Chapter 26 –

Alex quickly put her hand up to her mouth as she tried to cover the large yawn that had escaped, she knew that there was no disguising the fact that she was tired but glancing over at Mary Alex also knew that she couldn't leave, not yet. There was no need for her to stay at the hospital, they weren't going to bring any criminal charges against Mary but the teenager had barely looked at Alex that morning and Alex could see that she was fighting both the physical and emotional pain. As the clock ticked around to 10:16am Alex caught sight of some familiar figures standing outside in the corridor, looking at Mary who had closed her eyes, Alex spoke quietly.

"I'm just popping out into the corridor Mary, I won't be gone long."

Alex smiled even though Mary failed to acknowledge her before she walked out of the room.

"Alex!"

"Morning Kate, what are you guys doing here?"

Alex embraced Kate as Emily and Dave smiled and nodded at Alex before Kate whispered into Alex's ear.

"You're still here?"

"It didn't feel right leaving her here on her own."

"Thanks Alex."

Kate smiled as she pulled herself away from Alex and looked at the three older adults.

"I'm going to go in and see Mary."

Kate didn't wait to see any reaction as she walked away and entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Mary had watched the interaction of the group, slightly confused as to what was going on, especially as she saw Kate walking towards her and then the three adults stood deep in conversation, but before she had a chance to think Kate was there, smiling at the end of her bed.

"Hi Mary."

Mary managed a faint smile as she carried on looking out to the corridor and saw Alex and Emily hugging each other.

"How are you feeling?"

Kate moved and sat down in the chair vacated by Alex and watched as Mary shrugged her shoulders, still concentrating on the adults outside.

"Morning Alex, how are you?"

Emily smiled as the two women embraced before Alex turned and gave Dave a quick hug also.

"I must admit that I'm tired but I didn't want to leave Mary alone."

Emily nodded her head understandingly as Dave patted Alex reassuringly on the shoulder while he spoke.

"Well we're going to be here for a while so go home and get some rest."

"Ok thanks, but ring me if you need me again."

"Of course, thanks Alex."

Emily smiled as they watched Alex leave before Dave turned to look at his wife.

"I'm going to track down the doctor, the last thing Mary needs is to be crowded by a load of strangers."

Emily looked at Dave and saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"Are we doing the right thing Dave?"

"Of course Emily, but we don't know anything until we speak to the doctors and Mary."

Dave smiled as he lent around and kissed Emily on the cheek before he went off in search of a doctor.

Mary closed her eyes as she watched Emily walk into her room, this was the one person who had seen her at her weakest and she wanted to ensure that it didn't happen again.

"Morning Mary, I hope that you can remember me, I'm Emily."

Emily winked at Kate as she moved to the opposite side of the bed and touched Mary on the shoulder, the contact enough to cause Mary to open her eyes, nodding her head in response.

"I hope that they're looking after you well here?"

Emily pulled herself up onto the edge of the bed while Kate reached across and took a hold of Mary's hand, the kindness shown was too much for Mary as she closed her eyes and tried to bury the emotions that were steadily building up inside of her.

"We're here to help you Mary, we know how much you are hurting, please don't bury it all inside."

Emily spoke quietly as she reached over and gently stroked Mary's hair, she could see the tears starting to escape from the closed eyes as she carefully put her arms around Mary and brought her close into her body, the trickle of tears quickly turning into a crescendo.

"Its ok sweetheart, I've got you, just let it all out."

Emily whispered into Mary's ear as she held and gently rocked the teenager, glancing over at Kate, the two of them nodding at each other in recognition of the small breakthrough they had made.

It didn't take too long for Dave to track down a doctor, unashamedly using his FBI credentials as he followed the young female doctor to a tiny office that looked like it was used by several members of staff.

"Sorry let me move those for you."

Dave smiled as the doctor removed some files from a chair and gestured for him to sit down.

"Thank you Doctor Brown."

"Not a problem, how can I help you Agent Rossi?"

"I just need to know how Mary Atkinson is getting on, how severe her injuries are and what psychological trauma she has suffered."

"The teenager that was brought in by Agent Blake late yesterday, it was unfortunate that we couldn't treat her earlier."

"We didn't want to put anyone at risk, the girl was a target, we all were so she was safer with us."

Dave watched carefully as the young doctor nodded and passed him over a medical file, he quickly saw that it was Mary's and began to flick through whilst listening to the doctor.

"Mary obviously took a beating, there were several contusions on her body and several wounds that I have stitched up that appear to have been caused by a knife, she was also raped, I did a rape kit and have sent it to processing. There are also signs of malnutrition but Agent Blake informed me that Mary has been living on the streets for a while."

"Any drug use?"

"No her bloods came back clear."

"What about any psychological issues?"

"I'm not a psychologist Agent Rossi but Mary has been extremely reluctant to talk or make eye contact with anyone, she flinches at the slightest physical contact but given what she has been through I believe that it is entirely understandable, though I would recommend that she is given therapy for post traumatic stress."

Dave closed the file and took in a deep breath, it was the news that he had been expecting but hearing it first hand was another thing.

"Thank you doctor, do you have any idea of when Mary will be released?"

"Obviously she is a minor so we will have to inform child services first."

"That may not be necessary."

Dave watched as the doctor looked at him quizzically.

"I thought Agent Blake said that the FBI weren't bringing charges against Mary?"

"We're not, my wife and I already have one adopted daughter that has been through a similar ordeal."

"Oh, well in that case I wouldn't be comfortable in releasing her for at least forty eight hours."

Dave smiled as he stood up, reaching across as he shook hands with Doctor Brown.

"Thank you for your help doctor, I'm sure that I'll be seeing you again soon."

"Not a problem Agent Rossi, I'll be in to see Mary in the next couple of hours."

Dave nodded his head as he walked out of the room to find Emily and to see how she was getting on talking about the future with Mary.