"Oh my God! My Viniie! Let me through, I have to see my Viniie!" The woman screamed, pushing past two men in white that tried to hold her back. A nurse rushed forward, alarmed.

"M'am, please calm down! Your daughter is still alive, but you can't see her yet! She's under tight supervision, and the doctors might have to operate her. Please calm down!" She tried to restrain the woman, who seemed as determined as ever to get through them.

"My poor Viniie, you have to let me see my poor little girl!" She shrieked, trying to throw off the two men that were holding her by the arms. But they seemed ready to fight.

Suddenly, a tall, young man around the age of seventeen appeared from around the corner, breathing hard. Upon seeing the raging woman, he rushed over, and grabbed her hand. She turned to see who he was, and calmed down after recognizing him, allowing the two other men to let her go. But she then burst into tears, and hugged the young man tightly.

"Oh Jake, I'm so glad you came!" She gasped between a sob. The man held her gently, a very worried expression drawing on his exhausted features.

"I came as soon as I heard, Mrs. Greenfield; is Viniie all right? What happened to her?" He pulled back a bit and gazed into the older woman's terrified eyes.

The nurse judged that the young man was able to control the woman, so she left them with a last glance over her shoulder.

"Jake, I. . . I'm not sure.' Mrs. Greenfield sighed, looking weary. There was no one else in the hospital corridor, so she continued. 'Some guy found her in a dumpster an hour ago. . . he thought she was dead. . . he called the cops, they came and were about to call a coroner when. . . when they realised she was still alive. . .' She gave a hiccup and continued, tears falling down her face. 'A doctor told me she's lucky to have lived this far. . . he said she had lost almost all her blood, and he was just. . . amazed that Viniie had held on so long. . . my precious little girl. . ." She gave a wounded cry.

Jake let her go so she could blow her nose and wipe some tears from her face.

"How long had she been left lying in that dumpster?" He questioned her gently, trying not to push the woman's sanity too far. It was already amazing she put up with someone as rule breaking and tough as her daughter Viniie. . . he had no idea how this had left her. . .

"Well. . .' Mrs. Greenfield raked her memory, sniffing and putting the tissue she had used in a nearby basked designed for that cause. 'A police man told me she had been there since at least before dusk. . . that would make it. . . seven hours. . ." She added, checking her watch, while swallowing a lump in her throat.

Jake frowned. "Haven't you been worried about her not turning up last night?" He asked, a tad suspicious.

Mrs. Greenfield looked up at him with tear-shiny eyes, and the young man suddenly felt awkward.

"I'm sorry. . .' He said quickly, looking away. 'I didn't mean to sound like that. . .I didn't mean to be accusing. . ." He put a hand behind his head.

"It's not your fault.' Mrs. Greenfield assured gently, and he looked back, smiling sadly at her. 'As her boyfriend, you aught to know as well: Viniie is a very. . . special girl. She loves to walk around the city in the night, and usually just find some place to spend the night, on her own. She looks for adventures and exciting, dangerous things to happen, and I. . . I guess she found what she was looking for. . ." She added with a sad look.

Jake sighed. " I know Viniie loves danger, but I doubt she enjoyed this one. . ." He admitted.

"Yes. . .' Mrs. Greenfield said quietly. 'But I suppose its my fault as well. . . as her mother, I shouldn't have let her do this kind of thing. . ." She added with a pang of guilt.

Jake shrugged. "We both know Viniie, and we both know she would have done it anyway. . .' They smiled and he helped her sit down, as she grimaced from an inner pain. The woman was reaching her fifty-fifth birthday, and it was safe to say her arthritis had been getting worst. . . it had been torture just to make it to the hospital after hearing the news. 'But she's a strong girl. . . I'm sure she'll pull though."

But even though that was what Jake wanted to believe, he found it very hard to do so. He still hadn't accepted that his girlfriend was on Death's doorstep, and there was very little he could do about it.

Mrs. Greenfield shut her eyes and tried to relax, as an age-long fear finally won it's battle: the fear of dying after her only child. . .

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"Mrs. Greenfield. . ." Jake whispered, gently shaking the woman's shoulder. She groaned, her iron-colored hair breaking free from the loose bun in the back of her head.

"What. . . what is it?" She asked gently, opening her blue eyes. Their colour had never faded, not after 55 years of harsh life.

Jake looked gravely at her. "We can go see Viniie. They operated her, and sealed up a few of her deeper cuts. The doctor is going to tell us more when we go see her." His dark eyes clearly showed he had not slept, but the rest of his body only read awareness and stress as he helped the older woman up.

"How long have I slept?" She asked softly, following him down the corridor.

"Two hours." Jake didn't seem to want to talk, so she just followed his lead and dropped it.

He guided her through the corridors, obviously knowing where the room was. Mrs. Greenfield crossed her fingers, and even though she was not a believer in God, she prayed to him so her daughter would be safe.

Finally, Jake slowed down as they reached a half-open door. A woman in a white lab coat stood before it, waiting for them.

"Mrs. Greenfield, I am Dr. Elizabeth Kruger. And you are. . ." She questioned, looking at Jake as she shook Viniie's mom's hand.

