Volonta forte - I think it was my turn to have the search party sent out! Sorry for not replying to your email yet - I'm going to do that shortly - the rabbits ate my laptop! I hope I can get you smiling again!

Arienda Lockhart - Did you sit there and read the whole thing at once? I bet it's taken you ages! Yes, there were similarities (that was me going though John Cusack phase) Either way, I hope you're still enjoying!

Aphina - I honestly don't know how I'd react - but I have a feeling the child would need therapy... and more so, so would I! But I wouldn't mind a Wilbur! lol

demolished-soul - And the CSI fix wil soon be able to continue because the writer's strike is over! Yay! I hadn't thought of that - how soon the gap is. You're right! lol

RK9 - Hey, I'm sorry, I've just read your review - I hope everything is feeling a little better for you now! If you're feeling the need for a chat or anything, just drop me a pm! Taylor is a panicker - she will work it out eventually!

sparkyCSI - Maybe it's my own little fantasy world, but I do see Flack as a good dad. I'm sure he will be when he actually has his own child too. So how are things going for you at workthese days? Last I heard it was O/T!

meadow567 - lol, I've had this storyline with Cordelia in my head for ages, so to me its been a long time coming.

Madison Bellow - I think I would be in a very similar state - or out for someone's blood! Lol, I'm just trying to keep the plot bunnies at bay - they just won't leave me alone! I'll send some your way!!!

Righto, no spoilers, just a million thanks to sparkyCSI for being my beta!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 154: It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Taylor sighed, leaning her head against the cool glass as she pulled her feet up beside her on the windowsill. She'd had to escape her bed again before she woke Flack up – she could feel the nightmare returning. Now, she was willing the sun to rise, rather than sleep the rest of the night on the couch.

She glanced up hearing movement in her bedroom, followed by the sound of feet padding softly across the floor.

'You're up early?' Flack asked, walking over to her.

Taylor frowned. She was certain she had been able to conceal the fact she was rarely in her bed anymore. 'I couldn't sleep,' she shrugged.

'Again?' he pressed.

Taylor sighed and allowed her head to rest back against the glass. 'I didn't mean to wake you.'

'What's the matter?' he asked, perching opposite her.

'A nightmare,' she shrugged. 'And I'm waiting for a call from Chris' lawyers.'

'You know they're three hours behind, don't you?' Flack muttered softly, placing a hand on Taylor's feet.

Taylor nodded. 'She's going to have to stay here. There's no one else, and my mother's not going to have her. I can't let her go in an orphanage,' she added, staring imploringly at Flack.

Flack gave her a reassuring smile. 'You don't have to look to me for permission.'

Taylor rubbed her forehead. 'I think we're going to have to find somewhere sooner, rather than later. Marty said it was fine, but I can't have her staying in his room for four months. It's not fair to either of them. And what happens if he wants to come home? As it stands, he's back at the beginning of January, and Chris, hopefully, will be out at the end of that month.'

'Taylor, you have really got to remember to breathe every now and then,' Flack told her, smiling. 'I think that her sleeping arrangements should be lower down the list of priorities. She needs to be enrolled in school, she needs a doctor, hell, the kid needs clothes. There's nothing in that bag of hers.'

Taylor felt the blood draining from her face. 'I never even thought,' she muttered. 'I don't even know where to begin.'

'Why don't you start by getting a shower? I'll get us breakfast and then we can work out what we're going to do.'

Taylor nodded and slipped off the sill, heading to the bathroom. She turned the water on and stripped, and stepped into the shower.

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Taylor hung up her cell phone. The lawyers had confirmed exactly what she had suspected – that Cordelia was either staying with her, or she was going to have to go into some form of temporary housing.

Taylor had told the lawyer, Bernstein, that she was keeping Cordelia until her brother was released.

She flung her cell onto the bed and hurried into the kitchen where Flack was making breakfast, Cordelia now up, seated at the table.

'What's your favorite color?' she asked Cordelia.

'Blue,' she responded, accepting the eggs off Flack. 'What about Wilbur?'

