn't pull away. She seemed to want his touch.
"Just think about it. She's waiting for your visit."
Horatio left her there with her thoughts. Tears came to the surface. She rolled her eyes up to make them go away. Elizabeth, on of the medical examiners, had taught her how to do it. "It's a trick I learned in theatre." She hadn't seen Lizzie in awhile. Horatio had told everyone she was on vacation, but she was becoming skeptical. She believed Lizzie had succumbed to an accident and he didn't want to upset the group.
She looked at the paper again. Maybe Horatio was right for once. Maybe she should talk to someone about her home life. He did say the lady would understand. She could get it all off her chest with this person; then tell Horatio. Hopefully, he would understand and try not to kill Stetler. That was a big hopefully.
Yelina stood outside of the ICU. She really didn't want to go in, but she had to. She had come too far to pull back now. She pushed the button and someone came to open the door.
"Who are you here to see?"
"My brother-in-law told me to come see the lady in 627. He didn't tell me her name."
"You must be Detective Salas. She's been waiting for you to come. You can go on in."
She thanked the nurse and made her way to the door marked 627. She looked at the name on the outside the door, "Coppélia". The last name was familiar, but she couldn't place it. That bothered her.
As she slowly opened the door the noise of machines running flooded out. It scared her at first, but she decided to go in anyway. She looked at the person on the bed. Her body was battered and bruised, something Yelina didn't want to see. Why had Horatio sent her here? What did this have to do with her talking to someone? She could go to work if she wanted to talk to someone like this. She looked at the lady's face and it hit her. She knew this person. This was personal. This was someone she could relate to that she saw all the time.
"Lizzie?"
Thoughts ran through her mind as she pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed. This was why she hadn't been to work, she couldn't. She had dealt with the abuse as Yelina was now and she got burned, literally. Who would do something like this to her? Lizzie was harmless, she wouldn't fight back. Maybe that was the key, she was easy prey. The person could be dominative without rebellion from her.
She took Lizzie's small hand in hers and rubbed it. She had heard that it stimulated the mind and let the person know they weren't alone in their fight, there would be someone waiting for them when they woke up.
"Horatio said I should come here to talk to you about how I got the bruise on my eye. The truth is I don't know what to say. I mean, Stetler hit me. That's all to be said. I know he hit me because he was angry. He did apologize. He bought me flowers and took me out to dinner. It was really nice. I don't think he knew what he was doing when he hit me."
She looked at the bruise covering most of Lizzie's face. It made her want to cry. She had only dealt with this for a few months, but Lizzie, she had probably with it for years.
"I bet that's what you said. I remember you saying your boyfriend was the nicest guy you would ever meet. It was an act for you. You probably saw it as a chance to play the role of the lifetime."
A tear flowed down her cheek, and for the first time in a long time she didn't want to wipe it away. No one would ever know she cried. Lizzie would never say anything. Everything stayed between them.
"You knew Stetler was abusing me, yet you never said anything. You figured I would come to you in due time. You were willing to wait forever. You taught me your trick to hide my tears so if someone asked about it I could hold them back, and not give anything away."
She felt as if a presence had come over her, like Lizzie's spirit had come over her. It felt soft and mellow, almost calming. It was as if all the worries of the world had been lifted from her. She breathed in slowly; the air had a menthol quality about it. The spirit was definitely Lizzie's. Yelina remembered the way she kept her "cathedral of death" smelling like menthol, because it was soothing.
She looked around the room. It was bare, no color at all. It probably wouldn't bother Lizzie, but it bothered her. Even Lizzie's black and white photographs would brighten up the room. Her photographs, those were what caused Yelina to notice her. She had been sketching a copy of one of the photographs she had taken of New York in the break room when Yelina startled her. It was kind of funny because Lizzie thanked her for causing the mistake. She took the messed up sketch and turned in to the beautiful masterpiece Ray Jr. had hanging in a frame in his room.
Yelina looked down at her purse. There was a photo of Lizzie and Ray Jr. in there. She bent down and pulled her wallet out. Opening it up, she came upon the photo. Taken in the park, it showed the two of them covered in mud smiling. She placed it on the table beside the bed. It would keep her company when no one else was there.
"Do you ever wish the happiness of the past would come back and stay?"
She touched the locket around her neck. She smiled as she took it off. She placed it in Lizzie's palm and closed the fingers around it.
"Lizzie, I want you to have this. Raymond gave me this before he died. He said it would give me hope in the unseen. Surprisingly, he was right. It will give you the hope you need to make it through anything. I can't use the locket's hope anymore. I found hope in something else, in a certain person, you."
'You shouldn't give that away to just anyone."
"I didn't give it to just anyone. I passed it on to the person who deserved it most."
She turned and looked at Horatio standing in the doorway. He had a slight smile on his face. She was right. Lizzie was the one person who deserved to have it. She had been the driving force in getting Yelina to open up, even if she was unconscious.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long, I came in on, 'I want you to have this.' I have a feeling you told her what was going on with you."
"She already knew, she just never said anything. She wanted me to come to come to her. I should have come earlier. I could have saved her from this. Why didn't she say anything?"
"She was being Lizzie. She is well... a friend once told her, 'The younger you was strong, but impetuous. You've grown into a thoughtful, beautiful woman with the capacity to care more for others than you do for yourself. Now, if that's not a hero, I don't know what is.' I thought it was the most truthful thing someone has said to her."
"Did you tell her that?"
"No, Raymond put that in a letter he left for her with his will. She saved him from being killed a few times. He said he had an angel watching over him. I didn't know it was her until I saw her putting a bird of paradise on his grave. Only family would know about his love of them."