Joseph sat in the waiting room, hands clasped tightly together, hanging over his knees. He might have been waiting for his death sentence. He thought back to an hour ago. He had gone all the way out to Missouri for his work (yet ANOTHER call from his agent reminding him to be in Jackson Town Hall by eight for another of his concerts). He thought at first the figure on the road was one of his imagination, just a result from fatigue and stress. Upon looking closer, he had realised that this figure was a small girl, perhaps in her teens yet bearing no sign of a teenage body. Indeed, her breasts, from afar, looked thoroughly undeveloped, her arms and legs a skinny, almost anorexic blur as she had ran out towards his car, screaming for all she was worth. He thought back to the movie Hitchhiker, a chilling film about a man who hijacks a family by hitchhiking, but taking a closer look at this strange girl, she did not look dangerous. Her face was a mess, tears and blood mixing like water paint on her face. Oh, her face....it was terror and desperation in its purest form. She had seemed absolutely terrified of him, shaking violently. If she had no parents, no-one to take care of her... He was notoriously known for his generosity towards charities and so on, but adopting a kid, as if she was his own...that was a different story, and one that would surely impact heavily on his family, who were his whole life. He thought of them now, wondering what they were up to, whether Zara had put Ricky and Gina to bed yet, longing for Zara's touch, her warm body lying next to him in bed... He twisted his wedding ring round and round his finger, thinking back to the day him and Zara got married. Joseph had taken care of the bills himself, he was good like that, and after many good graces from Zara's family and closest friends (for she had many) he had married her at last, by the beautiful L'or river, just as she'd dreamed of. He smiled. Mrs Zara Renoir, her dream name, finally made a reality by the man who happened to carry it himself..."Mr Renoir?" Joseph jerked from his fantasies and stood up, startled, feeling the worry and stress seeping quickly back into reality. "Is Cady gonna be okay?" he asked the kind-faced nurse at once, who was smiling serenely up at him. She was short for her age (by the looks of it, mid-fifties) and was one of those people who only looked attractive when they smiled. "Mr Renoir, I am a staff nurse, my name is Jan Marshall. Are you a relative?"

"No, I-I don't even know her, I found her up on Terrace Road, I-"

"Well, perhaps you should still see the pictures for yourself. After all, we checked with Cady's background from a fingerprint scan; this girl has no living relatives whatsoever and you do seem to express some kind of concern for her." Damn right I'm concerned, Joseph thought, she scared me half to death with all that blood. "Now, the scans showed nothing major, but I would like to talk with you about the injuries we did find." The knot in his stomach tightened. What injuries is SHE talking about? he thought, following Jan into a little sidroom right next door to Cady's. "Please sit down," she indicated a chair opposite her desk. He sat. She went over to a kitchen bench and poured out two cups of coffee. "Thankyou," said Joseph, accepting the cup with shaking hands. "Now," she began, taking out some photos of Cady's injuries, "you say you found this girl on Terrace Road?"

"Yes," replied Joseph, nodding and taking a sip of coffee.

"And that she was wearing the same clothes that she was before we put her into a hospital nightgown?" Jan continued, scrutinising his face for a hint of concealment.

"She was wearing a see-through white shirt, uh, long-sleeved, and white underwear." Joseph confirmed, taking another drink.

"Do you know why she was out there late at night?"

"Maybe she escaped from somewhere-"

"And you don't know why there was blood all over her legs?"

"I only saw the cuts in her thighs-"

"And you don't know how they got there?"

"No, I never asked her, she was so tired-"

Why was she tired? Did you give her any form of drug, perhaps to help her sleep?"

"God, no!!" Joseph almost shouted; why was this woman questioning him so suspiciously? "I already told you, I was driving down Terrace, I saw her running like the wind towards my car, and I-"

"Ok," said the nurse, calmly this time, she had decided he was telling the truth. 36 years experience of children and grandchildren had taught her what to look for when seeking the truth out of somebody. "well, from the looks of her, she certainly managed to escape from somewhere. And thank goodness she did, because if she didn't I'm afraid she might've eventually died from the wounds on her body." Joseph choked on his drink.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Well, the lacerations made on her thighs is just the beginning, you see, here," and she pointed to one photograph of Cady's body, "there are other marks around her wrists and neck. The tool that's done this may have been a razor or some kind of knife or glass, which does suggest this could have been self-inflicted-we've seen plenty of THOSE cases. But here-" Joseph's stomach lurched. Where her ribcage was, there were dark purple rings, as if she had been squeezed to death in an iron vice. "here, I don't understand. How can this be self-inflicted? It's as if something's squeezed the life out of her." Joseph insides squirmed. If a nurse of certain qualifications thought so too, it was more than likely true. Joseph was halfway through asking the nurse whether or not that was the worst injury on her body when a blood-curdling scream shattered the silence. He was already halfway to the door of Cady's room.

She woke up in an unfamiliar room, walls huge and white. She started, her body jerking awake as if by another person. Various sheets rustled beneath her, she looked down and gasped. A thin cord trailed from a needle in her arm to a plastic bag containing (what LOOKED like water) on a metal pole. What the hell are they putting into my system?! she thought, panicking. Marco's men haven't done this before! What if they're poisoning me?! Her adrenaline taking over, she ripped the needle from her body, screaming half in agony, half in desperation to flee. The moment her foot touched the floor, there came a tremendous bang. The door flew open, revealing a white-faced Joseph, who was closely followed by Jan. She screamed again, this time kneeling down and covering her entire face with her arms, sobbing wildly, pleading for mercy. "Please, oh god, please don't hurt me, please! I was just scared-"

"Heavens above! What on earth have you done to your line, girl?" the nurse hurried to the aid of Cady, she knelt down and tenderly picked up her arm. Cady couldn't bear it. She slapped her hand away, screaming louder, unaware of the amount of blood that was dripping incessantly from the hole in her arm. "Oh please, please don't hurt me!!" she pleaded, shielding her scarred face from harm that would not come.

