Page 66 of Pain

"I'm okay. My sister is here visiting with Faith."

"That's good. The sooner things get back to normal, the better," Xander told him.

"How are you? Didn't you have a sting tonight?"

"Yeah, we leave in about two hours. I'm sitting around the hotel room, bored."

"Rough life." Matt would give anything to get away for a few days.

"It is when you're stuck with Dyson and Kasey." Xander laughed. "How's Faith doing?"

"Okay, she's offish around people, nervous, jumpy, but all things considered, I think she's doing okay. We meet with Katie tomorrow."

"You've met with her already, right?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, once after I started. I'm going to sit in on the first session with Faith, then we'll decide from there if she needs me with her or is better one on one with Katie."

"Good. Katie won't push her hard. She has helped a lot of kids in Faith's position."

"Faith asked about you tonight. Wanted to know where you were and when you'd stop by again. I told her you were gone for a few days, but would drop by when you got home." Matt smiled hearing Faith and Trish laugh about something.

"Ah, tell her I miss her and… You know what? Think she'll talk to me on the phone?" Xander asked.

"Um, she'd probably be excited about it. Just a second." Matt held the phone down and called to his daughter. "Faith, Xander is on the phone, do you want to talk to him?"

The sound of her fork hitting her plate echoed, then she was running toward him. "He called?"

"He did." He held the phone up high. "You don't want to talk to him, do you?" He laughed.

"Dad, give me the phone." She jumped for it.

Matt laughed harder. "Alright, but it's going to cost you putting the cake plates in the dishwasher later."

"Fine, now give me the phone." She jumped up again, trying to reach it.

"When you're done, I want to speak to him again." He handed her the phone.

"Hi." Faith took the phone and moved to the couch.

"Who's Xander?" Trish stood watching Faith.

"He's a friend of mine. He came and saw her in the hospital and she took to him." Matt shrugged as he went back in the kitchen to his cake.

"Your friend showed up at the hospital, but you told me and Mom to wait?" Trish glared at him.

"No, it's not like that. Xander was with me when the call came in. He drove me there." He brushed his fingers through his hair. "He was there for me, but Faith took to him."

Trish narrowed her eyes. "He was there for you? Shouldn't your family have been there?" She sat down, still glaring across the table at him. "Who is this guy, Matt?"

Matt shrugged. "Just a friend I made at my new job."

"You just met him, and you trust him with Faith?"

"He'd never hurt her, he'd cut off his own balls before he hurt a child, trust me. Besides, it's a phone call. It's not like I'm sending her off on camping trips with him alone. If he's who makes Faith smile right now, who am I to stop that? I don't like that she gets more excited to talk to him than she does to me, but for some reason she trusts him. I don't question it because right now she needs people around her she can trust."

"But a stranger?" Trish shook her head.

"He's hardly a stranger, Trish. Damn it, she's my daughter. I don't need to justify anything with you. I know him. I trust him. That should be enough for you." He was pissed that she would think he'd put Faith in danger. "I know what she's been through. I'm not going to let her get hurt again."