Sara woke to the smell of coffee and eggs and the sound of Jade's hacking cough. Rolling over in bed and blinking, she tried to shake off the remnants of the dream she'd had and looked automatically for her new houseguest.

Jade was in the kitchen area, rummaging in the refrigerator. A few minutes later she came out with a jar of jelly and put that on the counter, then reached for the bag of bread. As she did so, she realized that Sara was awake, and smiled cheerfully through her terrible pallor. "Good morning, Sara," she said quietly, looking suddenly uncertain. "I…thought I'd make breakfast. My mom always liked it when I did that for her. I didn't know what you'd like so I made eggs and coffee and I was getting ready to make toast. Is there anything else you want?" She punctuated the sentence with a cough.

Sara got up and placed the back of her hand on Jade's forehead. The child's forehead felt hot to her, and sticky. Sara placed a hand on Jade's arm, checked her there. More sweating, and yet her skin was cold. Not a good sign. She shook her head. "Jade, go lie down in the bed. I'll finish breakfast and bring it. You need to get some rest." She got the bread bag open and dropped two slices in the toaster.

"The bed? But…that's your bed!" Jade sounded shocked.

Sara mentally counted to ten then backwards to one, and nodded firmly. "Yes. My bed. We'll get you one today."

"Why?" Jade's sudden question made Sara curse aloud as she realized she hadn't told Jade that she would be staying with Sara for the foreseeable future.

She let the question hang in the air as she divided the scrambled eggs Jade had made between two plates and buttered the toast now popping out of the toaster. When she was done she poured Jade a glass of orange juice and herself a cup of coffee, then put it on a low bed table she used to do paperwork at home while sitting on her bed. She waited until Jade sat down on the bed, then put the tray table on it and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed herself. Grabbing the jeans she'd draped over the bedpost the night before, she extracted the folded piece of paper, handed it to Jade, and said, "Read that."

Jade read the note aloud:

"I, Sally Doran, do hereby give Sara Pezzini permission to make decisions about Jade Doran's medical treatment and care, and I give Jade my permission to stay at Sara Pezzini's residence until such a time as she is no longer welcome. Sally Doran."

Jade looked up slowly. "What…I don't understand…you said you'd figure something else in the morning…"

Sara wrapped her fingers around the cup of coffee she was holding and said carefully, "Last night after you went to sleep I called a friend of mine. She's a pediatrician. She said she would do the tests necessary if I could get your mother to sign care of your medical condition over to me." Sara gestured to the paper. "So I did. I got her signature. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, and I'll arrange the necessary treatments for whatever the doctor tells me you have. Maybe if we're lucky it'll be just a simple cough." It was an optimistic view she didn't really feel, given the duration, frequency and sound of the coughing Jade was doing.

"You mean I can stay here? With you?" Jade ran her finger over her mother's signature on the page, as if not quite believing it, then said, warily, "Why?"

"Why what?" Sara put down her coffee cup.

"Why are you being so nice to me? What do you want? No one's ever been this nice. No one's ever cared what happened to me, or where I went or if I lived or died. Mom…" Jade took a deep breath. "Mom always says she wishes I was never born. She says I'm worthless and lazy and stupid and I'll never amount to anything. She says I'm just a burden and if I dropped dead she wouldn't…care…she says she doesn't love me…never will…she says she doesn't know why I try so hard in school 'cause I'll never get anywhere and the only job a piece of…trash…like me is ever going to get is on my back with my legs open…" Jade was sobbing now, crying as hard as Sara had ever seen anyone cry.

Sara got up, squeezed onto the bed behind Jade, and hugged her tightly, smoothing her hair and murmuring soothing words as her own eyes filled with tears. They were cruel, hurtful words to say to your own daughter, words that Jade had tried to pretend didn't hurt but had cut her to her soul and left it bleeding. And to tell her own daughter that the only thing she'd ever be able to do was sell herself…the Witchblade was silent in her mind, but Sara lashed out at it mentally, angry with it. After everything she'd gone through, Jade deserved a normal life. She didn't deserve to be hampered with this fey piece of jewelry Sara was burdened with. She didn't need to be locked into this constant battle with something that had its own mind. As much as Sara hated the thing and wanted to pass it on as soon as possible, she still couldn't see giving it to poor Jade. The Witchblade wouldn't be that cruel. Could it? It stayed silent, and finally Jade stopped crying and sniffling in Sara's arms and just lay quietly.

