Elliot POV

After the cops left, mom came in with one of her spare scrubs and gave them to Ana to wear home, as her clothes had been taken as evidence. While Ana took a quick shower, which she insisted upon, I went to the waiting room, hoping to find mom.

"Hi darling, is Ana ready to leave?" mom asks as she sees me.

"She is taking a quick shower before we leave. Can I ask you something, mom?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart," she says kindly.

"What happened to Hyde?" I ask. I've wanted to know since I saw the medics wheel him out of SIP earlier.

"You know, I can't tell you that. It's confidential information. But you don't need to worry about him, and neither does Ana," she says in that motherly tone that tells me that she won't tell me anything else.

"Fine. Does Ana need anything else before we leave?" I ask.

"I've written her a prescription for some painkillers just in case, and I recommend that she talks to someone about what happened to her, but I already told her that," she responds and hands me the prescription.

"Thanks, mom. I'll go get Ana, and take her back to my place. By the way, where did Christian go?" I ask as I look around the waiting room.

"Good idea, I'll stop by tomorrow and see how Ana is feeling. And your brother just left, I told him we would have a family dinner this and talk about everything," she says, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before getting back to work. Just great... I think to myself.

I go back to Ana's room, but Ana is still in the bathroom, so I sit down and wait for her.

...

As we are pulling out from the hospital's parking lot, I see Ana picking at her nails and chewing on her bottom lip.

"What's wrong, baby?" I ask her, reaching my hand across and holding her hand in mine.

"Nothing," she says quickly and turns away from me while looking out the window but without letting go of my hand.

"Tell me, Ana. Please!" I beg her and pull her hand up to my lips.

"I don't want to stay at my apartment," she whispers so low, I almost didn't hear her.

"Where do you want to go?" I ask her, not telling her that I wasn't planning on taking her there anyway. But she stays quiet, staring out the window.

"How about you stay at my place for a while? We'll just drop by your apartment and get some of your things, and then go to my apartment."

"Thank you. For everything," she says and gives my hand a squeeze while looking at me with tears glistening in her eyes.

As we walk into Ana's apartment, the living room is an absolute mess.

There are clothes everywhere, and just as I am about to ask Ana what the hell happened here, Kate comes out of her room carrying even more clothes and dumping them with the rest of the clothes spread around the room. Do women really need this many clothes?

"Finally, Ana! I have been waiting for you for hours. Where the hell have you been? Doesn't matter, I need your help with all this laundry. I'm exhausted from the vacation, so I really need a little break before I start work next week," Kate says, not even looking at us.

Both Ana and I are just standing there in the door opening, just staring at her. If I didn't already dislike her, this would have definitely done the trick.

"Go get your things, baby, and then we'll go to my place," I tell her quietly.

"But..." she starts.

"No, don't even start. Kate can handle her own laundry, she's a grown woman. Right now, my focus is solely on you, and that's what you should focus on," I tell her meaningfully. She just nods and quickly walks past Kate and into her room.

"Ana won't be able to help, she is staying at my place this week, maybe longer. So you'll have the place to yourself and won't have to share the washer and dryer, giving you plenty of time to get all this done before you start work next week," I tell Kate, not even trying to hide my annoyance with her.

"You can't take my best friend away from me, I need her," Kate says with a sour look on her face.

"Best friend? Are you kidding me? You treat her like a maid, not a friend. Now your so-called best friend has had a horrible day, so she is not staying here, where you will no doubt make her feel even worse," I say, trying to channel my brother the best I can. I walk past her and let myself into Ana's room. We need to get out of here before I say something I can't take back.

Thankfully, Ana is a light packer, and we are soon out the door again and headed for my apartment.

"Thank you for what you said to her up there," Ana says.

"You don't need to thank me, I'm here for you. Even when it's your so-called best friend acting like a spoiled brat," I tell her, hoping I haven't overstepped some arbitrary line.

"I wonder why she is home early," Ana wonders.

"Doesn't matter right now. Let's get upstairs, and then we can call for some takeout, I'm starving,"

I help her out of my truck and grab her stuff from the back before we go upstairs.

After eating some pizza, Ana falls asleep on the couch with her head in my lap. I run my hands through her hair and think about everything that has happened today. I can barely comprehend everything that has happened in the last few hours, and I have no idea what might happen in the next few days.

My thoughts are interrupted by someone knocking on my door. So I carefully get up and place a pillow under Ana's head. When I look through the peephole, I see my brother and Taylor.

"Really Christian, this couldn't wait until morning?" I ask once I've opened the door.

"I'll be quick, Elliot I just need to talk to you for a few minutes," he says; if possible, he looks more exhausted than me.

"Ana is asleep, and I'd rather not wake her," I tell him.

"That's fine, I'll just be a few minutes," he says in a low voice, now he knows Ana is sleeping. Although it isn't necessary, as Ana usually sleeps like the dead. We go to my home office, and I offered them both a drink, Taylor declined as he is on the job, but Christian took the glass and swallowed its contents in one gulp.

"I spoke to Ana's boss Roach, he is given her paid leave for the rest of the week but would like to talk to her tomorrow. If she still wants her job there, it's her's. If she wants to sue the crap out of them, I will help her," he Christian says, business as usual.

