My child

I started sobbing loudly in a hysterical cry.

- He was taken this afternoon, it seems, when Maria was with him in the square. It was very quick, Maria did not see the culprit. The local police have already been notified, my men and Lucian's too. But everything points to Luck," he said at once.

I cried even louder. How could this happen? Good heavens! It's not possible. I want my son. I want my son now!

- Please! - I screamed. - Ethan, let's go after him, let's find him. He's crazy, he thinks Nicholas is Sam. He's crazy, he's going to hurt Nicholas. We can't just stand here, we have to do something. Please... please! - I cried.

This day could only be a nightmare. Two hours later I was walking out the door, I had to find Nicholas. All the chest pain was killing me.

A knock cut the silence, and I opened the door. It was some men from Ethan's team along with a local policeman. Be good news. Be good news.

- Miss Nicole O'Connell," the officer said.

- Y-y-yeah... - my voice was shaky. - Y-y-you found my boy?

- Yes," he said all at once. And it was as if a light had been added to my life again, but was soon extinguished. - Unfortunately....

Ethan interrupted.

- Hank. - Ethan lengths the Policeman. - Nicholas. You found Nicholas? - His eyes ran to me, who was crying hysterically. Then he hugged me. I rested my head on his chest, crying, feeling the pain flow.

- There was a car accident, he is recovering in the city hospital. He had emergency surgery, but seems to be doing well. Actually, he needs a blood donation. We tried to call to break the news, but the phones were always busy or disconnected. We didn't want to wait. We know how important it is to let you know right away.

*

Six days, seven hours, twelve minutes and forty-six seconds.

Tum. Tum. Tum. Tum. His heart was beating slowly, seventy beats per minute. Apparently normal, the doctor had said. I knew it was okay; more than anything, I wanted it to be okay. But Luck was still on the run, and with him still out there, I really couldn't shut my eyes. Ethan was doing everything. Everything. I don't remember ever seeing him like this. He was ruined, he was more than angry. He had hate. And I could see it consuming him more every day. We barely spoke to each other, he was obsessed with finding his brother. I didn't blame him, but I wanted to make him see that I needed him by my side. I felt very lonely, as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Coming to this city had been my downfall. Our downfall. While we came to try to make things right, fate had other plans, much more elaborate and that would make my life turn around one hundred and eighty degrees. For the worse, by the way.

My phone rang, an unknown number, and I answered. At first the call went dead, which gave me chills.

- L-L-Luck... is that you? - I said softly.

No answer.

- Luck... Is that you...?

Again no response.

- I am so sorry - the answer came so low that for a moment I was afraid I had just imagined it.

- What have you done? - I cried. - What have you done to my son, you bastard son of a bitch?

- I'm sorry," he hissed low.

- You're sorry? You have no idea what you've done and what you've gotten yourself into! The entire

state police are after you

- I swear... I'll... I'll make it right.

- Damn it, Luck! There's nothing to fix. You kidnapped my son! You caused him to have an accident that almost took his life! I think you better go to the nearest police station and turn yourself in. Because if Ethan finds you first, God knows where this is going.

He laughed sarcastically.

- Colle always thinks he's the avenger of the weak. He's such a fuck-up. You think you know everything, but you don't. I never meant to hurt the boy.

- But you did! You're a monster just like your father.

- Is he going to die?

- What? No! He won't die, no thanks to you! Stay away from us. Don't ever call this number again. I'm turning over all the information to the sheriff of the case.

- I just want to help! - he shouted.

- No, stay away from us!

Then the call dropped.

I would find another donor if I had to travel the world. Luck was not normal, he was unstable and dangerous. It would not be safe to have him around Nicholas.

- That's exactly how you were with your father. There wasn't a day that I would wake up and you wouldn't be there. Sometimes I would pick you up at dawn and carry you back.

Even though I was sleepy, I had listened carefully to what she said. So I lifted my head from its resting position on Nicholas's bed, rubbing my eyes to stave off the sleep.

- You were so small, but you were always so loving, you were our great pride and joy.

- Hi Mom," I said, smiling.

She smiled back and walked to the other side of Nicholas's hospital bed and held his hand.

- It's amazing how much he looks like you in his sleep. The doctor said he should be discharged soon. Don't you want to go home and get some rest? It will do you good. I can stay with him.

- Mom, I appreciate it, but I'd rather stay here. He seems so sensitive.

- Nicole, he's doing better, he even did well in the breathing exercises on the ball. And you also need to rest. How will you think clearly if you don't get out of here? Go home, take a long bath, go to lunch or just have some coffee. And then come back. Take your time, we'll be fine. Besides, your friend Will is here all the time. If he wakes up and needs anything, we will provide it. Nothing will happen to Nicholas.

