"Slow down, Noah!" Olivia called after him. His footsteps echoed through the otherwise silent hallway. Olivia hoped there weren't many patients in this particular wing who would be bothered by Noah's exuberance.

She felt Elliot slip his hand into hers as they walked side by side. "He's fine."

"He's probably waking up the whole floor," she worried aloud.

"It's a hospital in almost the middle of nowhere. I doubt their ICU is filled to the brim.

"I know, but still. He's gonna spook Hannah with all that energy." She felt a little displaced when it came to Hannah. All the normal roles appeared to be jumbled. Hannah seemed to connect best with Noah, but she also appeared calm when Elliot was in the room. It wasn't that Hannah seemed antagonistic toward Olivia or anything, but the connection—the bond—Olivia usually achieved with ease was proving to be a bit more difficult with this girl.

Certainly part of the problem was Olivia's internal turmoil over the entire situation. Hannah most likely clocked Olivia's discomfort and put walls up in response. Olivia wished Hannah understood it wasn't about her. No, her hesitance had little to do with Hannah and everything to do with another beautiful child who left them all too soon.

Noah reached the door first, but he paused, knowing the adults needed to go in ahead of him. He bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently as Olivia knocked softly on the door before she slowly pushed it open.

"Hannah," she said gently as she slowly entered the room. She didn't respond, keeping her eyes on the stuffed animal Noah had brought. She toyed with the little puppy's paw nervously as Olivia moved deeper into the hospital room. "I brought Noah and Elliot for a visit if that's okay."

Hannah shifted her weight a little so she could see her visitors. The day before she had been laid flat to accommodate all of the heating blankets, but Olivia noticed that nearly all the warming blankets were gone, and Hannah was in a more semi-sitting position.

Olivia turned slightly, letting Noah slip past her. In the hallway he had been a buzzing ball of energy, but as he approached the hospital bed, his body language changed. He appeared much more calm as he sat in the chair nearest the bed.

"Hi," he said easily.

"Hi," she whispered in return.

"You look a lot better today," Noah said.

Hannah nodded. "I'm finally not freezing."

Olivia remained silent. Hannah's voice was so soft—so raspy—that she was difficult to hear.

"That's good," Noah said as he leaned a little closer. "I…I have to go home today."

Hannah's disappointment was obvious. "Oh, okay."

"I know. I wish I could stay. At least to keep you company while you are here. It's gotta be pretty boring. Do they even have a TV in here?" Noah looked around but didn't find one. "I guess they just want you to sleep, huh."

"Probably." She shrugged her shoulders and added, "I've never really watched TV anyway."

"I don't either. At least not normally. I mean, sometimes when I'm sick or if I'm hanging out with Dickie, but most of the time I'm busy with school and dance and stuff."

Hannah's eyes teared up a little, but she swallowed back whatever emotion had been bubbling to the surface. "Who's Dickie?" She asked softly.

"Oh, sorry. I guess you haven't met him. He might want to come say hi. The hospital only likes two people here at once, but we snuck three of us." He said everything so conspiratorial that it was almost humorous. "Dickie helped you get here too. He got to ride in the ambulance to make sure you were okay."

Hannah's blue eyes flooded with tears once more. She blinked away the tears. "Oh."

Noah continued. "I wanted to go, but they said it had to be an adult, so Dickie went. I just didn't want you to be by yourself."

"Thanks. That, uh, I'm glad you did that." She smiled through the constant stream of tears. "I want to meet Dickie sometime. I, uh, want to thank him and all of you for... I guess, for saving my life."

Noah shook his head as if his actions were no big deal. "We all just did what anyone would have done."

"Not everyone." Olivia clocked the brief flash of fear in her eyes. Hannah dropped her gaze onto the fuzzy surface of the stuffed dog she held with her free hand. She cleared her throat. "I promise, not everyone would have helped me."

Something in Olivia's gut told her Hannah spoke from a place of experience. At some point in this child's life she needed help, and that help never showed up. She hated the thought, but unfortunately it was a situation Olivia was more than familiar with.

"I'm glad we found you then," Noah said with a soft smile.

"Me too," she replied quietly. A wild curl fell from her haphazard ponytail, obscuring her deep soulful eyes.

A light knock on the door sent all eyes in the room darting in that direction. Elliot stood closest to the door, so he pulled it open, just as a doctor began to push through. "Oh, sorry," the doctor mumbled as he released the door handle. He appraised the group gathered in the room.

Olivia realized the doctor likely needed to conduct some sort of exam, and she doubted Hannah wanted an audience for all that. "Alright, Noh, the boys are waiting. Its probably time to leave."

She immediately noticed how Hannah's eyes instantly teared up. Olivia hated taking away the one person who provided a sense of safety for this child, but she really didn't have many options.

Noah's eyes silently pleaded for a little more time, but being a mom—and a captain—meant she had to make tough calls. It was time.

