Author's note: A little bit of violence again but this is the last of it

Erin let out a groan as she blearily opened her eyes; a bolt of pain rushed through her and she vomited violently on the floor. Her whole body ached and she noticed a sticky red substance dripping onto the floor. Her head was pounding and her body screamed as white hot pain flashed through her but she kept trying to bring herself round some more

"You're awake then…" Erin looked up to see Nora standing over her

"Leave me alone" Erin croaked

"You're not getting away that easily" Nora spat

"I've not done anything" Erin said, her voice laced with exhaustion

"You killed Karen"

Erin's head span as she tried to make sense of what Nora was saying

"If you hadn't run away like the coward that you are then Ryan would not have killed her" Nora screamed at the young girl who cowered away

"I'm sorry" Erin burst into tears "I just couldn't take anymore"

"Pathetic" Nora sneered "You killed my best friend and now I will male you pay. No one will here you scream after I'm done with you"

She roughly pulled Erin to her feet; the girl struggled and tried to scream but received a sharp blow to the face for her efforts and roughly threw the girl to the floor. Erin stumbled back and landed hard on the floor shuddering as a sickening crack echoed across the room

"Pathetic" Nora hissed again but Erin had passed out once more and couldn't feel the blows that rained down on her


"We've found something" the officer said stepping into Leo's living room with a laptop in hand

"Is she alright?" Leo asked immediately

The officer opened up the laptop and a grainy CCTV image appeared on the screen

"The camera picked them up a little while ago" the officer explained

Nikki, Leo and Harry leant in to see the picture. Although blurry the image showed a young girl following a woman down the street

"Is this Erin?" the officer asked

"Yes" Leo said weakly "I would recognise her anywhere"

"Do you know who this woman is?"

"Nora Rhys" Leo said shaking his head in despair "Her godmother"

The officer nodded "They were spotted on Richardson Way"

Leo started in shock "That's where Erin used to live" he said recognising the street name immediately

"What number?"

"Twenty-three" Leo recited and the officer nodded

"We'll get some officers down there now" he told the trio

"Hang in there Erin" Leo whispered under his breath as the officer left the room speaking into his crackly receiver


Erin's whole body felt heavy and she really had to strain to her open her eyes. There was so much noise going on around her, it was making her head pound

"Can open your eyes for me Erin?" a voice said in her ear

"…want…Leo" Erin managed to say

"That's her father" she hear another voice say

"Erin, listen to me. I'm Jake and I'm a paramedic. Can you squeeze my hand?" she felt something slip into her hand and she mustered up all the strength she could manage to squeeze the hand in hers

"Good girl" the voice encouraged "We're going to take you to hospital now, just try and stay awake for me"

"Too…Sleepy…" Erin murmured and slipped away again


Leo paced around the waiting room with a look of fear on his face, he couldn't bear to think of the state Erin was in right now, he just wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her it was alright

"Leo" Harry said "Stop pacing"

The older man looked at him and took a deep breath as he sat down on the plastic chair next to Harry

"Thank you for being here…" Leo murmured and Harry nodded. He'd agreed to follow Leo down to the hospital and although Nikki had wanted to come, they both knew the hospital was no place for an infant. Harry had left Nikki with the promise to call her if when they heard some news.

Suddenly the doors opened and a tired looking doctor came into the room. Leo and Harry immediately stood to their feet as the Doctor walked over to them

"I'm Doctor Smith" he said shaking Leo and Harry's hand "I'm in charge of treating Erin"

"How is she?" Leo asked quickly

The Doctor paused "We're just prepping her for surgery right now"

"Is she hurt?" Harry asked

The Doctor nodded "There seems to be quite an amount of external and internal damage but we'll know more once we open her up. I'm sorry to have to spring this on you but we don't have much time. I need you to sign the consent forms for her surgery"

Leo closed his eyes for a second and then nodded scribbling his familiar signature on the form

"What are her chances?" he asked the Doctor as he passed the clipboard back

"I would prepare yourself for the worst" he replied solemnly, exiting the room leaving two very shaken men behind.