Audrey stood in front of her Dad, a man who was tall and broad. A man with her eyes. It was strange and transfixing, to see someone with one of her features. Her Mom had green eyes, pale skin, straight hair. They didn't look alike at all. But this man. This man she didn't remember, had her eyes. 

Craig Moreno stood in front of his daughter, stunned into silence. He glanced back into his house guiltily. "I wanted you to see what you did to me." Her voice was steely, indignant. "You made me sick and then ran away." 

Craig focused in on her words, and shook his head. "What are you talking about?" He asked, glancing down at her balled fists. He tried to think of how she got to his house, and looked behind her to see a tall, lanky looking kid wearing... Were those wristbands? "Does your Mom know you're here?" 

"What kind of person doesn't tell their wife about a hereditary disease they might be carrying, gives it to their child, and then leaves?" She was ignoring his questions slowly getting herself into a frantic state. Craig stepped out of the doorway, and Audrey took a step back. He looked behind him once more, and Audrey followed his eye line. 

In his narrow hallway, was a green and red plastic tricycle. Audrey's throat went dry, and she felt the hatred, the hurt, radiating off of her. "You have a new family!?" She shouted incredulously, gaping at the toy cluttered hallway. Craig was reminded of his ex-wife. The fury in her voice, the stubbornness in her stance. 

"Quiet down." Craig hushed, gently closing his door behind him. 

"What, your new family doesn't know about the mess you've left behind you?" Eli was starting to panic, he could tell that Audrey was reaching her limit. She couldn't keep going like this. Audrey's blood boiled at the bewildered and slightly scared look on her Dad's face. Without thinking, she slapped him across the cheek, a clap sounding in the air. 

Eli ran forward, convinced that her Dad would hit back. He grabbed Audrey's arm, but she snapped her arm out of his grasp, refusing to look at him. Instead, she continued to stare daggers at her Dad, who was rubbing his cheek. Eli took a hesitant step back as he looked from Father to daughter. 

"Clean up your mess." Audrey said, her lower lip starting to quiver as she teared up. "Did you make any other kids sick? Or am I just the lucky one?" 

"Audrey," This man saying her name made Audrey's heart skip, "I don't know what she told you, but I didn't make you sick." 

"What?" Her heart was way out of tune, and she felt the urge to cough, tears blurring her vision. She shook her head, "It's hereditary." 

"It can be hereditary." Craig rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples, "Your case wasn't." Seeing the mortified look take over his daughter's face, Craig stepped forward to attempt to comfort her. Audrey stepped away, walking back until she was in the middle of his driveway. 

Audrey stared at the ground, too much was happening. There was a sensory overload, and her brain was in the middle of it, wondering why her Mother would lie. Her Dad stepped forward again, until he was just a foot away. Eli stood to the side, unsure and uneasy. 

"You were born with weak lungs." Craig sighed, "We didn't know. No one knew. I let you play out in the rain, and you got sick. The doctors thought it was hypothermia, but-" He paused, watching as Audrey started to pace, her forearms covering her ears. "She blamed me, but it would have happened sooner or later. The nurses even told us it was best we found out so we could start treatment. But Angie- your Mom, she went crazy. Told me it was my fault. She said she never wanted to see me again. She was-" 

"Enough." Audrey said, barely audibly, forearms still over her ears. She stopped pacing and stared at the concrete. Full of outrage and resentment, with no one to direct it to. Somehow, life had managed to screw her over again. She couldn't even get a little bit of justice, a fraction of closure. No. It was a fluke. A birth defect. There was no one left to blame. 

Audrey dropped her arms and let out a blood curdling scream, dropping to her knees. Craig glanced over at the boy in wristbands, who stared at Audrey intently, seemingly waiting for something. He shook his head and started to walk over to her, but the boy stopped him, blocking him with an outstretched arm.

