Olivia tiptoed into Casey's hospital room and peeked around the curtain. The ADA had the head of her bed upright so she was sitting up, the remote control in her hand and her eyes closed. The television was tuned for some reason to the station which monitored the lobby. Olivia turned around and brought her finger to her lips to keep Elliot quiet. "She's asleep," she whispered. "Let's just leave the stuff and I'll give her a call later."

"I'm not asleep," Casey spoke up through a yawn. She opened her eyes, clicked the television off, and turned to face the detectives, who were walking towards her with their hands behind their backs. "I'm bored out of my mind. Please tell me you're here to entertain me."

"No such luck, Counselor," Elliot replied apologetically. "We only have a few minutes. But we do have a couple of surprises for you."

"Ooh, surprises?" Casey asked, her green eyes shining for the first time in days. "If they're books, I'll love you forever. I'd even take a whole stack of paperwork at this point. I'm seriously going crazy here."

"Well, be prepared to write each of us a love letter," Olivia grinned. From behind her back, she pulled out two thick paperback novels and a crossword puzzle book, all purchased at the gift shop. "We figured you were bored, so we decided to get you something to pass the time."

"You've just become my two favorite people in the whole world," Casey said, excitedly accepting the books with a smile. "Thank you so much!"

"And that's not all." Elliot pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a fluffy brown teddy bear. "We figured you were lonely, too, so we got you a companion. He's a good listener, but he's not that great at giving advice, so don't expect it."

Casey snorted back a laugh--she could imagine her own father making a joke like that--as Elliot tucked the bear into bed next to her. "Thank you!" She set the books on her tray table and reached down to run her fingers over the bear's soft fur. "Oh, he's squishy!"

Olivia smiled, shaking her head slightly at Casey's choice of words. "Squishy?"

"Yes." Casey held up the teddy bear and squeezed his stomach to show her what she meant. "They're more cuddly when they're squishy."

"You're weird, you know that?" Olivia seated herself on the edge of the bed and rested the back of her hand against Casey's forehead. "Damn. You're still running a fever?"

Casey pushed Olivia's hand down, frowning. "Yeah, I can't seem to shake it. With all the stuff they're pumping into me, one would think the fever would have gone away by now."

"You're fighting one hell of an infection, Casey," Elliot spoke up softly. "It's going to take some time."

"Oh, believe me, I'm becoming quite aware of that," she answered with a small sigh. "I took a walk today and could barely make it to the end of the hall and back. This is just so ridiculous."

"You're not a very good sick person, are you?"

"Not at all. I'm too active to have much patience for this crap."

Olivia ran her eyes over the equipment in the room--the oxygen tubes, the EKG, the IV bags--then returned her gaze to Casey worriedly. "What kind of stuff are they pumping into you?"

"Um …" Casey frowned, trying to remember what the doctor and Cheryl had said. "Doxycycline, I think, for the fluid in the lungs and Demerol for the chest pain. I'm on the oxygen, too, because I'm still not breathing right, not getting enough air in my lungs or something."

Olivia smiled comfortingly, trying not to let her concern show on her face, and took Casey's hand for just a moment before standing. "We have to be getting back, but we wanted to stop by and bring you the presents. Want me to give you a call later on?"

"Sure," Casey replied, pouting slightly. She didn't want them to leave; they had only just arrived and she was craving interaction and conversation, but she understood that they were only stopping by during small lulls in their investigation. "Thank you so much for the gifts. You two didn't have to do that."

"We wanted to," Elliot assured her, smiling. "Take it easy, kiddo."

"I'll call you later," Olivia promised.

"Bye, guys," Casey said softly, giving them a small wave before they disappeared behind the curtain. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the pillow, silently cursing the fact that she didn't get a chance to ask them about Maddie. Though, perhaps that was a good thing. She knew nothing about the little girl or her situation, and how many times had she told them that gut instinct did not equal cause for concern? She needed to think about things a little more before bringing it up to them.

With another small sigh, she opened the crossword puzzle book and began paging through it. As she flipped past each puzzle, she started muttering answers to clues that caught her eye. Setting the puzzle book back on the table, she picked up the teddy bear, settled it on her stomach, and began absentmindedly running her hand over the bear's soft fur as she turned on the television.

The turning of the five o'clock hour did nothing to make television interesting. At least the syndicated sitcoms were coming on, so Casey left the television on an episode of The Nanny, just for the noise. A few minutes later, Cheryl pushed the curtain back and greeted the ADA with a smile. "The medicine making you sleepy yet?"

"A little," Casey replied, returning the nurse's smile. "I was going to try to take a nap a little later."

