Maddie switched on her television and tuned it to the all-cartoon channel. Her favorite cartoon was about to come on, which only slightly made up for the fact that Linda wouldn't let her go downstairs for her walk. She had begged and pleaded with Linda to let her go downstairs and try to find Casey, the nice lady she had been talking with the day before, but Linda had told her she had to stay put. Ordinarily, Linda had no qualms about letting her leave the floor for a little while, so Maddie had no idea why she wasn't allowing her to leave today.

All she really wanted to do was go home. She was sick of the hospital, tired of being poked and prodded and stuck with needles, and fed up with being alone. At least if she was home, she could spend her time with Mrs. Miller, the lady who lived next door. But if she couldn't go home, she could at least have been allowed to wander around for a bit. With a frustrated groan, she pulled the tray table closer to her and started drawing a picture for Casey with the crayons Linda had given her. She hoped Casey like flowers because that's what she could draw best.

She had just started on the third flower when there was a quiet knock on the door. Maddie looked up to see Linda standing in the doorway with two people that Maddie didn't know, a man and a woman. She frowned in confusion as Linda led the strangers into the room. "Maddie, you have visitors if you're up for it."

Bewildered, the little girl gave a nod and put down her purple crayon. She pushed the tray table away and turned off the television, then darted her eyes between the man and the woman. What could these two strangers possibly want with her? She glanced back at Linda, who gave her a comforting smile. "I'll be right outside if you need me," the nurse said, then headed for the door.

The woman waited until Linda left the room, then she settled in the chair next to Maddie's bed. "Hi, Maddie, my name's Olivia, and this is my friend Elliot."

"Hi, Maddie," Elliot said, giving her a warm smile.

"Hi." Maddie nervously looked from the man to the woman, wondering why they were there talking to her.

"You don't have to be scared, sweetie," Olivia said soothingly. "Casey's a friend of mine and she wanted us to come talk to you."

"Is she okay?" Maddie asked, sitting up a little straighter in bed. "I wanted to go down and visit her, but Linda won't let me, and I know she was talking to Cheryl this morning--"

"She's okay," Elliot assured her. "She asked us to come talk to you because she's very worried about you. Has anyone else been to visit you today?"

Maddie looked down at her hands and began nervously rubbing her left thumbnail with her right thumb. "No. No one comes to visit me."

"Not even your neighbors or your mom?"

Shaking her head sadly, Maddie continued to avert her eyes. "No one comes to see me. It's always like this when I have to stay here."

"Is your mom at work now?"

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know. I never know. Sometimes … sometimes I think she likes when I have to be here because then she doesn't have to take care of me. She loves me, I know it, but sometimes I think she doesn't want me."

Elliot reached out and rested her hand comfortingly on the little girl's arm. "I'm sure she wants you. It's just hard when your kid is sick; some people just don't deal with it very well." He gave her a comforting smile.

Maddie nodded and took a deep breath.

"What about when you're at home, sweetie?" Olivia asked, gently steering the conversation back on topic. "Does your mom take care of you when you're at home?"

"She works a lot," Maddie answered hesitantly. "I spend a lot of time after school with Mrs. Miller, my next-door neighbor. She's older, like my grandmother, but she's a lot of fun. She taught me how to draw."

"She did?"

Maddie nodded proudly, then reached over to the tray table and pulled the white paper off of it, showing the picture to Olivia. "She taught me how to draw trees and lakes and skies, too. But flowers are my favorite. I'm the best at flowers. I'm drawing that for Casey."

Olivia smiled, obviously impressed by the eight-year-old's drawing. "It's very pretty. I'm sure Casey will love it."

Maddie beamed as Olivia handed her back the drawing. "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome." Olivia glanced up at Elliot, who gave her a barely noticeable nod, telling her to go ahead with the questioning. "How much time do you spend with your mom?"

The smile fell from the little girl's face at Olivia's question. "I-I don't know. Not as much as some kids, but still a lot."

"How late do you usually stay at Mrs. Miller's?" Elliot asked. He wondered if Maddie would give him a straighter answer if he rephrased the question.

"Till five," she replied, her tone cautious. "Then I go home to eat dinner. Sometimes Mom's home and sometimes she's not."

"Do you know how to make yourself dinner?"

"Uh huh. I'm really good at macaroni and cheese."

Elliot nodded and glanced over at his partner. He could tell she was still waffling between believing Maddie was being neglected and believing Maddie's mother worked late. He met her eyes and silently told her to wrap up the interview so they could talk.

Olivia gave him a small nod back, indicating that she understood. She turned her attention back to Maddie and gave the little girl a warm smile. "Maddie, thank you for talking with us. I hope you feel better, hon."

"Thanks." A confused look crossed Maddie's face for a moment. She really didn't understand why Casey had asked them to come talk to her about her mother, but she didn't question it. "Tell Casey I hope she feels better, too."

"We will," Elliot smiled. He waited while Olivia touched the girl's arm comfortingly and then stood, sidling up next to her partner. "Bye, hon."

