Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing this story. I once again apologize for the ridiculous length of time between updates. Life has just been incredibly busy and I wanted to make sure I got this next portion of the story right. But really there's no excuse... I just suck and I'm sorry for that. Thanks for hanging in there with me though and I hope you will continue to do so. As always, let me know what you think.

Shelby watched as a pair of paramedics examined Rachel in the theater's parking lot. Rachel was struggling to stay still as the medics cleaned her cuts and checked her body for broken bones. Every once in a while she'd flinch from one of their touches and Finn would nervously jump beside her as if it had been his battered ribs they were poking at.

The cops had arrived shortly after Shelby placed the 911 call and several officers, along with a second team of paramedics, were inside tending to Richard Ellis. Shelby wished the medics would just hurry up and load Rachel's stretcher into the ambulance because she didn't want Rachel to have to see her attacker exiting the theater. She didn't want to see Richard exiting the theater because she was certain she'd finish what Finn started if she got another look at him. Richard was lucky Finn got his hands on him before she could because, although she may not be as big as Finn, Shelby was certain her rage would have made up for whatever physical strength she lacked. Her hands were still shaking with the urge to wrap themselves around the director's windpipe and squeeze till he gasped for his last breath and his eyes lulled back in his skull, but there were more pressing matters at hand. There was Rachel, sitting bloody and battered on the pavement, and Finn, with his split knuckles and frenzied rambling. Shelby was the adult, she was the mother. She needed to be the one to keep it together.

Despite waiting nearly ten minutes for help to arrive in an empty parking lot, Rachel hadn't said a word since Shelby and Finn escorted the girl out of the theater and sat her against Shelby's car to rest. Rachel had just stared at the ground, intermittently touching the cuts and bruises on her face while Finn glared menacingly at the stage door, daring Richard Ellis to walk through it. Shelby chewed on her bottom lip as she paced intently in front of the young couple sitting together on the pavement. Occasionally she found herself muttering things like, "it'll be okay" and "you're alright now", but she wasn't sure whose benefit the cliched platitudes were for, her own or Rachel's.

As the stretcher carrying Rachel was finally lifted into the back of the ambulance, one of the medics turned to Shelby and called out, "you can ride with your daughter if you like."

Shelby froze for a moment and realized the young man probably assumed their relation based on their physical resemblance and obviously had no idea about their complicated past. Shelby glanced at Finn guiltily. He looked like he was itching to jump at the opportunity himself. Shelby felt he should probably be the one who got to ride along with Rachel, but Shelby didn't know how policy worked and if the paramedics would even allow a non-relative to accompany Rachel, plus she selfishly wanted to be the one who sat beside Rachel and helped ease her fears, so she nodded at the paramedic and hurried towards the vehicle.

"Is this okay? Me being here?" Shelby asked Rachel as she climbed into the ambulance.

Rachel looked around, her eyes scanning her surroundings before nodding. She momentarily forgot she was supposed to hate Shelby because at that very moment Shelby was the only familiar face hovering over her.

"Finn's going to follow us to the hospital," Shelby said. She caught one last glance at the boy, who was standing with his mouth agape at the ambulance as a pair of uniformed police officers tried to question him. Those same officers had tried to question Rachel when they first arrived but the girl had been too shocked to speak, so Shelby had given them the cliff-notes version of what happened. She knew both she and Rachel would be further questioned about the day's events, but right now she was glad Finn was handling the cops so she could focus on Rachel.

Rachel nodded again before turning her head away from Shelby and staring up at the roof of the vehicle as the medic attended to her injuries and asked her questions that went mostly unanswered.

The assumption that Shelby was Rachel's mom extended to the hospital staff and she found herself being whisked into an exam room with the battered teen. She wanted to object, to clear up the confusion and announce that she didn't deserve to be there now because she hadn't been in the past, but Shelby couldn't find the words necessary to separate herself from Rachel. She didn't want to leave her daughter's side, whether she was her mom or not.

