Silver Lining

'I won't get left behind

when the walls come tumbling in

I'll keep climbing,

I'll keep climbing'

The Great Escape

Liv pulled her long blonde hair into a messy ponytail. After finishing her usual morning bathroom routine washing her face, brushing her teeth, applying make-up etc... she walked back into her bedroom where she proceeded to get changed into her uniform with consisted of a white polo shirt, a black skirt which she still thought was a little to short and finally a pair of black pumps.

Hearing the rumble of her belly she knew the next thing on her list was breakfast and luckily for once she had time.

Placing her finished bowl of cereal in the sink along with her mug, making a mental note to wash it up later she glanced at the time again and she realised she still had time so with nothing else to do she decided to make a quick call, even though it would probably be a long shot.

Voicemail. Liv wasn't surprised but at least this time it rang, so she tried a couple more times until finally she got an answer, except the voice that answered wasn't the person she expected.

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Nurse Amanda Hayes sat at the nurses desk as she filled in the documentation of her patients personal affects. Working as a nurse for nearly 23 years she had seen a lot both good and bad. But with having a job likes hers you had to learn to deal with the bad and move on and flourish in good, something over the years she had become quite a pro at however there were sometimes when she found herself unable to and today that came in the form of 22 year old Jessica Manning.

The girl had been brought in over an hour ago and according to her story she had fallen down the stairs, but her injures and the paramedics' story lead herself and the Doctor to believe differently.

Amanda had tried to gently encourage the young beaten girl into telling them the truth reminding her that the police could help her, keep her safe but she was having none of it she just simply smiled the best she could considering the small cheekbone fracture which thankfully for the young girl did not need surgery for, and went on to tell Amanda that she didn't think it was possible for the police to protect her from her own clumsiness.

Experience told Amanda not to push any more so with a reassuring squeeze of her hand she left her alone a horrible unsettling feeling building in her. And that's why she was sitting at her desk reading over her file, it appeared that this was not Jessica's first time in a hospital reciting an accident that didn't match her injures, the only distraction was the vibrating of the phone.

Unable to stop herself Amanda pulled the cell from the plastic bag, the ID flashing Stella. Amanda was all for respecting Jessica's choices, until the boyfriend had showed up. Just looking at him made her skin crawl and his attitude towards herself and the other Nurses left a lot to be desired. But what really made Amanda feel sick to the stomach was when she saw his bloody and bruised knuckles, the only sign that she had inflicted some sort of harm on him, even if it was her body rather than her own fists that had caused the damage.

Unable to help herself and hoping that maybe this Elle might be able to help Amanda found herself crossing a professional line.

"Hello."

"Who's this?" Amanda heard the concerned voice on the other end ask.

"My name is Amanda Hayes. I'm a Nurse at Hospital in Charming." Although Amanda wasn't sure what reply she expected, she had at the very least expected one and not the dial tone she was now hearing.

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Liv hung up. She didn't need to hear any more. She was in the hospital meaning he had beat on her and badly. Racing back to her bedroom she pulled her duffel bag from underneath her bed and frantically pulled some clothes from her dresser and closet before grabbing the essentials from her bathroom cabinet.

Grabbing her purse, house keys and jacket off her two seater cream couch she rushed towards the front door. In her haste to get out of her apartment and to Jessica's bed side, her bag caught the edge of the small table near the door causing both the table and it's contents including a glass bowl to come crashing to the floor.

Liv stared at the mess in front of her for a moment or two before deciding the broken mess in Charming was more important than the one currently in front of her.

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An hour and fifteenth minutes later thanks to good traffic and a lead foot she arrived at .

"Hi, can you help me I'm looking for Jessica Manning." The receptionist looked from her computer and up at Liv, who's cheeks where flushed from rushing around. "I'm her sister." Liv added when she saw the questioning look on her face.

"Second floor follow the yellow line. She's in room 456."

Liv shouted her thanks as she ran towards the nearest elevator to take her to the second floor. As she rounded the corner following the yellow line like she had been told Liv quickly turned around when she saw Danny stepping outside of her room. A quick glance over shoulder she noticed him pull out a smoke and his cell, this was her chance.

Once he had disappeared from sight she rushed to room 456. Her breath caught in her throat when she took in her friends appearance. Ugly bruises littered her pale skin, her arms, neck, face and probably many more lay obscured from view. This was one of the worst beatings she had seen him give her.

"Liv." Jessica croaked as she tried to sit up.

"Hey sweetie." Liv moved over to her bed helping her friend.

"What are you doing here?...He's coming back if he finds..."

"He wont. I just saw him leave."

"Liv..."

"You think you can get out of bed?" Jessica looked at her in confusion. "I'm getting you out of here Jess. So I'm gonna need you to help me out here okay." Liv looked into her watery eyes. She thought she was going to argue with her tell her no, that it was a mistake he didn't mean it, he loves her just like she had done many times but this time Jessica spoke no words in his defence instead she closed her eyes her tears falling and nodded her head. "Good girl." Liv could feel her own tears threatening to fall.

Jessica stepped into the pumps that Liv hand brought for her. Carefully removing the IV Liv removed her jacket and helped Jessica into it. Throwing her arm around her shoulder Liv took on Jessica's weight, which wasn't much, and gently lead them towards the door, only to have it swing open in their face.

