"Should we go in?" Sal asked Larry. Violet had been in the police station for a concerning amount of time. The boys were beginning to worry. Sal even moved to the front seat to try and look through the windows without getting caught. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful.

"If she doesn't come out in 5 minutes, I'll go in," Larry replied. "You're lucky they let you off the hook after the accident. We can't push your luck, man."

"I know, I know. I'm just worried."

"Me too."

A moment later, the front door of the police station swung open, causing both of the boys' heads to snap in its direction. Their eyes widened with both horror and rage as they saw Violet being roughly guided toward the car by a rather large cop. Her sweater was tight around her body, as most of its material was clutched in his fist against her back. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at her friends, utterly defeated.

Officer Brett was quick to notice the boys moving to jump out of the car and confront him. "Do not leave the vehicle!" He bellowed.

"Screw that!" Sal hissed, going for the door handle.

Larry grabbed his wrist. "Don't! You don't know what the hell he'll do to her!"

As much as Sal hated it, he was right. His efforts to protect Violet could very well end up bringing her more harm. But that couldn't stop him from shooting the cop a venomous glare. If looks could kill, Brett would have suffered the longest, most painful death imaginable. Fury pulsed through his veins and flooded his mind. His vision was tainted with an angry red hue. In a state like this, Sal was certainly capable of causing significant harm to a person, even to the point of death. If Violet was safe in the car, he'd have put that cop 6 feet under in less than a minute.

As they grew closer to the vehicle, Brett gave Violet one final shove against the back door on the passenger's side. Her cheek was pressed against the cold window, bringing a stinging sensation to her tender skin. She heard a few clicking noises before the handcuffs released her wrists and allowed her hands to fall to her sides.

"If you show your face here again, you will be arrested on the spot, do you understand?" The officer barked. Violet merely nodded her head as a sob escaped her lips. She remained as stiff as a board, terrified of the man's wrath. He then used a knuckle to beat on Sal's window, indicating for him to roll it down. "I better not see any of you again."

The boys glowered at him in response, causing him to snicker and turn away. He knew he won and boy, was he proud of it.

Violet waited until he went back inside to lift her face off of the window and weakly climb into the back seat. Her entire body ached worse than ever before. With every move she made, pain rippled all the way to her fingers and toes. The violent sobs racking her body certainly weren't of any help, but she couldn't control them.

Sal made no haste in climbing over the center console and taking the vacant spot beside her as Larry turned around in his seat.

"What the fuck was that about?" The dark-haired boy demanded. "Why did he do that to you?"

She did her best to spit out a response, but it ended up being a series of stutters and hiccups.

Sal, whose rage was quickly replaced with worry, let out a sigh. "Get us out of here, man, before he comes back."

> > >

Sal and Larry sent Todd an urgent text regarding Violet's situation once they arrived back at the apartments. He agreed to research the case as soon as he got home from school and invited the trio to join him. In the meantime, the boys took Violet to Sal's apartment and attempted to calm her down.

"You're gonna make yourself throw up, little dude," Larry said, patting her back as she let out a violent series of coughs between sobs. "Try to relax, okay? I'll be right back." He gave Sal a small nod before leaving the room.

Sal guided her to his bed and pulled back the blankets. It was only 8:30 and Todd wasn't going to be getting home from school until 3. His hope was that Violet would eventually fall asleep for a few hours. After the hell she'd been put through already today, she looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks. Her skin was ghostly white and her eyes were bloodshot. Tear stains were streaked all the way down her cheeks, gathering together at the tip of her chin. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was deathly ill.

"Lay down, Vi," he told her with a soft voice.

A sob escaped her lips as she shakily climbed onto the mattress. Her aching body groaned in protest as she did so, draining her of the ability to position herself to lay down. Instead, she sat with her feet dangling off the bed with her face buried in her hands.

Violet's mind was void of any thoughts. She seemed to have entered a state in which she allowed her emotions to run their course until the point of exhaustion. She made no effort to self-soothe or control the hysterical cries that were nearly preventing her from breathing. If it weren't for Sal and Larry looking after her, there was no telling where'd she be. Perhaps she'd be out wandering Nockfell, or pacing in the parking lot of the police station until someone came out and detained her.

After giving her a brief moment settle onto his bed, Sal gently lifted Violet's ankles up and placed them on the mattress. He pulled the blankets over her legs and adjusted his pillow so that it was behind her.

"I'm gonna lean you back, okay?" He asked, positioning one hand on the small of her back and the other on her shoulder. When she didn't protest, he carefully pushed her downward until her head was cradled by the pillow.

That was when Larry returned with something in his hand. Sal immediately recognized it as Buttons. "I brought your buddy," he said to Violet.

She sniffled as he placed the stuffed animal beside her face and pulled the blankets under her chin. The familiar feeling of Buttons's fur against her cheek was almost tranquilizing. She hadn't realized just how exhausted she was until now. The smell of cinnamon lingering on Sal's pillow and comforter paired with her childhood comfort item right beside her brought a wave of sleepiness over her.

Sal gave Larry a thankful nod as their dear friend's sobs began to quiet down, becoming only a stream of hiccups and sniffles. He decided that now was a good time to turn the lights off. If there was anything he learned in his many years of dealing with severe anxiety, it was that decreasing environmental stimuli in the event of panic was an incredibly useful tool. He needed to do anything in his power to ensure that Violet's state continued to improve.

The only thing illuminating his bedroom now were golden rays of morning sunlight peeking through the blinds. Larry tiredly sat down on the floor beside the bed, rubbing his forehead, while Sal squeezed his eyes shut and opened them back up. Both of the boys were admittedly very tired, but tried to supress it to the best of their ability. They didn't feel that they had any right feeling this way in the presence of someone who'd practically gone to hell and back in just a few hours. Yet, both of them felt as though they could fall asleep in an instant.

The door made a small squeak, disrupting the silence that had fallen over the trio. The boys' heads snapped in its direction, only to find that Gizmo had slipped through the doorway. Sal moved to prevent him from leaping onto the bed but quickly stopped himself. He was technically a service animal, after all. He'd dealt with Sal in similar states to Violet's hundreds of times in his life. Plus, Violet adored him. He'd likely be helpful in getting her to fall asleep.

The orange cat gracefully leapt onto the mattress and nuzzled Violet's nose with a purr.

"Heh, your best friend came to visit," Sal gently teased with a light-hearted tone.

She reached up to stroke Gizmo's fur a few times before pulling him down to lay beside her. She then rolled onto her side and wrapped her arms around him with Buttons pressed to her chest. Fortunately, he wasn't too phased by her sudden action, and took the opportunity to take in the cuddles.

Once the two settled down, Sal sat down beside Violet's feet, running his hand up and down her calf. She had finally fallen completely quiet and was now staring at the window with a weary expression. But, he knew better than to consider that she was feeling better. He was all too experienced with these types of things. Violet had officially reached the point of energy depletion, leaving her unable to do much else than stare off into the distance until sleep took her under.

"Sally?" Her weak voice squeaked.

"Hm?"

"Can you sit by me?"

"Yeah, of course."