Turn Back Time (The Night Shift)

Chapter Seven - Breaking the Barrier

A few days had passed since Rick had taken Taylor down to the police station in hopes of getting through to her about her behaviour and current lifestyle. Since then, Drew had put his foot down and had stated that Taylor was to either be the hospital with him or at the station with Rick as she currently wasn't enrolled in school as they were trying to figure out if she would be staying with them, or going back to Seattle. Since they hadn't heard from Taylor's mother, they were going to enrol Taylor into a school in San Antonio soon. As to be expected, Taylor was not happy about this decision and rebelled at any chance she got. It appeared that the "little chat" she had with Rick a few days prior, hadn't had any effect on Taylor's behaviour.

It was currently mid-day on Friday and Taylor was sat in the break room at S.A.M (San Antonio Memorial). She was bored out of her mind and wanted something to do. She couldn't stand being trapped inside like this. Deciding to try her luck, Taylor put on her jacket and walked out of the break room hoping to make a break for the main exit. It was no luck though as Drew was stood talking to TC and Rick at the front desk.

"Where do you think you're going?" Drew asked, grabbing his daughters wrist gently to stop her. Taylor sighed in frustration as she had been caught. Turning to face Drew, Taylor sighed.

"I need some air. Locking me up like this isn't doing me any good" She stated annoyed. Drew raised an eyebrow.

"I'm only doing this because of the way you're choosing to behave. You're my responsibility, Taylor. I'm not going to watch you throw your life away like this. I'm just trying to help you" Drew explained. Taylor scoffed upon hearing this.

"Help me?" She laughed, sarcastically.

"This isn't helping me! I'm not some prisoner! Keeping me locked up away from everyone else isn't going to help me!" Taylor shouts now pissed off.

"I'm doing this because I care about you and I want to protect you" Drew shot back, trying not to let the situation get worse as they were in a very public area.

"Care about me?! You don't even know me! I've hardly seen you for more than 2 hours a time, a few time a year, since I was 6 years old!" Taylor shouts, finally letting it all out. Sensing that Drew was taken back and hurt by what they teen had just said, Rick stepped in to try and calm things down. He gently grabbed the teens elbow and dragged her away.

"Break room. Now" He said sternly, nudging her in the right direction. Taylor hesitantly obliged and let Rick walk her into the break room as TC took Drew outside to get some air.

Once in the room, Rick closes the door behind them. It was obvious to him that although she had meant it, Taylor didn't mean for everything to come out the way it did and she certainly didn't mean to be hurtful towards her dad. Someone she loved very much, even though she hadn't seen him a lot over the years like she had said.

"You were out of line back there..." Rick said quietly, as he leant against the pool table. Taylor turned around so her back was facing him. Rick could see the teen's shoulders start to shake as she started sniffling, telling him that she was crying.

"What is going on with you?" He asked the teen gently. Taylor stayed quiet as she sat down on the couch and placed her head down in her hands.

"Look, I want to help...but I can't if you don't talk to me..." Rick pushed gently, as he moved to sit on the table in front of the teen. Taylor slowly looked up at him with her bloodshot, watery eyes. Even though she didn't really know Rick, she knew he was her dad's husband which meant she could trust him.

"Back home...in Seattle. My mum has this stupid boyfriend. He's always about. I hate him. He hates me. My mum doesn't see that. He always did stuff that made me uncomfortable...and I never wanted to be around them so that why I'm like this. I went out to avoid them all and got mixed up with the wrong people. Everything I do is my escape mechanism." Taylor explained quietly.

"What did he do?" Rick asked seriously. Taylor looked up at him.

"You can tell me" Rick encouraged. Taylor fiddled with the ring on her finger. Rick waited as he could obviously sense that this wasn't easy for the teen.

"His names Matt. He's a complete freak. He ermm...he would always make me feel uncomfortable and he always got what he wanted. He ermm..." Taylor struggled. Rick could sense what was coming.

"You're safe here. Me, your dad and the others, we're not going to let anything happen to you" Rick reassured the teen.

"He...erm...he hit me. He hit me a lot. It was mainly when mum was out..." Taylor stumbled but she started to cry again. Rick reached out to the teen but she flinched away and quickly stood up agitated.

"You need to talk to someone about this..." Rick told the teen, knowing the damage it was probably doing being stuck in her head.

"I can't..." Taylor responded quickly, whilst shaking her head to disagree.

"This is not the type of thing you bottle up Taylor. Trust me. It might not seem like it now, but talking about things help" Rick said, going from not only what he's learnt through his career/work but also through his personal life. Taylor stayed quiet.

"Stay here. I'm going to go talk to your dad" Rick said standing up.

"No, you can't" Taylor protested, turning back around from the window to face him.

"I have to Taylor. He's your guardian. I cant keep this from him. I have to act on this." Rick explained seriously. Taylor looked at him. She knew he was right and she knew he could help as he was a cop.

"Okay..." She said quietly, sitting back down. Taylor curled up into a ball in the corner of the couch. Rick then walked out of the break room and over to his husband who was now stood by the front desk again obviously waiting for Rick.

"I need to talk to you" He said seriously. Drew looked at him concerned.

"Jordan, can you keep an eye on Taylor for me?" Drew asked his friend.

"Of course" Jordan smiled, as she looked up from the computer she was working at. Drew smiled at her as he went to the locker room with Rick so that they could talk in private.

"I need you to promise not to flip" Rick started, which concerned Rick as he knew it obviously wasn't something good he was about to say. Drew nodded.

"I just had a heart-to-heart with Taylor. She cannot go back to her mum in Canada." Rick started seriously.

"Why?" Drew asked concerned.

"She told me her mom's boyfriend hits her." Rick added.

"What?" Drew said angrily.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted, punching a locker. Hard.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N - Hope you enjoyed the double whammy! Let us know what you thought about it and what you think will happen next! x - Dharma (& Chloe)