A/N: Sorry for the long time, no chapter but I think my muse has been on holiday…or something! Anyways here's the next chapter, so any feedback would be much appreciated, and thank you to everybody who has reviewed so far.

Disclaimer: Definitely not mine…but I can dream…hehe

Chapter 2: Tomorrow Comes.

Overwhelming tiredness and continual worry had lulled Susan into an uncomfortable state of half-sleep while she maintained her vigil at Abby's bedside. This restless half-sleep was however a relief from the endless scenarios that entered her mind ever since she had run into Abby hours earlier. Whatever had happened to Abby last night, if she ever found out, Susan would feel partly responsible. Not knowing what had happened amplified this feeling of responsibility, at worst, it injected a feeling of powerlessness – if it was her fault, how could she ever attempt to put it right?

She stirred slowly in the chair; an uncomfortable throb around the shoulders was a sufficient to bring her back to consciousness, the blue tinge outside showed daylight to be fast approaching as the dawn swept across Chicago. She brushed her blond hair from her tired features before automatically picking up the chart. Abby seemed stir little, sleeping peacefully and Susan felt suddenly angry that this peace would fade once she was awake. She resumed her checks, moving to the monitor and I.V lines.

Her eyes flickered open slowly, prickled by a burning fluorescence, and suddenly a muffled voice echoed in her ears. As she began to shake sleep from her senses, the voice began to tune in clearly.

"Abby…Abby?"

Susan. Susan…the realisation of her surroundings kicked in, she was at County on a gurney. The events of last night rushed back to her, causing her to intake a sharp breath…those terrifying events, her arrival at the hospital, being bundled out of a SUV was no longer a nightmarish illusion and this morning, the morning after the terrible night before hit with her with a blunt reality as forceful as a ten tonne truck.

She felt Susan's eyes on her as she sat up and avoided the other woman's gaze as long as possible.

"Abby…I…" Susan began.

"I want to go home." She said bluntly, cutting off Susan.

"But Abby…you need to stay here...you've been through…" Susan faltered when she realised she still didn't know what had happened and she attempted to look Abby in the eye once more.

"I'm fine"

"Fine?" Susan said in a more incredulous tone than she intended, "I was there last night Abby, you weren't fine then and you can't be 'fine' now" A flash of embarrassment turned Abby's stomach as she recalled her arrival at the hospital. She had to go, away from this place, from everything.

"I'm okay… and I'm going home" she had been taken from County – a place that she considered to be very safe. It no longer felt that way and she longed for the sanctuary of her apartment. She needed to carry on, to forget and ignore. Her eyes scrunched tightly as aches seared through her tired arm muscles and distracted from the prickle in her arm as she began to remove her own I.V.

Part of Susan was glad to see Abby's stubbornness resurface replacing the vacant look that had haunted her features. She watched in silence as Abby removed her lines and the attachments that connected to the nearby monitor. No amount of persuasion would convince Abby to stay at the hospital however much the doctor in Susan disapproved. As a close friend of Abby's she knew how insistent and stubborn she could be, however, she was still rattled by her demeanour last night knowing that the cause could only have been something immensely traumatic, yet the change in her this morning, from withdrawn to defensive was unnerving.…

Her focus was on getting out of County, to shut out everything that she didn't want to remember. She detached herself easily from the numerous lines. Still in her gown, her feet padded the cold floor as she bolted toward the lounge, pushing past Susan. She felt the scrutiny of the ER, their gazes burned into her back, they stopped to watch her movements. Despite Carter and Susan's best discretion, rumours were rife and bounced wildly around the halls.

It hurt to get dressed. Her final button entered its hole and she turned her attention to her hair. As she ran her fingers through, it felt straggly and had a thin crust from sweat and tears. Although clean, Abby could remember each of the spots where CJ's blood had stained her skin; tracing the patterns with her finger sent a shiver to her core.

The door of the lounge rattled, and then swung shut.

"Abby" Abby saw Susan's refection stand behind her own in the wall mirror. Her voice shook Abby out of her reverie, but she remained still.

"Abby….what happened to you, last night…you were, and something was wrong, very wrong. It's okay to talk to me, Carter, we all just want to help you." In the mirror Susan fixed her eyes upon Abby's.

Fear and shame had been persistent visitors since the previous night, but now, nothing surfaced except sheer fury.

"Yea Susan, its real fun being held at gun point inside an SUV" She said suddenly, the bitterness and volume of her words surprised even Abby. There was no going back now, she hadn't known whether she was going to tell Susan – or anybody what had happened. After all, the warnings from Loose and Lil' C were clear enough. At that moment, everything flashed before her again her fury evaporated and her composure crumbled to dust. Tears sprung from her shadowed eyes, sobs formed deep inside her soul found escape from her throat.

When Abby's fury had assaulted Susan's ears, it was the revelation that left her reeling. Abby had confirmed in not so many words one of the worst scenarios that Susan had imagined and feared. Her throat tightened and she felt slightly sick her ordeal, how could she ever have thought that Abby had just walked out on her shift.

