Chapter 17

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Olivia cried in Fin's arms until she'd exhausted her tears and no more would fall. Every emotion she had was raw and at the surface as she clung to him. Happiness, relief, disbelief and anger plus confusion and so much more. Everything rushed out of her all at once until there was nothing left and there in the arms of her oldest friend she allowed her cries to finally quiet and in pained whispers that begged him again and again "don't leave, don't leave, don't leave…" She finally closed her eyes and let the sleep her tired mind and body so desperately craved take her under, but she was in a state much deeper than typical slumber.

Now, Fin, with Nick and Amanda sat at her bedside not having moved since they arrived and they couldn't find a thing to say between them, they just sat there in stunned silence as they watched her sleep. After three long months she was just a mere shell of herself. Nick was especially affected by watching her scream in Fin's arms without reserve. She couldn't talk, she just screamed in the most pitiful sobs he'd ever heard, sobs that broke his heart.

"What the hell had happened to her?" he wondered, they all did as they looked at her from where she lay, covered in horrible bruises. But that wasn't the most shocking. What pained them most was her gaunt appearance. She had lost weight, enough that her cheeks hand begun to take on an almost hollow look. They had no idea that she was with child and that the morning sickness has been quite brutal, often lasting all day and not letting her keep anything down - that was when she could actually manage to want to eat. Being viciously raped and beaten almost daily often left her without an appetite and she couldn't be bothered with doing anything other than lying still and praying for death.

"I'm just glad she's able to sleep" Fin said in a hushed tone, never taking his eyes away from her "No tellin the shit her mind is tryin to deal with"

Nick sat staring at Olivia, pure fire raging inside him. He sniffed back the tears in his eyes and swallowed the ones lodged in his throat that threatened to choke him before deciding that it was all suddenly too much and he stood up and stormed out of the room without a word.

"Amaro" Fin called after him.

"I got it"Amanda said as she got up and went after Nick, catching up to him as he delivered a blow to the wall with his fist, knocking a hole through it. "Nick…"

"I'll kill this bastard!" Nick vowed "So help me God, I will kill this son of a bitch for doing this to her!"

"He dun need to be our focus right now"

"Look at her!" he cried, the pain that was splitting him apart unmistakable in his voice. "I was the one that pulled her out of that house after four days with Lewis and that sick son of a bitch put her through it, but this?" he gestured toward her room "What kind of hell…?" he asked superfluously, unable to contain the angry tears that streamed his face. Amanda stood there, her own tears trailing her delicate features. She was at a complete loss for words and her heart was breaking.

"She… she's strong" she said almost inaudibly, offering the only words that would come

"Nobody is that strong and she's been stronger than any one person should have to be. You saw her in there, she broke, Rollins! Liv never breaks…no matter what, she puts on a strong face and she keeps going but that woman in there…that sick fuck broke her! He broke her!"

Sam approached Nick and Amanda with trepidation. The detectives seemed so intense, which was understandable but he wasn't sure how, or if they'd receive him at all. Especially after seeing the condition their friend was in; they probably weren't in the mood to talk to anyone outside their circle and it was completely understandable.

"Detectives?" he called in a small voice from where he stood a few feet away, causing Nick and Amanda to quickly turn around in his direction.

"…Sam, right?"Amanda said with a sad smile

"Yes ma'am. I'm gonna head home but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your friend and I'll be praying for a speedy recovery."

"Thank you Sam, that's very kind of you"

"When you found her… did she say anything?" Nick asked. Sam shook his head, the very memory painful for him..

"She was unconscious. Just lying there in the rain; no clothes, no shoes…"

"What?"

"She was in a nightgown, that's all. I'm sorry I can't be of more help but I told the police everything I know. I should get going, my parents have been worried sick." he said before turning to leave

"Sam, wait" Nick called "Is there a number where we could reach you? I know that when Olivia is…she'd want to thank you for what you did for her"

"Olivia. It's nice to be able to put a name to her; it's pretty. Uh, can I?" He gestured to Nick for his phone, Nick entered his lock code before handing it to him and Sam quickly entered his contact info.