Things progressed in such a blur that Shelby hardly noticed a detective slip into the room amongst all the chaos. But when that detective nonchalantly asked Rachel whether Richard Ellis had penetrated her vaginally or anally and if he had sodomized her orally things suddenly became very clear to Shelby. There was no stopping the small but audible gasp of horror that escaped her mouth at detective's questions. The words were just so blunt and ugly that Shelby couldn't stand to think of them in relation to Rachel. She knew what had happened, she had walked in and seen that bastard violating Rachel, but there was something about hearing someone else say it out loud that made Shelby shudder.

Rachel, who had been nearly silent since being wheeled into the emergency room, lifted her eyes towards her mother for panicked filled moment before dropping them in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Shelby said, quickly realizing her mistake. "I'm sorry. Please, go on."

"Ma'am, maybe it would be best if you stepped outside and let us speak to your daughter alone," the detective said. "We'll come get you after we finish up."

"No!" Shelby protested. "I need to be with her. She shouldn't be alone."

"Shelby, it's ok. Please," Rachel said quietly. It was the first thing she said other than the simple "yes" or "no" answers she had been giving since they left the parking lot. She was too embarrassed to do this in front of Shelby. She was too embarrassed to this at all.

Shelby recognized Rachel's discomfort and swallowed her objections. "Okay, I'll go call your fathers."

Rachel wanted to protest. She had endured so much these last few weeks in order to avoid disappointing her fathers, but there was no way she could hide this from her dads now. And soon it wouldn't just be her dads, it would be everyone. Her friends had already started to catch on and Finn would confirm Kurt's suspicions and he'd tell the rest of the Glee club till everyone knew how she had traded her body like some disgusting vile slut.

"Finn has their cell numbers. They're in Texas," Rachel said quietly, too tired to put up the fight she so desperately wanted to. "They flew to Austin earlier today for a friend's wedding. They were supposed to spend the whole weekend there." She swallowed hard and wiped at the tears in her eyes. She was ruining her fathers' weekend and soon they would know what she had done, what she had been doing for weeks now.

"I'll be right outside if you need me, okay? I'm not going anywhere," Shelby said before slipping out of the room.

Rachel laid back on the hospital bed with a sigh and lifted her eyes towards the ceiling as the detective continued with his questions. She hated having to talk about Mr. Ellis. She hated having to admit to what she did. She hated everything about this.

Shortly after Shelby left a female doctor entered the exam room, followed by a nurse with an armful of supplies. The doctor identified herself as Dr. Morrow and informed Rachel that she would be performing a rape exam on her if Rachel consented. When Rachel hesitated to give her approval for the exam, Dr. Morrow suggested bringing her mother back in to talk over the decision. Despite being opposed to having the exam done, Rachel hastily agreed just to avoid having what would surely be a horrifying conversation with Shelby about it.

The detective, whose name Rachel had learned was Detective Russo, excused himself so that the exam could be performed.

As the procedure was explained to her, Rachel nodded dimly at the nurse who helped her stand on a square of paper and instructed her to remove her clothes. A curtain was drawn to offer her some privacy but it did little to alleviate the humiliation of being made to strip in a room full of hospital personnel.

Once her belongings were placed securely in evidence bags, the nurse helped her into a hospital gown and led her back to the bed. The woman spoke it soft soothing tones but there was no soothing the anxiety Rachel felt. The doctor performed a quick physical exam, pressing on random parts of her body and rattling off orders to the nurse about lacerations, possible fractures, and x-rays.