"Bye," Maddie answered, pulling the tray table closer to her again and picking up her crayon. She stared at the door as Elliot and Olivia left, wondering what their conversation had meant. They had asked a lot of questions about her mother, but she wasn't sure why. But if Casey had sent them because she was worried, they had to be good guys. At least that was what she hoped.

She turned the television back on and was happy to find that her favorite cartoon was still on. Hopefully, that would take her mind off of the uncertainty that the conversation with Elliot and Olivia had stirred up. More than anything, she just wanted her mother to come and visit her, just so that she was sure that she loved her.

-----

Casey slowly became aware of the fact that she was shivering. She tried to reach down to pull the covers up around her shoulders but her right hand was gripped in someone else's. Moaning groggily, she pulled her hand free and tugged the blanket to her chin. She relaxed her muscles and was just drifting off again when she heard someone whispering. Wrinkling her nose, she stretched her legs and inhaled as deeply as she could. The breath caused her chest muscles to ache; she groaned in pain. "It's okay, Casey," she heard someone whisper. Olivia? It sounded like her. "Just relax."

"I can hear you," she mumbled sleepily, "but I can't see you."

"Can you open your eyes?" It was definitely Olivia.

She shook her head and tried to take another deep breath. That one hurt as well. "Can't … oh God, it hurts … so cold."

"Shh, it's all right," Olivia whispered soothingly. "It's going to be all right." Casey heard the chair creak and then Olivia hiss to someone else, "Go get Cheryl."

"No," Casey muttered. She flinched in pain as she inhaled. Goddammit that hurts so much, she thought.

"It's okay, hon," Olivia assured her. She reached forward and started brushing the ADA's hair off her forehead. The gesture was soothing, so much so that Casey felt herself nodding off again. Olivia began whispering … something in Casey's ear; Casey couldn't understand what she was saying. She wasn't quite sure why she couldn't understand, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep.

Very faintly, Casey heard footsteps--no, two sets of footsteps--enter the room. Three separate voices began conversing, but she couldn't understand a word of it. Her sudden inability to comprehend a simple conversation was starting to frighten her. She whimpered, trying to force her eyes open and failing.

"Casey."

She recognized the voice as Cheryl's. Rousing herself as much as she could, Casey tried to answer her. All she could manage was a groan.

"It's okay," Cheryl continued softly. Something wet and cold touched Casey's forehead--a facecloth?--which only made her shiver even more than she already was. "I had to give you a sedative earlier and that's what making it so hard for you to wake up."

She relaxed a little, despite her chattering teeth. Her head turned to the side as she started drifting into unconsciousness. "Casey, stay with me," Cheryl said sternly.

Whimpering again, she took as deep a breath as she could manage without her chest muscles protesting and tried once more to open her eyes. After a minute or so, she succeeded. As soon as her eyelids fluttered open, Olivia leaned forward in the chair and gripped her hand. "Hey, sweetie."

"Hi," Casey answered groggily. "What … why…" She let out a frustrated sigh, annoyed that she couldn't seem to think of what she wanted to say. She hadn't been good with her words in days, and it was starting to aggravate her. "What … are you guys … why are you here?" She closed her eyes for a moment in embarrassment. She sounded like she was drunk, and the question had come across as rude rather than curious.

Olivia glanced up at Cheryl, concern swimming in her eyes, then turned her attention back to Casey and smiled warmly. "We're here to see how you're doing."

"I'm okay." There, she thought triumphantly. She'd managed a full sentence. Granted, it was only two words and it wasn't the truth, but who really cared? She pulled her hand out of Olivia's, rested it on the mattress, and pressed down, attempting to push herself up into a sitting position. Her muscles tightened at the effort, causing a sharp pain to shoot through her chest. Whimpering partly in pain but mostly in defeat, she leaned her head back against the pillow.

"Hang on, kiddo," Elliot said softly. He reached down around the guard rails and pressed the button that slowly raised the head of the bed.

"Thanks," Casey replied softly, a grateful smile spreading across her lips. "Can I have another … I'm cold." Why the hell couldn't she find her words easily? There was a heavy fog in her head, and she wasn't sure why; it couldn't have just been from the medication Cheryl said she had to give her. But why did Cheryl have to give her a sedative at all? "Damn it."

"What's the matter?" Cheryl asked, quickly checking the ADA's temperature.

Casey frowned, trying to think of how to explain the cloudiness in her head. Her mind was so muddled that she couldn't even think straight. "Can't talk … I can't think of the words."

"Well, it's partly because I had to give you a sedative a little bit ago," Cheryl explained, frowning at the thermometer, "and it's partly because your fever is still running pretty high. It's hovering at a hundred and three right now, which is better than it was but still too high for my liking. I'm going to get you an extra dose of Tylenol. Will you be all right if I leave you for a second?"

