"Good girl. I'm Doctor Martin. Do you know where you are?"

With blurred vision, she could make out the white walls, and heard the beeping of machines around her. "The hospital?" She squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed them. When she opened them, she could finally see again.

"Do you know how you got here?"

"Not really. What happened?" She tried to push herself up to sitting, but the doctor gently pressed against her shoulders and made her lay down again.

"You fainted at work. Have you eaten today?"

"I ate a bagel." She noticed the look of disapproval on his face and quickly continued, "I know, I know. I was a little behind this morning. I was going to grab an early lunch after the meeting finished." Upon remembering the meeting, all the details came flooding back and a shiver rippled through her. Thankfully, the doctor was too busy fiddling with the blood pressure machine to notice.

After a few moments the doctor said, "Your blood pressure is a little high. Has your doctor mentioned anything about it before?"

"During my last appointment it was a little high, but he said it wasn't too bad. He mentioned that since I was having twins it might be higher than normal and that I should relax as much as possible." Laryssa blushed sheepishly. She hadn't really been following doctor's orders. Work left her with little choice.

"I think it is in your best interest to apply for maternity leave as soon as possible."

"I haven't worked long enough to qualify." She cursed under her breath. If only Aidan would have let her continue working, but, no, he had to make her quit. Tears filled her eyes for the second time that day. What was she going to do now?

"Here, let me bring your husband in."

"I'm afraid my husband is--"

"He's waiting just outside. I'll go get him," he interrupted.

She tried to speak again, but the doctor disappeared out the door. Aidan, outside? No, that wasn't possible! The man she saw couldn't have been Aidan, could he? But the doctor was saying he was here. Oh god. Her stomach churned and foul tasting acid rose in her throat. She covered her mouth with her hand and made a bee-line for the garbage can at the end of the bed.

After she finished retching, she sat back down on the bed and wrapped the blanket around herself like a cocoon. She had to remain calm for the sake of her babies. The hard part was getting her heart to listen. There had to be a reasonable explanation for all this. Logic and reason fled from her thoughts when the doctor re-entered the room, followed by...him.

"No...no...no." She grasped the railing of the bed and a wave of dizziness washed over her. Tears pricked at her eyes. "This isn't happening. This isn't possible."

The doctor looked from Laryssa to the man who looked like Aidan, motioning him outside. She craned her ear to hear what he would say. "I think we might keep her in overnight just to be on the safe side. She seems to be upset over something and I want to monitor her blood pressure, make sure it doesn't get too high."

The man looked back into the room and stared directly at her. The usual evil glint in his eyes had been replaced by what looked like sincere concern for her. If the doctor could see him, he definitely wasn't a ghost.

"Give her a private room. I've got to run for a bit, but I'm going to send her friend down to keep her company." Wandering back inside the room, he gave her a gentle squeeze on the hand. "I have to run. I'll send Melissa down to keep you company. She's worried sick."

Laryssa was unable to respond and could only stare at him as he turned to walk away. She had to be dreaming. There was no way he was alive and the Aidan she knew would never have bothered saying good-bye. Let alone touch her as tenderly as this man. Not unless there were more people around to witness his husbandly acts. Her wish of wanting the perfect husband must have caused her to create this fantasy. That was the only explanation which made any sense. Any minute now, she'd wake up and he would be dead. Buried deep in his grave on the other end of town, and she'd be safely inside her house.

She squeezed her eyes closed and willed herself awake. When she opened them, she was still in the hospital room; and Aidan's look-a-like, who now stood at the door, was staring at her with pure curiosity.

The nurse unlocked the wheels of the bed and started to push her out of the room. Once they were out in the hallway, he gave her hand another quick squeeze and said, "I'll come back soon and see how things are going."

He started to walk down the hall. She twisted on the bed and watched him disappear out the doors. The nurse took her up to the maternity wing and set her up in a private room. Her composure broke the minute the nurse left, closing the door behind her. She buried her face in her hands and cried.

The tears were still falling when Melissa arrived at the hospital.

"Oh, sweetie." Her friend sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around Laryssa. "It's okay, girl. Everything is going to be okay."

"I'm going crazy. I'm seeing him everywhere." She pulled another Kleenex out of the near empty box and blew her nose.

Melissa gave her a squeeze. "You'll be fine, you'll see. Just give it time. The mind can be a funny thing."

Definitely funny alright and it would lead her straight to the funny farm, she thought with a certainty. Maybe, she had imagined it all. Yes, that was it. If she saw him again, he probably wouldn't even look like her dead husband.