"Cady?". A voice, gentle and soft, yet too frightened to function properly, halted Cady in her haste. She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears so crystal, her mouth a trembling mess. Joseph knelt down beside the nurse, who was trying still to re-attach the needle, which was dripping with Cady's blood. "Cady, honey, look at your arm" Cady whimpered. They were too close. Much too close. She backed away. "Cady, please listen to me. Look at your arm".

"Please don't hurt me!" Cady pleaded, meeting the corner of the room and shrinking down inside it.

"I swear on my life I won't touch you, Cady. But please, please look at your arm." Cady's gaze shifted reluctantly from Joseph's and came to rest on her left arm, which was bright scarlet and, now that she paid more attention to it, burning like hell! "W-what did you do to my arm?" she cried, too frightened to touch it.

"No-one did anything to your arm, honey. There was a needle that the doctors put in there to help keep you hydrated. But you pulled it out, didn't you?" He pitied her greatly. Poor kid, he thought, not even one night here and already she's freaking out. "B-but.....I thought...." she gazed enquiringly at the nurse, who shook her head.

"I don't know what you were thinking honey, but it's water. Plain, safe....water." At the word safe, Cady looked once more at Joseph. Hadn't she been craving for something like that an hour ago? Wasn't she wishing she would be somewhere safe before this...Joseph turned up? He reached out towards her shoulder. There was no more backing up to do, the wall would not allow....She just sat there as his warm, reassuring hand came to rest on her shaking shoulder, rubbing it gently, almost motherly. "All done," Jan whispered, picking up the blood-stained cloth that was used to mop up Cady's arm. Cady started. She had been too preoccupied staring at Joseph, his eyes had a way of pulling you in, putting you in a trance. But it was a nice trance; not one that you would read out of a horror book, nor a romance novel, but a trance that kept her calm, still and oddly, warm. Joseph smiled at her. His hand had left her shoulder. Deep down inside she wanted him to hug her, but she knew he would not yield. What kind of person would hug me? she wondered. All I'm good for is...but no. She wouldn't think about that. She had to accept the fact that this man, this Joseph, wasn't part of Marco's crew. THEY did not have a gaze, nor a warm touch to them; rather, their bodies were cold and hard, like an iceberg falling from a waterfall onto a very unfortunate fantail, just passing by. "Up you get, Cady," Joseph whispered, half-lifting her into a standing position. She swayed, her head not quite giving in to the dizziness she felt, but spinning all the same. She clutched onto Joseph for support, who steadied her, as she slowly made her way back towards the bed. "In we go," he said, gently pulling the blankets up to her chin. When did I get in here? she queried, wasn't I on the floor a minute ago? But before she could question any more mysteries that night, the drugs Jan had discreetly given her whilst patching up her arm finally took over, and she drifted off to sleep.

"Will she be ok now?" asked Joseph, watching her closely.

"Oh, she'll be just fine, I gave her a sedative, she'll sleep right through the night". Jan smiled, remembering how she used to put her kids to bed heaven knows how many years ago. They only looked truly innocent when they slept, she mused. "So what now?" Joseph said, as they walked out of the room and back into the side office. Jan sighed and spread the pictures once more onto the desk. "Well, as far as the scans showed, there are no major internal injuries except for...well..."

"Yes?" persisted Joseph, he wanted the truth, no matter how much it made him sick.

"Well, there's quite alot of extensive damage in the...vaginal area." Joseph's stomach lurched. There was no doubt about it, she had been raped. "And um.... would you have a-any idea as to ......what-what caused these wounds...?"

"Most likely she has been raped, from what the marks look like." Joseph's heart sunk. It hurt more to hear it out loud then surmise what it might have been from the sounds of things. He had been wrong, he didn't want the truth. He cleared his throat. "A-and uh.....that...that is uh....fixable, right? I mean, you-you can fix it?"

"Oh yes, certainly," Jan assured, nodding her head, "yes, all she needs is the right prescription for the wounds to heal. It may be a painful process for her, but she will reover, there is no sign of infection". The knot in his stomach loosened slightly. He hesitated. "And the bruises?"

"The bruises will heal just fine as well, her bones are all fine, xrays showed nothing of significance in that area, no ribcage damage, no spinal injuries..." He relaxed. She was going to be fine, just fine. Sure the "wounds" would take a while to heal, but she'd be ok, she was young, she'd pull right through. "And you'll be taking care of her?" Jan asked him. He panicked. Adopt Cady? Didn't he decide that that would intefere with his entire life? His job, his family....? He remembered her face as she had looked at him, so scared, yet she seemed to calm down when he had looked at her. "Wouldn't she be safer here? Just until the wounds have healed?"

"Well, we could keep her in here if you like, there are plenty of nurses equipped with her medicinal needs. But I think you know what I'm talking about when I say that she may need someone to take care of some 'other' wounds?" Jan raised her eyebrows. Joseph stared at a fly on the desk. It seemed to be stuck to the table. He thought back to that one piercing scream as she had ripped out that needle...there was more to it than physical pain... But his family? What about his family? She wouldn't feel safe and secure like she needed to if she were with others she didn't know, especially with small children oblivious to the pain she had gone through. And there was still his job. How was he supposed to make a living with a broken child to care for? It would be incredibly time-consuming, not to mention he might not see his family for ages...and those hazel eyes stared at him once more, pleading silently.

"Yes. I'll take her in." The fly flew away.