"Jade," Sara said, softly, stroking the fine blond-red hair, "I can't explain it, but I felt a connection to you when I saw you in the alley yesterday. I felt you needed someone to care about you, to care what happened to you. I don't want anything from you. I don't need you to fix my breakfast every morning. I don't want you to be anything but who you are."

"Who am I?" Jade said pensively, thoughtfully. "I don't think I know."

"You are Jade Doran," Sara said firmly, pulling the girl up to a sitting position on the bed and looking into those bright green eyes. "You're an excellent student on your school's honor roll, you're conscientious, smart, and have a bright future ahead of you if someone gave you a chance. You're a beautiful girl, and you have spirit, courage and determination. I wish I had half your determination when I was your age," she said, ruefully.

"Really?" Jade smiled, the first real smile Sara had seen on her face. "You want to be more like me?"

"Yes," Sara said honestly. 'I do."

Jade thought about that for a moment, then grinned again. "Cool!"

Sara smiled back and indicated the breakfast. "Go ahead and eat that now before it gets cold." She fished out the bottle of cough medicine and a spoon, and left that on the tray. "Take that when you're done. I'm going to take a quick shower, and then we'll find something for you to wear so we can go."

"Where are we going?" Jade dug into the pile of eggs as if she were starving.

Sara hunted around in her drawers for a fresh pair of jeans and another t-shirt. "Today's my day off, so first we're going to the clinic and have Dr. Gillis do those tests. Then we're going to go shopping for some decent clothes for you, and a bed. As long as you're staying here, you need to have something better to sleep on than my couch." She headed into the bathroom, picking up the towel Jade had left on the floor and depositing it into the hamper, then pulled a fresh towel out of the closet.

"But your couch is fine!" Jade protested as the bathroom door closed.

Sara pulled open the bathroom door a crack and looked at Jade. "You're nuts if you think I'm going to have you sleep on that battered old thing," she said laconically. "You need a bed."

Jade waited until Sara came out of the shower, dressed in jeans, a gray tank top, and pulling her hair up in a messy ponytail before she ventured timidly, "Your couch is lots more comfortable than the one at home. That one had a spring sticking out of the top of the middle seat and it stuck me whenever I moved."

Sara plopped down in the middle of the floor and started to lace up her sneakers. "I don't know how your mother did things, but I don't do things that way," she said firmly. "I have several rules, Jade. First is that my guests don't sleep on the couch. Second is that my guests don't make me breakfast; I can get my own. Third, if you don't have a reason to get out of bed early in the morning, don't. Usually on the days when I'm off I just lie around until afternoon, then get up and run errands. But we have a lot to do today." She leaned back on her hands and looked up at Jade with a slight smile. "Usually I like watching the Saturday morning cartoons."

Jade picked up the last piece of toast and bit into it meditatively. "I like some of them," she said, thinking. "But some of them are, like, really stupid."

"Which ones do you like?"

"Hmm." Jade pondered that one while she cradled her orange juice. "Power Rangers. Don't laugh, I know most of my classmates think it's stupid, but I think being able to help people like that would be great. And G.I.Joe. I'd love to go into the Army when I grow up. I want to be able to protect the good guys and shoot up the bad guys." She grinned, took a sip, then looked at Sara. "I never thought about it, but you do the same thing too, right? Maybe I'll become a cop instead."

"You have a long time to decide that, Jade," Sara said. "How old are you exactly?"

"Eleven," Jade said.

"Oh, then there's plenty of time to decide," Sara pointed out, smiling and getting up. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," Jade picked up the spoon and medicine bottle, pouring out the same dose Sara had given her the night before. She grimaced as she swallowed it. "I don't like the way this stuff tastes."

"Neither do I," Sara said honestly as she carried the breakfast dishes into the kitchen area. "But it does help. You weren't coughing as much last night."

"I know!" Jade bounced off the bed and followed Sara as she got the girl's now-dry clothes out of the washer. "Here. Put these on for now; we can get you something that fits better later."

Jade headed for the bathroom, and came out moments later wearing her clothes. The washing did them some good; they still looked shabby, but at least now they were clean. The sneakers, though, Sara decided definitely needed to be replaced. Jade was a pretty girl; she'd never win any pageants but as she got older she would definitely get a few extra looks as she walked down the street.

