Gerald needed a break for a little bit, but he needed to stay close to her. He decided to go outside for a walk just to clear his mind, just to get a breath of fresh air. So much happened in the last three to four hours, that a breath of fresh air seemed like just a distraction, rather than a solution.

He couldn't have been gone for more than ten minutes, but once he got back, Kim's room was empty, with the sheets pulled back. "Kim?" A nurse walked in and fixed the sheets. "Nurse, where did she go?" He asked, feeling another panic attack coming on.�

"Ms. Chiu asked to take a short walk down the hall. She should be back soon," the nurse replied.

But Gerald knew better. She wasn't going for a walk, she was going to look for her daughter. He ran outside, and into the elevator, punching the fourth floor, to the pediatrics center. How did she get out? he thought; she was in no condition to even make it past the elevator without getting tired.

�

Kim paused, leaning on the wall, trying her best to gasp for air. She held onto her back, and could feel her insides screaming at her for getting out of bed, but she needed to find her daughter. Her eyes struggled to stay open, knowing the effects of the sedative wasn't completely gone, but willed herself to wake up. Her breath left her lips in a shaky manner, but somehow she made it all the way here without collapsing, and forced herself to continue on in that way.

She finally made it to the nursery window and smiled at all the baby faces staring at her, except the one that really mattered. She stopped a nurse as she was making her way out of the nursery. "I was wondering if you could help me? I'm looking for my baby. The name's either Chiu or Ramos, I'm not sure what they put her under..." She stopped when she sensed Gerald beside her.

The nurse backed away with a permissive nod from Gerald, and he replaced her spot in front of Kim. "Kim, she's not going to be in there," he said softly and apologetically.

"Then where is she, Gerald?" She asked, tears already staining her cheeks.

"She's in a funeral home," he answered her without meeting her gaze.

Kim shook her head, "That is the cruelest - cruelest thing that you could say to a mother, do you know that?"

"But it's true," he whispered.

"No," she gasped. "No!" A million heartbreaks hit her all at the same time, "No, you're lying to me!" She hit his chest, and tried to push him away. But her strength was nothing compared to his, and instead of being pushed away, he was pulling her against him.� "You're a liar! Let me go! Liar!" She yelled, until she fell to the ground. Kim finally gave in and collapsed in his arms, holding onto him. Gerald continued on holding her, her hair, kissing her softly on the top of her head. He couldn't take any of the pain away, he couldn't give her her baby back, but he certainly could comfort her and hold her for as long as she needed him. He was going to be there no matter how hard she'd push him away.

"You could search every name tag in there, but she's not going to be there," he said, kissing her forehead. "You had something called Abrutio Placentae. You were bleeding inside," he explained. "They had to do an emergency C-section, but it was too late, she was already gone."

Kim shook her head, "My little girl," she pleaded. "I just want to see my little girl," her voice cracked and she couldn't take anymore.

The next minute or so, the same nurse returned with a wheel chair, and Gerald helped Kim onto it. He wheeled her back to her bedroom and carried her onto her bed. He knew she would want to hear everything that happened now that she was calm. He took her hand and squeezed it. "Everything happened so fast," he started. "They rushed you to the OR, but they couldn't get her out in time."

"Were you with me?" She asked, her eyes swollen and nose red.

He nodded, "I was waiting right outside the entire time. Then they pulled the curtain, and that's when I knew." His face scrounged up in pain, and knew this was going to be the hardest part. He stopped, not knowing if he should continue, or wait until she was stronger.

"I need to hear everything," she answered his unspoken thoughts.

Gerald closed his eyes and nodded, "I went inside the room to see you, you were still on anesthesia. And the doctors said that I could see the baby. So I - uh - I picked her up and held her in my arms. She was so still," he whispered, "and she looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping."

"Maybe she knew you were holding her. Maybe her...her spirit was still in the room, and she knew." She suggested. Kim her dry, cracked lips and took a breath. "You said...she was in a funeral home?" Gerald nodded. "Can you call them for me?" She asked, wiping her eyes. "I just want them to treat her with respect; I want them to know that she was loved and cared for."

He didn't know if she was ready to be alone, "Are you going to be okay by yourself for a little while?"

"Can you also tell the nurses that I don't want to see anybody. I don't want to talk to anybody," she sobbed, "except you?"

Gerald got up and kissed her forehead, "I'm going to be right back."

Kim fell back onto her bed and wanted to fold herself in, fold herself into invisibility or something to hide her from the rest of the world.

She must've fell asleep because she was awakened by a noise beside her. She turned to her side and saw that it was Lilly. "What are you doing in here?" She said with anger and bitterness flooding her voice.

"Sweetie, I wanted to see how you were."

She shook her head,� "I told the doctors I didn't want to see anybody."

