Drake and Taylor arrive at the hospital and run down the hall to meet up with Beth. A few people from fire rescue are also there. The only thing that Drake knows is that Gosalyn was hurt. He wasn't given any details over the phone. This could mean a number of things, and these things have been running through his mind over and over again since the moment he got the call from Gwen to come to the hospital. She could have gotten hurt at soccer, or dance. Maybe she broke a bone or hit her head. Maybe she was involved a car accident. He reaches his wife and immediately questions her about his daughter.
"Where is she, where's Gosalyn?" He roughly takes both of Beth's hands in his and waits for her to answer.
Beth raises her head up and then slowly lowers it before answering him. "She's in with the doctors" Drake lets go of her hands and attempts to rush toward the exam room, but Beth stops him. "Drake, wait you can't go in there. You can't go in there" She is able to get him to face her again and she takes his hands in hers.
"Beth what happened to my daughter?" He asks her.
"There was a fire downtown. She wasn't burned or anything but she inhaled a lot of smoke. Gwen said she was unconscious when they brought her in."
Drake takes a moment to think about what his wife just told him. "A fire"
Beth nods.
Gwen and another doctor join them to talk about Gosalyn's condition. They tell them that she inhaled a lot of smoke, and they won't know anything more until she wakes up. Drake is angry. He immediately wants to find out what happened and he wants somebody to blame.
"What was she doing downtown?" He asks them.
"She was rehearsing with Javo" Gwen answers him.
Beth has one hand on Drake's back and the other on his chest, hoping that her touch will calm him down. But it doesn't work. He raises his voice and starts to pace as he tries to get more answers.
"She was rehearsing, so…. so that means Bree was there with her, right?" Gwen shakes her head. "Why not! She is a child, she's supposed to have adult supervision!" Nobody says anything. Drake looks around and notices that Bree is not there. He throws his arms up in the air. "Where is Bree?"
"She's trying to contact Javo's family to let them know what happened" Gwen says.
"Can we go in and see Gosalyn?" Beth asks.
Drake and Beth slowly enter Gosalyn's room. It is quiet, with the exception of the machines that beep once in a while. She has a mask over her face and her eyes are closed. She has black soot marks on her face and on her arms from being in the fire. Drake sits in the chair next to her bed and holds her hand.
"Hey Sweetheart. Daddy's here." He says to her softly.
/
Gosalyn opens her eyes and finds herself in a quiet peaceful existence. She looks around, hoping to see something familiar. She hears a familiar voice calling for her, but she doesn't see anyone. She brushes it off and continues to look around. A few seconds later she hears another familiar voice calling for her, a voice she hasn't heard in a really long time. This prompts her to turn around.
"Your turn Gozzy"
Gosalyn's eyes are wide open as she eyes the older male smiling back at her. "Grampa?"
/
At the hospital, the fire marshal speaks with Drake, Taylor and Beth. He tells them that the kids in the downstairs apartment were playing with matches and that is what started the fire. Drake doesn't understand what Gosalyn was doing there, since that isn't Bree's studio. Bree appears and is immediately questioned by Drake.
"Bree, what's going on? Why wasn't Gosalyn at your studio?"
Bree is out of breath, but does her best to answer Drake's question.
"Javo and Gosalyn wanted more rehearsal time. Our studio was full so they used a space that a friend of mine owns downtown."
"What happened to Javo?" Beth asks her.
"Yeah, is he here?" Drake adds.
"He's in a coma. I wasn't able to reach his family" Bree answers.
Gwen and two detectives join the ducks and they introduce themselves.
"Detective Mallard? I'm Detective Marsh and this is my partner Detective Gallo."
Drake shakes hands with the female and male detectives and gives them a confused look. "I know, you're in Special Victims. My daughter was in a fire. I don't see why you were brought into this case."
Gwen approaches Drake to explain. "Drake, um, when fire rescue found Gosalyn in the building… they said she wasn't wearing any clothes."
Drake looks at Gwen wide eyed but he doesn't say anything.
/
Gosalyn continues to stare at the older male duck before her. She cannot believe her eyes. She rubs them really hard and opens them again to make sure that what she is seeing is real. She doesn't say anything. She continues to watch the older duck as he walks around with a golf club in his hand.
"Well don't just stand there" He says in a friendly voice. "It's your shot Gozzy"
She looks over at the golf ball on the ground. "I'm green" she says as she starts to remember playing mini golf with her grandfather. "You always let me be green"
"It's our favorite color" He adds. "Be a dear and hand me my blue ball, would you?"
Gosalyn fetches the blue ball from the hole and hands it over to her Grandfather. She looks at him again very carefully and tries to figure out how this is possible. She tries to remember the last thing that happened to her, but she can't. She starts to think about where she is. Everything around her is peaceful. And white.
