Castle's partner

Last Night

"Nothing happened."

Nick clears his throat and gives me a look that says I better tell them or else.

I sigh and look at my battered hands.

"Yesterday, I decided to walk back to Nick's. It was still light outside, but I got lost in thought. The next thing I knew someone was attacking me. I fought back hard, I know I hurt him. But he was stronger. Nick saved me."

I avoid looking at them as I speak, because I know they are giving me looks of anguish.

"What did he hurt?" Asks Ryan.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Samantha!" Beckett hisses at me.
I wince. "My rib, Nick thinks he broke one. And my hands and my face."

"He broke your rib?! Why didn't you call us last night or go to the hospital?"

"There's nothing you can do about a broken rib, it wouldn't have done any good."

"I'll call Lanie, have her look at you. Can you describe the guy so we can find him?" Beckett asks with obvious anger.

"I don't need to be looked at, I'm fine. Nick did he could do the sketch. I can't."

"No arguing about this, okay? You almost died in a car accident you're still healing. Nick, go wait in the box. You come with me."

I follow her into the break room and she makes me sit on the couch.

She hug me gently. "I love you. I just want to make sure you're okay."

I nod. "I get it."

So I wait, and it's not long before Lanie gets here.

"Honey! Why didn't you call me when this happened?"

"Sorry," I mumble.

"Where does it hurt?"

I point to my side, and she stands up, locks the door, and closes all the blinds.

"C'mon, let me see."

I slowly pull my shirt off, and she makes me lay down.

She presses my side for about two seconds before she says, "yeah you definitely broke a rib. That means you need to heal before you do anything. You're still recovering from the car accident. That means no doing anything physical, and you need to ice it and your jaw."

"Alright, alright."

"No not just 'alright' Samantha I'm serious. You can't get hurt again."

I see the worry in her face.

"Okay Lanie. I'll be careful, I promise."

I turn to grab my shirt to put it back on, and she sees my shoulders and upper back, and she gasps.

"Baby, what are these scars from?" She asks in a whisper.

She reaches out and touches one of them gently, and I feel my face turn red.

"Nothing, nothing happened." I pull away from her and tug on my shirt.

She grab my shoulder.

"Sweetie, you need to tell me."

"Why?"

"Because it's important!"

I stare at her for a long moment.

"Brandon. They're from Brandon. He had this-this whip. It hurt, but it went away after a few days. It just left scars." I realize that I have tears on my face.

"Oh Samantha!"

Lanie takes me in her arms and lets me cry.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. That's not fair."

I let go, and she wipes away my tears with her thumb.

"Sweetie, I think you should go back to sleep. I know you just woke up but you've had an emotional past 24 hours."

To both my surprise and hers, I don't argue.

I close my eyes, and I'm out.

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

Lanie pov

I kiss her softly and return to the rest of them.

That image of her scars sticks in my head though.

"Lanie is she okay?" Beckett asks with obvious worry.

"Yeah, yeah she's fine. She's going back to sleep."

"What's wrong?"

I look up at my best friend.

"Kate, she has these scars on her back. She said Brandon whipped her. She went through so much pain." By now I start to tear up.

She hugs me.

"At least she's safe now."