"Mr. Sutton, please understand, if we had known who these young ladies were, I can assure you that we would've alerted you to their being here in this hospital. Alas, we didn't realize, and thus, were unable to reach you." Summer explained hurriedly, as she attempted to keep up with Mr. Sutton's fast pace.

As the door to the hospital bedroom came into view, Summer jumped in front of Mr. Sutton.

"We first need confirmation that you are indeed their father, because…you know, we just simply need to know this type of information." Summer stumbled across her words, "We can't exactly give young girls to every man claiming to be their father."

"Are you a nurse or doctor?" Mr. Sutton asked irritated, as he tried to move around Summer's blockade.

"No, I'm a social worker." Summer handed him her business card.

She wasn't ready for what happened next though.

Mr. Sutton shoved her into the adjacent wall, and breathed into her face, "Exactly what are you implying?"

"Nothing, nothing." Summer tried to unfasten his tight grip around her throat and shoulder.

"You better not be, because otherwise…next time everything will be worse." Mr. Sutton threatened as his voice went deeper.

"What do you mean worse?" Summer croaked. As soon as she said those words, she wished she hadn't.

Mr. Sutton whipped out a knife from within his jacket, and flipping it open, sliced Summer's neck, ever so lightly. Blood began to trickle out from the wound.

"I believe that you understand now." He then let her drop to the ground in a heap.

Mr. Sutton began walking towards his daughters' room, expecting the social worker to attempt to stop him, but she didn't. He turned around to stare briefly at the shapeless heap on the floor.

Summer Adams had fainted.

0oo0oo0

"Do you remember when Mom and Dad used to take us to the state fair?" Ellie reminisced.

"Yeah, yeah, I do." Liz sighed. She was positive that she remembered those occasions quite differently than her younger sister. Liz was glad, however, that her sister seemed to have blotted out the unhappy memories and occasions that she had witnessed. She simply wished she could forget them as easily as Ellie.

"I also remember that quite well. I'm sure I had almost as much fun as the both of you." Mr. Sutton announced menacingly, as he stalked towards them, as a lioness would stalk her prey.

"Dad…" Liz whispered, as she attempted to get out of bed. She turned to see that Ellie had turned almost as white as her new bed-sheets. "You shouldn't be here."

"Oh, did you really think I wouldn't come visit my daughters when they were in the hospital?" Mr. Sutton asked, pretending to be offended; his voice dripping with honey and sarcasm.

"I must admit that I was quite hurt when I found out that I hadn't been alerted to the hospitalization of my two daughters." Mr. Sutton put his hand over his heart, pretending to relive the moments when he was frightened that his daughters might not live.

"Dad, I think you should go." Liz spoke carefully, watching his eyes for any of his tell-tale signs of his dementia.

Finn Sutton's hand sprung from covering his heart to the inside of his coat. "You do, do you? Well now, that ain't exactly the most invitin' thing to say to you own pops." His voice began to deepen, and his accent became more heavily Southern.

Liz gasped. He had a knife. This was far worse than she could've ever anticipated. Ellie and herself were hooked up to the machine that was monitoring different aspects of their body's recovery. She couldn't simply "unhook" herself.

"Dad…" Liz spoke calmly, "I think you should sit down, and maybe have some coffee. The hospital's coffee is surprisingly delicious, strong, and just coffee-ish. It's exactly how you like it." She hoped to convince her father to simply sit down, and let his mind return to a semi-calm state.

Liz paled when she noticed that her father wasn't heading towards her, rather towards Ellie, who looked like a deer caught in the front-lights of a car. "Dad! Stop!"

Finn wouldn't acknowledge his daughter though. He was in his own small world, where he needed to rid the world of his daughters. They didn't have the strength to carry on in life. They needed to be released from the struggles that their lives would bring upon them.

Finn's mind was already beyond help. He couldn't help himself…or maybe he could've.

"Daddy, please no!" Liz sobbed, as she tried to rip the needles sticking into her arms off. "DADDY!" She screamed and tried to lunge for his raised arm, but couldn't reach him; as his raised hand plunged down to bury itself in Ellie's heart. The knife had struck home.

Liz watched everything happen in slow-motion. Her vision began to get blurry as she saw Ellie turn her head towards Liz.

Ellie was looking in Liz's direction, without seeing. Her head sunk into her petite body, as her arms fell limp over the bed's railing.

"No, no, NO! Daddy, no! Why her? Why her?" Liz bawled as she reached her one disconnected arm towards her sister's cooling, limp hand.

She didn't even notice Finn spin around to face her. She didn't see or pay attention to the bedroom door bursting open, nearly ripping it off its hinges, and Mr. Solomon run and tackle Finn Sutton.

She didn't even acknowledge her friends, as they came sprinting through the door, gasping for breath.

All she acknowledged; all that was in her view, was her dead, sweet, little angel of a sister. There was the one thing that she had needed to protect; the one person who had been with Liz through everything, and she had failed her. She had failed the one person who truly knew Elizabeth Sutton.