I'm only borrowing, I own nothing.

She was in a tattered, dirty, blood covered shirt sitting with her legs tucked to her chest next to the dumpster behind Merlotte's. I could smell that the blood was hers, but not fresh. I could not make out any other scent on her besides blood. She was dumped here, or she got here somehow after whatever had happened to her, happened. Because of my heighted shifter hearing I could faintly make out her sobs from inside my trailer, and that had spurred me to check outside for whoever it was. I found her exhausted, and battered, a stream of tears running down her face.

"Shhh, it's alright cher, it's alright. Talk to me, Sookie, tell me what happened."

She couldn't stop sobbing; she started to shake violently, and I cursed myself for have not taken her inside yet. What the hell was my problem? She was out here all beat up, crying and freezing her ass off and I was knelt next to her, questioning her.

I scooped her up in my arms, and she let out a yelp, telling me just how damaged her body was. I carried her up the three steps and into the front door of my trailer. It was five am and I knew no one had seen us, so I figured she was as safe here as anywhere, at least until I knew more about what had happened.

When I had her in better lighting, I could see how bruised and filthy she was. She was still shivering and sniffling and the look she gave shot pain into me. Sookie was really messed up. I grabbed the quilt off of my bed and returned to throw it around her shoulders. I decided to let her calm down a little more before I tried to ask anything else. While I waited for her to steady a bit, I started to gingerly look over her exposed wounds. She didn't seem to fight me on it, so I followed a cut that had begun on her thigh, up to the curve of her waist. It had left a wide trail of blood down the shirt. That seemed to be the nastiest cut she had, and I needed to clean it up. She'd lost a lot of blood and seemed weak. I wondered if she would let a doctor examine her. She was sure to at the very least, have some broken ribs.

I went to go grab some first aid stuff from the bathroom and when I got back she just looked at me, scared.

"Sookie, I need to clean you up a bit. I know you're hurtin' cher, how about I call Dr. Ludwig and have her come check you out?"

I got a loud sniffle as she shook her head "no." Her eyes pleaded with me, so I conceded for now. When I came at her with a bit of cotton soaked with peroxide, her breath hitched. As soon as I had put it to her skin, she began to hyperventilate. I couldn't deal with this. She was too worked up, and I couldn't stand the thought of making it worse for her. I put down the cotton and took her cold, little hand instead.

"Cher, I know you're scared, and I'm not gonna make you talk, but I do need to get you taken care of." "I promise I don't wanna hurtcha.""You hold my hand now, and if it hurts, gimme a squeeze, okay?"

She just nodded her head and as I began again, she only flinched, and squeezed a little, but her tears began again. I cleaned it up as best I could and went to doctor a few more of her cuts. They were real thin and deep, I wonder what they were done with, and why. Some sick bastard was going to pay. I managed to clean and cover the cuts that needed the attention.

"You wanna get cleaned up a bit, Sook?"

A nod.

"Do you need help?"

She bust into sobs again, damnit.

"It's alright, cher, hey? I got a little something that might make you feel a little better, help you relax a bit?"

And I did, when I had got shot in the leg, I got some kick ass pain meds, and some Xanex to quell my nerves from having to be away from the bar for so long. She nodded, and I went to grab one of each. I cut each in half, she was quite a bit smaller than me, and I didn't want to overdose her. She popped both with a glass of water I gave her- that she downed in about two seconds, she was probably dehydrated.

"You want some more water, cher? Some food?"

No to both. Okay.

I grabbed a rag and put some warm water in a bowl and added a bit of soap. I started to wipe her down of the caked on blood and dirt, being especially careful with her most bruised and cut places. I had to get clean water and rags three times. I stopped when the only places left to wash were the ones I dared not venture to.

"I can do it Sam, it's okay."

Well, she did seem significantly calmer, it was the first hting she had said.

"Why don't I take you into the bathroom, and you can do...that." "You'll need something clean to wear."

I scooped her up again and she winced in pain.

"Sorry, I'm trying to be gentle."

I sat her down on the bathroom counter and got her some clean rags, a towel,and my bathrobe. I let the water basin fill up in the sink.

"I'll be right back, I'll knoock before I come in."

I shuffled around my dresser trying to find something elastic enough to stay around her waist. I settled on some draw string gym shorts; I grabbed her my softest t-shirt from the closet.

knock knock

"You okay, cher?"

I heads a small "yeah" and opened the door. She was bundled up in my robe, clutching it shut.

"It's not much, but I think I found something clean that'll at least cover you up."

She just nodded and I took a chance and pulled the shirt over her head as she pulled her arms out of the robe. The maneuver worked pretty well I guess, since I didn't see anything, not that I was trying to look. She swam in the shirt so I went ahead and put her feet into the shorts and pulled them up around her waist. I stood back and looked at her. She was exhausted and the medication had certainly begun to take affect. I pulled her to me, and she wrapped her arms around me, laying her head on my shoulder.

"Come on, let me lay you in bed and we can talk for a bit."

I carried her again into the bedroom; I couldn't imagine her trying to walk, her feet were cut and bruised, and she looked like she would just fall over anyway.

Not caring about the state of my bed room, I threw back the sheets on the bed, and gently set her down. I grabbed the quilt from the living room and threw it on top of her. I grabbed the extra pillows I never use off the floor and used them to prop her up a bit. I could see now, the bruises that were still forming around her eyes and neck. It made me feel sick.

I kicked off the boots I had haphazardly thrown on earlier and crawled next to her, on top of the quilt. I sat facing her.

"What the hell happened, Sook?"

