"Dad?" Susan tapped her sleeping father's shoulder. "Dad, wake up."

"Later," he groaned, warmth next to him keeping him drowsy.

"Dad, Principal Hawkins is downstairs."

Nathan's eyes shot open. "What?

"I didn't know what to tell him." There was panic in her voice.

"No, no…it's…" He moved and Sydney woke, a pained moan filling the room. Nathan's heart broke. She had slept as long as he had without waking…and Nathan regretted it. He should have known to wake her and keep her ahead of the pain. "Syd, I'm sorry."

"Hurts," she said, her voice far more clear than it had been.

"I know." He looked up at Susan. "Can you stay here until I take care of Joe?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Syd, I'll be right back and we'll get you all taken care of." Nathan kissed Susan's forehead as he ran from his room and down the stairs.

"Jesus, Nathan, you look like fuck," Joe snipped as soon as Nathan came into view. "I really wanted to hope that you weren't boozing last night, but…"

"I wasn't," Nathan snapped, "but thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Where the hell were you last night? Sedgwick was up my ass about you. And what did you do to your hand?"

Nathan smirked, he couldn't help it. "Nice to know he found a new ass to ride."

"I thought were friends, Nathan."

"We are, Joe. Look, I was a bit tired up to get back to you last night. I'm sorry, but things took precedence over a stupid Christmas – sorry, 'holiday' – party."

"Things like?"

Nathan sighed. Was this even his business to tell? Knowing it was the only way he'd get peace and get back upstairs, he leaned against the wall and rubbed his forehead. "I was supposed to pick up Sydney last night, we were going to just go to the thing together. When I got to her place…" Her reflection from the bathroom mirror flashed through his brain – he forced it away as best he could. He was blunt, spitting out the absolute truth. "…I stopped her ex from raping her. I beat the crap out of him, took Sydney to the hospital where we spent almost all night, the police don't have the asshole and now Syd's up in my bed due to her family being out of the country for Christmas."

Joe's mouth hung open, his eyes wide. "Nathan…I'm…" The doorbell rang interrupting him.

"Now what the fuck?" he sounded defeated, but his tone changed when he opened the door. "Beth…" His shoulders fell and he felt himself relax slightly.

"I'm sorry I'm running so behind, I got held up at the hospital…"

"No, no, it's fine, please come in. Let me get that stuff…" He took the crutches and a couple of bags from her hands.

"How is she?"

Joe looked at Nathan, knowing this was his cue to leave. "Nathan, I will take care of everything school related. Please give Sydney my best and…I'm so sorry." He left quickly, his mind unable to truly process what he'd been told.

"She's…" He scratched at his cheek. "…in pain now. I let her sleep too long without waking her to take anything and…"

"Did you get some rest?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Trust me, that was more important. I can help the pain." She went for one of the bags. "Anything else?"

"She said she could smell David on her, so I helped her bathe – I rewrapped like you told me to – and then we…slept…until about ten minutes ago."

Beth smiled. "Good. Really. Shall we?" she asked, looking up the stairs.

"Yeah."

When they entered Nathan's bedroom, Susan was on the bed, brushing Sydney's hair, being as gentle as she could. She avoided Sydney's stitches and was talking to her about Charlie. She looked up and smiled as best she could. "I know it always used to make me feel better."

"It did," Sydney said.

"You sound worlds better already, honey," Beth said sweetly. She looked at Nathan and Susan. "Few minutes?" They both nodded and left without a word.

"Dad?" Susan asked once they were down the hall a little ways.

"Yeah?"

"Mom called me like five times this morning asking all kinds of questions. She said she saw you at the hospital." She looked down at the floor. "I lied and told her I was still on my way home from the trip – she believed me. I just…I had no idea what to…"

Nathan pulled Susan into his arms, squeezing her. "I have never been more proud of you for lying," he chuckled. "I did see her last night, but there's no way I can handle her now."

Susan bit her lip. "Gram-ma called too…I just didn't answer. I can't lie to her and I didn't know why she was calling."

Nathan groaned yet again. "Shit, Christmas crap…" He looked at Susan. "I can't do the whole family in the house thing she's been planning since last year…fuck…oh, shit…ugh, sorry Susie."