They took Sara's car this time, a little two-door sports car that she loved almost as much as she did her bike. They'd probably need the trunk space for everything that Sara needed to get today, though she planned on having Jade's bed delivered. She couldn't help but feel a little excited as they drove off; she normally didn't like shopping unless it was for someone else. Now she had a little girl here who needed practically everything, and Sara intended on getting quality stuff, not thrift-store hand-downs. But first…

She pulled into the downtown NightTime Pediatrics, and Jade sat down in one of the chairs as Sara signed her into the sign in sheet for Doctor Gillis and filled out the requisite new patient paperwork. As they waited, Sara leafed through a teenagers' fashion magazine, showing Jade some of the things she thought would look good and listening to Jade's opinion of the various outfits and fashion trends. Sara, who normally found doctors' office waits boring and interminable, felt a jolt of surprise when a nurse's voice called Jade's name and she realized almost a half-hour had passed.

Dr. Tina Gillis was a short, businesslike brunette with a perpetual smile and kind, sparkling brown eyes. She took the release form Sara had brought, made a copy of it, put it in a file, and gave the original to Sara, who repocketed it carefully. Then she turned to Jade. "All right, Jade. Sara tells me you have a chronic condition that you were told needed to be tested for?" Jade nodded timidly, and Gillis nodded. "All right. Let's have your shirt off."

Jade didn't move.

"Jade?" Sara said after a moment. "If you want me to leave, I can…"

"I—I don't want to take my shirt off," Jade said timidly. "Please?"

"Jade, there's nothing wrong with removing clothing in a doctor's office. The clinic that you went to…didn't they ask you to take off your clothes for checkups?"

"Y-yes…" Jade whispered.

"This is the same thing as a checkup, just that I'm going to be a little more thorough so we can find out what's wrong with you," Gillis said. "Now come on, off with the shirt." Her manner was kind but firm, and after a moment Jade hesitantly pulled off the fleece pullover.

Sara's first reaction was to berate herself for not thinking to wash the girl's underclothing. Jade was wearing a dirty training bra that barely supported her budding breasts, and her underwear was in similar shape. Her second reaction, swiftly and totally eclipsing the first, was Oh my God!

There was a rainbow of bruises all over Jade's torso, concentrating mostly on her back, but a few livid black bruises wrapped around her sides and marked her stomach. Jade stared at Dr. Gillis, then at Sara's shocked face, and hugged her pullover to her chest as her eyes filled with tears. "Please…" she whispered. "Don't…"

Dr. Gillis stepped forward, speaking quickly and calmly, as though she didn't see anything strange. "I'm just going to take your blood pressure here, and then I need to take a blood sample, all right?" she said. Sara sat back, bit her tongue on all the questions she had, and stayed silent as Dr. Gillis went on chattering to Jade, checking ears, nose, throat, eyes, blood pressure, spent a long time listening to Jade breathe through the stethoscope, then tied a tourniquet around Jade's upper right arm, slid a needle deftly under the skin inside one elbow, and took three full vials of blood. She withdrew the needle, pressed a piece of gauze to the pinprick of blood, and told Jade to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Dr. Gillis gave the vials to a staff nurse with orders to run them through a full spectrum of tests, for leukemia, vitamin deficiencies, and any other abnormalities, then turned back to Jade. "Now that we have all that taken care of…while we wait for the results, let me ask you about your medical history." By this time Jade had gotten over her self-consciousness about the bruises, and so was completely unprepared when Tina asked her about them. "Where did those come from?" she indicated the bruises on Jade's back while scribbling notes with deceptive casualness.

Jade tensed. "Hakeem," she finally muttered.

"Hakeem?"

"My mom's friend."

"What caused the marks?"

"He hit me with his belt." Sara sucked in a harsh breath, then forced herself to steady her breathing when Jade's huge green eyes turned to her, looking for signs of anger, pity, or rejection. She smiled reassuringly at Jade even as she tried to control her temper and the Witchblade.

"Why did he do that?" Gillis, apparently oblivious to Sara's reaction, went on scribbling notes.

"I was coughing and it bothered him and I couldn't stop so he hit me to make me stop."

"Does he do this often?"

A long pause. Then… "Yes."

"How often?"

"Like, maybe twice a week. I don't do it on purpose, really I don't!"

"I know you don't, sweetheart." Dr. Gillis's tone was soothing. "Does he ever hit you anywhere else?"

Another long pause. Dr. Gillis was about to ask the question again when Jade said, barely audible, "Yes."

Dr. Gillis's pen paused for a long moment, then she said, "Where?"

Jade hesitated again. "On my…on my…my rear…" Sara wanted to throw something…preferably Hakeem.

