Grace attempted to sign, and Emily cracked up when she did. Grace blushed lightly and looked over at the interpreter, who was clearly struggling to keep a straight face.

"What did I say?" Grace asked.

"You said 'I hate intelligence'." The interpreter grinned good-naturedly, and Grace couldn't help but laugh at herself.

Emily looked at Grace with a kind smile and signed. Grace looked to the interpreter for clarification.

"'Don't worry, you're getting better. You'll learn.'" the interpreter told Grace what Emily said.

The two young submissives sat on Emily's bed in her hospital room and continued to interact until they looked up when Olivia breezed into the room and smiled upon seeing the two girls giggling over something on Grace's phone.

"Hey, baby. You've been over here for almost three hours. You and Emily both need to rest now, and Dr. Warner is waiting in your room to take a look at your stitches." Olivia said kindly, while the interpreter signed everything she was saying so that Emily could understand.

"Yes, Ma'am." Grace replied obediently, reaching for the walker.

"Ah, there's my patient." Dr. Warner smiled, "Come lie back and I'll check your stitches. I hear you've made a friend here in the surgery wing."

"Yeah, the deaf girl down the hall." Grace replied as she laid back in her bed and Dr. Warner lifted her hospital gown.

"Oh, right. I'm not her doctor, she had a different surgeon, but I know her surgeon, he's excellent at his job. Are you in any pain?"

"No, not pain. It's still slightly uncomfortable if I twist certain ways, but not painful," Grace said honestly, "and walking doesn't hurt at all."

"That's good. Well, your stitches look fine, you're healing very well, your appetite is good, and all of your blood work has been perfect. You're in great shape to be discharged right on schedule."

"Tomorrow?" Grace asked hopefully.

"The day after tomorrow." Dr. Warner said kindly.

Later that night, a scream rang out, bringing all of the night nurses running to Grace's room where Grace was lying in her bed sobbing hysterically.

"What's wrong, honey?" a nurse spoke kindly.

"My Ma'am… please, I want my Ma'am…" Grace sobbed.

"We'll get her for you, sweetheart."

Another one of the nurses found Olivia sleeping in the family lounge and woke the sleeping detective.

"What happened?" Olivia asked upon waking up and seeing a nurse standing over her.

"Grace woke up screaming and is asking for you. She's fine, it seems like she simply had a nightmare." the nurse explained.

Olivia got up and walked down to Grace's room where Grace was still crying out for her.

"Everybody out." Olivia ordered, and the nurses instantly scattered. Olivia bent down to gently stroke Grace's face, "I'm here, my baby. I'm right here. You're safe, you just had a dream. Come here." Olivia got into Grace's bed and cuddled her close. Grace still had nightmares pretty often, but this was the first one she'd had since she'd been in the hospital.

"No therapists! I was good! No therapists!" Grace sobbed, clinging to Olivia for dear life.

"You're a very good girl, my baby. You're a very good girl. Do you remember where Dr. Lindstrom is right now? Can you tell me?"

"Jail." Grace choked out.

"That's right. He's in jail and he can't hurt you anymore."

"Trial." Grace whimpered.

"Yes, there is going to be a trial, I'm so proud of you for remembering that. We haven't heard yet when it will be, but whenever it is, we will face it together. And I want you to remember something, sweetheart. Do you remember during Melissa's trial, was she allowed to speak to you or approach you at all?"

"No." Grace started to calm.

"No, Ma'am." Olivia corrected.

"No, Ma'am." Grace repeated.

"Good girl. It will be exactly the same during this trial, Dr. Lindstrom won't be allowed to talk to you or approach you." Olivia assured her.

"I'm sorry I screamed." Grace blushed lightly.

"That's okay, honey, you just had a nightmare, and I am very proud of you for having one of the nurses come to get me. You were a very good girl."

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?" Grace pleaded, still somewhat rattled from her nightmare.

"Yes, of course I will. You just relax now, my baby. You are very safe." Olivia gently stroked Grace's long dark hair.

The next day, Olivia allowed Grace to spend most of her time with Emily. The two women had exchanged cell phone numbers to keep in touch after Grace was discharged from the hospital, but Emily was going to be in the hospital for a while longer, and Grace promised to keep in touch with her.

"'How long have you been with your Mistress?'" Emily signed.

"'Less than six months. My Ma'am rescued me from my other Mistress who abused me.'" Grace signed, with slight difficulty.

"'Oh, I'm sorry," Emily looked sad, "'I didn't mean to bring it up.'"

"'That's okay,'" Grace signed, "'Can I ask you about your Dominant?"

Emily hesitated, and then she sighed and began to sign again.

"'My name is Emily Jackson. My Mistress is Victoria Cues. I ran away from her after she beat me, and while I was wandering around with nowhere to go, a man raped me. A couple walking their dog found me lying on the ground in Central Park and called 911.'"

"'Did you talk to my Ma'am's detectives? They can help you.'"

"'No. I won't go back.'" Emily glared, her brown eyes flashing angrily.

"'They didn't make me go back. Their job is to protect you." Grace reasoned.

"'NO!'" Emily signed angrily.

"'Your Mistress should be in prison!'" Grace argued.

"Girls, let's take some deep breaths and calm down a little bit." The interpreter said, interrupting the conversation when she could see the potential for a fight to break out.