As Dr. Morrow gently pried her legs open to check for bruising and evidence of sexual assault, Rachel checked out of the present moment like she had done so many times before. She knew it wasn't the doctor's intention to make her feel as degraded and humiliated as Mr. Ellis had, but laying on her back with her legs open while someone poked and pried at her privates felt too familiar not to be reminded of Mr. Ellis's fingers moving inside her. Dr. Morrow was speaking softly, explaining each step of the rape exam as she performed it, but her voice sounded washed-out and distant to Rachel, like she was shouting to her underwater. After the lengthy exam, Dr. Morrow tapped the side of Rachel's knee to let her know the procedure was over and that she could lower her legs, but the subtle signal didn't register with the girl and Rachel had to be physically shaken from her daze.

The doctor continued speaking in that soft overly sincere tone that Rachel was quickly growing to hate as she collected skin samples from underneath Rachel's fingernails and handed bags of evidence to the rather solemn nurse.

Over an hour had passed since her admittance to the emergency room and Rachel found herself itching to get out of there. But the distressing ordeal wasn't nearly complete because once Dr. Morrow excused herself, Detective Russo re-entered the room and continued questioning Rachel about her relationship with Mr. Ellis and the events of the afternoon. She was asked when had Mr. Ellis had first initiated sexual contact and how often, if he was ever violent or made threats, did she clearly say no and did she tell anyone. Each question was a painful reminder of how poorly she handled the situation and how she had allowed herself to become this sad pathetic person she detested. She was asked to recall each incident and describe it in detail. After the 30 minute interview Rachel was ready to curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep. The revolving door of people asking her humiliating questions about what had happened eventually slowed and she finally had a few minutes to herself. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

And then it hit her that Shelby and Finn not only now knew about Mr. Ellis, but had actually witnessed them together. Finn had seen her with another man, and Shelby had helped her put her panties back on. The thought made Rachel's insides churn with nausea and she found herself frantically reaching for the emesis basin the nurse had left at her bedside, but not even vomiting could purge the sickness from the pit of her stomach.

Finn didn't know what they were doing to her in there or if he should call someone. He knew someone needed to inform Rachel's dads, but he had decided it wouldn't be him. Shelby got to ride with Rachel in the ambulance, she could make that call too. He wouldn't know what to say to the men if he made the call himself and he'd probably say something stupid. He kind of wanted to talk to someone but definitely not the Berry men. It was bad enough he had failed to protect their daughter, he didn't need to be the one breaking the bad news to them as well.

Puck and Kurt had told him to call when he found her, but he wasn't sure what to tell them or if he even had the right to share what he saw with them. When he pictured finding his girlfriend after she had run out of the choir room earlier, he had pictured walking into an empty theater and seeing Rachel sitting alone in one of the seats crying. He was planning on telling her it would all be okay because he was going to keep her safe and she didn't have to be scared anymore. He wasn't expecting to actually see her being raped. He wasn't expecting to see that animal on top of her or see her face so full of fear.

He really didn't know why Rachel would drive to see the man who was hurting her but Rachel wouldn't do something without a good reason. He wanted to ask someone why. He wanted to ask someone why a man like Richard Ellis would think he could do that to Rachel. And he really wanted someone to tell him what to do to help. His mom would know. His mom would be totally awesome at handling this, but Rachel had been so pissed when she found out they had told Mr. Schue, so Finn figured she probably wouldn't want even more people knowing. He thought maybe he could call Mr. Schue since he already knew.

The sound of heels clicking against the linoleum floor of the waiting room brought Finn out of his thoughts.

"Here," Shelby said standing in front of him with two cups of coffee in her hands.

Finn took one of the cups and stared at it in confusion.

"It's coffee," Shelby said as she sat down, her legs still bouncing with nervous energy even after she crossed them. "Do you drink coffee?"

"Uh, sure," Finn said with a nod. He took a sip and immediately grimaced in disgust. That stuff tasted awful. He had only tried coffee once before and wasn't a fan, but he didn't want Shelby to think he was too immature to be dating Rachel. Rachel drank coffee all the time.

Shelby let out a small laugh and leaned back against her seat. "Sorry, it's more of an acquired taste."

Finn reached down and set the cup of coffee on the floor. "Right."

