Elle was sure she'd never be able to stop crying. After a month of pushing herself to be strong while slowly having the strength beaten out of her, being free brought on a rush of emotions like she'd never experienced before. And she couldn't deal with it all. She had been raped, practically starved, beaten, and abused, then rescued, nearly re-captured and now here she was, riding in a cab between one of her very best friends and the man she was in love with but was too scared to tell how she felt to, on the way to a hospital. She was a wreck. Emmett's strong arms were wrapped tightly around her as she cried, huge wet tears that streaked through the dirt on her face leaving long wet trails that snaked down face in the strange, crooked path of tears. Her frail body shook with the sobs she'd held in for so long. Margot was stroking her hair gently, softly whispering words of comfort into her ear.

"Shh, sweetie, we're here. Everything's okay now. We've got you. You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you."

Margot looked at Emmett, who had said nothing the entire cab ride. There was a hard look in his eyes that she had never seen before, and she just knew he was thinking of Callahan. Margot's own face hardened at the thought of that skank. Just let him try to get near Elle again. He was going to wish he'd never seen her before.

Emmett finally spoke.

"Did you hear back from Serena and Pilar yet?" he asked Margot.

"Yeah, they're fine. They saw Callahan's creepy guard people come out they had to get away from the house."

"Okay." Emmett was silent again. His arms tightened, pulling Elle's sobbing form closer. She pressed her face into his chest again, grateful for his warmth and love. She loved how safe she felt when he was holding her. It was like nothing could possibly harm her while she was locked in his arms. How she wished that he could hold her when she wasn't crying. That she could be nestled comfortably in his arms whenever she wanted. But that wasn't possible. There was no way he felt the way she did. Especially not after this. She was a worthless blonde nobody who'd been stupid enough to believe she was smart enough to make it as a lawyer, and he was Emmett. Brilliant, kind, ever helpful, with so much potential, she was lucky he'd even bothered to save her. She didn't deserve his kindness. She deserved nothing.

OMIGODXOMIGODXOMIGODXOMIGODXOMIGODXOMIGODXOMIGODX

The hospital. Elle's stomach was churning, her heart pounding in overtime. What would people think when they saw her? Would all her friends from Boston find out? What if someone she knew was in there? What if they told everyone? How would she ever get back from this? As these terrifying new thoughts occurred to her, Elle's trembling, which had momentarily subsided, redoubled, goose bumps spreading up her arms. Emmett felt helpless as he watched her shivering crying form lying weakly in his arms. All he could do was hold her close and whisper into her ear that everything would be all right.

Emmett carried Elle into the emergency room with Margot close behind. He started to walk up to the desk, then fell short. What did he say to them? That Elle had been abused? That was obvious at first glance. Did he explain the circumstances? Would they suspect him of being the abuser? Emmett brushed that thought aside immediately. He didn't care what they thought as long as Elle was taken care of. Besides, upon professional examination of Elle, it would be obvious that Emmett had never laid a hand on her. He turned to Margot.

"How do we explain this to them?" He jerked his head toward the receptionist's desk. "We don't even know the full story. We have almost no idea what she's been through or what kind of help she needs." Emmett bit his lip. "She's obviously not ready to talk about it. She hasn't stopped crying since we asked her." Margot nodded in agreement.

"I think the only thing we can say is that she's been kidnapped and abused for about a month. We should probably tell them that its Callahan so they can get his ass arrested ASAP." Margot paused to think again. "On the TV shows the police always come to get the victim's statement." She paused again, as a new worry occurred to her. "I hope they're nice police."

The corners of Emmett's mouth twitched momentarily as if he was going to smile. Then he shook his head to clear it and marched up to the receptionist's desk to begin their tale.

A/N: Omigod! I saw the show on Easter! At the matinee! It. Was. Amazing.

And Laura Bell put on her bunny costume for the curtain call. It was so cute! She is seriously my hero.

Anyways, review please!