IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

36;

  Marley knew from the moment she saw Erin, that Erin was angry with her. She knew that she blamed herself, but she wasn't sure what she has done to annoy Erin. The way Erin marched towards her as she was sat with Antonio and Adam in the hospital was enough to confirm that she was going to find out.
"Nadia is dead." Erin snapped as she approached her bed. Marley flinched at her tone, and dropped her head in shame. "What? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" She yelled, causing Marley to draw her eyebrows together.
"What do you want me to say, Erin?" She fired back, her tone growing sharp. Erin let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Oh, I don't know? An explanation? An apology?"
"An explanation? Nadia died because a sick, twisted psychopath decided to murder her. But why do I owe you an apology?"
"Because Greg Yates was a murderer- so why are you still alive and Nadia isn't? Why didn't he kill you too?" Marley felt her heart drop. Erin blamed her for Nadia's death.
"I don't know Erin, why don't you ask him yourself?" Marley mumbled, not meeting Erin's eyes.
"Because he's still out there! He's still out there raping girls and murdering them, so why didn't he kill you?! Why Nadia and not you?!" Erin screamed at the young girl who couldn't stop the tears. Adam grabbed Erin's arm and pushed her out of the room as Antonio tried to comfort Marley.

The reality of the situation was beginning to settle. For some reason, Greg had not killed her, and they had not caught him, so he was still out there, killing others. Nadia was dead, Greg had murdered her. Erin blamed Marley- which she could understand, as the only person who had seen Greg take Nadia was herself. She had lived, but that hadn't meant that he had finished killing. It was something she could not even begin to understand, and clearly Erin was struggling with this too. Her wide eyes narrowed into a glare, which she aimed at Antonio and Adam who were watching her nervously.
"Why didn't you even tell me this? You didn't think I'd like to know that he was still out there hurting people?" She snapped. Neither man took it personally, though.
"Marls, we didn't think it was important for you to worry about it. We're onto it. We've got another team from New York helping us as well. It wasn't important enough to tell you and have you scared." Antonio said firmly. Marley rolled her eyes.
"Its not important that the man who raped me could be anywhere? That he's killing other people? Oh," She exclaimed, a realisation settling. "I guess that explains why you've both been visiting me as often as you have. You're not here cause you want to be, you're here because you have to be. In case he comes back for me." Her head shook at the pair as the theory that she had thought up began to develop in her head.
"You know we're here for you, and because we care about you. Yeah, you do need an officer here to make sure you're safe, but do you really think we'd get assigned to that when thats something a patrolman would do? No. They were gonna send some boring ass pair to come and sit in the corner of your room who you didn't know who wouldn't make you feel safe in the slightest. We offered to come because we care about you, and we're all so happy that you're alive. We wanted to come and look after you, so stop whatever is going on inside your head from spiralling any deeper because it's not true." Adam stated, holding her hand firmly. Marley, although touched by his words and understanding that he was more than likely telling the truth, held strong in her thoughts, still hurt from Erin's harsh words.
"I need to be alone."
"Marley-" Antonio began, frowning at her.
"No, don't. Please. You can 'keep me safe' from outside the room." She said, her voice beginning to crack as she let her emotions build. Adam and Antonio both nodded at her, standing up.
"Okay, we'll be just outside." Adam said softly, kissing her on the head as she stared at the door, ignoring them both.

As soon as they left, the teenager felt her world catching up to her. Marley could almost feel her heart tear into pieces as she remembered everything that had happened to her in her life, and she questioned how she had managed to get as far as she had. She knew this was because of the people around her, who she was now pushing away and loosing, but she still couldn't fathom how she was still alive. Her world was against her- it tried on every occasion to kill her and break her. And for what felt like the final time, Marley began to wonder if she could take anymore.