AN: So, turns out the program I needed to make for my exam (which will be on the end of this week) was easier than I thought it would be. I'm 90% done and I figured, I could spare few hours to write up this chapter.

Honestly, I am sitting here, laughing out evil laugh :D I kind of surprised no one figured this out. But I am glad at the same time - makes it more interesting for you to read :) Maybe after this chapter some will figure this out, who knows...

I will repeat myself - I am not a doctor, nor a police officer. This is purely my imagination. If I have screwed something up- tell me, so I can learn and fix the mistake.

Thank you for the continuous support. Means truly a lot.

This chapter turned out much longer than I had thought it would be. Hope you enjoy! :)

Lena POV

The first thing I heard, when I started to regain my consciousness, was people talking. At first, I could not understand a word that was said. It all sounded like a blur, words were smashed together and they made no sense to me. The voices also sounded distant and muffed. Like if I had headphone over my ears or if I was listening in from a far. As time went by and I started to come to more and more, the noises slowly became more clearer.

My whole body felt like it was pulsing. Especially my right side of the face – my eye and nose. Pain came along with every pulsing sensation. I had a feeling as if there was something placed up to my nose. It felt stuffed, like I had cotton pushed up my nostril. I tasted blood in my mouth. My whole body felt sore, my back was the worst.

I felt something around my neck. Whatever it was, it was stopping me from moving my head. It was limiting my neck movements, keeping my head still. I could not turn my head to side or tilt my head up.

"She is waking up," I hear an unfamiliar voice. This was the first sentence that I heard somewhat clear and could actually understand.

I need to add a face to the voice. Slowly I start to open my eyes. The sight in front of me at first was very blurry. It took me few seconds, few blinks, till it cleared out and I no longer saw a fog in front of my eyes.

"No, this doesn't seem right!" I think to myself after I had stared up to the ceiling for a short moment. I closed my eyes back up. The view I had, it had to be wider.

After a moment, I open my eyes open again, hoping the sight changes. This time I keep my eyes open longer. And the longer I watched the ceiling, the more clearer it got to me – I am only looking with one eye. I don't see anything with my right eye.

"What is wrong with my eye? Why can't I see?" I think to myself and start to raise my right hand up to my face. Maybe I had something on my eye, a patch or something.

Someone grabbed my right hand, stopping me from touching my face "Whoa, hey, it's okay, love...it's okay" this time the voice sounded more familiar. I couldn't place the person right away. But I am sure, I know that voice, I know the person to whom it belongs to.

When I wanted to reply to the person, all that came out was a groan "Uggrrh…hu-hurts"

"I'm here, love. Just hold on baby. You are going to be okay, Lena!" the person told me and gave my palm a little, gentle squeeze. I felt a thumb softly moving over my palm. It was a very soothing motion.

Then out of nowhere, a person, a man appears in my line of sight "Can you tell my your name?" He asks me, while looking down to me

Your name – I repeat his words in my head and start to think of an answer– Wait, no, no...he was asking for my name. My name. What was my name...

I slurred it out to him after few seconds, when I remember my name "L-Le-na..Lena"

"Good," He smiles at me "Can you tell me what year it is?"

"Ugh..." I close my eye for a little while I think of an answer. I needed to concentrate and think harder to figure out the answer to this one. It seemed such a simple question. But it wasn't, not to me, not right now.

"2...13" I slurred out when the answer came to me

"213?"

"No..." I wanted to shake my head a little, but I remembered I couldn't move my neck "Two...thousand...thirteen"

"Very good," The guy replied "Do you know where you are?"

I scanned the place as much as I could. Ceiling, I think I saw part of stairs, the wallpaper on the wall looked familiar.

"Home?" it sounded more like a question than a statement, because it was a guess

I felt my left hand being gripped as well "Can you squeeze my hand?" the man asks while still keeping eye contact with me. I bent my fingers till, I felt my fingertips touch the palm that was holding my left hand.

"Okay, let's move out!" the guy who was talking to me said and suddenly I was lifted up from the ground. I guess I was on some sort of board or stretcher. The next moment I was moving. In few short seconds, I didn't see ceiling anymore. Now all I saw was blue sky and few white clouds. I felt soft breeze of wind and sun shining on me. Someone grabbed my hand the moment I was moved pass the few steps on the porch.

