"I'm Munch," he answered as he stood up, "Miss Baron I…"
The girl squinted until her eyes were nearly closed, "You're Detective Munch?"
"That's right," he said as he got closer to the bed, "I'm…"
"Oh that's a good thing to know," she said, "It's important that I found you…Lisa said that you could help me, I…"
The girl's eyes rolled back in her head and she lay back against the pillow and closed her eyes.
Olivia went to the door to call in a doctor.
"What was that about?" Elliot asked.
"I don't know, I've never seen her before," Munch said.
"You sure?" Fin asked.
"I see a lot of women come into the SVU everyday, I'd remember one who looked like this," Munch said.
"What did she mean by Lisa told her?" Fin asked, "Who's Lisa?"
"I don't know, but I have a guess," he said, "Lisa Deering."
"Who's that?"
"An expert in domestic abuse," Munch said, "Her number's on my desk at the station, will you stay here until she wakes up? I want to find out what's going on."
"Sure thing, man," Fin replied as he sat down.
Munch got to the doorway before turning back and adding, "And don't let anybody give her anything that'll whack her out, when she comes to again we need her to be coherent and as competent as is possible."
At that moment, Olivia came back into the room with a doctor.
"What is it you wanted?" the doctor asked.
"Find out what's wrong with her," Munch said, "I'll be back in an hour or so."
Half an hour later Munch stood on the porch to Lisa Deering's home, he knocked on the door and waited. A bright light came on overhead and the door opened. The woman was surprised to see him.
"John, what're you doing here?" she asked.
"I need to ask you a question," he said, "Can I come in?"
"My kids are asleep."
"That's okay, we'll be quiet."
Lisa a bit reluctantly held the door open and he walked in.
"Nice place you have here," Munch said as they sat at the dining room table, "Must be pretty quiet now."
"It is."
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm doing alright."
"And your kids?"
"They're fine…is this why you came down here in the middle of the night, for a visit?"
"No, I need to know if you recommended me to somebody," he told her.
"What?"
"There is an 18 year old pregnant girl in the hospital tonight, she told me that Lisa said I could help her…her name is Marie Baron, does any of this ring a bell with you?"
A moment passed before Lisa answered, "Yeah…I think so. Is she going to be alright?"
"Miraculously yes," Munch said, "Now why don't you tell me what you two talked about? What did she need to see me for?"
"She said she needed help, you were the only one I knew who might listen to her," Lisa explained.
"About what?"
"She wouldn't tell me, she said she didn't want anymore people finding out than was necessary…but she said that she needed help and the police weren't going to do it…I told her she should go to you because you actually try and help people. She didn't tell me that she was going to see you, she just said she'd think about it."
"How well do you know her?"
"Not very well, I've seen her around here and there, we talk a couple of times, that's about all. I'm sorry I can't be more help."
Munch nodded, "It's okay, look," he said as he got up, "I've got to get back to the hospital and see if she's conscious yet, I'll see you around."
"Well," Olivia said as she put her cell phone away, "The captain is less than pleased by what's gone on tonight."
"But?" Elliot asked.
"He also wants to know what's going on but he's not sure we can spare the manpower tonight. SVU seems to be on some kind of an overload, more people filing complaints and reports now than ever."
"I'll go back to the station," Elliot said, "Let me know if Munch finds anything."
Just as Elliot was walking out the door, he bumped into Munch who was trying to get back into the room.
"Just in time," he commented, "Did you find out anything?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about it later," Elliot said, "I've got to go."
Munch turned back to Olivia and Fin who both looked like they'd been sitting on their hands the entire time he was gone.
"What did the doctor say?" Munch asked.
"No brain damage but not to be surprised if she keeps blacking out in the next couple of days," Olivia said, "What did you find out?"
"Lisa did recommend me to her. She said that Marie told her she needed help and nobody, the police included, could help her."
"What do you think it is?" Fin asked.
"Well, we can probably guess," Olivia said, "She's been pregnant since she was 17, she has no family, and she figured the police wouldn't help her…my guess is she was raped and not having anybody to confide in, wanted to report it before the statute of limitations ran out."
"And if that's the case, and her attacker was chasing her," Munch said, "That still doesn't make any sense as to why I didn't see him, or anybody else except her running through the streets."
"Well when she wakes up again," Olivia commented, "We'll see what she says, maybe then we can get some answers."
"Well there's no sense in all of us waiting for her to come around," Munch told them, "You two go back to the station, I'll stay here."
"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, I'll call you if I find out anything else."
Through the remainder of the night, Munch stayed in the hospital room by the girl's bedside; for the longest time she didn't wake up, and nobody came in to check on her. Munch had been shocked into full alertness for most of the night and now that he was coming down off of it, he was about ready to crash. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he closed them for a minute to rest. He heard a slight movement come from the bed and then he heard the girl talking in a low voice.
"Detective Munch, are you still here?"
Opening his eyes and picking his head back up, he looked and saw she had pushed back the covers and was sitting up in the bed; she herself looking about as tired as he felt currently.
"I'm right here," he answered, "Miss Baron, are you alright?"
Her eyes shifted from one corner to the other, as if looking for a sign indicating how she should answer. Saying nothing and only nodding her head, Munch had an idea this was going to be a long rest of the night.
"That's good," he said.
"I suppose I must've caused you a lot of trouble," she said, "Hitting your car like that." She smiled weakly as she lay back against the propped up pillows, "I'm so sorry about that, believe me it wasn't what I had in mind."
"I wouldn't imagine it was," Munch replied, "But what exactly were you doing out there tonight?"
"I was on my way to the police station, to ask to speak to you. Lisa told me that you might be able to help me."
"What was it you wanted to see me about?" he asked.
"I…" she sat up again and looked from one side of the room to another, "Is there anybody else in here?"
"No, why?"
"I just wanted to make sure," she said.
"Did the doctor say when you would be able to see again?" he asked.
"I'm not blind, Detective Munch," she said, "I just have poor eyesight and I seem to have lost my glasses…I think…I think I lost them when I ran into your car."
Munch opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it and looked at her I.D. on the nightstand by the bed. Yes, it did say that she wore corrective lenses, but when he first saw it he hadn't paid any attention to that. An idea came to him, and he didn't know where it had come from, or why, but he took his glasses off and handed them to her.
"Put these on and see if it helps any," he told her.
Marie put the glasses on and looked around the room.
"Almost perfect," she said as she took them off and handed them back to Munch, "Funny, I always thought people's prescriptions were like fingerprints, no two alike."
"Miss Baron," Munch said again, "About what happened tonight."
"Oh Detective Munch, I'm so sorry about that," she sounded like an old toy winding down, hardly any strength left in her voice at all, her eyes not even open anymore, "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble. I really appreciate what you've done, bringing me to the hospital and all, you don't know how much it means to me, really I…"
Just like that, she fell back against the pillows and was dead to the world again.
"I love my job," Munch dryly said to himself as he looked to the clock to determine how much longer it would be until the sun came up to start a new day.