"What is this place? Where are we?" she asks him.
"We are nowhere and everywhere" he says.
Gosalyn considers his answer. "Grampa, am I dead?"
"Not yet" he says to her as he places his ball on the tee. "Well now, if you're not going to take the next shot I guess I will"
"If I'm not dead then what am I doing here?" She asks him.
The professor hits the ball and it stops a foot away from the whole. "You're playing mini golf with your Grandfather. And you're losing. You better step up your game there little one."
"Are you kidding? I can run circles around you at this game. Hand over that golf club" she says as she takes the club from the professor.
/
Drake sits in a waiting area with Beth, Gwen, Bree and the Special Victims detectives. He was just told that his daughter wasn't wearing any clothes when she was found in a fire.
"This doesn't make any sense, why would she be naked?" He asks.
"We don't know" the female detective answers him. "That's what we need to find out. We need to talk to her as soon as she wakes up and see if she remembers anything"
"What about Javo, was he wearing any clothes?" Beth asks
"He was partially clothed" the male detective answers this time. "We've asked the doctors to run blood tests on both of them to see if they had any drugs in their system"
"We need your consent for them to run a rape kit" the female detective adds.
Drake starts to lose his cool again "Are you saying my daughter was raped?"
"I know this is hard to hear, but if she wasn't wearing any clothes it's very likely she was raped" The female detective says.
Drake stands up and grabs his head. "I…. I can't believe this. How…. how could this happen? She was… she was rehearsing and.. and.. and….." Drake looks over at Bree and starts to yell at her. "You were supposed to be there with her. Why weren't you there?
"Drake, I'm sorry….." Bree starts to apologize but Drake won't have it. He becomes distressed and continues to lash out at her.
"Sorry? You're sorry? My daughter was raped, is sorry supposed to fix that?"
"Drake, calm down" Beth stands up next to Drake and puts her hands on him.
"I will not calm down" He shouts "My daughter is a minor, she's supposed to have adult supervision when she's rehearsing"
"Javo is an adult" Bree says
"What?"
"He's nineteen" she says. "And he has a teaching certificate, which means he can hold a dance class without any other supervision"
"You paired my fourteen year old daughter up with a nineteen year old? My god what were you thinking?"
"Drake, this is not Bree's fault" Gwen steps in to defend her sister. "Now, I'm upset about this too, but attacking Bree is not going to fix this, and it's not going to help Gosalyn"
"She's right Honey, you need to calm down" Beth says as she rubs his back. "When Gosalyn wakes up she's going to need our support"
Drake looks over at the detectives. "I want to be there when you question her" he says calmly, even though every inch of him is consumed with anger.
"Drake, I don't think that's such a good idea" Beth says to him as she continues to rub his back.
"She's right" the female detective adds "She might not be as open about what happened if you or your wife are around"
"I'm her father. And I'm not going to let you question her without me there" he says coldly. They watch as he walks away from them.
/
Gosalyn finishes a round of mini golf with her grandfather. She cheers as she comes out on top.
"Yes! Ha! I am still undefeated"
"I could never beat you at this game" he says to her.
"You sure you never let me win?" she asks him.
"I wish I could say I did. Truth is you were always good at any sport that you played. You're a natural kid"
Gosalyn's big smile fades as she observes her surroundings again. Everything is white, and there is nobody else around. She knows that her grandfather is dead. She had allowed herself to forget that for a short while and enjoyed playing a round of mini golf with him. But she knows that all dreams must come to an end. "Grampa? I need to know what's going on" she says sadly. "I need to know why I'm here. If I'm not dead, does that mean I'm dying?"
"That's entirely up to you, little girl blue" he says to her.
"I don't get it. How is it up to me if I live or die?"
"Gozzy listen, something pretty bad happened to you, and it brought you here. And me? Well I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet you half way"
"Half way to what?" she asks.
"You're kind of in limbo right now. And you have a pretty big decision to make. I want you to think long and hard before you make it"
"Okay?" she says. Gosalyn is very confused but continues to listen to her grandfather.
"You're still young Gozzy, and you have a lot of life ahead of you. I know it's been a really tough run for you so far, and it's only going to get harder. You are so strong and you inspire other people to be strong. And boy… your spirit… it's gotten you through some pretty tough times, and I know it will continue to do that. The question is, do you want it to?"
Gosalyn takes some time to think about what her grandfather said. She has had a tough life. Her mother died when she was a baby. Her grandfather died when she was six. Her biological father is a dangerous criminal. She's had to live in an orphanage and survive multiple kidnappings and abandonment. She's escaped death more times than she can count. She's had to face so many obstacles and challenges in her short life. She's tired and the easy thing to do would be to give up. She looks up at her grandfather. "What if I don't want to go back? What if I want to come with you?"
"I don't believe for a second that that's what you want" he tells her.
