A/N: This chapter is rated NC-17, you have been warned.

Thanks to Leiasky and Kaynara for the beta. And keep those comments coming … I’ve got the worst writer’s block trying to finish up the third part of this trilogy. Your encouragement keeps me going!

Simon regarded Kaylee from the doorway to the patio. Once they’d returned from the hospital, barely a word spoken between them, she had drifted outdoors, perching herself on the edge of one of their deck chairs, staring at the sky as it darkened from blue to black.

He had tried a half a dozen times to approach her, to ask her what had happened that had not only landed her in the hospital, but why she’d been so bereft when he’d found her with Eli. But each time Simon took a step towards her, he took it right back; what could he possibly say that would help? And what if whatever he said ended up hurting her more?

Shuddering slightly, he swallowed hard as he remembered Helen’s whispered explanation of how she’d found Kaylee at the orphanage. While Simon did not and could not believe that Kaylee would knowingly injure herself, even he had to admit that the scene Helen had described and the behaviors his love was exhibiting painted that picture. What could he possibly hope to do for her now?

Sighing softly, he glanced back into their living room, noting the time. Regardless of whether he felt he should talk with her, he knew he had to – it was time for her medication.

Returning to her side a few minutes later with a glass of water and two pills, Simon knelt beside her and said softly, “Kaylee.”

Pulling her eyes from the dark sky, Kaylee looked to him with such sadness and regret he felt his breath catch in his throat. Doing his best not to give into the despair her felt at his own helplessness, Simon offered her the medication. “It’s time to take these.”

With a shaky hand, Kaylee reached for the small pills, placing them in her mouth and the