Thanks to everyone who read and Callisto's Moon, MelsieR, and Ghostwriter for reviewing.

Alex rubbed his forehead. He had no idea what the hell he was doing. Well, aside from staring at Jamie's closed door, obviously. But he was a medical doctor, and no matter what other classes he might have taken to fulfill undergrad requirements, no bachelors level psychology class would ever qualify someone to deal with a badly-abused teenager. Especially one unwilling or possibly even unable to admit that it had happened.

He hadn't even intended to say as much as he had, he'd just wanted to get Jamie talking about the nightmares that had made this past week so miserable.

Well done there.

Jamie still hadn't spoken again never mind shown any sign of emerging from his room, and after a few more minutes of silence Alex sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "Kiddo, I'm going to make myself some tea. How about some chocolate for you? Or maybe a sandwich?"

It was an extremely long shot given that Jamie never ate when he was upset, and Alex realized now that he should have suggested lunch before their talk given how breakfast had gone. Also well done there; his record for the day was just getting better and better.

After another long couple minutes with no response he gave up and headed for the kitchen. Not that he was particularly hungry himself, but he had an overnight shift tonight and experience said that he'd need the energy.

He heard some rustling while he was putting their lunches together, water running which probably meant that Jamie had temporarily escaped to the bathroom, and as much as Alex wanted to intercept him he let it go. At least for now he could give the kid space if that was what he wanted.

It was well past time he got some references for psychologists who were qualified to deal with a history of child abuse, though. Jamie might not want to talk to someone, but it was pretty clear that he needed to. Or he needed someone who knew of some way to help him, anyway.

The bathroom was empty and Jamie's door was shut again by the time Alex had hot chocolate and sandwiches made, and he tapped lightly on the wood again. "Jaim? May I come in?"

Nothing.

"Okay, I'm just going to leave your lunch outside the door. The chocolate's hot, so don't trip over it, okay?"

Alex let himself back into the house with a yawn. It hadn't been a bad shift by any stretch of the imagination, just a long one, with new arrivals at the emergency room spaced out precisely far enough that even if they hadn't been overrun he still hadn't been able to catch any naps between patients. It happened like that sometimes, and while he was younger than some of his colleagues, he also wasn't in his twenties anymore. And he'd been worried enough about Jamie that he hadn't been able to grab a nap yesterday afternoon, either, which hadn't helped.

When Jamie still hadn't emerged from his room by dinnertime yesterday Alex had debated calling in and asking for someone to cover for him, but by that point it had really been too late, and he'd ended up wrapping up the spaghetti, letting Jamie's closed door know that he could call if he needed anything—very much frowned up on by hospital policy, obviously, but these circumstances weren't in any way normal—and gone ahead and gone in. He hadn't felt good about it, but there also wasn't a lot else that he could have done given that an emergency room by definition couldn't go without coverage.

Jamie should be getting up for school soon, though, so he grabbed a quick shower to keep himself awake for a bit longer, and when there was still no sign of Jamie by the time he'd finished he went and tapped on the door lightly. "Jamie, it's time to get up. Do you want pancakes?" Hopefully by now he was both hungry and calm enough to eat something, and Alex certainly had no intention of introducing any more difficult topics of conversation.

No response, and he twisted the knob and stuck his head in. "Jaim?" Jamie's alarm should be going off by now, but he'd forgotten to set it a few times before. And if Jamie was still fast asleep... Alex sighed. As much as he didn't approve of skipping school, if Jamie was finally catching up on the sleep he'd been missing, it might not be the worst idea to let him. He could make sure that Jamie was caught up on his homework and classwork and all of that later.

Jamie's bed was empty, though—a mess, which was why it took Alex a moment to recognize it, but empty all the same—and he frowned and stepped back. The bathroom was open and empty as well. "Jamie?"

He hadn't somehow missed the kid in the kitchen or on the couch, and his previous tiredness faded abruptly. He hadn't been paying much attention when he'd pulled in, mostly just glad to be home, but now that he thought about, it he didn't recall seeing Jamie's bike in its usual spot.

A quick check confirmed that there was no motorcycle in the garage, and he made another, considerably more tense, lap of the house.

It was just barely possible that Jamie had gotten up early and decided to go for a ride, but there were no notes on the dining table or in the kitchen, and Jamie damn well knew by now that he was supposed to leave one when he went out. Nor were there any messages on the answering machine.

Shit.

Alex did one more check of Jamie's room, just to be safe. Despite what he'd hoped there was still no Jamie tucked into any corners, and his backpack didn't seem to be anywhere either which didn't make Alex feel any better. But his duffel was still under the bed, there were still clothes in the closet, his toothbrush and razor were still in the bathroom...those were good signs, right?

He hadn't thought much about it before, probably because he hadn't had any foster parenting classes yet the last time that Jamie had pulled a disappearing act, but attempts to run away had been discussed a few times among his cohort. Mostly relating to older children who either weren't settling in well for whatever reason or who had suffered a sudden, unexpected setback. Which, a setback was probably a good way to describe a week of nightmares and then everything yesterday. But as far as Alex knew Jamie didn't have what he'd consider a safe place to run to, hence him coming to stay with Alex in the first place, so the whole 'running away to the last place he felt secure' thing probably didn't apply. He looked back at Jamie's room. Probably.

Alex made himself stop and take a deep breath. Jamie had been upset yesterday, yes, but he wasn't a stupid kid. The odds were that he'd just decided to go over to one of his friend's houses—Alex had left well before his curfew, after all—and had accidentally fallen asleep there. He should still have left a message if he'd been going over to a friend's house, of course, and he was absolutely going to be grounded for a month when Alex got his hands on him, but him not being here didn't mean that anything had happened.

Hell, Alex had worked the emergency room last night. If a teenager had been brought in, he'd know about it.

Somehow none of that was making Alex feel any better.