"Gosalyn" she can hear a voice calling for her.
"What's that?" she asks. She looks over at a screen and can see herself in a hospital bed with Drake at her side. He is holding her hand and talking to her. She takes a few steps closer to the screen and her eyes and beak are open. "Dad?"
"I knew he was the right person to take care of you. That is why I am at peace" the professor says with a smile.
"Grampa, I don't look so good. And neither does he. If anything happens to me…" Gosalyn thinks about the time she spent in the future when she encountered Darkwarrior Duck, the overly obsessive vigilante who took crime fighting to the extreme. She knows that her father won't do well without her. She knows what she needs to do. She turns to look at her grandfather.
"Grampa, if I go back, will I remember any of this?"
"You'll remember me, but you won't remember this" he says to her. Gosalyn gets emotional and tears start running down her face. "Ah don't cry Sweetheart" He pulls her into a hug.
"I miss you so much. It's not fair" Gosalyn cries.
"Life isn't fair Sweetheart. And neither is death. I might not be alive anymore, but I am always with you. The fact is you are not meant to go with me today. And not anytime soon"
Gosalyn pulls out of the hug and looks up at her grandfather. She still has tears in her eyes. "I miss you Grampa"
The professor bends down to be at her level. "I don't want you to miss me. I want you to remember everything you've learned from me and from your father, and I want you to carry that with you forever. Will you do that?"
"Yes" she says as she wipes tears away from her face.
"Good. Are you ready?"
/
Gosalyn slowly opens her eyes and can hear her father's voice. He's been holding her hand and talking to her. She doesn't understand what he is saying to her, but the sound of his voice is soothing. Drake notices that her eyes are open and he immediately tries to get her attention.
"Gosalyn. Baby, can you hear me? Honey, squeeze my hand if you can hear me" Drake holds Gosalyn's hand with both of his hands. He waits for her to give him a squeeze. She does, and he lets out a big sigh of relief. "Thank you. That's my girl" He kisses her hand and gently rubs it.
Beth and Gwen both walk into Gosalyn's room and are equally ecstatic. Gwen checks her vitals and tells Drake and Beth that her numbers are improving. Drake gently runs his hand through Gosalyn's hair. She slowly opens and closes her eyes until she is fast asleep.
"We should be able to remove the mask soon" Gwen tells them. "We just need to make sure she's getting enough oxygen"
Beth puts her arms around Drake and holds him as they both smile at Gosalyn. They are both relieved that Gosalyn is improving. They know that they will have a challenge to face when she is able to talk. They will need to face what happened to her, and they will need to help her face it too. "One step at a time Mallard" she says to him softly.
/
It is morning, and Drake is sitting in Gosalyn's hospital room. He is sleeping in a chair a few feet away from her bed. Gosalyn slowly wakes up and looks around. She no longer has the mask on her face, and her face and arms are clean. Drake opens his eyes and notices that Gosalyn is awake. He moves his chair closer to her bed and holds her hand.
"Hey Sweetheart. How are you feeling?"
Gosalyn opens her beak to speak, but her throat is dry. "Water?" Her voice is raspy. Drake pours water into a cup with a straw and helps her drink from it. He puts it aside and waits for her to speak. "I think I had a dream about Grampa"
Drake is speechless. Gosalyn hasn't mentioned her grandfather in quite some time. "Really? What was the dream about?"
Gosalyn takes sometime to think before she answers him. "I don't remember" She looks around the room and things start to come into focus. "Why am I in the hospital?"
Drake thinks about what he should say to her. He knows that SVU will want to question her about what happened. He doesn't want to interfere with their case. The father in him wants to just hold her and protect her from what happened to her, but the detective in him knows that a proper investigation is needed if they want justice. "There was an accident, and you got hurt. But you're awake now, and everything's going to be okay" he says to her.
/
Drake is in the hospital hallway with Beth and the SVU detectives. He confirms that Gosalyn is awake but he does not feel it is the best time to ask her about what happened to her.
"Can't we do this without her?" He asks them. "Gosalyn is only fourteen. Can't you get him on statutory rape?" Drake can't even believe he is having a conversation involving his daughter and rape in the same sentence. Beth can feel his distress and puts her hands on him.
"We can, but it will be a much longer sentence if she helps us" the female detective says.
They are able to convince him that they need to do it now, or they won't be able to build a case and help her get justice. Drake walks into Gosalyn's room with the detectives. She is sitting up and she is starting to get more color in her face. The female detective introduces them. "Hi Gosalyn, I'm Detective Marsh, and this is my partner Detective Gallo.
"Hi" she says to them
"Will it be okay if we ask you a few questions?"
Gosalyn shrugs her shoulders. "Sure" She really has no idea why detectives are there to ask her questions.
