A/N: Hey guys! You enjoying the story so far? Please leave a review!

Emily POV

A few days later the doctor came into my room. I hadn't seen him in awhile. He asked Nate to leave, and I nodded. "I'll be in the weight room when you're done." Whenever Nate would work out, or go to physical therapy, he'd let me sit in the room with him.

The doctor moved to shut the door, "Don't please."

He whipped around to look at me, "Good to see you talking. Would you care to tell us your last name now?" My eyes went wide and I shook my head. He sighed, "I thought so. The man who kidnapped you is in jail you know." I nodded. He continued, "He can't hurt you anymore. You can tell us who your family is. I'm sure they miss you."

"No. They probably didn't even notice."

"I doubt that. I'm sure the police would like to talk to you now that you're talking to us."

I thought it over, "Do I have to? I'm sure the pictures of my injuries are enough."

"How did you know we took those? I thought you were unconscious."

I gave him a wane smile, "Trust me, I was conscious."

He nodded, "I'll add that to your chart. You had a slight allergic reaction to the morphine we gave you. It seems that was also a side effect." He wrote on my chart, then looked up to me. "Emily, there's something I have to tell you. It's about what your foster father did to you."

I shook my head, "No. I don't want to talk about that."

He held his hand up, "It's ok, you don't have to. I just want to talk to you about some of the long term effects on your body."

I was confused, "You mean like the scars on my back? The one's that trace my shoulder-blades?"

He slowly nodded, "Kind of. I was thinking more of the effects on your muscles, and other internal organs."

"Ok."

He explained that he wanted me to start physical therapy now that my body weight was close to normal. He also thought it would help to retrain the muscles that had been cut up. He took a deep breath and paused, "Emily, the next thing I have to tell you is some bad news. But I want you to let me finish talking before you react, ok?"

"Ok," I said in confusion.

"Emily, I know your lower abdomen sustained no injuries from a knife, but there was substantial bruising. In fact, we almost had to remove your liver. But there was further damage." He took another breath, "I know you're still a teenager, but you will no longer be able to have children. Some of the medication we have been giving you is artificial hormones. In the future, with the research scientists are doing now, they may be able to restore your ability to have children, but as of now it's not likely."

I was stunned, "Um, ok. Is there any chance?"

The doctor looked at me, "As of now? No." I didn't hear anything after that. When he left I sat on my bed for a few minutes. I needed Nate. I had to go find Nate.

I went up to the weight room. I saw Nate in his usual corner. He liked it back there because he could watch other people, but most people couldn't watch him. I went to the corner opposite him, and sat against the wall. I drew my knees up to my chest, and put my arms around them. Nate would see me when he was done. I could wait.

It wasn't much longer when I heard, "Hey Em. What'd the doctor have to say?"

I didn't look up. I heard him set his weights down, and slowly walk over to me. He didn't look like he was in pain either. "You're walking."

He smiled, "Yeah. I was going to surprise you later today. It's great isn't it?"

I tried to smile, "Yeah."

He sat down next to me. He knew I would talk when I wanted to. "You know, you're going to have to help me up from here."

I nodded, "Yeah."

Some of Nate's army buddies walked over, "What's wrong Emily?" We had all gotten pretty close considering we spent almost all our time together. I mumbled the answer. "Come on honey, we can't understand you. Can you speak up?"

I looked to the only girl in the group. I had gone to her when I realized I wasn't having my periods. "I-I-I." My throat froze up. Nate just put his arm around my shoulders. "I can't have kids." She came and sat on my other side. She put her hand on my knee. I rested my head on Nate's shoulder. "I had never wanted kids because I had already taken care of my siblings. But now?" I just stopped.

"I understand honey. Now that it's a definite answer you feel jipped. You at least wanted to make the decision." Sara said.

Joe decided to pipe up, "Besides, any one of us would marry you in a heartbeat if you said yes. We'd all give up kids for you." I snorted. "I'm serious. You may not realize it, but you're a heartthrob. If you're not married by the time you're 35, I'll marry you. How's that?"

I laughed. "Joe, you're a dumbass."

He tried to look offended but failed. "You words hurt me Emily, truly they do." I laughed again and shoved him. We all knew it wasn't very hard but he pretended to fall down all the same. Then all the boys started to wrestle. I just stayed by Nate for the rest of the day though.