"I just, I'm, thanks Sam...for all this."

"Sookie, please."

"I don't really know who they were, it was all so fuzzy, and heavy, and then they were hurting me so bad."

She started to cry again, but not as intensely as before.

"It's alright, take a deep breath, can you tell me anything else- where you were, were you with Eric?" I hadn't seen Sookie in three days, two of them were her days off, and when she didn't come in for her shift today, with no call or anything, I started to wonder.

"No I wasn't with Eric, I haven't seen him at all. They were something else Sam, I was somewhere else, not here, not even close. I could just tell."

"What do you mean, Sook?"

"I don't know Sam, I was only awake for like eight hours, and then I was here. I couldn't hear them, but it was different."

She was starting to panic again at the memory of what had happened.

"I just, I'm so scared, I sound so pathetic, but I don't know why they brought me back, or anything, I'm just scared."

"It's going to be okay, you are here with me, and you know I will keep you safe. Just lay back, I'm going to turn on the TV for you, and I want you to concentrate on relaxing. I'm going to the living room to make a couple of calls and lock up. I'll be right back here, and if you need me just shout."

"Okay, please hurry, I don't want to be alone Sam, please."

I nodded and walked out, first I would call those damn vampires and leave a message since I'm sure they were already hiding in their coffins. Then I would call the good doctor and see if she had any ideas about what to do about Sookie.

--------

I had made my calls, left a rather stupidly threatening message on Eric's phone; I was so mad I didn't care though.

I also got a hold of Ludwig, who said she wanted to come by and check Sookie, we set it up for six in the evening so the poor thing would have time to rest.

I walked back to my bedroom, and saw her there curled in a tight ball, her breaths shallow, fast asleep. I tried to untangle her a bit and I tucked the quilt around her. I turned off the TV and lay down on the quilt. I dosed on and off, watching her sleep.

She only stirred a few times, and I slipped out at ten thirty to get things set up to open the bar. I left my cell by the bed with a note telling her to call the bar when she woke up. I came to check on her about an hour later and she hadn't moved. I went to brush a piece of hair out of her face, and her eyes opened and she gasped.

"Sorry cher, didn't mean to wake you."

She gave me weak smile and I told her to go back to sleep. But she didn't, and I wasn't going to leave, I knew she didn't want to be alone. We watched Maury Povitch for two hours before she dosed off again.

I decided she should eat, so I snuck back over to the bar and threw together her favorite salad, I took it back to the trailer, but when I opened the door I could hear her, she was talking, to herself? No, I looked in, she was still asleep, but talking, rasping, breathing hard, crying. She must be dreaming, I bent down to wake her, but then, she cried out. "Colton, please, stop, please."

And then screams, I shook her.

"Sookie, Sookie, wake up, hon. It's okay; you're safe."

Her eyes flew open, and she sat up and threw her arms around my neck. I started to smooth her hair as she laid her head on my shoulder. She was shaking, terrified. I decided then I would do some investigating on "Colton" before I asked her about it. I gently rocked her back and forth until she calmed down a little.

"You want a couple more of those pills?"

A nod.

I grabbed the pills and cut them in half again, bringing them to her with the salad, a fork and a glass of tea.

"You need to eat, cher, it will help you feel better, I promise."

She took the pills, and picked at the salad. She hadn't eaten since, well I don't know, at leasdt not since I had found her. She got a couple of bites down, and started looking a little sick. I pressed her to eat more.

"I can't, Sam."

She was still shaken from her nightmare, so I didn't push it, but I'd make sure she ate again in a bit. I could tell she had lost a bit of weight. I put on Gone With The Wind for her while she laid back. She was out in thirty minutes despite her best efforts to stay awake.

Doctor Ludwig arrived at six o'clock on the dot, knocking on the door. I opened it to see the short little woman with her big black bag.

"She is back here in the bedroom, Doctor."

"Hold it, Shifter, I want to know what you know first."

"That's not a whole lot, I mean, I found her early, early this morning, all beat up and dirty. She's pretty shaken up."

"Do you know how she ended up here?"

"No, but she told me she was taken- far away, and it sounds like she was tortured and probably…well, molested or something. She mentioned someone named Colton in her sleep."

"I see."

"Do you know something I don't, Doctor?"

"Not a thing, you will find out more from her then?"

"I will try."

"Very good, let's have a look then."

I woke Sookie when we got to the room.

"Hey, Sook, the doctor is here to see you."

She just looked at me like I stabbed her in the back, but it was for her own good.

"Good evening Miss Stackhouse, I heard you went through an ordeal, let's look you over and see what damage you incurred. I'll need you to first remove your shirt so I can have a look see. Mr. Merlotte, some privacy?"

"Of course, I'll be right outside, Sook."

She left Sookie in the bedroom about fifteen minutes later. She walked over to me and motioned me out to the porch. I followed her out.

"Well, it's too late for sutures, the wounds are too old, and they look like they were made with some sort of razor. She has three broken ribs, and a badly sprained ankle. I already fit her with an air cast for her ankle, nothing I can do about her ribs. Some of her pelvic floor muscles are torn as well, so you were right about her being 'molested or something.' I recommend that she have a bit of vampire blood to speed up her healing. It seems though, that she and the Northman's bond has some how been severed. It's left her pretty torn up. I left her some medication."

Before I could ask a question, she was gone. Damnit! What the hell happened? Her and Eric's bond severed? How? Who did it, why? That fucking vampire would be hearing from me tonight.

I walked back to check on her, tears were running down her face. She turned over on the bed away from me.

"I'm sorry, Sook, I just want you to feel better."