Relief flooded over Gohan as Catie walked into the livingroom. "Where is she?"

"They've taken her to the hospital. C'mon," Jenny answered.

Forty-five minutes later, the group arrived at Boone hospital in Columbia, a much bigger town that where Lindsey and the girls were from. Once there, they sat in the waiting room and did exactly that – wait.

Gohan paced nervously again, stopping to look at the clock on the wall with every pass.

"Son, why don't you sit down?" Chichi asked. "We'll find something out soon."

"I can't, mom," Gohan answered her softly. He continued to pace.

Catie lay sideways on a couple of chairs, her head in Trunks' lap. He gently stroked her hair, letting the long, golden brown strands slip through his fingers like water. He smiled to himself, grateful to have the comfort of Catie in his arms. He couldn't imagine the strain it put on Gohan to be going through this. He looked up at his friend and watched him walk back and forth. Gohan looked terrible – he was still wearing the clothes he'd put on the day Lindsey went missing, which were now covered in dirt and sweat and were wrinkled beyond all belief. He had dark circles around his eyes and his hair was a mess. His face looked sunken and pale and his eyes were bloodshot from tears and lack of sleep.

Trunks closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to come when he thought of their places being switched. He couldn't fathom being in Gohan's shoes. He hoped he would never be separated from Catie.

Seventeen sat with his arm around Leelee, looking distant as she drifted in and out of sleep on his shoulder. She hadn't slept well, none of them had, and the relief that her friend was alive seemed to have overcome her to the point where her body finally gave in to exhaustion.

Sabriena was acting like nothing was wrong, even though she'd been part of the search and had worked very hard to find Lindsey. She walked to the cafeteria and returned shortly after with a bowl of ice cream and settled herself into a seat with a bored sigh. She ate her ice cream and slurped her Mt. Dew with little care and openly laughed at the TV show that was playing in the corner.

Gohan shot her a filthy look, but she didn't notice.

Shayne and Patrick, Lindsey's brothers, had been there as well, but had to leave to speak to the police at the station.

"So how was your trip?" Seventeen asked to break the silence

"We had a nice time," Bulma answered. "We saw the arch and went around the city. It was really neat to experience some American culture."

Trunks had completely forgotten the Z-Fighters' trip to St. Louis. It had been Shayne's suggestion – he even set up the hotel for them. He thought it would be nice for future family to become acquainted with their state and what better way than to let them see one of the nation's monuments? Plus it gave Lindsey and Gohan some Chichi-free time.

Three hours after they arrived, a doctor approached them. "Family of Lindsey. . ."

"That's me," Gohan said sharply before the doctor could finish. "What's going on? Can I see her?"

Everyone else had stood to hear what the doctor had to say.

"How are you related?" the doctor asked.

"She's my fiancée."

"May I speak to you privately?"

"No," Jenny answered. "We love her, too. We want to know what's going on."

The doctor shook his head. "I can't do that. Being as he's the closets to family that is present, I can discuss it with him, but no one else. Doctor, patient confidentiality. If she tells you after she wakes up, that's her decision."

Jenny glared daggers at the doctor, but Piccolo took her firmly by the shoulders and turned her back towards her seat.

Gohan and the doctor walked to the other side of the room. The doctor sighed and began, "She's beat up pretty bad, but I'm confident she'll recover," he said in a low voice.

"Where did they find her?"

"She was locked in a cellar."

Gohan's jaw dropped, but he said nothing.

"She's dehydrated," the doctor said, "they've got an IV going to get her some nutrition. We had to stitch her cheek, but I don't think it will scar too bad. She has some broken ribs and a fractured wrist. I've wrapped her ribs and put her arm in a cast. Now, if she gets to go home before the cast is removed, she'll have to keep that dry. The nurse will explain more about that if it looks like she'll get to go home."

"Who did this to her?" Gohan demanded.

"They don't know yet," the doctor said. "But whoever it was, was a sadistic sonuvabitch."

Gohan blinked to hear a doctor speak like that.

"Son, I'm going to be honest with you. They tortured this girl."

Gohan felt like he'd been hit with a sledge hammer. "Huh?"

"Kept her locked in that cellar, no food, no water, beating her . . . also, we ran a rape kit on her," the doctor said.

"Oh, god," Gohan said. "Please . . ."

"She was raped. Hopefully, the police will be able to make a DNA match."

Gohan clapped a hand over his mouth and ran out of the hospital.

Alarmed, Catie, Trunks and Jenny ran after him as the others stood and watched in shock.

Gohan hit the concrete wall of the decorative landscaping and doubled over it, vomiting.

"Stay here," Trunks said firmly to Catie and Jenny, holding his arm out for them to stop walking.

Catie almost protested, but stopped and took Jenny's hand in hers.

"Gohan?" Trunks asked nervously, walking slowly towards his friend.

Gohan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly turned to face Trunks. Trunks wasn't prepared to see the horror on Gohan's face.

"What happened, buddy?" he asked softly.

Catie and Jenny strained to hear, but Gohan didn't answer. He swayed on the spot and Trunks caught him as he fell. He came to a few seconds later and shook his head, looking around wildly.

"Gohan, you're exhausted," Trunks said.

"I'm fine," Gohan growled, brushing his friend off. He strode passed Catie and Jenny, never looking at them and they followed him back into the hospital.

The doctor stood waiting for him to return.

"I want to see her," Gohan said in a loud, determined way.

"Follow me," the doctor said and turned down the hallway.

Leelee and Piccolo stood to follow as Seventeen said, "I'll wait here."

At the door to Lindsey's room, the doctor said, "Now, remember, she's pretty rough. She's resting, but she can probably hear anything you say. The morphine is keeping her sedated for the time being." With that, the doctor left them.

Gohan took a deep breath and opened the door to the room.

Nothing could have prepared him for what waited inside. Lindsey lay on a bed, her arms at her sides, eyes closed. Her left eye was black with a green tinge around the edges and five stitches ran down her cheek bone. Her eye was swollen shut. An IV stand stood at the right side of the bed, clear liquid flowing through the tubing into her slender arm. Her left arm was wrapped in a cast and the fingers on that hand were purple and swollen. Her lips were dry, cracked, and had a large cut in the center. Handprints were bruised around her pale neck. Her right arm had large bruised on it, most of which also looked like handprints as though someone had gripped it too hard. A machine beeped softly in the room. Oxygen tubing ran beneath her nose and her chest slowly rose and fell beneath the thin, white sheet.

"Oh, god, Lindsey," Gohan sobbed and dropped to his knees beside the bed, taking her right hand in his. He softly kissed her fingers as tears began to stream down his face.

Jenny walked to the other side of the bed and stared sadly at her friend as Piccolo stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. She cried silently.

"Her hair," Catie choked, trying to keep from screaming. "They cut her hair. Why would they cut her hair?"

Sure enough, Lindsey had only about two inches of red hair on her head. Some parts were a bit longer than others, and it was obvious it had been a rough job.

"I'm going to kill someone," Trunks said darkly behind Catie.

Gohan met his friend's eyes and said in a deathly tone, "Not if I get to them first."