"You should get your hand looked at," Shelby said eyeing the cuts and cracks on his swollen knuckles.

"Nah, it's fine," he said, opening and closing the injured hand a few times as if to prove it still worked. "How's Rachel?"

"Quiet. She didn't want me in there with her," Shelby said. There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. "This wasn't the first time, was it?" She wasn't really expecting an answer so she wasn't shocked when she didn't get one. "It happened Wednesday night, too. That's why she ran out of there crying. I saw her right after it happened and I didn't even realize. I was there while it was happening," she whispered, chocking on a sob caught in her throat. "I stood 30 feet away while my daughter was raped."

Finn listened quietly while Shelby spoke. He knew she probably just wanted to say what was on her mind because he wanted to spill his guts too. When he was sure Shelby had finished talking he took his turn. "She's been acting really weird lately. Not saying much, not wanting to do much...but doing things she normally wouldn't do." He glanced at Shelby guiltily before shaking his head and continuing, "I didn't know why. I thought maybe it was me, that maybe she finally realized I didn't deserve her." He dropped his head in shame and focused on the discarded cup of coffee between his legs as he tried not to cry like a big baby. "I would have stopped him if I knew," he said firmly. "I would have stopped him."

"You stopped him today, Finn," Shelby said.

"But he..."

Shelby cut him off. "You stopped him today."

They fell into a pensive silence that didn't last too long because Shelby eventually remembered she had to inform Rachel's fathers that their daughter had been beaten and raped and was currently at a hospital in Columbus. She asked Finn for their numbers and the boy fished his cell phone out of his pocket and read off the two sets of digits, which Shelby punched into her cell and saved to her contacts.

Standing up with a heavy sigh, Shelby excused herself and walked down to the front lobby of the hospital so she could get a signal on her cell phone. When she finally saw the device had a couple of bars of service she decided to try Leroy Berry first. Although Leroy was the more stern of Rachel's two fathers, Shelby had remembered he was also the calmer one. She had vaguely fond memories of his husband Hirarm fussing neurotically over her while she had been pregnant with Rachel. Hirarm had been the one to interrogate her about her diet choices and vitamin intake whenever she met with the men to give them the latest sonogram picture of their daughter, while Leroy had always smiled kindly and told his husband to leave her alone. She didn't want to be making this call to either of them, but if she had to pick which man she'd rather have this conversation with it was definitely Leroy, because if her memory served her correctly, he was the less emotional of the two.

The phone call went about as well as Shelby expected, which was to say pretty badly. After getting through a hasty explanation of what she was doing back in Rachel's life and assuring Leroy that she wasn't calling to challenge his and his husband's custody of Rachel like he initially accused her of, Shelby delivered the news as straightforwardly as possible. It took all of her resolve and every bit of skill she had as an actress to sound somewhat together as she spoke. Leroy may have been calmer than his husband, but he couldn't conceal his absolute heartbreak over hearing that someone had repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter, who was now in the hospital as a result of injuries she sustained while being raped. Shelby's tentative grasp on her own emotions started to slip as she heard the ever strong and sturdy Leroy Berry shakily mutter "oh God" over and over again while a muted voice Shelby assumed was Hiram nervously asked what was wrong in the background.

But what really broke Shelby's heart was Leroy pleading with her to stay with Rachel. There were contracts and agreements in place to ensure that Shelby never encroached on his and his husband's parental rights, but now the men Shelby had handed her daughter over to all those years ago were begging her to stay by Rachel's side until they could get there.

"We're coming. Tell her we're coming. Okay? I'm booking the flight...Hiram! Call the airline! Hiram, do it now! Just do it, God damn it! No, wait. Maybe we should drive. Hiram, get on the computer and see how long it would take us to drive to Columbus. We can rent a goddamn car. Just look it up!...We'll be there soon, Shelby, just please stay with her till we get there. Okay? Can you stay with her? Please. She shouldn't be alone. Jesus Christ. I should have never let her do that stupid musical. How did this happen? Oh God, I had no idea. Shelby, please stay there. We'll be there soon. We're coming."

