Tessa fumbled with her hair by tying it into a ponytail and pulling them out only to put them up again. The room around her was bustling with life as the nurses went to their station and respective hospital rooms, interns walking the floor while some patients were out and about: getting their daily dose of exercise.

And Tessa sat on the waiting chair, dressed in a black sweater with denim jeans and her coat draped over her arm. Looking at the watch as her heart thundered in her chest at the inevitable and wondered why it was taking so long. While she waited, her eyes drifted to the little girl seated beside her, holding a doll to her chest with her wavy brown hair pulled into a ponytail and scratching at a scab on her hand.

"Audrey," Tessa clicked her tongue, taking hold of the girl's hand. "Don't do that, let it heal on its own,"

"Sorry, mommy," The 3-year-old murmured and sat back in her seat. "Can we go home?"

"Not yet, baby" Tessa informed. "Mommy has to see the nice doctor lady for something,"

"What for?"

"Oh, just something," She waved dismissively before looking down at her watch again, inhaling deeply to calm the nervousness inside her system.

"Daddy come, too?"

"No, daddy was too busy, sweetheart,"

"Why daddy  busy?" Audrey looked up at her mother in curiosity.

"Because his job is very demanding,"

"Damding?"

" Demanding. Well demanding is something that needs a lot from you," Tessa explained to her daughter, answering all her questions patiently and with a smile because she knew that curiosity was a good thing and should always be indulged in with children.

Audrey nodded to her words in understanding before sinking in her seat and playing with her doll, looking up to see the tenseness on her mother's face and watched her check the time for the tenth time since they had arrived.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"You fight with daddy?"

"What?" Tessa looked down at her in confusion. "No, baby, daddy and I did not have a fight."

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"Then why  screaming daddy's name?" Audrey tilted her head, not understanding why her mother would scream his name if she didn't have a fight with him.

Instantly Tessa's cheeks flushed and her eyes widened in realization as she looked around herself, checking to see if anyone else heard her, but let out a relieved breath when she noticed that no one was paying attention and turned back to her daughter, leaning forward to be more at a level with her.

"Because daddy and I were playing a game," She lied. "And he kept cheating or distracting me to win,"

"Cheating bad,"

"Yes," Tessa nodded and tucked a strand of her daughter's hair behind her ear. "Cheating is very bad. You should teach that to daddy, he seems to have forgotten,"

"Silly daddy," Audrey giggled.

"Very silly daddy," Tessa nodded in confirmation and placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Tessa Robertson?" A doctor stepped out from the examination room with a clipboard in hand, redirecting her attention.

"Oh," Tessa spoke and turned back to her daughter. "Can I trust you to sit here for a minute while mommy talks to the nice doctor lady?"

"Yes,"

"Promise me you won't move until I come and get you?"

"I promise," Audrey nodded and watched her mother stand up before following after the lady before stepping into the examination room.

"Please, take a seat," The doctor instructed Tessa as she put down her bag and coat on the seat and settled on the bed, clasping her hands between her thighs. "What seems to be the problem, Mrs. Robertson?"

"Well...I think I might be pregnant," She informed her doctor. "I'm 3 weeks late and I'm usually not this late, and the last time I was, I was expecting Audrey,"

"I see..." The doctor nodded. "Do you feel any other pregnancy symptoms? Nausea? Smell sensitivity? Changed perception in taste?"

"Well..." Tessa squirmed uncomfortably and rubbed a hand over her arm. "A heightened sex drive...and well...headaches. I've been getting headaches a lot over the past couple of days. I also feel very tired, but I think that because of having a job and raising a 3-year-old but there is slight cramping."

"Alright, can you lay back for me, please?"

Inhaling deeply, Tessa did as instructed and lifted her clothes off her stomach when the doctor asked her to once the doctor had fiddled around with the machine. She inhaled sharply at the cold lubrication she applied before watching the monitor as she placed the device against her skin.

"Thank you," Tessa thanked the doctor, shaking her hand before pulling on her coat. "Audrey, honey, let's go," She stepped out of the examination room while she took out her phone, looking up to her daughter but tensed when she found her seat vacant.

Her heart froze in her chest as she looked around her, looking for her 3-year-old daughter as her stomach dropped to find no sign of her.

"Excuse me," Tessa ran up to the nurse's station, the nurse looking up at her. "There was a little girl sitting here. Three years old, with brown hair, wearing a red sweater?" She pointed to Audrey's seat, the nurse shaking her head.

"Please, my daughter is missing,"

"We'll help you find her," The nurse assured, trying to appease the worrying mother. "What does she look like?"

"She's...uh...she's 3 years old, about this high," Tessa moved her hand to knee length. "Has wavy brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a red snowflake sweater under a black coat. She also has a baby doll with her,"

"We'll look for her,"

"Her name is Audrey," Tessa rushed out, looking around her in a panic to try and find her nearby.

Leaving the nurse's station, Tessa jogged down the hallway, making her way through people and looking around her in search for her daughter, calling out her name, praying that her daughter was nearby and wasn't hurt. Fear enveloping her mind to think about how scared and alone she was in such a big hospital.

"Audrey!" Tessa called down the hall, making her way to the cafeteria and looked at the vending machines, into rooms before finally arriving out the back door, clutching her head as the tears prickled her eyes. "Audrey!" She called out to the expense of land before her, trying to calm herself long enough to find her daughter.

"Audrey," She heaved out silently, grasping the cold metal railing and trying to calm her breathing, reaching for her phone to call Daniel but stopped short when the intercom crackled to life.

"Could Audrey's mom come to get her from the main reception?" A masculine voice spoke over the intercom. "Audrey's mom? We are at the main reception and alright,"

A choked laugh escaped Tessa to hear the words before she ran inside, snaking her way between people and bumping into nurses as she rushed to the main reception, catching sight of her daughter seated on the counter with her doll in her hand and smiling up at the man before her.

"Audrey!" Tessa cried out in relief and hugged her close, sinking to her knees as she regained her breathing. "Are you alright?" She held her at arms length, looking her over before heaving a breath of relief to see her nodding.

"Audrey, you promised me you'd keep sitting!" Tessa admonished. "You had mommy worried!"

"I'm sorry," Her daughter sniffled. 

"Baby," Tessa hugged her close again, standing up with her daughter in her arms, and soothing her. "I almost had to call daddy, and you know how worried he gets about you,"

"I'm sorry,"

"She's alright," A deep voice spoke behind her, Tessa turning to find a man dwarfing her figure with his height, wearing a black beanie over his hair with a grey sweater and black jeans, his gaze turned down. "I found her crying on the second floor and since I was coming from peads-" He began to say when his eyes drifted up to her, looking at Tessa with wide eyes before his mouth fell open.

"-Tessa?" He choked out in shock, the mother taking a step back to wonder how he knew her name. "Tessa?"

She looked at him with skeptical eyes, noticing how his pale blue orbs enlarged at her sight, his mouth constantly opening and closing to try and get a word across, and for some reason, her gaze fell to his chin, gasping to see a pale scar run across the underside of his chin, her heart stopping short as her face paled in realization.

The image of a 13-year-old black haired boy sobbing against the chest of a tall and lean man who was digging a knife under his chin. Cutting into the skin as blood rolled down his neck, and screamed at her to get out. 

"Ryan?"