Well … it has been a long, great summer. But now it is over, and so I am back! I hope everyone hasn't forgotten me. Thanks to kukrae for the little push I discovered in my email last week! I would love some comments from everyone so I know you're reading and what you think.

Hudson University Medical Center/ December 3/ 4:31 PM
Elliot flipped his phone shut and turned to Olivia as they stepped onto the empty hospital elevator once again. "So Fin and Munch came through."

"Oh?" Olivia punched the button that would take them to the PICU, where Nina had been moved just hours ago while everyone waited for her to come out of the coma.

"Yep. They found Lacey Goldstone in the dorms at the university and she admitted to having the affair with Eric and being with him on Tuesday night."

Olivia couldn't help picturing what Melanie's face would look like when she learned of her husband's fling with a student. "Is that it?"

"Nope. Turns out Lacey isn't exactly Miss Fidelity either – she's got a boyfriend her age, too. And he had a little trouble with sexual assault a few years back."

She raised one eyebrow. "Let me guess – the boyfriend recently found out about Lacey and Eric."

"Bingo."

The elevator's doors slid open and they headed for the nurses' station. One of the nurses there recognized them from the night before and all the phone calls and brightened. "Good news, detectives," she said. "Her fever's gone down."

Olivia smiled, feeling a flood of real relief. Maybe this was the turning point for Nina and now she had a chance to be okay. "We're here to talk to her parents."

"Okay, I can tell them you'd like to speak to them in the visitors' lounge."

"Actually," interjected Elliot, "just her father. We need to speak to him alone first."

In the lounge, Olivia and Elliot sat in the molded plastic chairs and waited for Eric to appear. They had chosen a far corner of the room; a smattering of visitors occupied a few of the other seats. Some held flowers and stuffed animals, several children were drawing with crayons. Everyone looked dazed and muted. Briefly, Elliot thought about the children they were visiting. Of all the PICU patients there, was Nina's story the worst? He didn't feel qualified to guess.

Finally, Eric came in, looking exhausted and rumpled. He raised a hand in silent greeting and slid into a seat facing Elliot and Olivia.

"We heard that Nina's fever went down," offered Olivia.

He nodded. "Yeah, Mel says that's really good. Maybe she'll wake up soon – I don't know, she looks the same as this morning to me." He studied his hands, folded between his knees, then looked up at them. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Elliot took a big breath. "Eric, we know you weren't at a department meeting last night."

He swallowed, watching them, then looked down again. "Okay." Olivia could see that he was totally drained – he didn't even have enough energy for convincing denial.

"You were with Lacey Goldstone. Who is a sophomore student at Hudson. You've been seeing her for a few months."

He sighed. "Did the sitter tell you?"

Elliot skipped right over this – he saw no reason to tell Eric that Maureen was their real source of information. "This leaves us wondering why you would give us a false alibi."

Eric's face jerked. "What are you saying? I was with Lacey. I lied to protect Melanie, not because I had anything to do with … this!"

Olivia had to close her eyes momentarily to keep from rolling them … wouldn't he have protected his wife more effectively by not cheating on her in the first place? Disgusting.

Eric was just getting started. "And what are you people doing, wasting time on my private life? It's completely irrelevant! Wouldn't that time be better used looking for my daughter's rapist?!" As he voice rose, several of the other people in the room looked over. One woman dropped the teddy bear she was clutching.

"Calm down, Mr. Pressman." Olivia sat up straight and gazed at him, completely unruffled. "You might think your affair is irrelevant, but that may not be true."

"What are you talking about?"

Elliot sat back. "Do you know another Hudson University student named Zack Colliver?"

He looked from one detective to the other. "No. He's never been in a class of mine. Why?"

"We'll get you a picture of him soon to see if you know his face," replied Elliot.

"Who is he? Do you think he raped Nina?"

"He's Lacey Goldstone's boyfriend," said Olivia.

Both detectives noted that Eric didn't seem all that surprised to hear that Lacey was involved with more than one man. His eyes probed Elliot's face. "Is he violent? Is that why he's a suspect?"

Elliot hesitated for a moment. "…He has a history of sexual assault. He's being interviewed down at the station right now. But we don't have a lot of information about him yet, so he's not a suspect at this point."

Eric sat back in the plastic chair, and what color remained in his tired face disappeared. "And if I hadn't been screwing Lacey, this never would have happened." He looked at them evenly. "Is that what you're saying?"

Neither spoke; apparently, Eric had already decided on the answer to his own question. Olivia thought of something. "Whether or not he is connected to Nina's assault, we need to make sure all of you are safe. Where is your other daughter?"

"She's here, she's fine. Mel knows all the nurses and everybody and they're really helping us out with Maya, thank God." He rubbed his temples and looked down at the discolored carpet. "What have I done to my family." His voice was curiously devoid of inflection. "This can't be a secret anymore if this is my fault … I have to tell Melanie."

TBC