Thanks to lily moonlight and Aly for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the last chapter!

Chapter Nineteen: Unhelpful

Rockford Police Department, Illinois

It was nine in the morning, and the building seemed quiet, unlike normal, busy days at work. Actually, it wasn't busy at all. Along with being quiet, the office seemed to be missing a lot of the employees that worked there, and no one was rushing around with their breakfast or a case file in their hand. It was unusual, and it made her think that she was forgetting something. Maybe it was someone's birthday…

She looked around for Scotty, and found him by a TV, around a crowd of people. She ran over to join him. "Watching television during the job, Valens?" she questioned.

He signaled her to be quiet. She was taken aback by his reaction, but soon she discovered why he was watching the TV.

She listened to the reporter's story about five tornadoes hitting Chicago. Suddenly, the thought of Dr. Lisa Cuddy came to her mind; she had just visited her the day before. "Scotty," she whispered. "Do you think Lisa made it through the storm?"

Scotty shrugged, his eyes still glued to the TV.

She turned to leave, reaching for her coat by her desk. Scotty stopped her. "Lilly, you can't save her. You don't even know where she lives."

"We should know if she's okay," said Lilly.

Scotty glanced at the TV, and then back at her again. "Lil, it's not our job to know that. Right now, we need to focus on working our cases, okay?"

Lilly alarmed by his response. How could he be so insensitive, thinking about their cases instead of Lisa, who could be in trouble? But part of her knew he was right; she didn't think Lisa would be at the hospital, and she didn't know where she lived. She put her coat back on her chair. "What about that detective, Stella Bonasera?" she challenged. "And what about your friend?"

"Again, I don't know her phone number or where she lives," replied Scotty simply. "We can't help her either. And my friend…he either died from the tornadoes or from the cancer by now."

He sounded so negative, like he thought he was helpless and couldn't do anything. He could have helped a little, by reassuring her that Stella and Lisa were okay. And it seemed as if he didn't even care for his friend that he had just visited in the hospital. She pulled him away from the group, where they couldn't hear them talking. She crossed her arms and stared straight into his face. "Why are you acting like this?"

"What do you mean acting like this?" questioned Scotty.

"Your negativity," said Lilly.

"And you have a problem with it?"

"You could be a little reassuring," said Lilly. "It's like you don't even care if the others survived the storm or not!"

"We met Lisa yesterday," said Scotty. "And Stella, we worked one case together, that's it. We never really got along. And we can't go to the hospital, so we can't save my friend."

"You seemed to get along with her just fine when you saw her at the airport. And you've now just given up hope that your friend's alive? And just because we met Lisa yesterday, doesn't mean you can't care for her. Or do you not like her, because she can't hear?"

"That's not true," said Scotty. "It's just this news of the tornadoes, after thinking that nothing like this was going to happen again. I'm still getting over the hurricane, with not being able to see Philly again. I'm sorry Lil, but I just need to be alone for a while."

"You don't have to apologize for it," Lilly snapped. "Just leave. Take all the time you want, if that'll put you in a better mood."

Anger flared in Scotty's eyes, but he didn't say anything. He stalked off, not turning back to look at her. She wasn't entirely infuriated with him, but sent him off so he could reconsider what he had just told her. He didn't seem to care for the others in his life; did that mean he didn't care for her?

She walked over to her desk, sat down, and glanced over to the TV. Work on a case, she thought. We don't even have a case to work on. The storm would delay any cases they were working on anyway, so why should she focus on it? She sighed, yearning to know if the others had survived the tornadoes.

Hope you liked it! We'll see Cold Case again in eight more chapters. The next chapter will have some SMacked in it!