I was being hopeful for Kelsey, until Dr. Prescott wanted to talk to her alone. If I was her husband, I could have stayed. Now I’m on edge, but I need to be calm for Kelsey.

I’m also pissed. All Kelsey wanted was a few moments with her daughter, but Mrs. Cross glared at her with such distrust. What the hell was the woman afraid of? Kelsey wasn’t a danger to Brandy.

What harm could have been done if Kelsey would have had a few more moments with the child? She wasn’t going to try and take her or confess who she was, and it pisses me off that Kelsey was treated as if she was lower than nothing.

There’s nobody else in the waiting room so I plug in my ear buds, click my playlist then grab a magazine. I’m halfway through the first song, not really reading anything when the door opens.

It’s Mrs. Cross and Brandy. Actually, the little girl is named Madison, but I can’t make myself call her that. She is Brandy to Kelsey, so that is what she is to me.

I lower my eyes and concentrate on the magazine as I turn off the music. I probably shouldn’t eavesdrop, but this is Kelsey’s daughter.

They stop by the front desk.

“How are you doing Madison?” the receptionist asks. Or, maybe she’s a nurse.

“Okay.” The voice is tiny, quiet, without energy.

“Did you have your blood drawn?”

“Yes.” From my peripheral vision I can see Brandy hold up her skinny little arm. There’s a bandage on the inside of the elbow with a cotton ball taped against the skin.

“These are the admission papers, Mrs. Cross. You just need to take them to the fourth floor, east wing.”

“Not pediatrics?” Mrs. Cross asks.

“We’d like to keep her isolated, with the other transplant patients, before moving her.”

Transplant? Is Kelsey able to give Brandy, or Madison, stem cells?

“But first, the doctor would like me to weigh Madison and give her a quick exam.”

“Is Dr. Prescott with anyone?” Mrs. Cross asks hesitantly. It’s almost like I can feel her eyes on me, but I don’t look up from the magazine and turn a page.

“He is with someone.”

“Let’s try and keep my daughter away from anyone else.”

Her voice is cold and hard and if I didn’t want to know what was going on so badly, I’d call her out.

They disappear through a door and once I’m alone again, I toss the magazine back on the table and yank the ear buds out. What a fucking bitch! I get that she is worried for her daughter, but I’m still pissed at the way she treated Kelsey. Without Kelsey, Mrs. Cross wouldn’t even have her daughter.

Kelsey steps out a few moments later, her face is drawn and shoulders slumped. Whatever she and Dr. Prescott talked about was not good.

“The only way I could ever give Brandy blood is if my tattoo was done in New Jersey and this hospital was there too.”

“Why?”

“Because their laws for tattoos are tighter than anywhere else. And, even though your work was done by those standards, the laws are different in New York.”

“No exceptions?”

She just shakes her head. “I can in a year, but then it’ll either be too late, or I won’t be needed.” Tears spike in her eyes. “I just wanted to be able to do something for her. I feel so helpless not being able to give Brandy the one thing she needs most.”

“You couldn’t have known.” I swipe a tear from her cheek. “Why couldn’t he have told you that on the phone?”

“He wants to know if I’d be willing to donate in the future, if I don’t get any more tattoos. My blood type is rare, and he hopes I’d still be willing to give blood and marrow if needed. He was afraid I’d only be willing if it was for Brandy.”

“What did you tell him?”

Kelsey looks up into my eyes and frowns. “Even if I can’t help my daughter, I’m not going to deny anyone else, especially if it is another child.”

“She’s not your daughter.”

We turn to find Mrs. Cross coming into the reception room, the door closing after her.

“I gave birth to her,” Kelsey answers.

“But, you gave her to me.”

“I’m very much aware of that fact, but I will never stop thinking of her as anything but my daughter.”

Mrs. Cross folds her arms over her chest. “Are you going to be difficult, Miss Fry?”

Kelsey frowns. “Difficult? I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

“Except stay away from Madison.”

Kelsey tilts her head and studies the woman. “I didn’t even realize you were on the elevator when we stepped on.”

“You could have ignored me. Us.”

“You expected me to pretend the little girl I gave birth to wasn’t standing right next to me?”

“Of course not. But you didn’t need to talk to her.”

I’m getting pissed all over again. Kelsey did nothing wrong. “What harm was done?”

“If that elevator hadn’t opened when it did, plenty of harm.”

Kelsey gasps. “How?”

“You are not to have contact with her, yet you got right down there and talked to her, as if you had a right. Who knows what else you would have said given the time?”

“I would have never told her the truth. I made that promise, and I wouldn’t break it.”

“You also made a promise never to contact her, yet you broke that easy enough.”

“I didn’t know you were there,” Kelsey practically yells.

“Please!” the receptionist hisses at us from the desk.

“I apologize,” Kelsey says after a moment. “I broke the rules. It will not happen again.” With that she turns and marches out of the office. I want to give Mrs. Cross a piece of my mind, but Kelsey is so fragile right now that I don’t want to leave her alone for a minute.