"S-Stef..." I said her name as soon as I saw my wife looking down to me. She was walking next to me, by my left side.

"I'm here! You are going to be okay, love!" I felt my hand being squeezed gently. Stef lifted my left arm up and placed a gentle kiss on the top of my palm.

"Stef!" I cried out, when she disappeared from my sight as I was moved to the back of the ambulance. The only thing I see is the ceiling of the ambulance and the guy, who was talking to be minute ago. He was holding up a fluid bag. But once the stretcher stopped moving, he hung it up somewhere next to my head, just a little higher.

"I'm right here, baby. I'm not going anywhere!" I heard Stef say, when I felt my hand being gripped again. I relaxed a little, when I realized that Stef was in the back of the ambulance with me.

Stef POV

Lena had cried out for me, the moment I had disappeared from her eye sight. I will never forget her voice. Not only she sounded, but she looked scared as well. The only thing I could do, was hold her hand. And that was exactly what I did. But it didn't feel like it was enough.

I wasn't allowed to go in with her in the emergency room. A nurse asked me to fill out a form and told me to wait in the waiting room. I had filled the form in matter of few minutes and handed it back to the nurse.

There was no way, I will be able to sit still, while waiting news on my wife. I think now I know how Lena must have felt, when I was in hospital. There was nothing but dread, worry and fear. I just wanted to see her, hold her hand, sooth her, hug her, kiss her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. I hate the not knowing. I hate that right now I couldn't do anything else but to wait.

But besides the worry about my wife, I also felt a lot of anger and hate towards whoever did this. Callie once described something similar to us - hating and feeling anger towards people, who are strangers, who she has never met in her life. She was talking about us, but we had never met before. This is exactly how I felt right now. I hated whoever did this and I don't even know, who I need to hate. I have no idea how the person, who hurt my wife, looks or what's his/her name is.

I was now pacing the hallways. A minute ago, I was told by a nurse, that Lena was taken to CT scan. After that she will be taken to X-ray, to see the full extent of her injuries.

"Mom!" I heard Mariana's voice, when I was pacing down the hallway. The moment I heard her voice, I turned around on my heel. Four of our kids were coming my way, with worried facial expressions. Gosh, now I see, what I had put my kids through as well.

The moment Mariana was up to me, she threw herself in my arms. The three boys stood around me, while I gave Mariana much a needed hug. I kissed the top of her head right before she pulled out of the hug. After that, I gave a hug to the boys as well.

Amy was standing in the hallway few steps behind the kids "Frankie-?" I didn't even manage to finish my sentence, when Amy interjected

"I am going to get her right now, but...um, can you call her teacher and warn her that I will be picking her up?" Amy asked me, she was holding her keys in her right hand

"Yeah, I'm gonna call her right away!" Amy just nodded back and turned around to head out of the hospital

I pulled out my phone and made a quick phone call to Frankie's teacher, to warn her that a friend of my was coming to pick her up. Once I finished with the phone call I returned back to my kids.

"What happened mom?" Jude asked the moment I looked back to them

"I'm not really sure, bud" I said honestly placing hand on his shoulder "We don't know the full story yet"

"How bad is it?" Brandon asked me concerned

"Um...mama is awake, so that's good. She was a little bit confused and disoriented at first, when she woke up, but...slowly she came to" I explained to them, as I looked over the four worried faces

"Where is she now?" Mariana asked, when Jesus put arm around his twin sister "Can we see her?"

"The doctors took her to a CT scan. And then they will take her to x-ray. It's just a precaution, to know the full extent of her injuries. It will be some while probably, till we can go see her."

"What are her injuries?" Mariana sounded scared to hear the answer

"Uh, well..." I looked over my kids "It looked like, someone had hit her in the face pretty hard" I told them, slowly nodding my head. Fear flashed in the kids eyes "Her right eye is swollen badly, I'm not sure, but she might have a broken nose. I can't really tell you anything else, because I don't know myself. The doctor will tell us more."

"Do we know who did this?" Jesus spoke up, sounding quite angry about this whole thing. Sure, there was concern in his voice, just like his siblings, but he was more angrier than others

"No, not right now. But we will catch whoever did this. That's a promise!" I said meaning every word of it. I will make it my mission to find who did this. He will not go unpunished for this.

"Amy said she was attacked at home," Brandon stated "What was she doing at home?"