Dr. Gillis closed the folder and stood. "Jade, I'm going to have to check you there."

"No!" the girl whimpered, terrified. "Please…I'm okay. He hasn't hit me there in a long time."

"Does it still hurt?"

"No." the answer was immediate. Dr Gillis sat back down in her chair and scribbled a note in the folder. Just as she finished, the nurse brought in a sheaf of paper and handed it to Dr. Gillis, who read it with an impassive face and then said, "All right. Jade, go ahead and get dressed now." Jade dressed quickly and sat back down on the exam table, and Dr. Gillis took off her glasses and looked at both Sara and Jade. "Want the good news first or the bad news?"

"Good," Sara said immediately.

"Bad," Jade said at the same time. She flushed and looked at Sara. Sara sighed. "Let's have the bad news first, then." And braced herself.

"You have tuberculosis and a mild touch of pneumonia," the doctor told Jade. "Your tuberculosis is in its secondary stage, which means at this point that your lungs may be permanently damaged. I'll need Sara to take you to the hospital for some x-rays to see if you may need any portions of your lungs removed." Jade gave a soft gasp, and went even paler. Sara, afraid she was going to pass out, went to the table and caught her. "What's the good news?" she said quickly.

Dr. Gillis broke into a broad smile. "You don't have leukemia. And if you follow the diet, exercise, and rest regimen I prescribe for you, and take the antibiotics, you'll heal up completely and there will be no lasting effects besides not being able to win a gold medal in track and field."

"I—I'm not dying?" Jade gasped, looking at the doctor disbelievingly. "I'm not going to die?"

"Not unless you don't follow the instructions I give you," Dr. Gillis said firmly. "You need to stay in bed. Take the pills I'm going to prescribe for you on time, every time. You'll probably have to miss the rest of this school year, but I'm sure you're not going to miss that much."

Instead, Jade looked horrified. "But school just started two months ago! I can't miss the rest of the year!"

Sara sighed. "Jade, you are going to miss the rest of the year," she said. "If that's what the doctor says, that's what you're going to do. You won't be graduating with your friends, you'll graduate a year behind but that wasn't your fault, and no one will hold it against you."

Jade submitted with bad grace, but Sara and the doctor were both firm. "All right. Now, Jade, if you'll go out to the waiting room, I have to give Sara your prescriptions and instructions for you to take them." Jade left the office, and Dr. Gillis turned to Sara.

"So, good news and bad news," she sighed. "I'm surprised at he reaction to missing school, though, it's rare to find that in children from the lower-income backgrounds." She turned to Sara. "Please tell me you're going to try and prosecute the bastard who beat her up so badly."

Sara remembered her earlier shock at the bruises. "I'm going to see what I can do," she said grimly. "Dr. Gillis…I had no idea. I hadn't seen her undressed, and she never mentioned…" Sara compressed her lips. Now she understood Jade's reluctance to admit it when Sara had asked her if Hakeem hurt her. He had, and she hadn't wanted to admit it. "God, the poor kid." She told Dr. Gillis what she had found out about Jade's mother, about the way Jade was treated, and how Sara had met her the day before.

"So she gets out and around," Gillis said thoughtfully. "It would be pretty near impossible to find out how she contracted tuberculosis to begin with. Probably someone who was already infected and never realized it. With her inadequate nutrition she would have been susceptible to any infection that came along. Hmm." She scribbled a few notes in her folder, then picked up her prescription pad and wrote out several prescriptions. "Instructions for taking them will be on the bottles, but this one needs to be taken three times a day after every meal; this one needs to be taken in the morning, this one in the evening to keep her coughing down and help her sleep at night. This one needs to be taken twice a day, every twelve hours. And this last one is a broad-spectrum multi-vitamin to take care of her deficiencies. Take this to the pharmacy down the road, the one across from the gas station; it's the closest." She grabbed another piece of paper and started writing on that too. "As for that cough…it's her body trying to rid itself of the bacteria and junk in her body. She needs to cough it all up. When she lies down at night, have her lie on the bed with her head hanging down and off the bed. It might give her a bit of a headache but it'll help drain her lungs of fluid. And when she wakes up in the morning do that too."

Sara took the slips, looking at the unpronounceable names on them, and tucked them in her purse. "All right. Thank you, Dr. Gillis." She turned to leave.

"Hey," Tina called from behind her as she was about to leave. "Tell Jake he's lucky he has you for a partner. Not everyone would do this for a street kid they just met yesterday."