"Including your mother?"

Kim cried, "Especially you! You're not my mother. You're just someone who gave birth to me, but you're not my mother. You'd be the last person I want to see. So what do you want? You want another hand out?"

"Kim, I wanted you to know that you saved your little sister."

"What are you talking about? The transplant? You mean the stem cells?"

Lilly's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh...you didn't know."

"So you'rre telling me, my baby had to die so yours could live?" Kim looked at her with shame and regret that she was ever her mother in the first place.

"No, no, sweetie, nobody wanted your baby to die," Lilly said, pulling her chair closer.

Kim shook her head, "You did." She ignored Lilly's protests. "You did, I remember. We were in the chapel and you were screaming at me. You were trying to force me into letting the doctors induce my labour."

"Kim, no." She continued. "I was begging and pleading that you save my daughter - that you save your little sister."

"Don't you dare try to guilt me trip me, she was my daughter! Did that ever matter to you? Of course not, all that matters is your children. Or the ones that you still love. Maybe that's why you wanted her so much, so you could fix all the faults you had with me. And nothing else mattered," she broke into tears, "Not even my baby girl."

Lilly tried to take her hand but failed, "Sweetheart, you collapsed and were unconscious."

"And that's when you did it? That's when you took the stem cells." It was more of a statement, rather than a question. "You let them take my little girl. You killed my little girl."

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Gerald yelled, entering the room. "Haven't you done enough?"

Lilly quickly stood up, knowing the feeling of not being welcome. "I just wanted to thank her. I wanted to say I was sorry for her loss, and tell her it was because of her that her sister is alive."

He scoffed, "You want her to forgive you. You want her yo smile at you and tell you that everything's okay." He watched Kim turn over to her side and close her eyes. Gerald grabbed Lilly's arm, and pulled her into the hallway. "If you had any compassion or love for your daughter - for Kim - you'd leave her the hell alone. You deserve her forgiveness after what happened. What part of her baby being dead don't you understand? You're a mother, Lilly. You know what it feels like to be a mother, and you deprived of that because she wanted to save her daughter, something you wanted to do."

"Exactly. I was asking her mother to mother to save my child, to save her little sister. She understood that, Gerald. I was mother wanting to save my child, just as she wanted to save hers."

"But whose child got to live?" Gerald asked. Lilly looked down in defeat. "I am telling you this one more time. Stay away from Kim, or I'll call security and I'll have thrown out. Stay away from both of us." He shot her the coldest look he was ever capable of making and opened Kim's door.

Kim watched him enter the room and took a deep breath. "Is there going to be a service for Ysa?" She asked.

Gerald tried to smile despite the situation, and took her hand, kissing it. "The memorial service is at the Queen of Angels on Saturday at 10:00AM.

"You saw her? You held her? He nodded. "What did she look like?"

"She looked...she looked beautiful." He answered.

Her breath escaped shakily, "Beautful how?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, holding in all the sobs that were destined to come out sometime, but in front of her. "Please," she begged. "I need to know. Did she have hair?"

He looked at her, "A good amount."

"Was it curly? Was it straight? Was it long, was it short? Was it black?"

"It was black and straight like Michael's." He answered. "Her face was shaped like yours. She had beautiful lips, and a cute button nose, like yours."

Kim tried to smile, "What about her eyes? What colour were her eyes?"

He looked down, "She never opened them."

Her heat all over again. "So you saw her, and you held her. You told her goodbye?"

"Yeah."

"Is that when they took her stem cells?"

"Legally, she's your mother, and since you weren't married and unconsicous, she had the liberty to give permissions to take the stem cells." Gerald answered.

Kim couldn't look at Gerald, "Are you saying Michael didn't have a chance to speak up or say no? Of course not," she said. "It's Lillian Chiiu. What she says go, right?"

"Michael wasn't answering his phone calls, and Kristina couldn't wait any longer, so Lilly gave her permission, and they did so."

"So Michael didn't even try to save our daughter?"

Gerald leaned in and brushed her hair back, "Kim, you ned forget about all of this. You need to forget about Lilly and about Michael, and focus on you right now. You need some sleep and rest. You came so far and you need to continue to get better."

Kim wiped her eyes, "Gerald, a few days ago my baby was alive inside of me. I could feel her heart beat. I could feel her little legs kicking - wanting out. And now I feel so empy, like there's nothing inside me."

Gerald nodded, understanding completely. For the next couple of hours, he jus sat there, watching her drift off to sleep. The only thing he could pray and hope would happen is that this choice she probably made of staying with him was worth it. At that moment as he watcher her chest breathe in and out and the pain in her face disappear into a dreamy state, he devoted on making her better again, if it was the last thing he'd do, he would fix her and fix her heart.