Shelby of course agreed, not bothering to mention that she wouldn't have left even if they had asked her to. Leroy hung up the phone after saying he would call when they figured out the fastest way to get back to Ohio. Houston was over a thousand miles away from Columbus and it would be a while before Leroy and Hiram could reach their daughter, but Shelby assured Leroy that Rachel wouldn't be alone. She wasn't leaving.

As the waiting room started to fill up with patients and their loved ones, Finn grew impatient. It had been over an hour since Rachel's stretcher was rolled into some exam room and the door slammed in his face. He knew he couldn't be in there with her but he just needed to know she was okay. A few minutes after Shelby walked off to make the call to Rachel's fathers, Finn decided to make a call of his own.

The school day had come to an end and there was no scheduled Glee meeting on Fridays, but Kurt found himself sitting in the choir room with Puck, Mercedes, Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury. The mood was decidedly morose and no one really knew what to do or say to each other. Mr. Schue had followed through on his teacherly obligation and informed the school and the police about the alleged abuse, but the cops had been unable to get ahold of any of the Berrys, Rachel included, to confirm the allegation. The Lima police promised to look into the matter but without a complainant there wasn't much they could do yet. They would have to speak to Rachel before they proceeded.

When classes ended none of the kids wanted to go home without knowing if Rachel was okay so Mr. Schue said they could wait for word from Finn together in the choir room. There was no real reason why they needed to wait together, but it just felt wrong to go home without knowing. Will had informed Emma because he figured she would be more qualified to handle the kids' worry than he was, but she seemed to be the most anxious of the bunch.

Kurt blew the air out from his cheeks in frustration as he tinkered with the piano. Why had he come up with that stupid plan? He shouldn't have waited till lunch to tell Mr. Schue, he should had told someone right away. He could have searched harder for Rachel's fathers last night or immediately called the cops after he left her house. If he had told someone when he first found out Rachel wouldn't have had a chance to bolt from the school. He felt like such an idiot, it was his fault she was missing.

The sound of Kurt's cell phone ringing caused the whole group to jump in anticipation. They were all a little tightly wound.

"It's Finn," Kurt announced to the group before answering the call and pressing the phone to his ear. Everyone seemed to perk up, leaning forward eagerly.

Kurt was silent for a moment but then his free hand flew to cover his mouth and his eyes widened.

"Kurt?" Mercedes asked. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"Did he find Rachel?" Puck cut in.

"Oh my God," Kurt muttered. "Is she okay?" There was a few seconds of silence and then Kurt spoke again. "Whoa. Calm down, Finn. It's gonna be okay. We'll be there. We're on our way now. Just hold on, we'll be there." He started pulling on his coat before he even hung up the phone. "Rachel's at the hospital," he told the group assembled in the choir room.

"What happened, Kurt?" Mr. Schue asked.

"It was the director," Kurt started to explain hazily. "The director of the musical she's been working on for the last month and a half," he said, realizing just how long Rachel had been going through this without their knowing it. "She drove to the theater to confront him and," he trailed off.

"And what?" Puck demanded. "Start talking, Hummel!"

Kurt swallowed hard. "He attacked her again. Finn got there, but he said it wasn't good."

"Did he...was she?" Mr. Schue asked, the implication clear in the way he lowered his voice and knitted his brows.

Kurt nodded. "He was in the process of raping her when Finn and Shelby walked in. Finn said she took a pretty bad beating too but was conscious when they took her out of there."

There was a gasp from Emma and a lowly mumbled statement of disbelief from Mercedes.

"Dammit! Why the hell would she go there if it was him? Why go directly to the bastard who hurt her?" Puck shouted angrily. "God. For someone so smart, that girl can be so fucking dumb sometimes!"

