Jamie and Nick had gone to get some coffee, leaving Kevin to go into Taylor's room. He walked in and noticed that she wasn't there. He looked around and then laid Taylor's belongings at the foot of her bed. When Jamie and Nick came in a few minutes later and didn't see Taylor, they looked at Kevin for an answer. He simply shrugged and took one of the cups from Nick's hands.

Jamie was quick to make a guess as to where Taylor was. "Maybe she went to take a shower or something?"

A voice came from behind her, answering all of their questions. "Actually, they took her down to x-ray and to run a few tests." Jamie turned to look at the nurse who had come in to change the linens and straighten up the room. "Oh, thank you."

"Dr. Leyland wanted to talk to you all when you got back. I just paged him so he should be here in a few minutes."

"Is there something wrong?" Jamie asked.

"I don't really know, you'll have to talk to Dr. Leyland." Just as the nurse said this, he appeared in the doorway. "Why don't you all come down to my office so we can talk in private."

The three followed Dr. Leyland out of the room without a word, each wondering what else could go wrong in Taylor's life. Once seated in his office, Dr. Leyland explained that while they were gone, Taylor had attempted to get out of bed but was unable to move her legs. He had ordered x-rays, an MRI and some blood tests to see if they could find a medical reason.

"Her paralysis appears to start about mid thigh and continues down. The fact that she has feeling and control of her hips is a good sign, since a lower back injury serious enough to cause this type of paralysis would normally result in loss of feeling from the waist down," he explained.

Jamie asked cautiously, "Do you have any ideas as to what may have caused this?"

Dr. Leyland shook his head, "Honestly, I can't think of any medical reason that would cause this to happen. Physically, her injuries were not serious enough to cause paralysis. There is a remote possibility that falling down the stairs may have done some nerve damage that we didn't catch before, but I seriously doubt it. We gave her a very thorough exam when she was brought in."

Now it was Nick's turn to interrupt. "So if there isn't a medical reason, why is she paralyzed?"

"Well, my theory is that it is psychological. Taylor seems very depressed and she’s withdrawing, closing herself off from the rest of the world. This attempt to mentally shut down and shield herself from everything could be manifesting itself physically. Basically, her mind is going to try and shut her body down."

"Why would she shut down like that? I don't understand. She's getting away from Mike, shouldn't that make her feel better?" Kevin asked.

"Well, it's not that simple. Abusive situations are very difficult when the person being abused has endured it for longer periods of time. Once they have left the situation, there is a void for them psychologically. They have spent so much time walking on egg shells, so to speak, that they don't relate well to 'normal' situations anymore. It becomes a habit for them to be afraid of their abuser and to some extent it's comforting to them."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was comforting wondering when he was going to smack her around again," Nick mused sarcastically.

"I know it sounds strange Mr. Carter, but imagine that fear is all you have had to cling to for two years. Mentally, Taylor trained herself to believe that was how it was supposed to be, that it was normal for her to feel fear, that she deserved to be abused. Like any other scenario, Taylor is going to have a hard time adjusting to a different situation."

"Okay, I can almost buy that but what I don't get is her personality away from Mike." Nick and Jamie looked surprised as Kevin spoke about Taylor with a greater insight than either of them had at that moment. "I know I haven't known her that long, but from what I have seen and from what Jamie has told me over the past year or so Taylor just doesn't seem like the kind of person who would let something like this go on, or even get into a situation like this. She always seemed independent and headstrong and I don't see how Mike managed to get control over her like he did. She never acted as if she were abused."

"Well, Mr. Richardson, that is very astute of you. But this is a very complicated thing. I know exactly what you mean about Taylor's outward personality. To most of the world she is a strong and confident attorney and therein lies the answer. From what I gather Taylor has always had to be the strong one, whether in her own life, her career, or with respect to her family. She has never gotten the chance to let someone be strong for her. My guess is that once she felt comfortable enough with Mike to actually let him into her world, she succumbed to his control as a break from her own. Does that make any sense?" Kevin nodded, attempting to process what the doctor had just said.

"In any event," Dr. Leyland continued, "we need to wait and see what the x-rays and tests say before we make any medical decisions. I am going to talk to her about the possibility of starting on anti-depressants, I think that would help her in the long run. In the meantime however, arrangements need to be made for Taylor's release and care. I hope that you all are ready to take on some responsibility for her, she is going to need a lot of help both physically and mentally."

The battery of tests Dr. Leyland had ordered for Taylor would take several hours to complete so the three of them decided to go back to the hotel and relax. Jamie laughingly suggested that Nick could really use a shower so he no longer would offend Taylor or anyone else at the hospital. He looked at her and pouted. She reached back and ruffled his hair.

Everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts on the drive back to the hotel. Obviously Taylor's new condition changed everything and the responsibility of taking care of her was greater than ever. Jamie thought about taking Taylor back to Cincinnati with her. It would be several weeks before she moved to Florida and she still had a million things to do between now and then.

"I'll be at the office too much, I can't leave her alone. She'd be moving twice, that couldn't be good. She needs stability and constant care. Damnit, I'm not sure I'm up to this. What do I do?" she thought to herself. Right now, taking care of Taylor was the most important thing to Jamie, but she wondered if it simply would be better if the guys took her to Florida with them.

Kevin was also wondering the same things. Being the most detached from the situation gave him a more objective and realistic opinion on everything. He could tell that Jamie was torn between getting her life together and taking care of Taylor. He also knew that he wasn't prepared to take care of her, at least not by himself. And while Nick appeared to want the responsibility, Kevin wasn't sure if Nick would be able to handle it either.