***

Alex leaned back in his black office chair, unable to focus on his work. He couldn't help but think of the young woman he had taken to the hospital. Why were so many people mistaking him as a man named Aidan? This was the third time in the past two weeks. Granted, no one else reacted quite so strongly. The others who questioned him just shrugged their shoulders and went on their way when he said who he was. With her, he never even had the chance to get that far. Instead, she fainted in his arms the minute she saw him. That was not exactly the type of reaction he was use to from the opposite sex.

Flirting he was use to and enjoyed it as much as the next man when he was in the right mood, but this, this was entirely new and it intrigued him. She was riddled with mystery and he would do whatever it took to unravel it. He never backed away from a good challenge. He needed to learn more about her and decided to pull up her personnel file.

He glanced over it and learned she was a widow and twenty-seven years old. That meant she was single. Not that he cared about that particular fact mind you. He continued reading, and discovered that she worked for the company a few years back, and then sent in a resignation letter. What prompted her to come back again years later? He didn't like that this created more questions than answers so he closed the file.

Sitting forward, he tried to focus on the work in front of him. Since taking over this branch of the company for his grandfather, his work load increased and he couldn't afford to be distracted. Within minutes, though, he tossed his pen against the beige colored wall in frustration, and it landed in the brown ceramic planter of his green fern.

He was already a little behind with his detour to the hospital, but he couldn't get her image out of his mind. How she sat there on the hospital bed, scared out of her mind. The way she cringed whenever he touched her didn't escape his notice either. Most women he could forget while he worked; but her, she kept invading the corner of his mind. Something had pierced his soul during the trip to the hospital and seemed to link him directly to her.

He hoped that the next time he saw her, the connection would go away, and he could get back to work. He couldn't say he relished the idea of her overreacting to him again; but, there was a part of him that told him it was his fault she was there, and that he should try to reassure her that he wasn't this Aidan fellow. Hopefully help put her mind at ease.

He stood up and quickly grabbed his jacket before rushing out the door to his car. A serious case of should he, shouldn't he, played in his head. The 'should he' won and he found himself pulling into the visitor parking of the hospital. All he was going to do was go inside, introduce himself, and leave. Since they work together, it was the least he could do. He couldn't have her reacting this way all the time.

If she couldn't figure out how to work with him, he'd have to let her go. This visit would determine that. The trip wasn't personal and had nothing to do with the fact he couldn't stop thinking about her. He just wanted to make sure she was well enough to do her job, and see what he could find out about this man he kept hearing about. That was what he kept telling himself all the way to the hospital. It was the only rational explanation, given his avoidance of the female race, except to scratch an itch that rarely surfaced, if at all.

***

Laryssa sat on the edge of her bed, picking away at the supper the hospital provided. Melissa had left a little earlier to go home and cook supper for her husband. She promised to show up bright and early the next morning since it was her day off.

The hospital food wasn't as bad as everyone always claimed it to be, but her stomach still refused to let her enjoy anything. Morning sickness was only supposed to last till second trimester, and then go away. She'd started the second and it still hadn't shown any signs of disappearing. It was always worse when her stress levels were elevated. Pushing the tray away, she swung her legs up on the bed and rested against the mattress, which had been raised to a sitting position. She pulled up her gown and rested her hand on her stomach.

"It's still hard to believe I've got two of you in there." She ran her hand in little circles over her belly, laughing with delight when one would push out to meet her hand. "Bet it's getting a little squished, eh." It was nice to have a serene moment like this after a stressful day. She loved sitting and watching her stomach before falling asleep. Something she'd definitely miss after they were born. Gosh, it was hard to believe she was already twenty-one weeks.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like when they finally made their appearance. Excitement and fear all mingled together as she thought about it. Excitement filled her at the thought of finally being able to hold them, yet she couldn't help but feel afraid at the possibility of being alone when the time came. Melissa promised to be with her, but it just wasn't the same. They deserved a daddy. Aidan's face appeared in front of her and it was like ton of bricks falling on her heart.

He could have been a good man, if he made any effort to be. He showed her that when they first met. It was for that reason alone she tried to make it work, knowing what it could be like. Now, it would seem she was doomed to be haunted by his memory and his face the rest of her life. A memory so fresh that Laryssa swore she could hear his voice.

When the familiar voice got louder, her eyes widened in fear. "No, it can't be," she gasped. She stared at the door as if a ghost was about to walk through it, and within seconds, one did. The splitting image of her husband walked in the room.

"Go away! You're not real! You're not real!" Laryssa cried out, taking shelter under the covers.