After mouthing wordlessly in shock and comprehension, she found her voice again "Abby, it's okay now…you're safe…it's over" Susan wrapped her arms around the brunette, she was surprised that she didn't fight it but returned the gesture. She sat Abby down on the sofa, stroking her dark hair; she felt it still matted slightly under her fingers. The two women rocked in a gentle motion until Abby's sobs subsided and Susan had managed to hide the unshed tears hanging in her eyes. As she felt Abby quieten she broke their embrace and once more tried to get Abby to talk.

"Abby" She waited to see if Abby would meet her eyes. Susan took her hand, and Abby looked up her brown eyes framed by red.

"Can you tell me what happened? Please Abby – talk to me."

She was forced to recount her tale. The words dripped without expression from her lips. That night was still freshly branded into her mind, as she described the night to Susan, each image flashed before her eyes like a disturbing film in full Technicolor: abandoning her cigarette as the van pulled into the ambulance bay… those young boys barely out of childhood; the dark interior of the SUV; the shiny gun, in her face, poked in the small of her back, pressed into her temple; the red stream from the gunshot wound, coating everything with an orange tinge; stitching with needle and thread…her inevitably futile attempts at CPR; helplessly watching C.J as his life ebbed away despite the violence and threats that surrounded him, the glint of terror that replaced the menace as he faded away; the grassy clearing where she thought it was all going to end, until finally being bundled out of the dark vehicle, finding herself in the ambulance bay once more. The events were easy to describe for Abby, yet impossible to comprehend. Feelings were not so easy to decipher, Abby had faced a tornado of feeling that whirled within her, leaving terror and fear in its wake. She was torn between her fear and herself, her strong persona expressed itself in her defensiveness. It wrestled with the fear and trauma that wanted her to curl up and cry.

"Oh god…" Was all Susan could utter as Abby's tale sunk in and guilt rose from her stomach to her throat. She could only be there for her friend now, "Abby - " She began tentatively, "Maybe you should talk to someone…professional"

"No"

"Abby"

"Please Susan, let me go home" Her eyes were widened and pleading.

"But Abby - " Looking at her friend her exhausted and emotional state, with her feelings of responsibility weighing heavily on her shoulders Dr. Lewis won over Susan: Abby's friend, and decided that calling Psych might be in order.

"I'm leaving" She stated getting up suddenly and quickly getting her things. Susan saw Abby catch sight of the ambulance bay through the lounge window and her brave façade couldn't conceal a visible shudder.

"Abby don't - " Susan wasn't going to win this one, a stony determination had appeared on Abby's face.

"Abby"

"Yea?" As she pushed the door handle, she turned to look back.

The two women sat silently as Susan drove. Abby was edgy throughout the journey, her hands grasped each armrest tightly until her knuckles paled. Susan could see that she shut her eyes tightly along the bumpier routes and a sporadic tear would roll down her face. At Abby's building she sprung from the car gasping deep breaths of the outside air. Susan placed a hand on her back to steady her.

"You need help inside?" A red tint crept into her cheeks and her stomach turned. She hated being weak and dependant, however scared she felt.

"No. Neela's there"

"Okay" Susan said reluctantly, she didn't want to leave Abby now she had heard the full events of last night " – Abby, take some time…off work, and remember I'm here if you need…"

"Thanks" Abby seemed to mutter numbly. Everything was a reminder of last night, and she just wanted to forget.

She wondered whether she had done the right thing, Susan was so preoccupied that the pile of charts in front of herremained untouched. Susan knew that Abby would have left anyway even if she had tried to persuade her to stay. Knowing her friend, she usually needed alone time to work through her problems, but this… this wasn't just a problem; it was a whole lot more and was her fault.

"Susan?" Carter appeared in the doorway of the lounge. Sleep had given him a fresher look than Susan's tired complexion, but concern was clearly etched around his eyes, "I came in early to check on her, have you seen her this morning…how is she?"

Susan looked at him silently for a minute, "She…she, Carter, she told me what happened…" Susan only told him the basics in case Abby didn't want him to know. It pained Susan to relive these events for Carter, and she felt for Abby even more, as she told him his face expressed the shock at what had happened and his eyes betrayed an anger that it had happened to Abby.

"Is she still in the exam room?"

"No, she left"

"Left?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"She just wanted to go home. I drove her about an hour ago, to her apartment, she was getting upset again and was about to walk out any way"

Carter mulled this over with concern, and joined Susan in a pensive silence. Worry pervaded both their thoughts but Susan still felt the extra twinge of guilt. They were glad to have Abby safe and well and now her ordeal seemed to be over, however, both had seen Abby last night as a shadow of her normal self. Today they had found out that Abby's experience had been far worse than either of them had imagined. Neither Carter nor Susan could shake the perturbing prospect and the possibility that Abby's ordeal had only just begun.

Still want it to continue ? Please let me know. :)