I would like this chapter dedication to go to ArielMasters ! She's one of my greatest friends! I love all of her books and she is trying to make it big in the real world! Support her stories and profile!

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MADDIE

On the hospital bed, I saw a man vibrant green eyes. He had disheveled dark brown hair and a slight stubble on his face. His face was sprinkled with dark brown freckles. He was running his hands over his arms, obviously cold, as he stared at the wall. With the burgundy short-sleeved shirt and khaki cargo shorts, I saw how he was freezing.

"Ah! He really is awake!" I exclaimed as I looked at him, surprised that Xander had really done it. I had been in Adam's room before and by the looks of him I had almost thought that he would never wake up.

Adam was startled by my sudden speech and whipped his head to look at us. He hadn't heard us come in. He looked at Xander with familiarity, then to me, studying me with curiosity.

"Hi, Adam." Dr. Livingstone said in a cheery voice, which was very unusual for him. It sounded almost gross, even. "This is Maddie. She will be taking care of you."

"Hi. Nice to meet you," I said as I reached out to shake his hand.

He grabbed my hand with both of his, without shaking it. "Hi, Maddie, " he greeted very slowly. They were very soft, result of years without labor. He continued to cling onto my hand until I slowly wiggled it from his grasp. Looked like he needed a lot more work than Xander proclaimed.

"Maddie. The attendants of the hospital have been requested to teach him basic things such as walking, eating, manners, etc. He will be staying here for a week. In that time, you will prepare to teach him how to read, write, exercise, daily things like that. The nurses will teach him a little of those things too, just not in depth as you will.

"I will give you some of his childhood videos and photos for you to go off of. They can show you his former hobbies and other things that he likes. He will have to relearn to like those things." Xander rambled as usual.

As Xander told me all of that information, Adam was still looking at me. I just smiled at him, a little nervous by his attention.

Xander got a sudden ring on his phone and as he went outside the room to check it, I decided to talk to Adam. "How are you, Adam?" I asked, sitting next to him on the bed. His eyes widened in surprise.

He took a moment to gain his speech. "I'm...fine." He slowly listen one side of his face, the other side slightly drooping. I tried not to giggle at his attempt of a smile.

"That's great. Are you ready to learn things and, you know, go to your new house?" I immediately started making conversation with him. He gave me a strange look as if I was speaking a different language, crooked smile gone.

"Yeah. I wish I could remember, though. Um, Dad, was it? He wants me to call him that. Anyway, he was really upset that I couldn't remember. Some things are a bit familiar but nothing really stands out." He looked quite upset and scratched the back of his head.

I took my hand and rubbed his back for comfort. "It's ok. I'm sure you will get them back. It just takes time."

"But what if I never get them back?" His eyes started filling with small tears.

Xander came back through the door and said, "Maddie, It's about time to go. I have a meeting and the hospital staff are about to work their magic. C'mon, let's go." He stood at the door with his hand on the handle.

I got up and grabbed Adam's hand. "Listen. If they never come back, I promise we will make memories together." I shook his hand once before I started making my way towards the door.

"Promise?" He asked, looking at me with a gentle plea in his eyes.

"I promise, " I said before following Xander out the door.

...

Xander and I had went our separate ways after the hospital. He had given me the keys to the mansion and expected me to check it out later. Meanwhile, I was on my way to have a nice chat with my dad.

I looked around the small café for my dad. I found him sitting alone in a booth in the back corner of the café. His back was turned to me. As I came closer to the table, I saw that he was playing with his straw paper, obviously nervous.

I stopped just right behind him placed my right hand gently on his shoulder, trying not to startle him. He jumped anyway and his head whipped around with a hardened look. Once he realized it was me, his expression softened.

"Salut, Chérie. How are you?" He asked in his thick accent as I sat down. There was already a drink on my side of the table. A caramel mocha.

"Merci, papa! You know my favorite. And I'm great." I took a sip of the deliciousness. It was so good! I thought back on my words and realized it could have been offensive to him. I don't want it to seem like my life was just fine without him. "I didn't mean--"

"I know you didn't mean it like that, though I deserve it," He mumbled. He had started playing with his straw paper again. It was silent for a few moments before he spoke. "I wanted to talk to you because, over the past two years, we haven't really been able to talk to each other. You know, you're working for the Scientific Health Department, I'm looking for your mother while working for a business at the same time. We really don't have much time together and I want to get to know my one and only daughter more."

I started to tear up. I didn't mean to start crying, at least not that early on. Truthfully, I missed my mom and dad when we were together. We used to do family activities together, such as going to the park, cooking, crafts; it was an endless spectrum of what we did. Since mom went missing, my dad became reclusive and we didn't hang out like we used to. Life at home had become very depressing.

When I met my friend, Mel, in college, she was a light in my life other than the light at church. I didn't really have any friends because I was so focused on my studies trying to forget the pain of the rejection of my father and missing mother. I was kind of forced to become friends with Mel because we were dorm mates. We didn't get along well at first, but then we developed a relationship that was close to sisters.

"Thank you. That means a lot. More than you can know." I wiped my eyes. I had missed him so much, no matter how many times I tried to get over it.