"As far as I know, she forgot the paperwork, she worked on yesterday. She must have printed it out this morning, but forgot to take them with her. Monte said Lena drove back home to get the papers, but she never returned." Looking over my four scared kids, I knew I had to so something to sooth them a bit "Mama is going to be okay, guys. Why don't we go sit down"

I guide the four kids to the waiting room. They all sit down next to one another, in one long line. In the far left sat Brandon, Jude was next to him. Jesus was sitting between Jude and Mariana, he still had his arm around his sister. I joined them and sat down next to Mariana.

"Stef!" Diaz poked his head in the waiting room some 10 minutes later. He nodded to me, to follow him out. I thought he was at my house working the case, trying to catch the guy whoever hurt my wife. What was he doing here?

"I will be right back," I tell the kids and kiss Mariana's head before I leave the waiting room

"I thought you were at my house working the case" I tell Diaz, when I walk out to him in the hallway

"Yeah, I was. I brought Roy to the hospital" He said taking me by surprise

"What? Why?" I exclaim out loudly

"The guy beat the crap out of him!" Diaz said and started to walk down the hallways. In a minute, I was standing by one of the beds in the emergency room. It was one of the beds, which could be secluded from the other room with a little curtain.

Roy had a nasty gash on his cheekbone, bloody nose, I think I saw a black eye forming as well. Just when I had walked up to him, he spit out some blood in a basin, that nurse held out for him. One hand was up to his nose, he was keeping the gauze to his nose to make sure the blood doesn't drip down his shirt. Other hand was wrapped around his stomach, like he was protecting his ribs.

"Oh my gosh" I gasp when I walk up to him "Roy, I'm-"

"Sorry" Roy apologized the moment he saw me

"For what?" I asked looking over him. His uniform was ripped a little, there was blood on his shirt.

"I let him get away," He replied and a little shifted on the bed

"It's okay. Can you tell me what happened?" I ask looking at his bloody shirt

"I was running after the suspect, like you told me to. He was running through the back streets. I saw him make a turn in one of the streets and I run after him. When I made the turn-" Roy stopped only to spit out some more blood that was in his mouth into the basin again

"He smashed me in the face with some kind of pipe. When I was on the ground, he kicked me few times in my ribs. I wanted to pull my gun out, but he knocked it out of my hand. I somehow managed to get up to my feet, and even managed to throw few punches back to him. But he pummeled me in the face and knocked me flat on my ass. He run off...I'm sorry. I let him get away" Roy explained

"Did you have a good look at him?"

"Not really. After he pummel me in the face with the pipe, I was dizzy and everything was a blur. I just know he was a big dude. Head or maybe two head height taller than me, defiantly more buff. And despite his height, he was fast. Like really fast, I barely could keep up with him. And he had a beard...like full grown beard. Thick, full beard...but that's all I remember"

"I already called in a sketch artist. Maybe between Roy and Lena, we will be able to get a sketch of him," Diaz said from the side, when a doctor walked up to Roy's bed.

"You did good!" I pat his knee carefully "Get better, Roy. I will come see you when I can" he managed to offer me back a weak smile

Diaz and I walked a bit further away from his bed "Does Lena remembers the guy?"

"I don't know. Haven't talked to her yet. She's at the CT scan now. Could be some while till we can get her statement."

"Did she say anything in the ambulance?"

"No, she was pretty much out of it. Slurred speech, she was dizzy and confused, even threw up...I think she definitely has a concussion"

"He pummeled Roy flat on his ass and Roy is not a small man himself. I saw him in the gym one time, Roy knows how to throw punches" Diaz said glancing to the bed where Roy was laying. The doctor was now aiding for my partner.

"Yeah, I know. Lena never had a chance with him," I said thoughtfully looking down to the floor between us

"Get back to your family. Your kids need you. We will keep you in the loop," Diaz said and ushered me to head back to the waiting room

Amy came in the waiting room, carrying Frankie in her arms about 20 minutes after I had returned back to the kids.

"Hey, baby!" I took Frankie out of Amy's arms and kissed her cheek. Frankie wrapped her little hands around my neck to hold on to my tightly. I kiss her forehead three times, before she lowered her head to my shoulder.

"Thanks Amy"

"Don't mention it. If you need any help, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" Amy said very understanding

I smile to her, for the nice gesture, as I run my hand gently over my youngest back to sooth her "Are you going back to precinct?"