"As good a plan as any." Cheryl crossed to the other side of the bed and started taking the bag of saline down from the IV stand. "Time to change the IV bag. Where'd you get the teddy bear?"

"My friends brought him in for me. Olivia gave me the books, Elliot gave me the bear."

"He's cute."

"He's soft, too."

Cheryl chuckled. "Well, the teddy bear's cute, too, but I was talking about your friend Elliot. He has nice eyes."

Casey grinned, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "I'm going to tell him you said that!"

The nurse gave Casey a panicked stare, trying to determine if she was being serious or not. "Don't you dare."

"Oh, come on. He'll appreciate it!"

"Casey, I mean it. Unless of course you want it to hurt every day when I change out the IV."

"You'd purposely inflict pain on a patient?" Casey teased. "How very unethical of you." Cheryl shot her a grin, which caused Casey to chuckle. She sat in silence while Cheryl finished up what she was doing, wondering if she should ask the nurse if Maddie's situation sounded strange, in her professional opinion. Taking a quick breath, she decided to just ask before she thought better of it and changed her mind. "Hey, Cheryl, can I ask you something?"

"Anything for my favorite patient."

Casey smirked; now Cheryl was bestowing the favorite patient status on her half-seriously, half-sarcastically. "You used to work pediatrics, right?"

"That was a lifetime ago, dear, but yes, I did."

"Would you think it was weird if a little girl was really sick and her parents weren't in the hospital with her?"

"Are the parents working?"

"I don't know about the mom. The dad's not in the picture anymore. But even if the mother worked during the day, why isn't she there in the evenings? Or vice versa. If she works nights, why isn't she there during the day? Or at the very least having a relative or family friend go and spend like, a half-hour with the kid?"

Cheryl paused, trying to read Casey's face to see just what she was looking for in an answer. "So, wait, no adult has visited this little girl in … God only knows how long? How old is the girl?"

"Eight."

Suddenly, Cheryl's eyes reflected a deep understanding, not only of why Casey was questioning her but also why the ADA had been so quiet since her meeting with the little girl earlier in the afternoon. "Yes, I would think it's weird. Maddie said her mom hadn't been to see her, didn't she."

It was a statement, not a question. Casey nodded and sighed, averting her eyes from Cheryl's and staring down at the teddy bear instead. "I want to find out more about what's going on with that little girl, but I don't know what to do. I mean, what if I report it to ACS and I'm wrong? What if there's a logical explanation for everything? I've seen ACS in action, Cheryl. Once an investigation starts, there's no taking it back, no turning back the clock. It's not like I can just say, 'Oops, sorry' if things come up clean. Every time someone looks up information on the family, they're going to see that there was an investigation of possible child neglect.

"Not only that, but countless times I've told Olivia and Elliot that they can't just go investigating something based on their gut instinct. I'm a lawyer; we need evidence. The fact that Maddie's situation sounds strange based on a three-minute conversation isn't exactly a sound legal reason to start a serious investigation."

Cheryl nodded, sitting down at the foot of Casey's bed. "I understand your hesitation, Casey, I do. But you're getting these instincts and inklings for a reason. Something isn't sitting right with you, and I know you can't quite put your finger on what it is, but that doesn't automatically mean you're wrong. And I get that you're worried about what would happen if you are wrong, but what if you're not? When that little girl has her surgery and goes home, she's going to need to be cared for properly. Otherwise, she's going to wind up back here sicker than she was before. So, weigh the options: an inconvenience to the family if you're wrong, saving a little girl's life if you're not.

"If you're worried about looking hypocritical, don't start a formal investigation yet. Dig around a little first, off the record. I'm sure your detective friends won't mind checking it out for you, if only for your own peace of mind."

After letting what Cheryl had said sink in, Casey looked up to meet the nurse's eyes. "You're right. I'll talk to Olivia when she calls tonight. Listen, I know there are confidentiality laws, but is there anything you can tell me about Maddie?"

"I don't know much more than I've already told you," Cheryl replied with an apologetic shrug. "I was out of pediatrics long before Maddie started becoming a regular up there. I do know that her full name is Madelyn Donovan, but you'd learn that just by going up to her room, so I didn't just break any confidentiality laws." She gave Casey a teasing smile. "Hopefully, that'll be enough to give you guys a place to start."

"Thanks so much, Cheryl." Casey smiled, then hid a yawn behind her hand.

"Don't mention it." Cheryl stood up and collected the empty IV bag. "Now that's off your mind, you should try to get some sleep; you look exhausted."

"I am kind of tired," Casey replied with a nod. She turned off the television and snuggled under the covers as much as she could, allowing her eyes to slide shut. The last thing she heard before drifting off into a light sleep was Cheryl drawing the curtain closed.