Detective Marsh sits in the chair next to the bed. She looks up at Drake before she proceeds. He backs off and walks over to stand closer to the door. "I need you to tell me everything you remember about yesterday"
Gosalyn thinks for a few seconds before she responds. "Yesterday? I went to school, then after school I went for a run, and then I had dance rehearsal"
"Do you remember anything about dance rehearsal?"
Gosalyn thinks for a few seconds again. "No, not really. I don't even know how I got here. Dad won't tell me what happened"
Marsh sighs. She looks Gosalyn in the eye as she talks to her. "There was a fire at the dance studio, and you inhaled a lot of smoke"
"A fire? Again?"
"Yeah, fire rescue got you out of the building and brought you here. You were unconscious. There's something else you need to know" Marsh hesitates before she has to tell Gosalyn the worst part. She's been an SVU Detective for many years, but it never gets easier, especially when the victim is a child. "When fire rescue found you in the building, you weren't wearing any clothes"
Gosalyn's eyes grow wide. She looks over at her father. He looks at her and she can see the pain in his face. He is not able to hide it. She immediately starts to feel uncomfortable and scared. She thinks this over for a few seconds and decides to hide behind denial. "No, that can't be right. Why wouldn't I be wearing any clothes? That's ridiculous"
"Gosalyn, did you have sex with Javo?" Marsh asks her flat out.
"No" Gosalyn snaps at her. "No, I have a boyfriend and I would never cheat on him" Gosalyn starts to doubt herself. She cannot remember exactly what happened, and that scares her. What if she did have sex with him? After all, she did find him attractive. She allowed him to do things to her. She didn't stop him and she didn't tell anyone.
Marsh keeps pressing her for the truth. "Okay, is it possible that he forced you to have sex with him?"
Gosalyn shakes her head. "No"
"But you don't remember" Marsh points out. Gosalyn freezes and can't think of anything else to say. "Listen, we're here to help you, okay? We're on your side, but we can't help you if you don't tell us what you know"
"I really don't remember anything" she says as she crosses her arms tightly across her chest.
"Okay" Marsh says. "I want you to think about something, okay? There is an exam that the doctors can do. It's called a rape kit. They'll be able to determine if you've had sex in the past forty eight hours. And there isn't really a big window of time for them to do this exam. If they don't do it right away, any evidence can be lost. And, I'm sure you want the truth"
The SVU detectives leave. Drake sits on Gosalyn's bed. She is deep in thought about what Marsh said to her. "You don't have to do this, you know" he tells her.
"Yes, I do" she says with confidence in her voice. "I wanna know the truth"
/
Gwen is with Gosalyn as the doctor prepares her for the exam. She is very nervous, but Gwen is there to hold her hand through it all. Gwen was her guardian for a few years, so Gosalyn trusts her. At the same time, Gwen is her boyfriend's aunt, so there are mixed feelings there.
Drake is out in the hall pacing. He is by himself since Beth had to leave to check on Jake. He is worried about what the test is going to prove. He thinks about his daughter, and how scared she must be while going through all of this.
The doctor starts the exam, and Gosalyn immediately flinches. Gwen is there for her and encourages her to squeeze her hand anytime she feels discomfort. After the exam, the doctor takes pictures in case they are needed for evidence. After she is finished, she tells Gosalyn to relax and waits for her to get settled. She allows Drake to join them so they can talk about her findings.
"Alright, based on the physical exam, I can say that you've had intercourse in the past twenty four hours" Gosalyn starts to feel scared again. Drake is angry. Gwen puts her head down. They continue to listen to the doctor but neither of them have eye contact with her. "I was able to take samples of fluids and we'll have them tested at the lab. I also checked finger nails on Javo and on you and didn't find anything. No defensive wounds on you or on Javo, which means that we won't be able to show that you tried to fight him off"
Gosalyn is numb. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't cry. She just feels numb.
Drake is at a loss. He cannot believe that this is happening. "What about the toxicology reports? Did they come back yet?" he asks her.
"Yes they did. I'm sorry but they didn't find anything in her system" the doctor confirms. "I'm really sorry but I have another appointment that I need to get to. If you have any other questions you can call me, I'll be happy to answer them for you"
Drake is furious. He refuses to believe that his daughter willingly had sex with Javo. But the alternative isn't much better. Gosalyn looks over at Gwen and shakes her head. "You… can't tell Skyler about this. Please"
Gwen also shakes her head. "No, I can't. I'd be breaching confidentiality. Excuse me" Gwen leaves the room and starts to cry when she reaches the hall.
Gosalyn is still in shock. She still doesn't cry. Drake doesn't look at her. He is standing about six feet away from her and he is staring at the wall. Gosalyn looks up at him but she doesn't say anything. What can she say? She is confused and embarrassed. She feels violated and scared. She doesn't remember any of it, and that is what scares her the most.