When we walked up to my room Nate turned to look at me, "Hey, are you really ok? Do you want me to leave?"

He was still sleeping on my couch, "No. I think I'll be fine. But if I have a nightmare tonight, will you wake me up? That always helped Katie when she was little. Then I'd sing her to sleep."

He smiled, "Yeah Em. I can do that."

I was almost asleep when I asked him, "Can you teach me how to lift weights?"

It was a few minutes later, and I hardly heard his reply, "Yeah."

Nate and I were lifting weights. He was spotting me. I could almost lift as much as he could now. He had taught me how to lift almost a month ago now. We spent most of our day here. I was determined to lift as much as him before he left the hospital. He told me that if I didn't want to contact my family I could go live with him after I got out. The doctor said I could leave in two weeks, as long as I kept going to both types of therapy. I was planning on sticking to that.

"Ok, we're done for the day." I let him take the weight and put it on the rack. We walked back to my room. I took a shower while he went to his. I sat on my bed and read a book while waiting for him. I heard voices out in the hallway and raised my mead to look. Four people came into my room. I slowly got up from my bed, and the book fell to the ground.

"Oh God." I went over to the smallest two, and collapsed to my knees. I pulled them into a hug, "Katie, Sam. I missed you so much." Tears were falling. Someone was sobbing, but I couldn't tell who.

"Emily. Where have you been? We thought you were dead."

I shook my head, "No. I couldn't leave you like that. I've been here for a while."

Katie pulled back and sniffled, "Where were you before that?"

My smile faltered, "That doesn't matter hun. I'm here now." I realized I was only wearing a sports bra. They could see my scars, and obviously did. They were staring right at them. I went and put a sweatshirt on.

"What happened to you?" It was one of the adults who had spoken.

I looked up at them, "Who are y-?" I stopped, "It's not possible. You're dead. I was at your funeral." It was my father's parents. I stood up and put Sam and Katie behind me.

My grandfather spoke up, "No honey. You're father tricked you. We've been alive the whole time. We live in the city. We actually live twenty minutes from here." They lived right next to Ney York General Hospital the whole time?

"What?" I made sure at least some part of me was touching Sam and Katie. I still couldn't believe they were here. I shook my head, "That's not possible. I was at your funeral."

Sam spoke up behind me, "Emily I checked into it. They have no death certificates. Granddad's actually the fire commissioner. We've lived with them since two months after the last time we saw you." I paled. That was the same day I went upstate. My heart started beating faster. It got harder to breath.

The next second Nate rushed in. He grabbed my shoulders and led me to a chair to sit, "It's ok Em. It's ok." He turned to my grandparents, "Just go to the cafeteria for a minute."

They stood there for a second and I started wheezing. I really couldn't breath now. They nodded and left. Sam and Katie turned to follow them, as Nate grabbed an oxygen mask for me "NO!"

He turned to them, "Stay where she can see you. Don't come any closer though." They nodded. Katie's eyes were wide; she looked scared. I tried to remove the mask, but Nate stopped me. "Em, you need this. You're on the verge of an anxiety attack. You have to calm down." He started rubbing circles on my back. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall. This didn't help. I thought of the first day my foster father started to torture me. The memories just got worse and worse. Nate pulled my head to his chest and slowly brushed my hair with his fingers. Eventually I stopped crying.

Katie slowly walked over to me. When she stopped in front of me, she pulled me in for a hug. I smiled, and hugged her back as hard as I could. "I'm sorry you were hurt Emmie."

I smiled, "It's not your fault bug."

Sam came over and pulled me onto the couch next to him. Nate started to leave, but I looked at him with fearful eyes. He nodded and sat in the chair next to the bed. "Can you teach me how to drive Emily? I just got my learners permit." I was shocked. He had waited for me to teach him?

"Sam, I don't even have a license. Besides, I'm pretty sure you have to drive with someone over 21 in the car." I looked to Nate for confirmation and he nodded.

"But you know how to drive. When we'd go out in the country when we were little you'd drive us everywhere."

I chuckled, "Sam, that was only because we knew the sheriff out there. He knew if I didn't drive us, no one would. I'm pretty sure no one in the city would let me get away with that."

We talked like that for hours. They told me things that were going on in their life that I had missed, and I told them about Nate and his friends. I wouldn't tell them about anything else. Eventually Sam and Katie fell asleep curled up next to me.

