"Whoever can perform the operation." She answered. It didn't matter whether it was Carlos or Kara, or any other qualified surgeon. All that mattered was the operation happened and was successful.

"I will contact him ASAP." he promised and hung up, then immediately contacted Carlos.

The latter was not too busy, so he agreed to meet up with his old schoolmate when he heard that a life depended on it. The two met at a restaurant, and Carlos looked surprised. "Are you really Desmond? You have changed so much." He looked more authoritative than ever and definitely more powerful.

"How about we skip this part for now?" Desmond showed him to their table where he sat down like his butt was on fire.

"What's the emergency?" Carlos asked, switching to his doctor mode.

"It's my girlfriend's father. I don't know what the exact situation is but an emergency operation is needed to remove a clot near his brain." He answered in one breath. He had asked about the situation on his way to meeting Carlos. "If you can, please save him. He means the world to my girlfriend and she means the world to me." He pleaded.

"Are you jabbing me for the fact that I still can't get the woman I love?" Carlos joked, even though the time was the least appropriate.

"How can I do that?" All the arrogance and pride was gone as Desmond pleaded-something he would have found beneath himself in the past.

"I will check on him." Carlos promised, because he could not bring himself to turn down a patient who needed him.

"Thank you." Desmond sighed in relief, before contacting Grand View Hospital to prepare Theodore for Carlos' pre-surgery tests.

___

Lucy was beside herself in anger as she stared at the young man before her. If she didn't have such strong self control, she would have torn him into pieces. "How could you?!"

"Master, did I do something wrong?" The young man did not understand what he had done for her to glare at him as though she was about to kill him. Didn't he complete his mission? Jaime was now in a coma, and he was finding ways to end the man. Could it be that Lucy was mad at him for not managing to murder the man in one fell swoop? "Master, I will make arrangements to end Jaime in hospital." He promised.

A slap landed on his cheek. "I said that you should murder Jaime Fort. When did I ever mention that you should hurt innocent people while at it? Do you know what you've done?" Lucy yelled.

The young man rubbed the side of his cheek as he apologized. "The truck driver lost control of the steering wheel and ended up running over other cars too."

Lucy sighed and held her forehead. She was on the verge of exploding. Was a traffic accident the only way to murder someone? Even if it was, how could he arrange it to be done on a busy road? Were they crazy?

They would never know the consequences of their actions. How was she supposed to face her daughter now?

Using the footage from the surveillance cameras, she followed Theodore to the hospital he had been taken, which was Grand View Hospital.

"My friend was brought to this hospital. I would like to know how he is." She explained to the receptionist when she arrived.

"What's your friend's name?" The young lady asked, and Lucy gave Theodore's name, age and details to prove that they knew each other. "He is in room 808. You can go and see him or speak to his attending physician tomorrow."

She nodded and went ahead to the eight floor.

"What in the world are you doing, Lucy?" She scolded herself. Going to the hospital in the middle of the night to visit the family she had long left, was she crazy? She had not even been sure that she would be allowed to see him and only wanted to know his exact situation.

Although she scolded herself, her legs moved on her own and she was in front of ward 808 before she knew it.

She gently pushed the door open. She knew that Zaria would probably not comprehend why she was here, when she had denied being her mother. Would she kick her out?

Zaria was exhausted after having cried so much, her hand holding her father's as she slept while kneeling beside his bed. She stirred in her sleep when she felt someone's presence, but she was too tired to open her eyes. Whoever it was stalked towards the bed. It must be a nurse changing Theodore's IV drip, so she continued sleeping.

However, the incomer patted her head and tousled her hair instead. She hummed in satisfaction as she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug, which felt warm and comfortable and made her want to burst into tears and complain about all the grief she had suffered.

How could she feel touched about a stranger's hug? She frowned and forced her eyes open. By the time she managed to take in what was happening around her and checked that Theodore was alright, she turned just in time to see the silhouette of a woman disappearing out the door.

She shot to her feet and followed her. "Mother?"

She wasn't sure why she was so sure that the woman was her mother, despite not seeing her clearly. She rushed out the corridor hoping to stop her.

…

When Lucy opened the door to the ward, the first thing she saw was Zaria sleeping by Theodore's side, holding his hand. Her heart broke into pieces. What she needed right now was a hug, but there was no one to comfort her. She walked towards her and tousled her hair. The latter stirred, so she stiffened and stopped her movements.

When Zaria went back to sleep, she walked to Theodore's side and looked at him. She knew that it was not only guilt she was feeling for having made the order that accidentally hurt him, she was also sad. Theodore was such a kind man and a loving father, he did not deserve this.

Before her thoughts could run any more wild, she pulled away to leave. She wanted to go, but her legs did not allow her. Instead, she looked at Zaria who still had small drops of tears seeping from her eyes even while she slept. Before she could stop herself, she pulled her daughter into a hug and embraced her tightly, the way she had always wished to.

She had always wanted to take away her daughter's pain and comfort her but couldn't, and had to stay away from her.

Zaria shot her eyes open and Lucy had to let go and slip away.

"Mother?" She heard Zaria's call just as she rushed away.

"Mother, please wait." Zaria pleaded, her voice so raspy that it broke Lucy's heart. She knew she shouldn't, but she stopped and turned around.

Zaria was surprised. She thought Lucy would continue to ignore her. She suddenly didn't know what to tell her, and remained silent as she observed the woman and wondered why she was here.

"Mother, how have you been?" She gently asked, hoping she would not be shut down.

"How have you been?" Lucy asked before she could stop herself.

Zaria wanted to say that she was fine even though she wasn't, but her mouth said the opposite. Her eyes stung as her lips trembled. "I've not been well."

Lucy stepped forward and pulled Zaria into a tight hug, blinking to stop her own tears as she felt her dress start to soak with Zaria's tears.

"Why don't you want to acknowledge me?" Zaria plucked the courage to ask when she pulled away.

"I can't." Lucy responded in a small voice, making Zaria tilt her head with a small frown.

She had said that she couldn't, not that she didn't want to. This meant that there was something stopping her from being with her family.

"Whatever it is, I can handle it, mother." She took the liberty to call her that again, indicating that she would not mind whatever it was that was keeping her away.

Lucy shook her head and stepped away, only for Zaria to grab her hand. She threw herself into her mother's arms once again, and Lucy didn't know what to do with her. "You can't tell anyone about our relationship."

Zaria nodded and promised to keep silent about it. It was already good enough that she had had such a conversation with her mother, she didn't ask for too much.

When she returned to Theodore's ward, she kissed his hand as tears once again left her eyes, tears of joy. "Dad, she did not reject us. She had to leave, but she didn't hate us." She said, as though he could hear her. "Dad, you have to wake up. Maybe she doesn't want to tell me what happened because she thinks I will not understand her. Perhaps… Perhaps you can convince her to come back."