"Puck, that's enough," Mr. Schue scolded. "Let's not go blaming Rachel for this."

"No! No, ok? I know Rachel thinks she's some fucking superstar, but did she really think she could take on this guy alone? Why would she go there? What was she planning on doing to protect herself? Sing to the fucker? Bore him to death with a medley of Barbra Streisand's greatest hits? God! If she wanted to confront the prick then all she had to do was ask me or Finn to go with her and we would have taken care of it! She had no business going there alone after he hurt her! All she had to do was tell me and I would have handled it!"

"Puck, calm down," Emma said as she stepped towards the center of the choir room.

"I would have handled it!" he shouted back, slamming his fist on top of the piano as he paced past it.

"It's okay to be angry," Emma added. "But right now we need to get to the hospital for Rachel and you can't go in there fuming, so let's all take a minute to collect ourselves, okay? Deep breaths, everyone."

Kurt and Mercedes exchanged glances, both too shocked to speak.

"Are you guys okay to drive or do you want to ride with Miss Pillsbury and I?" Will asked once Puck managed to reign in his outrage.

"I can drive," Mercedes said. "It's probably best to have a couple of cars there in case someone needs to leave early or something."

Will nodded and ushered his students out of the choir room.

After what seemed like an eternity a middle-aged female doctor approached the bench Shelby and Finn were sitting on.

"I'm looking for the family of Rachel Berry?" the doctor called.

Shelby and Finn both shot to their feet instantly.

"That's us!" Finn said. "I mean, I'm her boyfriend. But we're the ones who came with her. How is she? Is ok?"

"I'm sorry, I can't disclose a patient's medical status to non-family," the doctor said to Finn.

Finn visibly deflated but looked to Shelby for help.

"It's okay. I'm her mother," Shelby said. She felt guilty just saying those words out loud but she needed to know how Rachel was doing.

The doctor looked pointedly towards Finn, but Shelby just nodded as if to say she didn't mind him hearing. Of course she didn't mind, Finn had more of a right to hear than she did. He was actually a part of Rachel's life.

"Okay. Well, I'm Dr. Morrow and I've been treating Rachel. We suspect Rachel has an orbital fracture on the right side and three cracked ribs. She'll need x-rays to confirm the fractures so we're hoping to get her over to Radiology within the next hour. Those injuries should not require setting or any special treatment, but she will be in quite a bit of pain as a result so we'll give her some pain meds to take home. Her activity will need to be limited to ensure her ribs heal quickly but we'll go over that more when she's discharged. She also has a couple of laceration on her face that we closed with butterfly stitches and due to the trauma her head sustained during the attack, a mild concussion. None of her injuries are severe enough that we'll need to admit her so you can take her home in a couple of hours once all her test come back. We did find evidence of sexual assault, some slight tearing to her genitals and contusions on her wrists and thighs. She's speaking with a detective right now and after he's finished, a rape crisis counselor will be in to see her. Do you have any questions?"

Finn had been trying hard to concentrate on what the doctor was saying about orbital fractures and contusions, but if he had to guess he'd say he absorbed about 25 percent of the information Dr. Morrow had just shared. He didn't understand all the medical talk but it sounded like Rachel would be okay, at least physically, and she would be able to leave the hospital soon. He would have to ask Shelby to explain everything else to him later because right now all he could think about was getting Rachel out of this stupid hospital.

"Can I see her?" Shelby asked once the doctor finished explaining Rachel's medical status.

"Of course. She's back in room 21," the doctor answered, pointing to the left of the intake desk.

Shelby started towards the room with Finn in tow, but Dr. Morrow stopped them.

"I'm afraid you'll need to wait out here, son," she said to Finn.

"What? But I need to see her!" Finn cried desperately.

The doctor frowned. "Family only. It's hospital policy."

"No! You can't do that!" Finn shouted. "She's my girlfriend! I need to see her!"

"I'm sorry. It's our policy. Only family is allowed in an exam room with a patient," Dr. Morrow explained regretfully.