"You know Ana's boss?" I ask. I can't even comprehend the rest of the information right now.

"He approached me at a charity event a few months ago, asking if I was interested in going into publishing," he answers.

"He is selling SIP?" I ask.

"He wants to retire sooner rather than later," Christian shrugs. Well crap... That might mean SIP will be sold soon, which could leave Ana with no job.

"I'll talk to Ana tomorrow and see what she wants to do. Thank you for coming over to tell me I hadn't even considered all that," I tell him honestly, pinching the bridge of my nose. My focus had been on Ana, and how she was doing. Christian and Taylor make their leave shortly after, but just before I shut the door and they get into the elevator, Christian turns back.

"By the way, Lelliot, she ruptured one of his balls," Christian grins before stepping into the elevator with his shadow, that is Taylor.

Holy shit! I actually flinch at the thought of that happening to me, but then I can't help my grin, not too dissimilar from my brother's when I think about who it happened to.

I go back inside and carry a sleeping Ana into bed before I get undressed and join her.

...

Ana POV

I jerk awake and sit up in bed, and for a second, I don't know where I am. But as I look around the room, my breathing slows, and my mind clears, I recognize Elliot's bedroom and see Elliot lying next to me. And then everything comes back to me, everything that has happened in the last 24 hours. I can feel myself starting to panic and struggling for breath. Elliot must have heard me because the next thing I know, I am wrapped in his arms and sitting in his lap.

"Deep breaths baby, follow my breathing," he murmurs, kissing my hair. Slowly my breaths even out, and my body sags against Elliot.

"I'm sorry, I woke you," I whisper, feeling bad that I woke him from his sleep, but at the same time grateful, as I'm not sure I could have gotten through that without him.

"Nothing to apologize for, I'm here for you, Ana Banana," he vows earnestly. I just nod my head in understanding and snuggle back into him, not quite ready to separate from him yet. Sometimes I forget that we haven't even known each other that long, I feel like I've known him for years.

Since it was 5 AM when we woke up, there is no reason to go back to sleep. Elliot gets up at this time most days anyway, and there was no way I was going back to sleep. Once Elliot's belly made the loudest sound I have ever heard come from the human body, it was time for breakfast. While I cooked some eggs and bacon, Elliot toasted some bread for us, and before long, we were sitting at the breakfast bar eating breakfast. Or Elliot was eating, I was mostly pushing the food around on my plate, only eating a few bites.

"Ana, you have to eat something," Elliot says when he sees my plate is mostly full, whereas his plate is empty.

"I can't my stomach is in knots... What am I going to do about work now, I'll have to start looking for a new job..." I start rambling, suddenly overwhelmed with everything that has happened.

"Hey, take a deep breath," Elliot interrupts me before I go into panic mode.

"Christian actually stopped by last night after you fell asleep. Apparently, he knows the owner of SIP, and you've been given paid leave for the rest of the week. Your job is still there if you want to continue working there. Christian also offered to help sue them if that's what you want to do, and I'm sure our dad would help too," Elliot continues.

"Woah, that was a lot of information in 30 seconds," I mumble, not quite sure what to do.

"I know, but I didn't want to wait too long to tell you."

"And I appreciate that I just don't know what to do..." I sigh.

"Crap! Did you call my dad last night?" I ask Elliot.

"I tried, but he didn't answer his cell, it went straight to voicemail, so I left him a message to call me when he got my message," he says.

"He probably forgot to charge his phone again, I'll try him now," I say as I get up to retrieve my phone from the charger in the bedroom. I dial his number and press call. I'm not sure whether I prefer he not pick up his phone or to have him pick it up and get it over with.

"Steele," my dad says in his usual no-nonsense voice.

"Hi dad,"

"Annie! I'm glad you called, how is the big city?" he says, I can't practically hear his smile over the phone. That's not going to last long...

"Umm, I called because I have to tell you something," I mumble the last part.

"Did that boy do something?" he asks harshly.

"What? No, of course not. Everything is great between Elliot and me," I tell him quickly, hoping to calm him down just a bit.

"Then what is it, sweetheart?" he asks.

"Something happened yesterday, and I need you to let me finish before you say anything or start asking questions. Please!" I beg him. I'm sitting on the couch in the living room with Elliot next to me, rubbing my back with one hand and the other holding mine.

"My boss attacked me yesterday at the end of the day. We were the only ones still in the building, or at least on that floor. I managed to fight him and was escaping out of his office when Elliot's brother Christian and his CPO showed up and helped. I'm okay, other than a few scratches and bruises." I say quickly, hoping he understood it as I'm not sure I could get myself to repeat it.

"You promise me that you're okay?" he asks, although I can hear he is struggling to stay in control.

"I promise, dad!"

"Good, I'm glad you're okay, sweetheart. Are you with Elliot right now?"

"Yes?" I tell him.

"Why don't you give him the phone? I'd like a word with him," he says in a scarily calm voice.

"Dad, I..." I try.

"Annie, just give Elliot the phone," he interrupts me, and I reluctantly hand Elliot the phone and tell him that my dad wants to talk to him.