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"Why? What's going on?" she asked, suddenly sensing that he had some kind of bad news to break to her.

"Jake called me this morning," informed the doctor. "I'd like to tell you the rest in person. When would be the best time for me to come?"

"Right now," replied Abby, trying to fortify herself for what she was about to hear.

When she hung up the phone, Abby went to the master bedroom and told her parents about the phone call from Dr. Jacoby. It didn't sound good. Terry stood in the doorway, his face somber and thoughtful.

"I'd better tell Mr. Winkler that I won't be in to work today," she added, glancing at the time. "I think he'll understand."

Izumi sadly looked at her husband.

"It looks as though our Abby's instincts were right, after all," she said, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "That poor boy!"

Terry tried to coax Abby into eating something that morning, but she flatly refused. Abby had absolutely no appetite. She waited in her parents' living room, waiting for either the phone to ring, or for Dr. Jacoby's car to finally arrive.

After what seemed an eternity, the therapist reached Three Mile Bay, and got out of his vehicle. Abby quickly let him inside, and closed the front door behind him. John and Terry awkwardly stood nearby, unsure if they should leave or not.

"Jake called me this morning," began Dr. Jacoby, taking a seat across from Abby, "and he told me that he was placed in segregation, even though he informed one of the staff that he was at high risk for being assaulted."

"Segregation isn't good?" asked Terry, who couldn't refrain from asking.

"Only troublemakers are removed from general population and placed into segregation," explained Dr. Jacoby.

"Oh," breathed Terry. "I see."

"Please," pressed Abby, "what else did Jake say?"

Dr. Jacoby leveled his gaze at Abby, and took her hand.

"He was raped yesterday, Abigail."

Abby took in a deep breath, and nodded her head, knowingly.

"I thought as much," she replied, desperately trying to hold back the tears that she knew could so easily overtake her. "How badly was he hurt?"

"Understandably, Jake's pretty shaken right now, but there's no apparent injuries," answered Dr. Jacoby. John sank down onto the couch beside his daughter and put his hand on her shoulder. "Jake has reported the incident to the proper authorities, but he hasn't seen anyone yet. If they don't hurry and administer a rape kit, then the evidence might not be there later, and no action will be taken against the guilty involved. I'm afraid, the system works that way."

"Did he say anything else?" she asked, in a tremulous voice.

"Jake said he would try to call me again, sometime this evening," informed Dr. Jacoby. "Abby, he never mentioned you, or the fact that he had spoken to you earlier. My fear is that in attempting to completely shield you from what's happening, he's only going to make his situation worse. He needs you, Abby. You often reach him, when I can't. He needs to hear you say that you understand, that you don't blame him for what happened, and that you are still his friend. However, before I can recommend you attempting to talk to him again, I must ask if you intend to stand by Jake, or not. I can't afford to have him face your rejection-- not under these circumstances, for he's much too vulnerable right now."

"I'll stand by him," replied Abby, not needing any time to think it over.

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