Flack and Taylor looked at each other.

'What does Wilbur eat?' Flack asked her.

'Special stuff. It comes in a yellow bag.'

'You eat that. Wilbur can have some eggs too,' Flack said, scraping some eggs into a bowl and setting it onto the floor for Wilbur, which he stuck his nose into straight away.

'Cordelia,' Taylor started softly. 'You're going to stay here for a while. Is that alright?'

'Where's my mommy?' she asked, her blue eyes, staring beseechingly at her.

Taylor froze, staring over at Flack. How the hell did one answer that kind of question?

'Your mom has had to go away for a while,' Flack answered for her.

Cordelia put her fork down. 'Why couldn't I go with her?'

'Your mom's not feeling very well. She didn't want you to get sick too,' Taylor lied, ignoring the disapproving stare Flack was sending her way.

Cordelia nodded. 'Can I call her?'

'I don't know her number,' Taylor told her sadly. 'But I'm sure she's going to call soon.'

Flack sat down next to her. 'If it's alright with you, I'm going to get you enrolled at the local school?'

Earlier, Flack and Taylor had agreed he would get Cordelia enrolled, as, being a local, was aware which schools were the best, whilst Taylor would go shopping for necessities and items to make her feel more at home – although pig food was now on that list.

Cordelia nodded.

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Taylor hitched the pig food up under her arm – it had taken hours to find it. It was also expensive and heavy. She had also managed to purchase some new child-friendly bed sheets for Cordelia, as well as matching curtains, and a few other necessities. Sliding her handbag down her arm, she rooted around in it as best she could, to check on the money situation.

The food was too heavy to carry home, and as she had walked, it was a taxi which was going to get her home and into the merciful air-conditioning. It was still sweltering and she was feeling very hot and uncomfortable. She had just noticed a few stray bills when someone was wrenching it from her arms.

'Hey!' Taylor yelped as the leather straps which were wound around her wrists were yanked hard. 'Help!' she shouted. Instead of anyone helping, everyone stood and watched. And then it was over as the strap broke, the momentum sending her backwards and onto the sidewalk, the bags flying everywhere. She knew as she landed that the crack was her arm breaking. Again.

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Taylor was sulking in the examination room at the hospital she had been taken to (once she had ensured someone had scooped the pig food up – it was expensive, after all). The nurse had been in and set the wrist – it was broken, like she had suspected. Now, she was waiting for the doctor to come back. He stepped into the room and pulled a stool opposite the bed.

'Ms. Turner, I'm concerned about your weight.'

Taylor blinked. She was certain he was going to say something about how she had broken her wrist too many times and it was going to have to have the plaster on for even longer this time. But her weight? 'Excuse me?'

Dr. Creed looked down at the chart in his hands. 'At 5'10", a healthy weight would be between 132lbs and 174lbs. Ms. Turner, the nurse took your weight earlier and you're weighing in at 120lbs.'

'Hang on, the rest of the world is concerned about obesity and I happen to get called on because I'm underweight?'

The doctor sighed. 'Being underweight has implications just like being overweight does. It might be why you've had your wrist in a cast so often,' he suggested.

Taylor frowned and looked down at her bare legs which were peaking out under the skirt she was wearing.

'Do you have issues with your weight?' Dr. Creed asked her gently.

Taylor shook her head. 'No.'

'I know that celebrities often find the public eye very criticizing,' he leant forward. 'Do you need me to refer you to a specialist?'

Taylor blinked again. 'A shrink?'

Dr Creed shook his head. 'I was talking about a nutritionist. She can give you healthy options for maintaining a slim figure.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open as she stared at the haggard face of the doctor. 'Are you implying I have an eating disorder?' she asked incredulously.

Dr. Creed sighed as his pager went off. 'I apologize, but I have to get this. I urge you to consider the nutritionist. And there's a detective outside to see you.'

Taylor just stared, mouth open, as he disappeared. Seconds later, the door opened and Angell walked in. She frowned at Taylor's expression. 'You alright?'