"She needs to let it out, I think." Eli said, trying to put himself in her shoes. He started to regret that statement as Audrey balled her hands into fists and started to hit the concrete, hard. Eli winced every time one of her fists smacked down on the driveway, but forced himself to stay back. 

Audrey was barely holding back her screams, gritting her teeth as she hit the concrete, harder and harder, hoping the pain in her heart would rush to her fists. But, it wouldn't. She just became more numb, the pain in her heart and lungs, brain and fists, fizzing away the longer she went on. It was almost soothing.

Suddenly, there were hands under her armpits, lifting her up and off of her knees. She felt the need to struggle against it, to get back to the place without pain. "Audrey, stop." Eli's voice rang through the fizz as she struggled out of his grip. "Your hand." He called out, and Audrey slowly lifted her hands up to her face. One side of her left hand was bleeding, trickling steady droplets of scarlet blood onto the concrete. 

She stared at her hand, and all of a sudden, the pain was there. All of it, at once. Her heart beat too fast and her chest constricted. Her hand throbbed, and her mind raced. She couldn't breathe. 

Eli rushed over and knelt in front of her. She was despondent, taking in shallow breaths to no avail. Audrey looked into his eyes, her own eyes wide and completely terrified. Involuntary tears steamed down her face. Eli anchored his mind down, and tried to speak normally. "Breathe, Audrey." He said softly, and mimicked her actions from almost a week earlier. He put a hand on her chest, over her heart. 

"Count your breaths." He told her, and she reached out to grab his shirt, but was too weak, her hand instead falling limply down his chest, creating a trail of crimson over his grey t-shirt. Eli's head snapped over to Craig, who was frozen, watching a scene unfold that he didn't understand and couldn't control. "Call an ambulance." When Craig didn't move, Eli shouted, his voice cracking, "Call an ambulance!"

Craig ran off into his house, and Eli turned his attention back to Audrey, who was slipping out of consciousness, her breaths quick and shallow. He watched her eyes drooping, he could feel her heart racing.  Not a minute later, she collapsed onto her side, hitting the ground with a monstrous thud. 

"Audrey!" Eli screamed. "Audrey!" He knelt over her, brushing a hand over her face, squeezing her hand, begging her to wake up. 

The paramedics pushed Eli out of the way when they arrived, quickly assessing the situation and rushing Audrey into the ambulance. Eli staggered back, and watched them take her. "Who are you?" One of the paramedics asked, a petite woman with short, black hair. 

"I'm, I'm her-" Eli stuttered, his words jumbling as he felt tears tracing his cheeks. He couldn't wipe them away, and he felt like he was shaking, a tremor running all through his body. "Are you family?" She asked. 

"No, but-" 

"If you're not family you can follow behind." She cut him off, rushing back to the ambulance. Eli watched it go, something dropping into the pit of his stomach. He felt helpless, watching it leave, sirens sounding, lights flashing. He rubbed his eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop coming, like a dripping tap. 

"Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?" Eli turned slowly, having forgotten that Craig was even there. A woman stood behind him on the doorstep, holding a young child on her hip. Eli refused to engage him in conversation, and instead turned back to watch the ambulance drift further away. 

Craig sighed and walked over to him. "I'll give you a ride, come on." He said, whipping out his car keys. Eli nodded and gulped, unwilling or unable to speak. He got into the passenger seat and closed the door, a shiver going up his spine as he started to cry more. Unable to successfully wipe them away, he simply covered his face with his hands and rested his forehead on the dashboard. 

As they drove, Craig kept looking over at Eli, this mystery kid crying in his passenger seat, blood smeared over his shirt. "It's gonna be okay, kid." He offered, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. Eli flinched away and sniffed, "Don't touch me." He demanded, wiping his eyes again and looking out the window. 

Eli had never felt like this. It was more emotion than he'd felt in a long time, and it hit him in waves. This grief, this fear, this dread. This rock that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Never having handled stressful situations or overwhelming emotions well, Eli found himself scared to get out of the car. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid to be left alone. 

((A/N: SORRY!!))