What's she Worth to You?

Seth Davis

E R I N

I walk into her room, my loose shorts and tank still on from crashing last night.

I see her laying there, peaceful and quiet. The sun shines off her deep auburn hair in rays and illuminates the room. Her hair lays atop her head in a neat little bun. She looks peaceful, worry free.

She looks happy.

I almost don't even want to wake her up, but I know I have to.

I know I need to.

I think I'm more nervous than she is for today, for her seeing the face of the man that held her captive, who tortured her for God only knows how long. She doesn't seem scared at all, which I guess I should take as a good sign.

'She needs to see him. It will help move the case along. It will help her remember more. It will help her to get better.'

I repeat this over and over again, trying to convince myself it's true, but I'm out of time. It's almost eight o'clock.

Voight told me to stay back and drive her to the precinct so she can feel that she's in a safe environment.

He doesn't admit it, but he's got a real soft spot for her...

We all do.

I hear the shuffling of sheets and walk over to her bed, shaking her lightly by the shoulders.

"Hey beautiful it's time to get up." I whisper and she furrows her eyebrows, slowly opening her eyes. She squints as her eyes meet the unexpected sun that falls into her room from the large window.

"What time is it?" She asks in a quiet, groggy voice.

"About seven fifty." I brush a stray piece of her long hair away and tuck it behind her ear.

"We need to leave here by about eight fifteen to make it to the precinct on time."

"Oh my gosh I completely forgot," She says tiredly.

"You still up for this? You can say no, love it's-"

"No, no I need to. I want to." I sigh and nod.

"Okay, well we leave in about twenty five minutes." She sucks in a deep breath and tiredly sits up.

"Okay," she says with a yawn and I smile at her.

She slips out of bed and I see that she only slept in her undergarments. But that's not what takes me by surprise.

It's her body

She's quite literally skin and bones. and that wouldn't be a surprise, considering I've seen her like this before. But what really concerns me is that she seems to be getting even skinnier.

But I decide to leave it alone for now, we need to get to the precinct.

She goes to slip on a white shirt but I stop her.

"Hey, you're going to freeze out there, I'm sure I have something for you to wear that won't give you pneumonia." She nods and I take her hand leading her into the master bedroom.