"But that's bullshit! I'm more of her family than she is!" he said angrily pointing to Shelby.

Shelby flinched at that remark but didn't respond. Finn was right. She wasn't Rachel's family and she felt guilty that she got to see Rachel while Finn didn't.

"You need to calm down," Dr. Morrow said. "I know you care about your girlfriend, but we have to follow policy. She should be discharged in a couple of hours. You can see her then."

"But I need," Finn started but his voice quickly deflated. It wasn't about what he needed. "Ok.

Shelby knocked lightly on the door to Rachel's hospital room before letting herself in. The curtain was drawn around the bed but Shelby could see the figure of a woman standing beside the bed. "Rachel?"

"Hello," a voice Shelby didn't recognize greeted cheerfully before a young woman pulled the curtain back. "I'm Sandra. You must be Rachel's mom?"

Shelby didn't know how to answer that. She had been allowing people to think she was Rachel's mom since the paramedic in the parking lot first made the assumption. She had even made the claim herself a couple of times when she thought it would gain her access to information about Rachel's status, but she couldn't keep up the charade in front of Rachel. Shelby was still floundering for a response when Rachel beat her to it.

"No she's not," Rachel said simply. Her eyes flitted up briefly to catch Shelby looking at her hesitantly.

Sandra seemed confused, but drew her lips into a tight polite smile and nodded. "Oh, well Rachel and I were just finishing up here. Rachel, you have my card and all the information is there. Please don't hesitate to call."

And then Sandra was gone and Shelby was finally alone with Rachel. For all the urgency Shelby had felt in needing to see Rachel, she was at a total loss of what to do or say now that she actually had the opportunity to speak to her.

Rachel crumbled the card in her hands and tossed it on top of the adjustable table the jutted out over her hospital bed. She took a cursory look over the pamphlet Sandra had left. The words Rape Crisis Services screamed at her in big bold red font and underneath the writing was a silhouette of a girl hugging her knees to her chest and looking sad. Rachel rolled her eyes and tossed the pamphlet onto the table with Sandra's crumpled up card before pushing the table away from her. She didn't need some stupid rape crisis counselor telling her this wasn't her fault. Rachel had made a lot of mistake in her life, she was practically an expert in the field, but she always owned up to her mistakes and she wasn't going to start passing the buck now. She wasn't like that sad girl on the cover of the pamphlet, no one had chased her down or cornered her into some back alley, she had gone to Mr. Ellis on her own accord. She had made the decision to show up to rehearsals, over and over again. This was most definitely her fault. Sandra didn't know what she was talking about.

"Maybe you should hold onto that," Shelby said. "It might be helpful."

"I don't need a pamphlet to tell me how to feel and I definitely don't need you telling me what I should and shouldn't do," Rachel snapped at her. She shifted uncomfortably in the bed, gritting her teeth as pain shot through her ribs before dropping her head back against the pillow in frustration.

"I'm sorry," Shelby said, guilt clouding her face as she considered what she could possibly say next that wouldn't upset Rachel. Not even a minute into the conversation and she had already screwed up. Comforting people had never been a strong suit for Shelby and she was more than aware that her lack of that particular ability was probably to be credited for her success as a show choir director. She had never fallen prey to her emotions or let herself be swayed by her students' feelings while coaching and as a result she had several National titles under her belt, but years of suppressing her emotions had made it difficult for her to relate to others on a personal level. That had been part of the reason why she thought Rachel would have been better off without her last year. She had been so afraid that Rachel wouldn't feel a connection to her. As mother and daughter they would have a natural connection, but Rachel had parents and Shelby wasn't one of them so how would they connect? Where would she fit into the girl's life?

