Chapter 11

As soon as the door closed behind them, Abby and Jackson got to work trying to help the distressed woman, but she screamed every time Jackson approached her. She was inconsolable, hyperventilating, her tears mixed with the dried-out blood on her face, smearing it everywhere. When she cried out again, Jackson lifted his hands in defeat and looked at Abby who, sensing what was going on dismissed him.

"Go, I'll handle it. Get Niylah." She turned her attention back to the young woman. "Leah, honey, what happened?" Abby shined the light in Leah's eyes and scanned her body for any visible life-threatening injuries. Busted lip, nosebleed, ripped clothes, bruises, patches of pulled her, a bite mark…

A nasty image of the events formed in Abby's mind, and she didn't like where it was going.

"Leah," she tried to get the woman's attention. "Leah!" her head snapped. "What happened?" she questioned, now satisfied that there was no immediate risk to her life.

The door behind her opened and Niylah walked in with a bowl of water and a cloth, ready to clean Leah's face. With a raised hand, Abby stopped her, Niylah raised her eyebrows questioningly. Seeing a new face caused Leah to cry out again and Abby found her hand and squeezed it tightly, trying to get her to focus.

"Go," Abby whispered to Niylah. "I've got this. Tell Jackson I'll handle the evidence, he'll know what I mean."

Niylah nodded in response and left the room, locking the door behind her.

Now, alone with Leah, Abby stood there holding her hand, trying to give her as much time as she needed. There was no rush, patience was key. In her whole career, Abby could count the number of times she had to deal with something similar on one hand, maybe two. She was sure it happened more often on more occupied Ark stations, but it was severely underreported. No matter how many cases she dealt with, it never got easier. It was exhausting and mentally challenging, but it was a small price to pay to help the victim get justice. Abby shook her head, squared her shoulder, and inhaled deeply trying to clear her head of any distractions. She squeezed Leah's hand. She was the priority, nothing else existed at that moment. With that, she got to work.

Collecting this type of evidence had never been easy, it's a draining and gruelling process that takes hours. Abby left the examination room exhausted, both mentally and physically and she couldn't even begin to imagine how much more difficult it was for Leah. She offered her a sedative to help her sleep which the woman gladly accepted but Abby knew it was not the end. Sedative may allow Leah to sleep now but it's not a cure, there was no cure for what she'd been put through.

Abby dragged her feet as she walked out of the room, she closed the door behind her and rolled her head from side to side to loosen kinks.

"Are you okay?" asked Jackson, his eyes filled with worry.

Abby nodded, her skin pale, dark bags under her eyes, she rubbed her face before she said. "The evidence is in the safe. Leah requested a sedative, she should be asleep until morning. Get me if she wakes up sooner." She instructed. Jackson's worried gaze followed her as she dragged her feet with her head hung.

Exhausted, Abby slowly made her way to her quarters. Despite tiredness, there was no way she would be able to sleep, and she had yet to tell Kane what happened. Jackson informed Miller Senior, the head of guard so he could protect the scene but Marcus would expect a report directly from Abby.

Her clothes were covered in blood, her body in sweat, she was sticky and the disgusting feeling wouldn't go away, she was desperate to get a shower. This would give her time to figure out how to break the news to him. Deep in her thoughts, she turned the corner and walked directly towards her room. Inside, she headed towards her bathroom, took her hair tie from her hair, loosening it with her fingers, shaking out the dried blood when a loud knock stopped her movement. Tempted to ignore it, she waited but another knock followed. It must be important, she figured and walked back to open the door.

In front of her stood Marcus, tall, dressed all in black with his lips pressed tightly, looking at her expectantly. She ran a hand through her knotted hair as she waited for him to speak, after all he came to her.

"Leanna told me what happened," he said. Abby's heart sank, she was about to make a quip about having a spy in medical but she bit her tongue, it wasn't the time for that.

Kane continued, "You should have called me immediately!"

"I had more important things to do!"

"It's been hours! You know damn well you should've told me!"

"My priority was to help a traumatized woman." Her eyes challenged him and he realized his mistake. "Besides, Jackson called Miller who handled the scene. There was no need for me to stop what I was doing just to call you."

"I'm sorry, I—" he was tired, dark circles under his eyes matched hers. Abby remembered how much these cases affected him on the Ark. She softened her voice.

"I was going to tell you once I got rid of the blood. All the evidence is in the safe."

"What happened?"

"Come on in." She opened the door and gestured towards the couch. Marcus looked at her for approval and she nodded, he entered reluctantly and sat down. Abby poured them both a drink. "She was attacked."

"By whom?"

"She didn't see him, it was too dark and she lost consciousness after she was hit on the head."

Marcus gripped his glass, Abby wasn't sure how much it would take before it would shatter.

"Did you collect ALL the evidence?"

"I know how to do my job."

"I know, I know… I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I need to speak to her."

"She's asleep now, you'll have to wait until morning, but I recorded everything if you want to listen to it."

"Has she said anything important?"

"Not much. He attacked her from behind and when she woke up, she was alone."

"God." He ran his hand through his hair and finished the last of his drink. "Why can't we all just live in peace?" He slumped in his seat, closing his eyes.

Abby didn't know what to reply to that, so she just took a sip of her own drink acutely aware that she was still covered in Leah's blood.

"We can do DNA tests now; the lab has all the necessary equipment." He opened his eyes, interested.

"We can't just test everyone; it would take forever."

"I've been working on the database for some time now and I've been taking samples from those who had their physicals done. I'm halfway through. We can try and compare it to what we already have."

Marcus nodded, impressed.

"I'll get Jackson and Niylah to help, we'll get through the rest as quickly as possible. We'll find him."

Kane placed his empty glass on the table, leaned back, closed his eyes, and sighed defeated. It was too easy to slip back into their working routine, Abby thought as she watched him, and it worried her.

"But what are we going to do with him after we find him. We can't exactly float him."

"We'll figure it out when we get there. For now, let's just focus on catching him. One thing at a time," said Abby.

"You're right." He pushed himself to a standing position and looked at her only now noticing that she was covered in blood, sunken eyes, her skin pale.

"I'll go now." He pointed at the door, "I'll let you get on with your…" His voice trailed off; the meaning understood. Breaking the eye contact, he turned toward the door, grabbed the handle ready to leave when Abby's voice stopped him.

"Get some sleep." Her voice filled with worry. "Tomorrow will be a long day."

"I don't know if I can."

"At least try."

"You too." With that he left the room as Abby's gaze followed him. All she wanted was to go after him, hug him and take away all his worries even if only for the night. But she couldn't do that. She swallowed back her tears and dragged her tired and dirty body under the shower where no one could hear her cries.

A shrieking noise woke her up, she bolted right up in her bead looking around, squeezing her eyes willing it to go away but it wouldn't.

"Doctor Griffin, report to the medical. Code red. Repeat…" When the information reached her ears, she sprang into action, she jumped out of her bed, grabbed her clothes and pulled them on. She tied her still wet hair in a messy ponytail and ran out of her room. The door next to her opened and equally confused Marcus opened his door.

"What's this about?" he asked.

"Don't know but if it's Leah, I'll keep you updated." Shouted Abby without stopping as she ran through the hall leaving Marcus behind.

End of Chapter 11