Noah's eyes dropped, and she was thankful that he appeared to be accepting her decision without any sort of dramatic incident. Normally, she wouldn't expect dramatics from him, but the whole situation had sent him off center, and she barely knew what to expect from him at this point.

Olivia watched as Noah gently took Hannah's hand. "I gotta go, but Mom and Elliot are gonna stay with you, okay?"

Tears coursed down her cheeks, but she nodded. "Okay," she rasped.

"We can FaceTime soon, okay?" He turned, his expression questioning.

"We can do that," Olivia said while nodding.

Hannah bit her lip, trying to show some sort of strength. "Okay," she whispered as she let go of Noah's hand.

He leaned back, preparing to leave, but before he stood up, he paused. "I know it's hard and things suck right now, but, uh." He rubbed the back of his head. "You can trust my mom and Elliot, okay? They want to help. They aren't gonna hurt you. I promise, okay?"

The tears Hannah had all but surpressed once again bubbled to the surface. "Okay."

"Um." Noah finally stood. "I'll talk to you soon." He met Olivia near the door but turned around again. "Bye," he said, his voice forlorn.

"Bye Noah."

-000-

Elliot didn't want to leave Hannah alone, but he needed to get the boys on their way. He found himself rushing through his goodbyes, making the boys promise to call him once they dropped Noah off and again once they were situated at their respective places.

He wasn't sure why this child provoked a sense of protective urgency he hadn't felt since he met Noah. A few children had drawn out this feeling in the past. His thoughts almost immediately drifted to Tommy Keegan—a child that elicited a fierce protective response while simultaneously making him question everything he thought he knew about his own family. For some reason Hannah was stirring those same feelings of parental protectiveness.

He didn't want to analyze the feeling too deeply. It could be the trauma surrounding the events of the day or even Noah's intense attachment bringing out those instincts.

Either way, he rushed through the goodbyes, hugging each of the boys tightly before loading them up in his truck. They had scarcely waved goodbye before his feet began dragging him back through the sliding hospital doors.

Olivia remained a step behind him, and he could feel her assessing gaze burning into the back of his head. Just before they made it through the ICU waiting room, she finally spoke.

"Wait, just a second, El." She grasped his forearm, causing him to immediately slow his steps.

When he finally stopped his movement, she asked, "Can we just," she paused, "just slow down for just one second."

He breathed out a frustrated sigh, but one look at her face forced him to consider how displaced she must be feeling. She just sent her son back to the city without her, for the sake of another child. How often had she forced herself to let others care for Noah so she could take care of someone else's broken child? Probably more times than she could count. If she needed a minute, he could give it to her.

He pulled her into a snug embrace. Her body melted into his. The tension that had wafted off her began to slip away. For a moment he held her in silence, savoring her closeness. When she felt completely relaxed, he asked, "Are you sure you don't want to go back with them?"

"Uh, no." Her voice cracked, "I'm not sure, but, um, I need to stay."

Something about the way she said the words made him feel like he was the biggest reason she chose to stay. She was doing what she always did—what partners did. She was backing his play.

And he couldn't love her more for it.

He impulsively pressed a kiss on her forehead. "We will get back," he promised. "As soon as we can." He pulled back from the embrace. "As soon as we can," he reiterated.

She nodded silently in agreement. "I'm worried about Noah," she blurted unexpectedly.

His hands lifted so he could lightly rub his hands over her upper arms. He was too, and while he knew Noah needed to go back to the city, he really didn't like the idea of him being there without Olivia or him. "I know. I am too, but I think he will be okay. This has stirred up a lot of feelings for him—I'm sure—but I think it's been healing in a way."

"Maybe." The uncertainty nearly dripped from her voice. "I'm just worried about how attached he is. Well, her too." Her eyes caught Elliot's. "And maybe you as well."

Sometimes he found it disconcerting how well she knew him. He tried shrugging it off. "You know as well as anyone how shared trauma binds people."

"Yeah. I know."

Elliot glanced towards the ICU doors. "There's just something... I don't know, Liv. It's probably just because of everything that happened last year, but she just feels, I don't know what I'm saying."

Olivia waited for a moment. "She feels what?"

"Familiar somehow. Maybe it's the dark hair. Maybe I see Clem in every little girl with dark hair.

"The best thing we can do right now is work on her case. Noah's endorsement is a gift no one else will get. She's more likely to trust us over any other adult right now. Plus," he added, "Noah won't forgive us if we give up her case."

He realized that her thirteen-year-old probably shouldn't be running the show, but if he were honest with himself, he would admit how much he wanted to solve this girl's case too.

He assumed she had accepted his answer when she pulled away and moved towards the doors. With a sigh, she looked over her shoulder in his direction. "Let's start with the hospital staff. We need to see her medical report, and maybe if we are lucky she will have spoken to someone since we were here last night.

"Sounds good. Let's track down her doctor."