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Amanda was doing a routine check on one her patients when she got the page. Finishing up she quickly made her way to the reception desk. She had asked the young receptionist, Kelly to page her immediately if anyone came looking for Jessica Manning.

After a brief conversation with Kelly Amanda headed straight up to the young girls room, and upon entering she found someone who by the looks of it was trying to make a quick escape with the young girl.

"Stella?"

"No." Liv answered but Jessica quickly corrected her knowing why the Nurse had thought that.

"Yes she is." Liv looked towards Jessica in complete confusion then she remembered, this is what she did, if she had a number on her that she didn't want Danny to know about she would use a fake name something that usual rhymed with the persons actual name. Stella, Bella it all made sense.

"Follow me." Amanda said as she held the door open for the two of them.

Liv hesitated for a moment before her brain finally kicked in and realised that this woman was actually here to help them. Securing her hold on Jessica she headed for the door. Once outside Liv followed the nurse towards the elevator. No words were spoken as they made their escape but the heaviness on what they all were doing weighted heavily in the air.

Once they finally made it outside, to the back service entrance Amanda turned towards Liv.

"Where's your car?"

"Over there." Liv answered pointing to the far side of the parking lot.

"Bring it round." Amanda knew that she didn't want to leave Jessica and to be honest she didn't blame her but on a medical term Jessica could not and should be walking that far.

"Bring it round I'll wait with her." Liv looked between Jessica and this Nurse who right now she couldn't quite figure out. She was torn between trusting a stranger something she had never been good at and something she had always been told not to do or the survival of her friend someone who she looked upon as a little sister. Once last look at the ever weakening form of Jessica Liv knew she had no choice.

"I'll be two seconds." Liv promised as she cupped Jessica face in her hands. "Two seconds." With a peck on the forehead she ran to her truck.

Scrambling to her truck she floored it towards the service entrance where she had left her and thankfully they were both still there. Leaving the engine running Liv stepped out on her truck and helped Amanda get Jessica into the passenger seat. Once she was strapped in safely Liv started to make her way to the drivers seat only to be stopped.

"Here." Amanda opened the brown bag she had been carrying since she entered the room and pulled out the first bottle of pills and shoving it in the blondes face. "She needs to take two of these every four hours." She let her take a quick look at the label before depositing it back into the bag and pulling out another. "Then she needs to take two of these every six hours." Again she put the bottle back into the bag and shoved it towards the younger woman. "It will help with the pain. Her phones inside to."

"Thanks." Liv took the bag and jumped into the drivers seat slamming the door shut. But before she pulled away She wound down her window and called over to the nurse. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I wished someone had helped my Mom." With that Liv watched as she disappeared back inside.

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"Where are we going?" Jessica crocked.

"Like I said I'm getting you out of here, I'm taking you home."

Immediately Jessica felt her heart stop, her mind flashing back to events that had led her to the state she was in.

After she had closed the door on Happy she went to head upstairs and finish getting ready for work when she heard the front door open. The smile that spread across her face when she saw her boyfriend open the door rapidly vanished when she saw the anger on his face.

His didn't say a word before he landed the first hit, a backhand across the face. Then he accused her of having an affair with the man who had shot him only six months ago, her denial earnt her another blow, this time he smashed her head against the wall. After 10 minutes of relentless hits she finally broke and the words were spilling from her mouth before she could even stop them.

"Your home?" Liv let her eyes leave the road so she could look at Jessica, the sound of her voice causing unease in her.

"Yeah."

"We can't."

"What do you mean?" Jessica suddenly started to cry uncontrollably. Pulling over as soon as she could Liv cut the engine and turned to face the younger girl. Taking her hand in hers. "Sweetie what is it?"

"He..I'm sorry I...I..He knows...I..." Moving her hand from hers Liv cupped her cheek, forcing Jessica to look at her.

"You need to calm down. Deep breaths." After a couple of deep breaths together Jessica had clearly calmed down, giving Liv the opportunity to ask more. "Does he know where I live?" Jessica nervously nodded her head.

"I didn't want to tell him but he thought I was having an affair with him." Jessica took hold of Liv's hand that was resting on her cheek and squeezed it tightly. "I'm not he wasn't there for me, he came for you he wanted to know where you were, I would never do anything like that to you."

"Who are you on about sweetie who was looking for me?"

"Happy." Liv's mouth literally dropped open at hearing his name. How the hell had Happy got involved in this. "Liv.." Hearing the shaky tone of her friends voice Liv shook herself out of her thoughts.

"Did you tell him where I was?" Jessica nodded her head shamefully, she knew she had broken her friends trust first by telling Happy where she was and then telling Danny.

Liv ran her hand over her face. Her mind was racing and right now she was unable to lock onto an emotion because she didn't know how she felt about it, about him, about him wanting to know where she was. Hearing the heavy rattled breathing beside her Liv turned to look at her friend and whatever she was feeling she put on the back burner, her friend needed her and that was what was important right now. Happy could wait.

"It's okay, look that's not important right now. We need to get you somewhere safe."

"But Liv I need you know I would never..."

"I know." Liv looked back to the road as she started the engine. "I know."