"'I shouldn't have told you anything. You can't tell.'" Emily signed.

"'I won't tell.'" Grace signed half-heartedly.

Later, Grace was back in her bed while Olivia fed her dinner. The brunette detective had noticed that her sweet little submissive had seemed subdued since her return from her visit with Emily. Knowing that Grace would come to her when she was ready, Olivia didn't push. It was normal for friends to have spats every now and then. Lord knows she and Elliot had had plenty of them over the years. When Grace's dinner tray was empty, Olivia praised her, and Grace suddenly burst into tears.

"Hey, hey, what happened to my good girl?" Olivia cooed with loving concern, gently stroking Grace's face.

"I'm just tired." Grace whimpered. She might be in trouble for lying if the truth came out later, but for right now she was going to keep her promise.

"I know you're tired, little one. You had a long day. We'll just relax for the rest of the evening, and then I think an early bedtime is in order."

"What did I do?" Grace whimpered with a trembling lower lip.

"It's not a punishment, sweetheart. Not at all. I think you just need some extra rest. You've been a very good girl." Olivia soothed, assuring Grace that she was not being punished.

"Ma'am, can I have a cuddle?" Grace pleaded.

"Yes." Olivia climbed up on the bed and gathered Grace into her arms.

The next afternoon, Grace was discharged from the hospital. On the way out, they stopped to say goodbye to Emily with a hug and a promise to text soon. When they made it out to the parking lot, Grace insisted on walking ahead and opening Olivia's car door for her the way she always did, and then she carefully climbed into the passenger seat. When they arrived home, they entered the apartment and Olivia noticed that Grace was slightly out of breath.

"All right, my baby, now you park yourself on the couch. Netflix and board games for you for the next five days." Olivia ordered.

"I already rested for seven whole days." Grace tried not to whine.

"And now you are going to rest for five more, as per Dr. Warner's instructions." Olivia told her.

"Yes, Ma'am." Grace sighed.

"I'm off work all this week, so you and I can just cuddle and watch movies all week." Olivia promised, and Grace smiled. Being stuck on the couch sucked, but cuddle time in her Mistress's arms was the best thing ever, "And I want us to be comfortable while we do it, so let's get ourselves changed into pajamas and then you can choose a movie for us to watch."

"Shouldn't I make lunch for us first?" Grace tried to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible, and received a raised eyebrow in response, "Pajamas and couch. Got it." Grace admitted defeat, and Olivia laughed.

"Come on, trouble." Olivia teased as she guided Grace to the bedroom, "Lucky for you, you have one more week of no spankings." Olivia lovingly patted Grace's bottom.

While they were changing into their pajamas, Olivia did a quick inspection of Grace's body. Grace had been in the hospital for seven days and Olivia knew full well that she hadn't cut herself, but it was important to keep up the routine. Olivia then ordered Chinese food for them, and when the food arrived they sat on the couch together with their food and began to watch a movie. When they were finished eating, Grace cuddled up in Olivia's arms and smiled upon feeling the tips of her Mistress's fingernails grazing her belly.

"Ma'am?" Grace spoke a while later after they had decided to turn the TV off and were simply cuddling in the peaceful silence.

"Yes, my baby?" Olivia kissed Grace's head.

"If you make a promise to someone, but keeping that promise could be dangerous for the other person, should you keep it?" Grace asked quietly.

"Well, in general it's good to keep promises when you can. I always do my best to keep my promises to you. Sometimes I can't keep my promises due to an unexpected work emergency or something like that, but in general I always keep my promises. But there are exceptions to most every rule, and there are times when it's okay to break a promise, especially if someone could get hurt." Olivia explained.

"I know who Emily is and where she came from, she told me. But she made me promise not to tell." Grace frowned.

"Well, given what I just said, do you think you need to tell me?" Olivia inquired.

"She's going to hate me." Grace's lower lip trembled.

"No, she won't. She might be angry with you for a while, especially if something is going on that she doesn't want anyone to know, but she'll come around eventually and understand that you only did what you thought was right." Olivia soothed.

"Her name is Emily Jackson. Her Mistress is Victoria Cues. Victoria beat her and she ran away, and while she was wandering around Central Park a man raped her." Grace divulged the information she had, earning another kiss to her head.

"I am so proud of you for coming to me and talking to me about this, sweetheart. You did exactly the right thing." Olivia praised.

"Can you help her? Even though the information didn't come from her?" Grace asked.

"Yes, my baby, we can help her, and we will, I promise." Olivia assured her, "Do you know what an outcry witness is?"

"No, Ma'am."

"An outcry witness is the first person who hears an allegation of abuse. In this case, that's you. You are legally obligated to report it, which you just did. And I won't lie to you, if her case goes to trial, you will be called to testify." Olivia explained.

"I haven't even started at the Academy yet and I've already been part of three trials." Grace wrinkled her nose, and Olivia laughed.

"So does that mean you've decided you want to study at the Academy?" Olivia inquired.

"Yes, Ma'am, I would like that." Grace nodded.

"All right, then we will make that happen for you. It might take some time since this semester has already started, and we'll have to track down your records from college, but if it's what you want, then we will make it happen." Olivia agreed.