Disclaimer: I don't own third watch or any characters; I do own Nate and Madison

Chapter 17: Difficult memories

6 months later

Cruz is working with Santiago, Monroe has just returned to work again, less hours but there nonetheless. No baby yet!

Cruz fanned herself lightly with a piece of paper, it was hot! Not to mention she was sitting in the boiling

sun, in an RMP. She laid her head back on the chair, at least it hadn't been a bad day, but she was bored

"Manny, we're going on the next call" As if on cue the radio crackled to life "We need a bus to 15 and

Arthur, emergency call, we need a pair of cops as well. No specific details, just a frantic call" Cruz grabbed

the radio "Crime on Sergeant responding" Santiago flicked the lights on and Cruz tore away from the

parking spot. They pulled up in front of the house where the ambulance was and Cruz slammed the door

behind her as she went up the stairs. As soon as she saw her, her stomach lurched, a young girl, no more

than 16 was curled in a tight ball at the top of her bed. Terror shone in her eyes as she looked at Doc and

Carlos, and she obviously wasn't letting them anywhere near her. Santiago walked in and she bit her lip

anxiously. Cruz's heart rate was going about 200, her palms were sweaty and her heart was in her throat.

She already knew what had happened to this girl; she looked the same way Cruz had felt … afterwards.

Everything within her begged to run and hide, have nothing to do with this. She had been avoiding rape

cases ever since it happened to her. This time it was different though. This girl needed a woman, and so far

Cruz was the only one there, the men were obviously just adding to her tension. Maybe if she helped her it

would ease her own pain a bit. It would bring back painful memories but she had to do it. Cruz took a deep

breath, swallowed her own fear and said "Doc, Carlos, Manny? Could you step outside for a minute?" Doc

nodded at her, thankfulness showing in his eyes, he wasn't having any luck with this girl. Carlos and

Santiago followed him out, closing the door behind them. Cruz fiddled with her wedding ring, a nervous

habit, and then sat down on the end of the bed. Her hand trembled as she gently rubbed the girls shoulder

"Hey, I'm Cruz" The girl was cradling her arm in her left hand and barely looked up as she said " I'm

Abby" Cruz smiled lightly, although it quivered, barely staying in place " Abby, do you think I could ask

you some questions? If you're not ready we can wait" but Abby nodded so Cruz continued "Ok, good, I'll

try and take it slow, not make it more painful than it already is. I'm pretty sure I know what happened, but I

have to ask to make sure, were you raped?" Again Abby nodded, not taking her eyes from the sheets. Cruz

could see tears dripping down her face and felt her heart clench. "Abby, how old are you?" "16" she said

quietly. Cruz grimaced silently this is harder than I thought it would be, 16? "Did you know who did this to

you?" Abby shook her head. "Honey, where are your parents?" Abby looked up "They went away for the

weekend, they're coming back tonight, they went to Syracuse" Cruz nodded then looked towards the

wall, she couldn't believe she was about to say this "Abby, about a year ago I was raped too" Abby looked

up again "Really?" Cruz nodded "I was on an undercover assignment, to try and bust a prostitute house and

it happened, I felt exactly like you do now, so I really do understand how you feel. I had a friend who

helped me through it, but I know that you probably don't want to tell anyone about this and your parents

aren't home, so do you want to tell me what happened?" she grimaced again before continuing ".. in detail?"

Abby nodded " I was in the living room with my mp3 player on, doing homework, it was 6 o clock. I didn't

hear the door open, but I heard it slam. I turned around but no one was there. I got up, took my headphones

off and went to the door, I still didn't see anyone, so I turned and went back to my homework, I know I

should have called the police then but…" Cruz put an arm around her shoulder, this was hurting her almost

as much as it was hurting Abby "It's ok Abby, it wasn't your fault." Abby nodded and continued. "Suddenly

someone grabbed me from behind. I fought back but he slammed me into the wall, which dislocated my

shoulder. I went limp not knowing what to do and he dragged me to the bedroom. I still fought back but he

held me down and…. He raped me" Tears poured off her face now and Cruz took a deep breath closing her

eyes "Abby, what did he look like?" Abby shuddered as she remembered "Tall, white, brown hair, skinny

and he has a white shirt and jeans on. He had a scar down his forearm." Cruz held her close, hugging her

"Ok, that's good, thank you. I'm so sorry I had to do that, so so sorry" Abby nodded, trying to wipe the tears

away "Look, Abby we need to take you to the hospital, you need to get a rape kit done and they need to a

few other tests just to make sure you're ok" Cruz felt her tense again and she asked "Do they hurt?" She

wasn't about to lie now so Cruz just hugged her tighter "They do, they hurt a lot. I know you don't want to

go with Doc and Carlos, so why don't you just let them bandage your arm, I'll stay with you, then you can

come into the hospital in the RMP ok?" Abby nodded and Cruz got up to go and get Doc and Carlos. She

was thoroughly shaken. Her knees were weak and her hands were shaky, but she had done it. "Doc, I need

you to bandage her arm, it's dislocated then Manny and I will take her to the hospital" Doc nodded "Thanks

Cruz" She smiled shakily and followed him back into the room. Doc bandaged her up quickly but carefully

while Cruz spoke quietly to Davis and Sully who had just pulled in. She gave them a description and time of

rape and they alerted the rest of the team and went out looking. When Doc was done Cruz helped Abby up

and into the RMP. She sat in the back with Abby while Santiago drove to the hospital. When they got there

Cruz helped her into the hospital then said to Manny "Hey, we get the rest of the shift off for this kind of

case, I'm staying with her, but you can go if you want." Santiago nodded "Thanks Cruz" Cruz turned back

to Abby "We called ahead and you'll be getting Dr. Morales, she's great, she helped me too" Abby looked

up at Cruz, a look of trust in her eyes "Thanks for helping me, I know it must have been hard for you" You

have no idea…then again maybe ya you do… "It was, but you know what, it helped me too." She squeezed

Abby's hand and led her into the ER. Cruz sat with Abby as they did the tests, letting her squeeze her hand

when it hurt, then helped her contact her parents, who were only a half hour away. When they arrived at the

hospital Cruz helped Abby tell them what had happened, and then suggested a support group for young girls

like her. She promised Abby that she would be available anytime and gave Abby her phone number. She got

into the RMP when Santiago came back and asked him to take her back to her apartment. It was only ten but

Lieu would understand, and Bosco would find out when he got home. As soon as he dropped her off she

took a hot shower, her tears mingling with the water, soothing her aching muscles. When she came out she

changed into some flimsy pajamas and crawled into bed. For the first time in a year she had been forced to

remember again the horror of her own rape. She buried her face into the down filled pillow and cried, long

and hard.

When Bosco pulled up into the driveway he was worried, Lieu had told him that she had done a rape

case, with a young girl, 16. Bosco wanted to slam whoever had given her that assignment, but just left as

soon as he could. He walked up the stairs to their bedroom and saw her standing at the window, looking out

into the street. "Bosco, It was terrible" He came up gently behind her and slipped his arms around her waist

"I know Ritza" "It was so hard, I didn't think I could do it, but I did and it helped, a lot. It made me

remember some pretty terrible things but it helped" Bosco kissed her and held her close "I'm so glad ritza,

so glad" Cruz turned to face him, smiled then sat down on the bed "I need to get away from all this for a

while"

(A/N) I hope you like this, I needed to put this in!