About a half hour after they fell asleep, another person walked in my room. "Oh hell." This was just too much for one day. I felt like I was going to throw up. I put my head between my knees.

"Lee, do I need to get your doctor?"

Shit, I was going to puke. I ran into the bathroom and shut the door. I threw up everything I had eaten. They subsided into dry heaves. I couldn't decide which was more painful. After about ten minutes of this I wiped my face off. I could deal with him, right? I opened the bathroom door. Nate was leaning up next to it with a skeptical look in his eye. I nodded my thanks for him not letting anybody come in.

A nurse walked in, "Is everything ok Emily? Do these people need to leave?"

I gently put my hand on my stomach, "No. There's nothing left to come up. I'll be fine." She gave me a look then left the room.

I sat on my bed. Katie and Sam crawled up next to me. I could feel Nate standing behind me. "Frank, what do you want?"

He paused, "I was one of the officers who took you out of our last foster home."

Maybe I did need him to leave. I had already rediscovered my siblings today. Wasn't that enough progress for one day? I didn't have to jump back into the world with both feet. I put my head between my knees again. Nate put his hand on my shoulder, and leaned to whisper in my ear, "Does he need to leave? I don't care if he's the deputy commissioner, I'll make him leave." I shook my head and took deep breaths.

After a minute I sat up again. "I didn't know that." I ignored the fact that this was the first time I'd seen him in years.

"It was really bad Lee."

I snorted, "You don't have to tell me that. Some of the scars are just healing."

He rubbed the back of his neck, "How are you doing?"

Nate talked before I could, "How do you think she's doing? She just started talking about within the last few weeks, today is the most I've ever heard her talk. All she does all day is work out she's still so frightened of that man."

Had it really been less than a month since I had met Nate? I shook my head, "You can ignore him Frank. He's temperamental." I turned to look at Nate, "Settle down." I whispered, "He won't hurt me."

I turned back to Frank. "You may need to testify at his trial Lee."

I shook my head, "No." I never wanted to see that man again.

He sighed, "None of the other girls will."

I was confused, "There weren't any other girls." I was starting to get nauseous again.

Frank leaned towards me, "Lee, there were five other girls there. They were all younger than you." Nate squeezed my shoulder hard, "There were bodies buried on their property." I started to get tunnel vision.

"Isn't that enough? Why does she need to testify?"

I could've done something to save those girls. I should've kept his attention more on me, and away from those girls. "How many of them died while I was there." I didn't phrase it as a question.

"Lee you don't need to know that."

I looked up at him, and could tell he could see the pain in my eyes, "How many?"

He checked to make sure my siblings were still asleep, "Three." My face paled. Three people had died because I did nothing. I accepted my fate. I didn't try to save myself. If I had done so, I could've saved them.

Frank knew what I was thinking, "I saw the chain that kept you bolted to the wall. The only reason we got you out of there is because an officer shot through the link. They removed the rest when we got you here. You couldn't have done anything to help them."

Tears started falling from my eyes, "I could've done something. I should've found a way."

Frank moved his chair closer to me, "No honey, you couldn't have. Quite frankly your lucky to be alive."

I heard Nate speak up, "Em if you had, what would've happened? He probably would've killed you. You're my only family left Em; I need you. Look at Sam and Katie; they need you. Even if you could've done something I'm glad you didn't."

I looked at the two of them, then at my siblings. What if my foster father ever got free? He wouldn't hesitate to kill them all. Frank and Nate could hold their own, but what about Sam and Katie? I couldn't let them die. I looked at Frank and wiped my eyes, "I'll testify on one condition." He nodded, "The only people from my family that are allowed in the courtroom are Nate."

"Lee, they already know most of what happened to you."

I nodded, "That's bad enough. If they ever need to know more I can tell them. They don't need to hear the exact details."

Frank looked at me. "Maybe not now, but when they get older they will."

I looked back at him, "Maybe."

Two weeks later I went to my grandparents house. Nate would visit daily, but they'd never let him stay the night. On my eighteenth birthday I joined his army battalion. I was kidnapped again, and tortured for three days. Nate and Sarah stayed in the hospital the entire time with me, and somehow managed to get an early release. I went and stayed with my siblings, but would stay over at Nate and Sarah's place more times then I could count. Nate made sure I didn't fall back into the depression I was in the last time.