Exhausted, Jake had a hard time following what was being told to him.

"I. . . I'm Jake. Jake Sisco. I'm Viniie's boyfriend." He also shook Dr. Kruger's hand, and found her grip was very firm. She was a strong woman, he could tell not only by the fire that burned in her greyish optics, but also by the power that pulsated from her.

"Follow me. . . Vincenta is in this here. . . but you should be quiet; she's recovering." The doctor entered the room, and Mrs. Greenfield followed. It took Jake a moment to realise that by Viniie's real name was Vincenta. He had forgotten. . .

He stepped into the room as well, and gasped as he saw his girlfriend. Mrs. Greenfield was already sobbing into a tissue, horrified, trying to be as quiet as she could to not disturb her daughter.

"No. . ." His voice got caught in his throat, and he stared at the poor girl.

Viniie was connected to several machines: one was to keep her breathing, while one was adding blood to her system, and another was making sure her heart was beating at a steady rate. She had her left leg in a cast, while both her arms were bandaged from shoulder to fingertips, her usually-stunning face was covered in stitches, and she had a white patch covering one of her eyes, while a bandage was wrapped around most of her head, hiding her shoulder-long dark hair.

Not only that, but a heavy bruise had formed all over the front of her neck, as if she had been strangled. Her breathing looked laboured, even though she had a machine to help her. It was most likely she had several broken ribs, and possibly a punctured lung, because it was not normal, the way she flinched each time she took in a breath.

"Viniie. . ." Jake whispered, taking a stop forward. Dr. Kruger stopped him, stepping in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sisco, but you can't get any closer to her. She's being closely monitored and for now. . . we need her to simply not be touched, seeing as we still don't know her status.' She said, and glanced at Mrs. Greenfield, whose face was streaming in tears. 'Please follow me. Both of you."

Obedient, the two left the room after the doctor, with a last glance at the mutilated girl, before shutting the door behind them.

Mrs. Greenfield exploded into louder cries, and Jake wrapped a comforting arm around her, staying mute, while looking at the doctor with glassy eyes.

"Will she make it through?" He asked, his voice breaking. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he blinked them away quickly, his pride rising far above the situation.

Dr. Kruger sighed and shifted from one foot to another. "I'm not sure.' She finally admitted, and Mrs. Greenfield calmed down a bit, listening in. 'As far as I'm concerned, she should have died when she was left out in that dumpster. . . and that was surely what her attacker had wanted. . . but she survived this far, and even if all laws of life and physics point to the fact she's going to die, I think she'll make it." The woman gave them a warm smile.

Mrs. Greenfield breathed in deeply and sat on a nearby chair, with a heavy look at the doctor. But she said nothing.

"Who do you think attacked her?" Jake questioned softly.

Dr. Kruger shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. It might even have been someone she knew. I might just have been some psycho wanting to have some fun. . . but I say it was more than one people. . . her wounds are too severe to have been done by just one man."

Jake judged these words. "What wounds does she have?" He finally asked. He was in a medical school, and wanted to become a doctor when he came out, so what the woman said would make much sense to him, seeing how he had studied this for a while now.

"Well. . . Vincenta's wounds are deep, that's for one. Her large intestine has been punctured from a blade stroke, but that kind of attack has harmed no other organ, even though we had to stitch up several other knife-inflicted wounds to her stomach area. However, the severe bruises on her sides show she's been beaten by something heavy. . . and that has punctured her lower lungs and broken nearly her entire lower ribcage.

'Also, her left foot and lower leg have been broken in three different places, and one of her eyeballs has been. . . punctured. She's been strangled, and knocked cold with a heavy blow that caused a brain shock that should have killed her. There are several deep gashes running all over her arms and body in general, and that's basically what made her loose most of her blood, although she had an important internal haemorrhage when she got here. But that's been taken care of.

'All other wounds seem to be very superficial. She has trouble breathing, because of her punctured lung and broken ribs, and that's what worried us the most. Also, her heart was unable to follow a regular pattern on it's own, due to the blow to her head, which must have affected her involuntary muscle control, so we had to link her up. But that should get cleared once her brain heals." She stopped, and looked over at Mrs. Greenfield, who had her eyes shut and looked as though she was going to faint. Jake walked over to the older woman and grabbed her hand, stroking it to calm her down.

"When will the police be here to talk about this?" The dark-haired young man asked, trying to stay calm, and not allowing the thunderous waves of terror that clashed within him to get through.

"Soon, I suspect. They have to clear up the scene of the crime before they come running here. I'd give then one or two hours. You should rest up, or go home." Dr. Kruger proposed, her hands in her coat's pockets.

Jake nodded.

"I'll get us home. Thanks for your help." He helped Mrs. Greenfield up, and felt her stagger as she held to his arm for support, ravaged by grief.

"Of course.' Dr. Kruger nodded. 'A nurse will call you if there's any change in Vincenta's state. Try to have a good day." She nodded at them and Jake nodded back, watching her leave.

He helped Mrs. Greenfield to her car, and drove her back to her house. All the way, neither said a word, both terribly worried about the faith of the young girl.

Jake knew it was only a matter of time before all her friends started calling, wondering what had happened to her.

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Review please.