My body was crying out for rest, a soft bed, and any food that wasn't hospital food. Ethan had been asking me for a long time to get some rest and sending me food from a local restaurant. I just didn't think it was fair to sleep at home with Nicholas in the hospital, even if it was Ethan or Vivian and even my mother with him. I also didn't think it was fair to have a first-class meal while my son ate hospital food, even though I knew it was the best thing for his recovery. But my back hurt from sitting around so much, and I definitely needed a decent shower.

-You are a great mother, Nicole, much better than I was to you. But

But you need to take care of yourself.

- Really. I think I will. I promise I won't be long.

- No, dear. Take your time. Ethan wanted you to come back to the hotel.

to the hotel, he said he'd wait for you at the front desk.

- Ok. - I grabbed my purse, ready to go. - Madeleine. There is something you said as soon as you arrived, and it is something I don't remember. I always remember being alone with my father and being left behind so that you could take care of business. I'm sorry, but all the memories I have of you are like this," I said, unable to face her.

- I was not an exemplary mother," she answered softly, making me ashamed of what she had said. -My mother wasn't either, and I don't think my grandmother was either. We were all like that. We worked, founded with a lot of effort and, in the end, built an empire. I was never the one who would say I love you, it was basically a non-existent word in my vocabulary. That is until I met your father. He brought out the best in me and made me want to see the best in everything. A few years later, you came along. We had planned so much, but I was scared to death. Not your father, he was overjoyed, saying that everything would be fine, that he would always be with me," she paused, as if it was painful to remember. - And that he would never leave us. Then, when I saw you for the first time, something awakened in me again. The instinct of purest love, of protection, of almost possession, of wanting to care. We were happy, complete. Even though I had to travel almost every week, and even though my work schedule was longer than your father's, we always found a way. I had only one certainty: that with you by my side, everything would be fine. Yes, I can say that most of the time I was looking after the company. I was there all the time. Me, your father and you too. After all, we had plans, you know? -Madeleine cleared her throat, her voice seemed to want to falter. - So, we bought our house pointing to some place on the map, we would live there, it would be our home, or that's what it was supposed to be. Her father dreamed of the day I would drop everything. We would give you two more brothers," she laughed. -But we didn't trust anyone else to take over the company. Together we managed to triple its market value. It wasn't just money, it was struggle and sweat, so we agreed, in this way, that we would keep it in the family, continue the empire with you. But there was a problem: there were many years to go, and we wanted to live as a family. We were young and in love, and time seemed to run slowly; we had many fights about it. Then, even reluctantly, we got a client who would buy the company. The papers were almost all signed when his father got sick. I was so angry, you know? I had waited so long, avoided so much, and in the end he would be taken away from me! Simple. Advanced stage leukemia. He would leave me and my little girl alone. He had promised me. - A tear ran down her face and she quickly wiped it away. - He made me promise to go through the whole treatment in the house we always wanted to have. Then I was in the next room, angry with him, with the world, with God. At seeing you suffer, at seeing him suffer. For having my hands tied. Believe me, during all that time I was there. Sometimes with you, sometimes alone. I don't know why you don't remember. Maybe your mind created a way to find a culprit for the situation, since it seemed so unfair to take him away from us like that.

"I was with you in the room the day he died, and carried you from there.

I lay beside you, comforting you with sweet words, until you fell asleep. I was at the funeral, distant, because I couldn't face or share the pain with you. I've been at every graduation, far enough away that you couldn't see me. I was kicking Clementaine's butt when I learned that she bullied some kids at the girls' school. I was distant. Trapped, suffocated in my own pain, unable to see what I was missing. Because I couldn't deal with the loss. Today, I know I was wrong, but I have forgiven myself, because I understand that every human being goes through pain or difficulty in a different way.

My thoughts began to assemble, like an old game, where some pieces were missing. In each moment, I could see clearly: my father was lying in the old hospital bed. My mother was beside him, sitting on a chair, their hands entwined, their gazes locked on each other. It didn't take much to see that they loved each other. Everything said it. I remember walking to the bed.

Both eyes were looking at me, my mother called me and I went to bed with him, she kissed both of their faces.

Another memory pulsates in me. I see the torturous memory of the day he died. I scream. Then someone picks me up. My mother. She lifts me from the floor, taking me in a firm embrace, her eyes have tears; she doesn't shed them, but her breathing is heavy. She takes me into the bedroom and lays me down on the bed, soothing me. She says it will be all right, that she is with me. I fall asleep after a while, but I can feel her body trembling around mine, and low sobs coming out of her mouth. She was finally crying.

The day after my father's death, we were driving the car back through the cemetery when a tortured cry of pain cut the silence of the place. The sobs were loud, I looked at my father's grave and saw a person kneeling there. I had the impression I knew her. Madeleine. But my eyes were tired from crying so much, and I fell asleep.

My thoughts wandered and wandered, and I started to remember some moments. There weren't many, but I finally knew that I was never alone, because my mother, in her own way, was always with me.

I approached her, tears streaming down my face, and hugged her as we cried

together.