"Yeah, I will see what can I do to help find the guy who did this. Stef, we will find him!" She said with certainty and confidence

"Yeah, I know. Thanks again for the help," Amy smiled back at me before she waved bye at the four kids and headed out the waiting room.

I walked back to the seat next to Mariana and sat back down. Frankie had few tears in her eyes and few tears had already fallen down her cheek. With my thumb, I wipe the tears away.

"Mama is going to be okay, baby" I whisper in her ear as I continue to rock her in my lap

Lena POV

After the CT scan and x-ray, I was taken back to the emergency room I was first taken to. A nurse stayed with me, while my doctor, went to talk to Stef. He said he will take her to me and I will be able to see her. We would also then discuss my injuries and treatment.

I couldn't wait for that to happen. For the last hour or so (at least it felt that long) I was surrounded by strangers, by nurses and doctors. Unknown faces. Their soothing words meant nothing to me. I wanted - no - I needed to see Stef. I knew she would make me feel safe, because right now, right now I didn't feel safe. I was scared and I was worried, I was still in pain and I wasn't exactly sure what had happened. My memory was kind of blurry.

I remember having breakfast with my kids and wife.

I remember driving Frankie to kindergarten and kissing her before I leave.

I remember driving up to the school with Mariana and Jude, because Brandon drove to school with his car and took Jesus with him.

I remember how the kids and I parted, to go our own separate ways.

I remember how I walked in my office and how Monte walked in just a moment later.

I remember how we talked about the paperwork, we both worked on Sunday.

I remember that I had to go back to the house, because I had forgotten to take the paperwork with me.

I remember walking in the house to get the paperwork.

And everything after that is - blank.

No matter how hard I have tried to remember how I ended up in this situation, nothing came back to me. I have no memory of what happened between me walking back in the house and me waking up surrounded by the paramedics and Stef in my house. Not only that, I have no idea, how much time passed between these two events in my life. It could be the next day for all I know.

"Are you comfortable?" one of the nurses touched my left arm gently "Are you warm enough?"

"I'm...I'm okay" I replied quietly, my speech was still a little slurred "Where's Stef? I want...I want to see my wife"

"She's coming. Try to relax" She said gently while looking down to me

"Lena, love" I heard Stef's voice just as I saw doors opening. A moment later, Stef was by my side. Gently, Stef placed her palm on my forehead and gazed to my eyes.

"I'm here love. The kids are all here" Stef's voice was incredibly soft, filled with nothing but concern and love. She was stroking my hair very gently.

"Stef-" It came out as a whisper. I was on edge of my tears. It was only a matter of time till the tears about to fall. When I saw how hurt and worried Stef looked, I couldn't keep the tears in anymore.

"Shh, it's going to be okay, my love. You are going to be okay" Stef bent down and placed the most gentle kiss to my cheek "Don't cry" with her thumb, she gently wiped away the tear that had escaped my eye "I'm right here, my love. I'm not leaving you"

"I'm sorry, but there are few thins I need to discuss with you," my doctor spoke up. He was standing by the end on the bed/table on which I was on. I was focusing on Stef, because she was the one that gave me strength.

"First of-" the doctor spoke up, Stef gripped my hand tighter as the doctor started to talk about my injuries. Stef seemed like she was listening careful to every word the doctor said. I could only focus on what he said for a limited time. His words after 2 minutes became too hard to understand. While he continued to speak, I was just gazing at my wife, who stood by my side.

Blowout fracture

Broken nose

Small fracture to cheek bone

Concussion

Arms, back, stomach, sides, legs covered in welts, most likely made by a belt or some sort of whip

These were my most serious injuries, as far as I understood. I kept repeating the list in my head as I tried to put some sort of memory to them. How did I sustain all of those injuries? What caused them? Or should I say – who caused them?

Stef POV

After Lena was patched up, a nurse took her to a room, where she is going to spend the night. The doctor had advised us, that Lena should stay the night, just to be safe. The main reason for that, was Lena's head trauma. Doctor wanted to monitor her for the night, to make sure she is safe to go home. You can't be too careful with a head trauma, so I of course, agreed. After a brief chat with Lena, she said she was okay with it as well.

