Reno was back at his desk, waiting for Rude to show up when the phone rang. "Yeah?" he answered. "She's where? Okay thanks I'll be right there." He got up and was heading out when Rude showed up.

"Where ya going, partner?" Rude asked.

"One of the hospitals called back, Elena's there." Reno replied. "You coming?"

Rude nodded and followed Reno to the car.

"You did what?!" Tseng demanded to know.

"I accidentally gave her two of those pills at once and I thought she was gonna die, so I dumped her near the closest hospital." Reeve explained.

"I'll take care of it. You better hope she doesn't remember anything." Tseng slammed the phone down.

Reno approached the nurses' station. "I'm looking for Elena Strife, I was told she was here."

"Are you a family member?" The head nurse asked.

Reno took out his badge and flashed it at the nurse. "Is she here?"

"Room 209." The head nurse said after checking on the computer. "If she has any family, I suggest you contact them."

Reno thanked her and went to Elena's room, where a doctor was checking on her. "What's wrong with her, Doc?" Reno asked, though he already had a pretty good guess.

"Who are you?" The doctor demanded to know, relaxing once Reno flashed his badge again. "We're not sure of all the drugs she had in her system, which was the main problem, but the other injuries didn't help."

"Other injuries?" Reno was surprised, he assumed it was just another of her ODs.

"She's got wounds on her back, bruising on her legs, and the damage to her genital region is consistent with sexual assault. Someone put this gal through the wringer. At least the drugs probably kept her from feeling any of it." The doctor said before he left.

Reno arranged the chairs so he could sit in one next to Elena's bed and put his feet in the other one.

Rude walked in with a steaming cup of coffee. "You gonna babysit her?" he asked Reno.

"Yep. If you wanna go get back to work, it's okay." Reno said.

Rude shrugged. "I'll be in the cafeteria if you need me." he said and left.

Elena was relieved to see Reno next to her bed when she woke up. He had fallen asleep in the chairs. If she wasn't so weak, she would have pulled on the end of his ponytail like she used to do when they were kids. Instead she just called out his name weakly. He woke up and smiled at her.

"How ya doin', kid?" Reno asked her, taking her hand in his.

"Not good." Elena said. "At least the painkillers are working."

"Who hurt you?" Reno asked, with a dangerous edge to his voice that Elena had never heard before.

"I…I don't remember. I don't think I want to remember." Elena replied.

Just then, Reno saw Tseng outside in the hallway, gesturing to him. "I'll be right back." Reno patted her hand and laid it back down on the bed.

"What's up, Cap?" Reno asked as he joined Tseng in the hallway.

"The doctor and Rude filled me in. Does she remember anything?" Tseng asked Reno, being careful to stay out of Elena's view.

"Nope." Reno answered.

"I don't know if that's good or bad. Word on the street is that she stole fifty thousand dollars from her dealer before disappearing. She's got a price on her head." Tseng told him.

"She's not a thief!" Reno exclaimed.

"Are you sure about that? Even if it's not true, she's still at risk. We'll put her someplace safe when she's released."

"I'll make sure she's safe." Reno said.

"You won't be able to protect her for long, not with how much people are willing to pay to get hold of her.

"I'll take care of her." Reno stated firmly.

Tseng shook his head. "This is over your head, Reno. You don't even have any reason to be involved in this professionally, this isn't your case. I'll suspend you if I have to."

"Suspend me if you have to, but she's my responsibility." Reno left Tseng and went back to Elena's room.