Casey nodded, an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks. It was bad enough that her colleagues were seeing her at her most vulnerable; she hated appearing so dependent on someone else. As Cheryl tiptoed around the bed and disappeared behind the curtain, Casey glanced over at Olivia and cringed at the concern and worry creasing the detective's face. "Don't worry about me, Olivia. I'm okay."

"You're talking better," Olivia said softly.

"I'm waking up a little more. The fog's going away," she explained. "When I first woke up, I could hear you guys talking, but I couldn't understand anything you were saying." She repositioned herself so that she was sitting up a little straighter and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders in an effort to stop her teeth from chattering. "I am so damn cold."

Elliot reached forward and rested the back of his hand on her forehead. "Shit, Casey, you're still burning up."

"You say that like it's supposed to make me not be cold." Casey gave him a small smile to indicate that she was just teasing him and snuggled further under the blanket. She could tell that he and Olivia both were extremely worried about her, and it annoyed her. She appreciated the fact that they cared enough to be worried, but she didn't want them worrying. She'd be fine in a few days and then everything would be back to normal. She looked from Elliot to Olivia and sighed. "Guys, seriously, I'm fine. Don't worry. Please."

"Honey, we care about you," Olivia replied quietly. "That's why we worry." She blinked quickly, trying to wipe the concern off her face for Casey's sake, and decided to change the subject. "We went to see Maddie this morning."

"How is she?" Casey asked, the curiosity lighting her eyes. "What do you think? Is she okay?"

"Whoa, one question at a time," Elliot chuckled. "She's doing all right; she asked about you, though. Linda wouldn't let her come down and see you, and when we told her we were friends of yours, she asked us if you were okay."

"Why wouldn't Linda let her come down?" Casey wondered aloud.

"I told her not to let Maddie come see you," Cheryl said as she pushed the curtain aside.

The nurse handed Casey two tablets in a small white cup and a glass of water. In one quick motion that had become frighteningly natural over the past five days, Casey downed the pills with a sip of water. She gave both cups back to Cheryl and frowned. "Why not? It's not like I'm contagious."

"I didn't want her seeing you like that; you were really out of it," Cheryl replied softly. "Hell, you were even scaring me a little, never mind an eight-year-old. Once we get your temperature back under control, she can come down and see you."

A confused frown quickly crossed Casey's face. "Was I really that bad?"

"Yeah, you were really that bad," Olivia said, tenderly taking Casey's hand. "When we came in, you were sound asleep but muttering nonsense."

"Oh." She didn't remember any of it; the last thing she remembered was asking Cheryl for a blanket earlier that morning.

"Well, you're awake now, so that's all that matters," Cheryl said, sensing that Casey was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. She rested the back of her hand against Casey's cheek for a moment, seeing how hot her skin still was to the touch, then gave all three people in the room a smile. "I have to get back to work. I'm telling you, I've spent more time in this room since this one's been here than I have in all my years working this floor."

Casey grinned, the relief at the subject change evident on her face. "Yeah, ninety percent of that time is spent shooting the shit."

"Oh, totally. You are my favorite patient, after all." Cheryl shot her a comforting smile. "I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

Casey waited until she was sure Cheryl was out of earshot before continuing to question Elliot and Olivia about their interview with Maddie. "So, what's the verdict? Am I completely insane or is Maddie really being neglected?"

"Well, you're completely insane regardless of whether Maddie's being neglected," Olivia teased, "but if you want a serious answer to the question, we're not sure yet. Maddie stays the afternoons with her next-door neighbor, but she goes back home at five. Sometimes the mother's there, sometimes she's not. It was hard to tell whether the mother just works late or if she really leaves Maddie alone on purpose. Maddie wasn't all that straightforward with her answers, but that could have been just because she didn't know us. Either that or she's in denial."

"Did you tell her you're cops?"

Elliot shook his head. "You wanted this to be unofficial."

Casey sighed, forgetting for a moment that she had asked them question the girl off the record. "So now what?"

"We're going to talk to Mrs. Miller, the next-door neighbor," Olivia answered reassuringly. "Maybe she can give us some insight into this little girl's home life. We'll get to the bottom of this for you, Casey."

"Thank you both so much," Casey said quietly. She hid a yawn behind her hand and leaned her head back against the pillows.

"You're quite welcome," Elliot replied. He surreptitiously nudged Olivia, then smiled at the ADA. "We should let you get some rest. Come on, Liv."

Olivia gave Casey's hand a quick, comforting squeeze and then stood from her seat. "I'll call you this afternoon if we can't stop by again, okay?"

"Perfect." Casey sadly watched the two of them exit the room. Suddenly, her eyes began welling with tears. She was so cold and no matter what she did, she couldn't get warm, she felt rotten, she was lonely, and all she wanted to do was be able to breathe without her chest muscles screaming in protest. She didn't remember ever having the excruciating chest pain for so long when she'd previously had pneumonia, and she knew for a fact that her fever hadn't lasted this long. Wearily closing her eyes, she allowed herself to cry quietly and wonder just when the hell she was going to start to feel better.