I gasp...shooting up in the bed. I'm in excruciating pain. I place my hand on my stomach—this can't be happening. I look around for my baby for our baby but instead, I make eye contact with a red puffy-eyed Darren, and all my questions are answered. I don't have it in me to say anything. I allow my sobs to fill the once quiet room.

He doesn't move to comfort me and I'm okay with it. I had one job and that was to protect our baby. "I'm sorry. I didn't see the van—"

"It's okay." He sits on the edge of the bed, pulling me into a hug. No matter how much pain I'm in I didn't want him to let me go. "It wasn't your fault. You did nothing wrong." I hear his voice crack. But I did everything wrong. I couldn't keep our child safe. I should have just taken Darren's suggestion and taken the day off. I woke up so late that I rushed home to change and then headed to my job.

"It is." I sob harder.

"It's not. Someone ran a red light and hit you. You did everything right. Please stop blaming yourself. Please." He sniffles.

"Do you hate me? Are you mad at me?"

"No and no. I don't blame you either. Our child is gone but she will not be forgotten." He soothes me.

"She?"

"Yes, the doctor confirmed it was a girl." He tells me and I cry harder. I was finally giving him what was taken from him seven years ago and—life isn't fair. "It's okay."

I don't know how long I cried in his arms, but eventually, I drifted off to sleep. I can hear hushed voices in my room and as I was about to open my eyes, I hear Selena say something I wish I didn't. So, Zoey is Darren's biological daughter. My heart feels like it's shattering into a million pieces.

"When are you going to tell her?" Selena questions.

"Tell her. She just lost our child. Could you be any more insensitive? I don't even know if Zoey is truly mine. I want a new DNA test done. And if she is mine you and I aren't—"

I cough and everything goes silent. Damn you body, why betray me at the most important time.

"I don't want to discuss this any further." He whispers. "Hey, Alsie are you up? How are you feeling?" I open my eyes to see Darren at my bedside, with a concerned look on his face. "Do you need the doctor?"

"I'm fine," I say as he helps me sit up. I look over to see Selena. "Why are you here?" I ask holding back my anger and jealousy.

"You are my sister." She rolls her eyes. "Dad is here as well. He's in the waiting room. I'll go grab him and tell him you're up." She exits the room and I look back at Darren.

I want to know what's going on inside that head of his. Does he feel like me losing my child was a sign that Zoey is truly his? Does he even want to be with me anymore now that I'm not carrying his child? I have so many questions, but I'm not brave enough to ask him. I just lost my entire universe and hearing I will lose him too—isn't something I can handle.

Could Selena have been the person behind this? No, don't think like that Alise. The room door bursts open and Cassie comes rushing in.

"Move." She pulls Darren out the way. "Alise! My goodness, I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to understand how you're feeling. The doctor said you were injured pretty badly, but you look fine to me minus..." she trails off. I'm injured alright. My left leg was broken and I have a few bruised ribs. The steering wheel and the impact of the airbags did a number on me. My nose is broken, causing me to have a black eye.

"I lost everything." I sob in her arms.

"She will always be here with you." She pulls back to look at me. "In here." she places her hand over my heart. "She will always be in here." Cassie looks at me with tears in her eyes. "You're brave and strong..."

I'm anything but those two things. My daughter is gone. Nothing could ever prepare you for this. For losing someone you love. For losing your unborn child.

My father walks into the hospital room and Cassie leaves out. Darren stands in the corner of the room quietly as I talk to my father. After what seems like fifteen to twenty minutes my I yawn and my father takes this as his cue to leave. We say our goodbyes and now I'm left in the room with Darren. He finally moves out of the shadows and takes a seat on the bed.

"Are you tired? Do you need anything?" He questions.

"Darren you don't need to act as if you care about me. Our child is gone and that was the only thing that we had to keep each other in one another lives. You are free to walk away. I want you to walk away." I tell him.

"What? Why would you say such things?" He looks at me baffled. "You're going through a lot right now and you're saying things you don't mean."

"I mean it, Darren, just leave me alone. There is no child, there is no us. That's what I wanted to tell you this morning. I thought you and I should just focus on the child and stay out of each other's personal lives." I lie.

Darren stands up so quick you would have thought his ass was on fire. "Alsie, tell me you're lying. Tell me you're just angry and--"

"Knock knock." Mr. Tucker says singingly walking into the room with a giant bear. the rest of the executives come flooding in with more stuffed animals, flowers, and balloons. My heart feels like it is about to explode. They care.

"Uh did we interrupt something?" Mr. Beckett asked. I guess he can feel the tension in the room.

"No, also going forward we won't need to check up on Ms. Alexander if it's not work-related." Darren starts.

"Dude, she was just in a fucking accident and lost my niece can you have compassion? The fuck!" Everett looks at him with disgust.

"Compassion?" Darren lets out a humorlessly chuckle. "She doesn't want me to care for her. She told me to leave her alone. She told me the baby was the only thing keeping us together and without said baby, she wants me out of her life. She wants me to walk away. So, I'll do just that and I advise you guys to do the same. Ms. Alexander is nothing more than an employee in our company. We give her our condolences and get well soon--now we leave." he says emotionless. "I will tell Priscila about this accident and have her send over the necessary paperwork for you. Goodbye." Darren takes his leave not looking at me once.

I keep my eyes down as the rest of the executives walk out without saying a word. Once the door closes I lay back on the bed and quietly cry into my pillow. I needed to do this not only for my sake but for Darren's. He is Zoey's father and I can't stomach being around and seeing Selena flaunt this in my face. Selena got what she wanted and in a sense so did Darren.