Taylor shook herself out of her thoughts and nodded at the detective. 'I'm fine. Aside from the fact my bag's been stolen and my arm broken,' she sighed.

'You get a good look at the person who did it?' Angell asked, pulling out her notebook.

Taylor shook her head sadly. 'It was a blur. All I know is that he was wearing a dark jacket and had dark hair. Which probably narrows it down to thirty percent of the population,' she muttered dryly.

'What was in the bag?'

Taylor quickly listed the items she could think of and then Angell stood. 'I'll be honest,' said the detective. 'I doubt we'll find anything.'

Taylor nodded, rubbing her forehead. 'Figured as much.'

'You need a ride home, or is Flack coming to get you?'

Taylor nodded. 'That would be great. Don has an appointment, otherwise I would have called.'

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'Taylor?' Flack called as he unlocked the door and walked in to her apartment.

'How'd it go?' Taylor asked, stepping out of Marty's room. She'd just been putting the new sheets on, and the curtains up, as well as clearing some space in Marty's closet.

'She's at St. Martins. After spending an hour in a conference call with her old school in San Diego, and after she took half a dozen tests – what the hell happened to your arm?' he demanded, spotting the bright white cast.

Taylor glanced down at Cordelia who was petting Wilbur and frowned. 'Cordy, do you wanna go watch TV?'

Cordy nodded and went into the living room, Wilbur at her heels.

'I got mugged,' Taylor admitted, sitting down at the table.

'Why the hell didn't you call me?' Flack asked, sliding down next to her.

Taylor shrugged. 'You were sorting Cordelia out. That was slightly more important. Besides,' she added at his slightly outraged expression. 'You couldn't have done anything.'

'It would have been nice to know,' he pointed out.

Taylor sighed, leaning back in the chair. 'Sorry,' she muttered.

'Are you alright?' he asked.

Taylor nodded. 'Can't say I'm a stranger to this one.'

Flack pursed his lips but said nothing.

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After checking on Cordelia – who was fast asleep, Wilbur sleeping next to her (she wasn't sure if she approved of the pig sleeping in the bed with her, but she was trying to make things as easy as possible), Taylor headed to the bedroom. Flack was still in the shower- she could hear the shower running and his singing.

With a frown firmly etched on her face, she stripped down to her underwear and stared at herself in the mirror.

'I don't know about you, but I like what I see,' Flack informed her from the doorway.

Taylor turned. The sight of him wearing only a towel and still glistening from the water should have been enough to remove the frown, but it remained planted firmly in place.

'What's the matter?' he asked, concerned, walking over.

Taylor stared at her ribs in the mirror. 'Do you think I'm too thin?'

Flack exhaled slowly and sat on the end of the bed, staring up at her in the mirror. 'I'm so glad you didn't ask if I thought you were too fat,' he smiled.

Taylor turned – still frowning. 'Seriously, Don. Am I too thin?'

Flack stared at her, chewing at his lip.

'You do, don't you!' she exclaimed.

'Taylor, I love you the way you are-'

'But?' Taylor demanded, hands on hips.

'But I don't want you getting any thinner.'

Taylor sighed, sinking onto the bed next to him. 'Sorry I snapped,' she muttered.

Flack half turned to her. 'Where has this come from?'

'The doctor implied I had an eating disorder. Thinks that because I'm a celebrity it was obvious I was going to get one.' She flopped back onto the bed. 'I don't have an eating disorder. And I would hardly call myself a celebrity.'

Flack smiled, sinking back next to her on his side, propping his head up with his elbow. 'I think an eighty foot picture of yourself constitutes celebrity status.'

Taylor glared at him.

'Hey,' I'm not complaining,' he shrugged at her.

Righto all, I must apologise for the lateness of this post. My rabbit ate my laptop cable, but all is well because I ate him! Ha ha, only joking. About me eating him - he still ate the cable and I have been left laptopless and internetless for nearly three weeks! (Which has killed me!) As such, I may post again tomorrow!