A/N: Thank you for all the reviews so far guys! They're muchly appreciated, and just so y'all know the bit in italics is supposed to have been from the previous day…if that makes any sense lol.


"I can't just sit here Sam." Luka complained. "She was supposed to have picked her up at six - thirty, and its nearly eleven."

Sam bit her bottom lip, she had heard about Abby's 'problems' at work, everyone had been talking about it behind her back.

"Okay you can go look for her, but if you can't find her by midnight…"

"Okay I get it." Luka said kissing Sam. "I'll see you in an hour."

Sam made her way upstairs to check on the sleeping children. Alex had given up most of his bead to Emily, who was sleeping comfortably in one of Sam's shirts, Alex on the other hand was hanging off the bed. Sam lifted his arms and legs and placed them under the covers, kissing his forehead.

"She doesn't mean to do it." Alex said just as his mother was about to leave.

"Who doesn't mean to do what?" Sam whispered going back to the bed and kneeling down to her sons level.

"Abby." Alex said very matter of fact. "Emily was telling me. She told me loads."

Sam got up and pulled him out of bed by the arm and out onto the stairs.

"Mom what are you doing?" Alex said loudly thinking he was in trouble.

"Sh! I don't want to wake Emily." Sam closed the bedroom door to." What exactly did Emily tell you?"

"I can't tell you. I promised her."

"Alex, Abby might be in trouble. You need to tell me everything you know." Sam said shaking him slightly.

Alex sighed and hesitantly looked over to his bedroom door as if he were telling his mother top government secrets. "Well sometimes Abby leaves Emily on her own at night, and when she comes back she's drunk. But Emily's always in bed and Abby thinks she's asleep."

Sam's mouth fell open in shock, she knew Abby had her problems. But she never thought she would ever leave her six year old daughter in her own. "Is that all she told you?"

Alex cringed at his mothers pensive stare, he promised Emily he wouldn't tell. But he also knew how Emily wanted her Mom, and he wanted his bed back to himself. "Once Abby forgot to pick Emily up from school and her teacher Miss Stratford took her home…"

"Okay Emily, lets get you home then." Miss Stratford said to the upset little girl.

Emily and Miss Stratford made their way out to the car, Miss Stratford opened up the passengers side and lifted Emily up into the seat buckling her in.

"I guess Mommy forgot what time it was." Miss Stratford said as she set off. "Because I know that she has a very important job."

Emily was staring out of her window watching as the snow fell. "She's a nurse, at that hospital there." Emily pointed as they drove past county general. She caught sight of Susan who waved confusingly at the little girl. "That's my Aunt Susan." Emily grinned.

They spent the rest of their journey talking about anything. Miss Stratford trying to find out all she could about Emily's home life. And from what she could gather it wasn't a very happy one.

"So are you going to be in our school play this year?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders. "I asked my Mom, but she said she would have to see." She looked disappointingly down at her shoes.

Miss Stratford stopped the car outside of Abby's apartment block. "Well how about I talk to your Mommy about it?"

"Really?" Emily grinned.

Miss Stratford got out of the car and went round to let Emily out. "Sure come on." She said lifting her down and taking her hand.

They made their way up to the forth floor and Miss Stratford knocked on the door. "Mrs. Lockhart." She awaited a response. "Mrs. Lockhart?. It's Emily's teacher, Miss Stratford, I have Emily here with me."

Abby sat bolt up right in bed before flopping right back down. She turned over and glanced at the clock, it was four O'clock. "Shit!" She called out.

Slowly she pulled herself out of bed, and wrapped her robe around her, she opened up her bedroom door placing her bare feet on the cold wooden floor she made her way over to the front door.

When Abby opened up the front door, Emily instantly threw her arms around her mothers waist. "I thought something bad had happened like before." Emily said quietly into her mothers stomach, but not quiet enough so Miss Stratford couldn't hear.

Abby pushed Emily in the direction of the living room. "Thank you for bringing her home. I Ummm… haven't been feeling too well lately. I'd ask you to come in…but…well y'know with the germs and everything." Abby rambled.

"That's perfectly okay Mrs. Lockhart. And it was no problem." Miss Stratford smiled. "Also I was wondering about Emily being in the schools Christmas production."

Abby was rubbing her temples, not really listening to what was being said. "Ummm. Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"Okay great! I can't wait to see you at the production. Goodbye Mrs. Lockhart."

Abby shut the door, and went straight back to bed.

Miss Stratford wrote down what she had just witnessed. She could smell the alcohol a mile off, and as for the state of their apartment, she was going to be keeping a close eye on them.

"Emily told you that?" Sam asked.

Alex nodded his head. "Yeah, Emily said that today all Miss Stratford did was ask her questions…Mom can I go back to bed now?"

Sam kissed the top of his head and let him go back to sleep, making her way downstairs.


Sam stared at the clock, it was five past midnight, just as she was about to call Luka and see where he was he came in through the door.

"Didn't find her them?" Sam asked already knowing the answer.

Luka sighed shaking his head as he hung up his jacket. "I think we should call the police." He said

"I think we should wait until morning." Sam said before she told him everything Alex had told her.


"No, she hasn't woken yet." An echoing voice said.

"Okay, well as soon as she wakes please come and get me." A deeper voice asked.

Abby lay in a hospital bed, she desperately wanted to open her eyes and sit up and say something. But she didn't have any energy to move anything.

She lay there and listened as they discussed what she had wrong with her, it wouldn't have bothered her if she didn't understand all of the medical terms.

She had suffered bruising to her face and chest area, broken a couple of ribs…again, and had a broken wrist and ankle. But she also had teeth marks on her neck. The doctors examining her were talking about her belonging to some sort of cult. Abby wanted to get up and scream, tell them everything. But she was too exhausted to move.


"I'd like to report a missing person." Luka said into the phone receiver. "Yeah, her name is Abigail Lockhart…She was last seen Friday night around six thirty leaving work, she works at the Cook County General Hospital." Luka listened to the person on the other end of the phone.

"She has brown hair about shoulder length, she's roughly 5ft 3 maybe 5ft 4...I know that. I understand that she has to be missing twenty four hours, but she has a six year old daughter who she was supposed to have collected yesterday about six forty--ish…Yes she's fine she's here with me…I am a work colleague…No my girlfriends son goes to the same school as her daughter…No sir I do understand its just she has just got out of an abusive relationship and has started drinking again. My girlfriend and I are worried about her." Luka sighed.

He felt like her was getting nowhere, he had been up half of the night worried about Abby. And now he was extremely tired and starting to get annoyed. "Okay thank you." Luka said hanging up the phone.

"What did they say?" Sam asked.

"Well they're going to alert the police to see if they can find someone who matches her description, I'm going to take a picture down later. Do you think Carter would have one?"

"Yeah probably. Those two were really close for a while."

"But…" Luka started. "Social services are being involved too."

"What!" Sam exclaimed. "No! They can't be Abby will go nuts, so will Carter! You saw what they were like last time."

"Sam its too late, plus they have to know, we can't keep Emily here."

"Well what about Abby's Mom, or even her brother, surely they would want to help." Sam said trying to search for an answer.

Luka laughed slightly "They're not exactly the most reliable of all people, they're both bipolar. She's better off being in care for a while at least until Abby gets back on her feet."

"No Luka! I won't let them! What about Carter he'll look after her I know he would. I wouldn't let them ever put Alex into care and I'm sure as hell I'm not letting them put Emily there." Sam folded her arms and sat back on the couch.

In all honesty Luka didn't like the thought of Emily being put into care, but there was nothing else anyone could do, it was best left for the authorities.


Please review guys! (",)