Title: The Forest
Chapter: 8

Tears sprang to Lilly's eyes as she let the news sink in. She was stuck in a limbo; some kind of ghostly plane. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe that she'd ended up like this. She'd given Stillman a copy of her living will. Why hadn't he put it into action yet? Why hadn't they made this decision for her? That's what a living will is drawn up for.

"What happens now?" Lilly asked as she began to cry. "Where do I go from here?"

"I want to show you something," the nurse said as she turned to leave the room. Lilly followed, not sure where the nurse was taking her. As they walked down the hospital hallway all the walls fell away and soon Lilly realized that she was standing in the tavern.

She knew the décor. It was a bar. How festive did she want it to be? At one of the tables she noticed Stillman sitting there alone. "What's he doing here?" asked Lilly.

"Move closer," the nurse said.

She moved closer to Stillman and could here him order a scotch on the rocks. Stillman's drink of choice. It was what he ordered every time they were out with the guys after work. The bartender came back with the scotch and Stillman thanked him.

He sat there staring at the glass before raising it up. "Here's to Lillian Rush! The most dedicated cold case detective I have ever met. May god guide her back to us soon."

"Lieutenant?" she asked. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She reached to put her hand on his shoulder but the scenery changed again and she soon found herself in the back of one of the squad cars with Vera and Jefferies.

"Now where am I?" Lilly asked the nurse.

"That should be obvious."

"Can they hear me?"

"No," the nurse said.

"I was thinking of bringing some flowers to Rush's hospital room," said Vera. "Make the place a little nicer for when she wakes up?"

"That's a good idea," said Jefferies. "Has Valens said anything?"

"No but Stillman said he'd came to see him today. He mentioned that Lilly had a living will," Vera said. "He's pretty crushed."

"Scotty!" Lilly exclaimed. "Scotty! Where…? Where's Scotty? I need to see him!"

"Lillian…" the nurse began.

"No! Cut the crap! Just tell me where his is!"

"Lillian…"

Lilly couldn't take this anymore. None of her questions about Scotty had been answered since she'd gotten there. She reached for the handle on the car and pushed it open. She stepped out and closed the door behind her. She wanted to find Scotty. She had to see him. She began walking home. Knowing that he wouldn't be at the station this late and he wasn't at the tavern.

"Lillian! Lillian! Wait!" the nurse said. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home! I'm going to go to bed and this will all just be a stupid dreamt that I will wake up from in the morning!"

"Lillian, listen to me!" the nurse said.

"No! No!" Lilly said as she continued walking. "I've had it! My questions are never answered and there's a huge void of information that you aren't giving me. Who are you anyway? You're obviously not a nurse? Are you the angel of death? Some figment of my imagination? If so, I must have a pretty lousy one!"

"Lillian…let me explain!"

"No!" Lilly said. "I'm going home!"

Lilly walked up to the door of her house and went to look for her hide-a-key. She knew it was in the dead flower pot. It was always in the dead flower pot. Where did a little tin canister blend in better than a dead flower pot? She bent down to check the flower pot but the hide-a key wasn't there.

She moved to her door and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Panic seized her as she pushed the door open. She closed the door behind her and calmly walked up the stairs. George had taken her gun from her so she hoped the intruder wasn't dangerous. She moved up the stairs; yearning to fall asleep in her own bed.

"Meow," Olivia said. Lilly jumped and looked back to see that her cat was staring at her.

"You can see me?" she asked Olivia.

"Mew," the cat replied as it rubbed its cheek against Lilly's leg.

"Olivia?" Lilly asked as she bent down and rubbed the cat's head. "Is there someone in the house?"

"Meow!" the cat said as she trotted off towards Lilly's room. Lilly followed the cat into her room. She peered inside to see a lump sleeping on her bed. She moved towards the lump to see that it was Scotty, but he wasn't asleep, he was crying and praying. "Please god! Please! I can't lose her! Please! Let her come home! Let her come back to me! Please!"

Lilly moved over to the bed and climbed in with Scotty. "It's okay Scotty! I'll find a way back!" She pulled herself closer to him and stretched her arm around his shoulder. "I love you!" she whispered in his ear before kissing his neck. "I'll come back. Don't worry. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Author's Note: Thanks to strwbrryCSI for opening me up to this possibility. I had a feeling that this story was missing something but I didn't know what. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I thank my loyal reviewers for supporting me. I will update again soon. So that nobody dies of anticipation.