"I'm leaving my cell and my parent's house. I'll be there for the rest of the summer until I go back to school next month." he said as he gave the phone back to Nick

"You're a hero, Sam" Amanda said. Both she and Nick were relieved that he had been the one to find Olivia. Who knows what might have happened if it had been someone with ill intention?

"Nah. She needed help and I helped; I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done" he said before he walked away. Nick and Amanda were touched by his kindness and the fact that somehow, life hadn't jaded him and he still saw the good in the world around him.

"Man…" Amanda lamented as she watched Sam walk away. "Remember bein full of innocence like that?"

"Nope. Not the hand life dealt me" Nick said dryly just as Fin emerged from Olivia's room.

"She awake?"Nick asked

"Nah, I just needed to stretch my legs, return some calls. 1PP been blowing up my phone and I figured I should get back to them."

"'l'll go sit with her" Nick said as he turned to go back into the room and Fin looked up to see Chief Arlow coming down the hall.

"Chief Arlow" Fin greeted

"Detective. How is Sergeant Benson? Considering…."

"She's in bad shape but the doctor thinks she'll be fine– physically. Did you find Sheriff Ho- Lewis?" Fin asked, feeling ice in his veins at just the mention of that name again.

"We did, that's why I'm here. We found Holmes unconscious, nearly bled out. He'd been stabbed repeatedly and his uh…"Arlow paused as if the next part hurt just to think about. "Let's just say his genitals had been…reassigned"

"Say what?""Fin asked

"They were in his hand. Your Sergeant, she cut them off"

"Beg pardon" Amanda couldn't believe her ears.

... ... ...

Inside Olivia's room, Nick sat in the chair beside the bed while he gently held her hand between the two of his, talking softly to her sleeping form.

"What did he put you through?" he wept "If I could go back to that night I never would have let you leave without me; I should have insisted… I absolutely should have insisted on going with you! How could anyone hurt you like this? You are everything that's good about the world and I just don't understand..." He licked the tears from his lips "I need you to be okay, Liv. I can't breathe if you're not okay and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you there!"

... ... ...

"So, what? You here to arrest her? Cuz ain't no way in hell I'm letting you do that!" Fin said angrily "If she did what you accusing her of, she had a reason!"

"I'm not here to arrest her. Holmes…he had the house wired with cameras, inside and out he recorded everything…in particular, everything that went on in the bedroom we found him in – the very bedroom that he kept your sergeant confined to."

"Lemme talk to you" Fin said "Manda, why don't you call and see what's keepin Cassidy" Amanda nodded as Fin and Arlow walked away so that they could talk privately. "We didn't know that the Jane Doe was my sergeant when your desk sergeant sent me here with Logan… the doctor who called it in said that she suspected that Jane Doe had been raped; was this…?"

"I don't know if you want the answer to that" Arlow said with a look in his eyes that should have made Fin back away from the subject but something in him had to know.

"I can handle it" he assured Arlow, steeling himself for whatever the man would say but he quickly found that nothing would or could prepare him for the words that came out of Arlow's mouth.

"Sergeant Benson… moments before she cut Holmes… He raped her." Arlow said sorrowfully while Fin just nodded, staring at the floor, unable to do more with his heart cracking down the middle "It wasn't the first time. We found literally dozens of recordings that span the three months she was in that house…it's gonna take us weeks to go through them all but from what we've seen so far, the videos… she's been repeatedly, brutally raped and just as brutally beaten and tortured. Sergeant Benson was in the clutches of a highly sadistic man and you should be thanking whatever god you pray to that she's even still alive!"

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Brian finally arrives next chapter. Liv wakes up from her...whatever she's in, Nick loses his temper and we check in on Daddy and Daughter.