"It's okay, I pretty much had all the same thoughts."

Beth came out of Nathan's room, her face hard to read. "Some of the swelling is a little worse than we thought it would get, but it can be handled. She needs a quick painkiller, so I actually have something from Dr. Benning that dissolves, sort of like Alka-Seltzer, but she needs to have something in her stomach."

"Eggs," Susan said. "Quick and easy…will that be enough?"

"That'll be fine, easy to swallow too." Susan headed downstairs right away. "Your daughter, I'm assuming, Nathan?"

"Yeah…great kid, huh?"

Beth nodded. "You slept with Sydney last night?"

"What? No, we…oh, Christ, you mean…actually slept. Yeah…"

Beth smiled. "Well, I already assumed the other part, but…Nathan, I've seen a lot of victims come through the E.R. and the ones I worry about most are the ones who are alone. I know your mind is racing in a million directions right now, worrying about what you can do for her and what she needs…and while this will sound like a line from something, what she needs most is you. Having someone support her right now is the most important thing and waking alone…"

"She won't." He looked down the hall towards his room. "Is she…"

"Bathroom," Beth said. "Little privacy. She told me about seeing herself, said you calmed her down."

Nathan felt himself blush. "Should she stay in bed or…"

"Well, with the bed you seem to have here, yes, a day or two is exactly what she needs, but help her to walk to the bathroom – using you and one crutch."

"Got it."

"I had her prescriptions filled, but she needs rest more than anything – and food. Make sure she's eating." No sooner had Beth said that than Susan came up the stairs, a bowl of scrambled eggs in one hand, a glass of orange juice in the other. "I think she's in perfect care here."

Nathan got Sydney to eat and all but bribed to her to take the watery pain killer before Beth had to leave. After they were alone again, Nathan staked a claim on the bed next to her and laid down ground rules for the next few days.

"Think of this as your room, Syd, you'll be seeing a lot of it the next two days. No trying to get up on your own for a little while, and no holding back if there's anything you want or need okay?"

Sydney looked around, wishing the drug would work faster. "I imagined your room differently." The walls were a soft gray, the bedding and window dressings black and white, and the furniture a light birch wood. It made her think of the beach on a stormy day…and once she moved her head to see the last wall, she knew Nathan must have thought the same. There was a large black and white photograph of ocean waves crashing into jagged points of rock. "It's…calming."

Nathan smiled, happy to talk about anything other than the previous night. "I gutted the room after…this is where I caught Celia." He shifted so his whole body faced Sydney. "I actually kicked her out after my own dramatic episode." Sydney's eyes questioned him. "I waved a gun around a little. Not that it matters, but I only threatened myself." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I got all of the 'Celia' out of here. Horrid floral prints and stripped wallpaper and…greens and blues that made me nauseous…"

"Sounds terrible," Sydney said, almost chuckling.

"Oh, it was." He let his voice become dramatic. "I wanted to burn the bed, but the city frowns on that sort of thing, so I had to settle for a curbside pickup a couple of days later…I slept on the floor until then." He looked around the room himself for a moment. "I need to feel peaceful to get any real rest so…yeah."

"Kinda scary how similar out tastes are, huh?"

He thought about Sydney's room. The hues were a little different and she had a few more pops of color here and there, but for the most part… "Holy shit," he laughed. "That's just…" His smile faded as Sydney's face changed. "Syd?"

"Sorry…uh…kicking in now," she answered, referring to the painkiller. A lopsided smile crossed her lips. "Wonder how trippy Daleks are on this stuff."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Sydney giggled, the medication definitely working. "Secret's out! Sydney's a Whovian!"

"New doctors – Nine, Ten, or eleven?"

"Ten."

"Moffat or Davies?"

Sydney blushed. "Davies, I can't help it, I love my mushy…wait…Nathan Gardner!"

Nathan fumbled around a bit, finding the remote to the television hanging from the wall across from the bed. "Charlie helped me hook up a media server for Susan last month, but…you know, I wanted a part of that too." After a few clicks, familiar theme music filled the room and for a couple of hours Sydney was able to forget…and yes, Daleks are most certainly tripped while on heavy narcotics…