Shelby had been getting better at the comforting thing since adopting Beth, but soothing a fussy infant and comforting a traumatized teenager were two very different things and Shelby wasn't sure she was prepared for the latter. She stepped farther into the room, taking in the full extent of Rachel's injuries as she neared the bed. Her face was cleaned up now, it wasn't the bloody mess from the theater that had been permanently etched into Shelby's memory, but the girl still looked so beaten down. One eye was so swollen that only a tiny slither of white was visible behind her lids. Her lip was split by a painful looking cut and butterfly stitches covered a small lacerations near the corner of her right eye and another slightly larger one below her cheekbone. Ugly bruises marred her cheeks and neck and her posture was so stiff and rigid that Shelby could only imagine the pain the broken ribs were causing her.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry this happened to you. I-I didn't know. Honey, why didn't you tell me Richard was hurting you?"

Rachel was silent for a moment, her eyes blinking rapidly as she stared dumbly at the woman. She had heard Shelby's words clearly, but what she understood them as was much darker. Why did you let that man hurt you? Rachel wasn't fooled, she knew that was what Shelby really wanted to ask her and she hated that the older woman was trying to hide behind insincere apologizes and poorly veiled questions.

"Get out," Rachel seethed.

"What?" Shelby asked, clearly confused by the girl's abrupt command.

"I want you to leave. Get out," Rachel repeated quietly. It was too much. She may have been glad to have Shelby around when she scared and confused, but now she was thinking clearly again and she felt like she was suffocating around her.

Shelby ignored the request and dragged the chair from the corner up to Rachel's bed. She took a seat and reached for Rachel's hand in an attempt to calm her down but Rachel quickly pulled her own hand back. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I don't care. Just get out," Rachel said more firmly. Once again Rachel tried to sit up, growing more and more agitated as every attempt she made to prop herself up resulted in such blinding pain in her side that she had little choice put to lay back against the pillows. Her frustration was burning inside her and she felt that she would burst into tears at any second and she'd be damned if Shelby saw her cry. "I said get out! Leave! I want you to leave."

"Rachel, please."

"God, why won't you just leave me alone? Leave! Walk away, you're good at that," Rachel spit out spitefully.

Shelby decided to ignore the harsh words and focus on calming Rachel down. They could deal with the past once Rachel was doing better. "Honey, you're getting yourself worked up. Please try to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! I said go. I'm asking you to leave. You want me to beg? Fine, I'll beg. Please leave. Okay? Will you please go," Rachel pleaded, her voice sounding more like a whine as she struggled to keep herself from crying. "I don't want you here. You don't get to come in here and pity me now. Not after you..." she trailed off shaking her head and fighting to maintain her composure. "You can't just waltz in and out of people's lives as you please. It's not... it's not fair. You can't do it."

"Rachel, I'm sorry," Shelby replied tearfully. "I just wanted to-"

"I don't care what you want!" Rachel shouted, her voice strained as the sobs spilled out of her throat. "Why does it always have to be about what you want? Or what he wants? What about what I want? Doesn't anyone care about what I want? What I don't want." She would take responsibility for what had happened with Mr. Ellis, but that didn't mean she had wanted it to happen. She had just been too scared and stupid to walk away.

"Of course we care," Shelby said, horrified at being compared to Richard Ellis. "Sweetie, I never meant to upset you."

Rachel sniffled and wiped angrily at her eyes. "Can you leave now? I'm asking nicely. Please just go."

"Rachel, you shouldn't be alone. Your fathers asked me-"

"God, you're infuriating," Rachel interrupted. "You leave when I want you to stay and you stay when I want you to leave. Where was this motherly resolve when I actually wanted you in my life? Huh? Where was your sense of obligation last year when you tricked me into looking for a mother who didn't want me? You didn't have a problem leaving then so don't act like it's so hard now."

Shelby swallowed the lump that had been building in her throat and shook her head. "That's not true. I always wanted you but you weren't mine." She paused for a moment to collect herself and stood up from her chair. "I understand you're upset right now so I'll leave the room like you're asking, but I'll be right outside. I'm not going anywhere."