by Saless
Chapter 66

"He's dead?!" Jill exclaimed.

George nodded, "Yes. He was stabilized and seemed set to recover. Then he suddenly took a turn for the worse. We now believe whatever weapon was used was poisoned."

"Poisoned?!" Erica said. "Why would anyone have a poisoned weapon lying around ready to use like that?"

"We're assuming it was planned and the attack on Sean accelerated those plans." George replied.

"Are you ready to tell us what happened?" Lorie asked.

Erica squeezed Sarah's hands and Sarah nodded. She told them everything she could remember while they took notes. "So you didn't see whoever stabbed Mr. Green?" George asked.

Sarah shook her head, "No, I never saw anybody but John."

George finished writing in his notebook and put it away. "Okay, I think that's everything we need." he said. He said goodbye and left, but Lorie stayed behind. She gave Sarah a card with a rape counselors number on it.

"But he didn't, did he?" Sarah asked in confusion.

Lorie shook her head, "No, but he tried. Many women in your position still benefit from talking to someone." she said, and then followed George out.

"That went more smoothly than I would have expected." Mike said. "I would have thought your being completely female would have caused some confusion, at least."

Sarah frowned and said, "Yeah, that's right. Why didn't they say anything about that?"

Erica smiled and said, "They did, but Vash came up with a story. He had Jill tell Lorie that you had surgery in Mexico."

Sarah shook her head, "I just keep getting deeper into this, don't I?"

I hope you're not too angry with me, it was the best I could come up with. She's encountered something similar before, so I knew she would accept it. Vash said.

Sarah sighed, "I guess I can't be angry with you Vash, you're only trying to help. And I don't have any idea what else you could have told them. Now when can I get out of here and where are my clothes?"

Erica held up a bag and said, "You're clothes were ruined, but I brought some for you."

"Now I just need to get rid of this so I can get dressed." Sarah said, indicating the IV in her arm.

Mike went out to find out when Sarah could leave. When he returned he said, "A doctor is supposed to be here soon to make sure you're okay to go. A nurse is coming to remove the IV."

Within an hour she was dressed and ready to go. She practically dragged Erica out, with Mike and Jill following behind. Sarah sighed in relief once they'd all climbed into Mike's car. "You okay Sarah?" Erica asked.

"I guess." Sarah replied absently. Erica looked at Sarah in concern, but she wasn't paying attention.

Can you hear me? Erica thought.

Stay out of my head! Sarah growled back. She glared at Erica and then turned back to the window. She wouldn't look at Erica for the rest of the drive and as soon as the car was parked she opened a portal and stepped through into her bedroom.

"Sarah!" Erica called, but she was already gone. "She hates me!" Erica sobbed. Mike caught her as she collapsed. Jill opened the door to their apartment and helped Mike bring her in and lay her on the couch.

"She's just upset Erica, she'll come around." Jill soothed.

"Should we be leaving Sarah alone like this?" Mike asked worriedly.

"No, we shouldn't." Jill agreed. "Mike, take Vash over there, will you? She's not mad at either of you. Give her some space, but don't let her do anything foolish."

Mike nodded and waited for Vash to jump onto his shoulder before heading out. Jill turned back to Erica. "Mike will keep an eye on her. Once she's calmed down we'll go over and talk to her, okay?" she said.

Erica didn't respond and Jill wasn't even sure if she'd heard her through her tears. She joined her on the couch and held her until her tears subsided. "Do you really think she'll forgive me?" Erica asked hopefully.

"Yes, I know she will. She loves you!" Jill replied firmly.

Jill, bring Erica and the painting, now! Vash said urgently.

What's happened? Jill asked, running to retrieve the painting.

She tried to kill herself. Fortunately the healing water is still here. Please hurry. Vash said.

Erica was sitting up on the couch when Jill returned with the painting. "What's wrong Jill?" Erica asked worriedly.

"Sarah tried to kill herself. We've got to get over there!" Jill replied breathlessly.

Erica gasped and jumped up off of the couch. She ran for the door and Jill followed. By the time she caught up Erica was opening the door to Sarah's apartment. They hurried inside and found Mike sitting on the couch with Sarah laid out on it, her head on his lap. Vash was curled up on her stomach and there was blood on her wrists and clothes.

"Sarah!" Erica gasped, and ran to kneel beside her. Sarah was unconscious but when Erica examined her wrists there was no sign of injury.

"I used the healing water on her, so she should be okay." Mike explained to Erica's confused look. "Vash said he thinks we need to show her the painting when she wakes up. I don't understand it though, won't that just make her even more upset?"

"Vash says," Jill began, pausing to listen to him, "that Sarah hates herself because of what happened when she was a kid. Our perceived betrayal and John's attack have pushed things too far for her. We've got to clear up that old hurt in order to deal with the new ones."

"Why would she hate herself?!" Erica exclaimed. "She's never hurt anybody!"

Jill shrugged, "Vash doesn't know. Neither of us can get that far, Sarah's shields are too strong. The only chance we have of finding out is to get her to accept that repressed memory."

"Are you sure she can handle it?" Erica asked.

Jill looked sadly at Sarah, "I don't know." she said softly.

"I could kill them!" Erica growled.

Mike looked curiously at Erica and asked, "Who?"

"John and her mother! They're responsible for this!" Erica replied angrily.

"We probably shouldn't condemn Sarah's mother just yet, we don't know the whole story." Jill cautioned.

Erica snorted at that, "There's no story that could explain that away! No matter what the circumstances she's still responsible for this!"

"I agree." Mike said, startling Jill. "Unless Sarah's mother was insane at the time, and I never saw any signs of that, there's no excuse. This is making me wonder about a few things her parents told me, though."

"Like what?" Jill asked.

"Well, they told me that Sarah got beat up at school all the time. She had bruises and even broken bones because of it. I remember thinking it was strange that the bullies had changed their tune so rapidly, because someone tried to beat her up only a couple of times after I met her. If she was getting beat up so frequently, why was it so rare after I met her?" Mike explained.

Erica stared wide-eyed at Mike as the meaning of his words sank in. "You think Sarah was beaten by her parents?!" she said.

"I don't know if her parents did it, but someone did. I didn't put it together then, but in retrospect it's pretty obvious." Mike replied.

Erica shook her head sadly as she gazed at Sarah. "You poor thing." she said softly, stroking Sarah's cheek. "I never imagined you'd gone through so much! It's no wonder you weren't more assertive."

She's coming around. We'd better hit her with the painting right away, before she gets her defenses up. Vash said. Jill nodded and picked it up. Sarah's eyes opened slowly and she looked around in confusion. When her eyes settled on Jill she held up the picture. Mike nearly fell over when he saw it, as it depicted Sarah's room as it appeared when he first met her. It also showed Sarah's mother the way she looked back then, right down to the clothes she wore. There was no doubt in his mind he was seeing a real memory of Sarah's.

The picture was in Sarah's bedroom. Young Sean looked terrified as he was held up against the wall by his mother's hand around his throat. His feet were a foot off the ground and his face was beginning to turn blue. His mother's face was contorted in rage and her other hand was curled claw-like. The only part of the background that was as detailed as Sean and his mother was a teddy bear lying on the floor underneath him. The part that really shocked Mike was a detail that Erica either hadn't noticed, or didn't mention. Sean was wearing a long black velvet dress that obviously belonged to his mother.