The shrill ring of his cell phone shook him from his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Nice greeting," said the raspy voice on the other end. "How's Taylor?"

"Hey Bone, ummm, she's okay I guess. . .She was beat up pretty bad but nothing that won't heal." 'At least I hope so,' he thought to himself while listening to AJ speak. "No, I don't think anyone really knows we're here. We haven't had any problems so far. Honestly, I'm not sure what's gonna happen. Listen, I'm in the car right now, we're going back to the hotel, so let me call you back in a bit, alright? Yeah, tell the guys we're fine and tell your mom thanks for taking care of things. . . Okay bro, yeah I will, see ya."

Kevin glanced down at Jamie who was leaning her head on his shoulder. "AJ said to give you a hug from him, and that should you need anything. . ."

Jamie smiled, "He's still trying to take me away from you, eh?"

Kevin snickered, "Yeah, like that's gonna happen," and kissed the top of her head, then focused back on the road.

Nick blinked his eyes to peer through the pouring rain. He looked around aimlessly, not even certain where he was or what he was searching for. He heard the screams and the rustle of the leaves off to his left. Standing up, he felt the cold rain beating into his skin and chilling him to the bone. Turning toward the voice he did his best to push aside the brush and move in that direction. The trees and the vines were thick, making his trek a slow one. The sound was piercing, like something a dying animal would emit as it bled to death slowly and painfully. Nick shivered at the sound but he couldn't resist following his ears to the source. Suddenly the brush opened up to a clearing and he saw her. Taylor was sitting there, holding her knees to her chest and screaming bloody murder.

Instantly Nick starting running to her. As he got closer, he tried to speak, to say her name, to let her know he was there. Nothing came out, he had no voice and he couldn't hear anything except her screams. Suddenly she looked up at him with an indescribable fear in her eyes. He reached out to her but she scurried away from his touch like a frightened animal. Stumbling to her feet, she moved away from Nick, walking backwards to keep an eye on him. She kept her hands in front of her as if to warn him to stay away. He kept going though, he had to get to her, to hold her, to tell her everything would be alright. He had to.

Nick blinked and ran his hand over his face to wipe the rain from his eyes. When he looked up, she was gone. The screaming had started again and he could see her figure running toward the edge of the clearing. As Nick ran after her he heard his heartbeat in his ears and the blood pumping through his veins; the noise was deafening. Moments later, he stopped a few feet from Taylor. She had stopped running and stopped screaming as she stood facing away from him. He could see just in front of Taylor where the edge of the grass stopped and the ledge of the cliff began.

Again he reached out to touch her but it was as if something was pulling him back so he couldn't get close enough. She turned to face him. The fear in her eyes was gone and she appeared calm and collected despite the rain pouring down on them both. He couldn't touch her and he couldn't speak to her and he was dying inside. She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "I love you Nick and I want to thank you for trying to help me. You'll never know how much you meant to me. There's nothing you can do to help me now, but trust that I'll be fine." With those words she turned back to the cliff and disappeared over the edge. He lunged forward but couldn't get to her in time. He watched helplessly as she fell into the blackness below.

Nick's own scream woke him from the dream as he bolted upright in bed, covered in sweat and mangled sheets. The salty sting on his lips made it obvious that he had been crying, and his muscles ached as if he'd been in a fight. He sat on the bed with his head in his hands, trying to calm himself. Finally he got up and went to take a shower, thankful that Kevin and Jamie had already gone back to the hospital and weren't there to see him like this.

Kevin and Jamie lay cuddled on the couch in Taylor's room, half-asleep, waiting for her to wake up. She was exhausted when they brought her back to her room and the doctor had given her a sedative to relax her.

Jamie sat up a little when she heard Taylor stir in her sleep. Kevin released her and she got up off the couch. Taylor's head tossed back and forth violently and soft whines escaped her lips. She was mumbling 'no, no, no.' Her arms were thrashing at the sheets as both Jamie and Kevin approached her bed. Just as Jamie reached out to try to wake her, a morbid calm swept over her and she looked peaceful again. Her eyes opened and she looked curiously at Jamie and Kevin, as if trying to figure out just where she was.

"Are you okay Tails? You looked like you were having a nightmare," Jamie said as she brushed the sweaty hair off of Taylor's forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine," was all she said as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Jamie and Kevin looked at each other, worry apparent in each other's eyes.

Nick emerged from his shower feeling better but still shaken. His dream had frightened him, and while he ordinarily didn't believe in dreams and their meanings, Nick couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about this one. He picked up the phone and quickly punched in some numbers.

"Hey, it's Nick. . . I'm okay, I guess. . .Physically? She's doing okay I guess, but psychologically. . .I want to be there for her so badly, but I'm not sure how much more I can take. . .Yeah, I know. . .that I can handle, physically taking care of her isn't the problem. . .I just want her to let me in. . .You know I appreciate you listening to me. . .I just need someone who isn't so involved with all of this, ya know?. . .it means a lot to me. . .no, they're at the hospital right now. . .I really do love her, honestly. . .I'm just not sure that's going to be enough." The conversation ended and he returned the phone to its cradle. His second phone call was to the hospital to check on Taylor's status.

Nick stared into the mirror hanging on the opposite wall and pondered the situation. He knew Taylor needed him, almost as much as he needed her. Did he have enough fight left to get through to her? He exhaled deeply and decided to get dressed and head back to the hospital.

"Wait for me, I'm almost there. Just hold on a little longer. . ."