Chapter Three

Half an hour had passed between the time Abby had been brought back in and the present. The resident was now changed into some fresh clothes. She sat at the end of one of the beds in the otherwise vacant Curtain Three while Sam worked at getting her face, hands, and hair all cleaned up.

"You don't have to do this," Abby tried again as the nurse carefully washed the minor cuts on Abby's left hand. Mainly there were no injuries, just dried blood, but Sam had strict orders from Susan to check just to be safe.

"It's not a problem," Sam assured Abby as she finished up with Abby's left hand and lower arm. "I don't get off for another hour, and it's either this or trauma work with Pratt." She slowly moved over so that she was on Abby's right. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened?"

Abby shook her head slightly and slowly. "Not yet," she whispered. The memories were still vivid in her mind. She knew that the car had driven off a good forty minutes ago, but she could not help but fearing that they would be back, that they might want revenge for her not helping their friend. The whole experience was still too frightening. The only thing she wanted was to repress the whole thing and try to forget it ever happened.

"We don't need to get a rape kit or anything like that, do we?" Sam asked with deep concern. The details of what happened to Abby were none of her business, but her co-worker's unwillingness to talk about it worried her slightly. She had seen rape victims, and most of the ones she saw had similar characteristics.

Again Abby shook her head. "Nothing like that happened," Abby said. "I just don't think I'm ready to talk about what actually did."

Sam nodded sympathetically. "Understandable," she said. She decided it was best not to say anything else. She just kept working on cleaning the blood off of Abby's pale skin. "Now you, Miss Lockhart, are all set," she said a moment later as she tossed the bloodied paper towel into the trash. "If you need anything," she began.

"I know," Abby interrupted. "Everyone's been saying that lately."

"Well we're all concerned," Carter said as he entered the room. In his left hand he held a fresh cup of hot chocolate complete with several little marshmallows floating near the top. "This is for you," he said as he walked over to Abby, handing her the mug.

"Thanks," Abby said softly before bringing the mug up to her lips and taking a small sip. "For everything," she added a moment later just as quietly.

Carter nodded as he sat down next to her on the bed. Abby noticed what he was doing and moved over slightly to give him more room. "No problem," he assured her. "The important thing is that you're back and safe."

"Safe," Abby said. As the word crossed over her lips she began to believe it was true. She had nothing to be afraid of anymore. She was safely returned back to County and was in the presence of friends, co-workers, and a few security guards. Those two men, should they ever decide to come back, could not get her anymore. For the first time that night since her abduction, a small smile crossed over Abby's lips before she took another sip of hot chocolate.