He sat in his car and watched the strange, wet creature running away from him. This place was a total dump, and the road was full of mud-filled potholes. Now and then she would stand in one and a brown explosion of mud shot up her leg. By the time she got to her apartment, both her legs were completely brown. She turned around and gave him a small wave followed by a thumbs up.

He watched her struggle with the door, then kick it a few times before it popped open. She disappeared into the terrible looking building. He glanced up at it and it's tiny windows covered in bars - it was like a prison. Were the bars to keep people in, or out? He couldn't imagine living here, and for a second he felt a tiny stab of guilt when he thought about what he was returning to.

His house was basically a resort, he'd completely renovated it after Emmy's accident to make it wheelchair friendly, but at the same time, he'd also turned it into her very own paradise. Outdoor rock pools, a large heated indoor pool, jungle-like garden full of wooden paths for her to ride through, gazebos, indoor cinema complete with popcorn machine and an entire wing dedicated to her happiness. He would do anything to make her happy, money was no object. He had a lot of it, what he didn't have, though, was time... and that's what she really wanted.

He turned on his ignition once more and pulled away, a dodgy looking guy came out of the shadows and glared at his car as he passed. Shit! He sped away quickly before they did decide to steal his car in the rain. This really wasn't a safe area to live in and his thoughts suddenly drifted to Dori's safety. He drove for a few more minutes before it dawned on him and slapped him in the face like a frozen tuna steak...

WTF had he just done!?!?!?!?!

Had he actually just given the job to the least qualified, and certainly strangest person who had applied for it! What the hell had he been thinking? Clearly, he hadn't been thinking, because if he had, he would never, ever, ever have done that!

"Shit!" he mumbled to himself and slapped the steering wheel. He'd never done anything so impulsive and emotional in his entire life. And for what... because she'd been crying in the rain?!? Boo fucking hoo!

"Shit!" He was highly irritated and disappointed in himself. Oh well, he would just have to make her quit tomorrow. She probably wouldn't make it through one day anyway, especially if he gave her the special Ryan Stark treatment that usually had them all bursting into tears, and running for the door before lunchtime. And she seemed like a crier.

He turned on the radio in the hopes that it would distract him from thinking about her, but for some reason, he couldn't. He wondered how she was going to get to work in the morning if she didn't have a car? He wondered if she was going to wear an equally hideous blouse and he wondered when she would get her glasses fixed, because looking through that crack must be very distracting!

He drove for a while before the environment started changing. Broken pavements and potholes soon gave way to rolling lawns and mansions on the hill. He finally arrived outside his house and drove up the long steep driveway that wound it's way up to the ten-bedroom modern mansion. He parked his car and climbed out, but paused before going inside. He always did this. He'd done this for three years, he still wasn't used to seeing his daughter in the condition she was when she came to greet him at the door. It still knocked the breath out of him and broke his heart every time he saw her. But he never wanted her to know that was how he felt. He steeled himself and pushed the door open.

"Emmy." He called out, and her little black pug bounced up to him. He reached down and patted it, and it licked his hand excitedly.

"Emmy?" He called out again and looked around. Anxiety gripped him when she didn't come immediately. He couldn't help it. Ever since that night three years ago that had completely changed their lives, he was still fearful and filled with panic. Post-traumatic stress, someone had once said.

"Emmy?"He called out again, and this time he heard a response.

"Hey dad." Her voice came echoing down the hall and it was like music to his ears.

He followed the sound and found her playing on her iPad in the lounge. She made a move to get up, and he reached down and helped her back into her wheelchair. The wheelchair that she would be bound to for the rest of her life.

For life.

It still baffled him that doctors could replace your organs and cure diseases and yet there was barely anything they could do for a spinal cord injury. Sure the years of physio had helped her regain a little bit more motion in her hips and legs, but not much. But she would never walk again and this made his heart break. Every time he looked at Emmy, his precious daughter, two emotions rose up in him.

One, he wished more than anything that he could trade places with her, and two, he wished more than anything he could kill the person who'd done this. But he couldn't, because despite what she'd done, she was still Emmy's mother...