So, now, when she was taken to a room and settled in a bit, she had to give her statement. If Amy would have been working the field, I would have probably asked her to take Lena's statement. But she wasn't. Amy was at the precinct, trying to help us from there. But Diaz was in the hospital. Lena knew him, at least they have met. And I would rather her talk to Diaz, than to some stranger, who she has never seen or talked to before. She was scared enough as it was, I needed to do everything I can, to make this as easier to her as possible.

When Diaz walked in, he stopped at the end of her bed. After he pulled out his notepad and pen, he started with few very simple questions. I was sitting next to Lena's bed, holding her hand, while Diaz asked her few questions about the attack. The concussion Lena had, made it a bit harder for her to answer these questions. Lena had to pause and think about it. I saw how she struggled with the answers. Her thoughts were still probably jumbled up.

"Can you tell me what happened when you got home?" Diaz asked her after she had answered the previous question about what time she left the school

I glanced to Lena, when I waited for her answer. But the answer never came. She remained silent, her head a little dipped down. I could tell her mind was spinning with thoughts as she tried to find the answer for Diaz's questions.

"Lena, love" I whisper quietly as move my thumb over her palm. Lena snapped out of her thoughts and looked to me. I think she moved her head too fast, she seemed kind of dizzy after the quick head move. Lena closed her eyes and waited for a little while, till the dizzy spell and possible even nausea passes.

"Take your time Lena" Diaz said encouraging her "There's no rush"

"I don't..." Lena shook her head "I don't remember!" She replied and looked up to Diaz scared, afraid of how he would react

"It's okay. Let's work with what we have. You left the school to go get the file that you forgot at home. Do you remember driving up to the house?" Diaz asked her softly, after he shared a concern filled look with me

Lena replied back to him, she sounded quite certain about that answer "Yes, I pulled up to the house and I walked in"

"Okay, good. Did you unlock the front doors? Maybe they were open already..."

"No! No, I unlocked them. I remember, I mixed up the keys- I tried to unlock the front doors with my office key" Lena explained the best way she could

"You are doing great honey" I whisper to her and with my free hand I stroke her cheek gently

"You got back to your house, unlocked the doors" Diaz repeated very calmly "Can you tell me where was the file?"

"Um...it was...um...on the kitchen island table. That's where I placed it after I printed it out"

"Did you got the file?" Diaz asked as he shifted slightly in his stance

"Yes...I took it and then turned to head out. Monte was waiting for me and the file, I knew I had to get back to the school"

"When you got the file, did you hear the doors open? Did you hear someone else walk in?"

"No..uh, I had left the doors half often" Lena looked to me apologetically and slightly scared and worried

"It's okay, honey. No one is mad at you. I would not close the doors as well, if I knew I just had to take one file from a table" I told her, to calm her down. I knew she thought, I was mad at her, for leaving the doors open. But I wasn't.

"I don't...remember hearing anyone else in the house" Lena said after looking back to Diaz

"Okay. You got the file, you turned around to head out...what then? Was somewhere there? Was someone standing in the hallway?"

"I don't know...I don't know. I don't remember" Lena cried out. She has gone through a very traumatic experience and sometimes victims (Lena will probably hate me if I call her that), forget the events leading up to it or the traumatic event itself. It's nothing new. In most cases, victims regain the memory after a while, few hours, few days.

I glanced to Diaz. He understood the look I gave him. Diaz closed the notepad and left the room, to give me and Lena some space and time alone. Once he was gone, I got up from the chair I was on and laid down next to Lena, on the side of the bed. There was very little space, but I could make it work. I was laid down on my right side, turned to Lena, who was still crying

"Shhh" I hum to her as I gently wrapped my arms around my wife, careful not to hurt her in the process. Her body was covered in the welt (arms, legs, stomach, back, sides), I was sure all the bruises hurt, stung and she was probably sore "You did good, baby. You did good. Shh, it's okay, my love. Shh, my sweet, sweet love..."

"I don't remember, I don't remember..." Lena sobbed out, when she pressed her head to chest. I pulled her as close to my chest as I could and started to whisper sweet nothing in her ear, trying to sooth her down. I have never seen her so broken down, so fragile and so weak. It hurt me so bad, that Lena was suffering like this. If only I could take her pain and fear away. Part of me wanted to go out and find who ever did this, but I knew I couldn't.

My wife needed me.