My father had tears in his eyes too. "I love you, Chèrie." He wiped his eyes.

"I love you too, papa." I then quickly changed the topic, not wanting to linger on my feelings. I didn't trust myself with my emotions. "How has searching for mom been?" I asked and continued to sip my Mocha.

"I have found a few clues actually." He said. "I will have to show you some of the documents later, but I found a lot of information, and it seems to be close. I don't know if it's close enough to actually find her, but it's something." I saw his neck tremor. I was a very small one, but I saw it nonetheless. He was hiding something.

He must have realized my discovery because he suddenly said, "Now, I have to go to work, but we will stay in contact, Ok? I'm sorry. I just wanted to see you as soon as possible, even if it's just for a moment."

"Definitly, papa. And no need to apologize. I feel the same way." I wiped a few stray tears.

He got up and I too along with him. As we walked out of the door, he stopped and gave me hug. "Take care of yourself, Chèrie."

"You too." I hugged him for a second longer before I let go and started heading towards my car.

...

I rolled up to the mansion, not expecting the true beauty of it. When I had made it to the mansion, there were a lot of men working around the place. Some were trimmings the hedges round across the front and some were carrying furniture into the mansion. Since the door was already open, I had no need to use they keys.

Walking through the front door, I looked in amazement. Though there were men still putting things together within the home, it looked nearly finished.

It had polished dark wooden floors, long spiraling staircases, and very deep royal blue walls. There was so much beautiful, and by the looks of it, expensive furniture. A lot of golden decor everywhere. Everything was very clean, shiny, and nice. The kitchen was visible, and when I looked over, the kitchen had very shiny silverware in the glass cases on the wall. There was a very nice, huge dinner table that was preset. There was an island with bar stools next to it. Everywhere I looked was gloriusly gorgeous.

I started to explore the place before I heard someone say, "Excuse me, ma'am." I turned around to find two men with worker uniforms running towards me. "You aren't supposed to be in here."

According to their nametags, the one with the black hair and blue eyes was named Cole. The other with the red hair and blue eyes was named Marcus. They both looked as if to be in their early thirties.

"Oh, don't worry. Dr. Livingstone gave me the keys. He's the one who bought this house." I grabbed the keys put if my pocket and waved them.

Their faces sparked with recognition. "Ah! Dr. Livingstone." Cole said. "Just to make sure, what are you to him? We don't know if you stole the keys or not." He looked at me suspiciously.

"I'm Maddie Archambeau. I am Dr. Xander Livingstone's assistant for the Scientific Health Department. SHD for short." I said. "I would show you my ID but it's on my car. I don't feel like going back to get it." I sighed, putting my hand on my hip. "That's a long driveway."

The two men oddly looked at each other and Marcus said, "We need that ID. That's our only verification. We don't know what you're saying is the truth." He crossed his arms.

"Seriously? Why would I be lying about this?" I started at them waiting for a response. When they didn't answer, I let out a large sigh. "Fine!"

I stomped to the car annoyed. When I realized that I was acting childish, I quickly straightened.

When I had made it back from the long walk, I gave the ID to Cole. Marcus looked over his shoulder. "Hm... perhaps we should check the records, Cole, " Marcus said, hand on his chin.

I mentally sighed. I didn't know why those men were giving me such a hard time.

"Ok. I'll take it to the back to see if it matches up." Cole said. He walked off, leaving me with Marcus.

"He's not a man with many words, huh?" I said as his coworker walked off.

"No not really." Marcus looked at me with sudden interest. "Hm.. Tell me about yourself, Maddie or not Maddie."

I mentally rolled my eyes as started telling him about how I worked in the church and my visit with my dad. For some reason, I don't feel comfortable talking about Adam. It was an unauthorized experiment after all.

"Wait a minute. You did say you were an Archambeau, huh? I knew that name sounded familiar." He smiled. "I used to work with your father. Or wait." He paused. "May have worked with your father. I will soon find out."

"This is getting pretty old." I said, crossing my arms. And I thought that I was childish for stomping earlier.

Cole suddenly came back and handed my ID back. Marcus looked at Cole with expectancy and Cole gave a nod.

"Hello Maddie," Marcus said, smiling wide.

"Hey." I rolled my eyes for real that time.

"Oh! Dr. Living stone told us to give you this catalogue. He wanted you to choose what was to be in the other rooms of the household, not including the bedrooms." He grabbed it from one of his many pockets. How many pockets did a man need?

I starred at it, taking interest immediately, not minding the slight wrinkles and little paint smears. "Thank you." I said sincerely as I look it from them. I was immediately attracted to the different designs and patterns of the potential floors and wallpapers. I continued to flip until I landed on some quality furniture.

"The doctor said to give you about...seven rooms to design. He said you wouldn't have a problem having everything in order by Wednesday?"

"Definitely! No problems here." I said as I continued to flip.

"Well, we will leave you to it. Have a good day Maddie and I hope we see each other again. I have to get back." Marcus said. Him and Come waved and left, leaving me with his catalog. Finding no other reason to stay at the Mansion, I left and headed home to tell Mel the good news.

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