NEW YORK METHODIST HOSPITAL had average traffic. It was around five in the morning and traveling from Atlantic city back into New York had taken some time. But Takashi sped the whole way, managing to show up an hour and forty minutes after Toryn delivered the news on the phone.

The whole ride there had been Braelyn assuring Takashi and giving him words of support, love and encouragement. Toryn informed him that she and his grandparents from his mother's side were in Methodist hospital, which gave him some hope. It confused him because all he remembered was Toryn telling him his mother was dead.

"Excuse me," Takashi said out of breath, speaking to the odd looking receptionist. She had facial features that could make her pass for a young or old person however you looked at her. "I'm here for Laura Maxwell. I was informed she came in earlier this evening."

A deadpan expression sat on the overweight white woman's face. She'd been working here for over twenty years and saw the same thing over and over again. She had become desensitized to the things she saw and witnessed in her work environment. She typed a few things into the chunky outdated looking desktop, then looked at him with a nod.

"You're gonna go up to the ninth floor and take a left. You're gonna see a sign that says Head Trauma, follow that and it should take you to the waiting room."

Takashi and Braelyn were at the elevators before the lady could even finish the last few words. Takashi rapidly slammed the elevator button with his index finger, his jaws clenched severely. Braelyn felt so bad, she was also confused and scared. Not to mention really upset at Toryn. Because her irresponsible way of blurting out that kind of news over the phone, it caused Takashi to drive so dangerously he almost killed them twice. His mind was so scattered that he had drove down the wrong side of the intersection at one point, then through a red light nearly killing a man who looked like he was with his three kids.

The elevator finally opened up and they got on. Following directions took the duo right to the waiting room. It had a few other people but Takashi spotted Toryn and Laura's parents, Naydean and Charles. Lance was out of town as usual so it would be impossible for him to get here on time. He would be in by tomorrow morning the latest. Laura's mother was crying uncontrollably, while being consoled by her husband. Toryn was sitting across from them, a tissue up to her eyes as her foot bounced up and down repeatedly. She was so scared and didn't know what to do.

When she spotted Takashi she jumped up and ran into his arms. Braelyn stood next to him clutching his other arm, looking around. She wanted answers from someone but it didn't look like anyone was able to talk right now. Takashi pulled away, the strain in his voice visible but he was trying to stay strong.

"What happened? Where is she?" He had to whisper, it was the only way to keep himself from breaking down.

"In the emergency room..." Toryn wept.

She began to tell him the story of what happened. Apparently, a neighbor next door who sometimes came by to gossip, was ringing the bell but getting no answer. She noticed Laura's car in the driveway so she knew someone was home and thought her friend was just ignoring her. Deciding to be nosey, the neighbor managed to get a peek through the curtains which were ajar and got the shock of her life when she saw Laura laid out on her living room floor face down.

Thinking on her feet, the neighbor broke the window and climbed through. There was no pulse so she called police then called the first number she saw in Laura's call log; which was a girl by the name of Toryn. Toryn had been the last person she spoke too so when the woman forwarded the news to Toryn; Toryn came over immediately and forwarded the news to Takashi.

"I can't believe this...I spoke to her that night too and told her I was going to Atlantic city," Takashi informed. "I asked her if she wanted me to stay for this exact reason. She was suppose to be getting ready for her surgery around now. Fuck!"

The outburst caused his estranged grandparents to look over at him. Takashi recognized them and walked over. They weren't really close but in this moment Laura was the main thing bringing them together. All three got into a group hug and just consoled each other, literally hugging as tightly as they could. Braelyn closed her eyes and began to pray while Toryn just stood by and cried, wiping her eyes.

"Their in there working on her." Laura's mother Naydean informed. During an autopsy, they had found swelling in the brain which led to internal bleeding. It turns out the tumor was becoming bigger at a faster rate then doctors had predicted. There had been no warning signs or symptoms that anything was wrong.

"So there's a chance she might make it?" Takashi asked, excitedly.

Naydean only nodded, too distraught to keep speaking. Toryn felt dumb now, she hadn't meant to scare him by saying that Laura died; but she got nervous and said the only thing that came to mind. Toryn walked over with tears in her eyes, "Takashi I didn't mean to say that so bluntly to you, I'm sorry. She's still in there fighting, I'm stupid for saying that. I'm so dumb. I'm so—"

"It's okay, it's okay, stop." He said pulling her into his body. Right now he didn't need anyone beating themselves up. He just needed everyone to harmonize and pray his mother woke up.

He looked over and saw Braelyn just standing there with her hands clasped together. "C'mere."

She rushed over to him and hugged the other side of his body. Charles was holding his wife as everyone was praying for the best. Toryn wanted to tell Takashi that she remembered. She wanted to tell him that she remembered everything from the day they met. But how? Right now was not about her. It was about his mother and making sure she was okay.

Minutes later which felt like hours, interrupted the small party's grief when a group of laughter came with a bunch of footsteps walking down the hallway. It was a gang of doctors all in white lab coats. Once they noticed the family one of the lead ones with curly hair and glasses on his face stepped up.

He looked at all of them with a huge smile on his face. "I need the parents of a Laura Mcwell to step out of the room for me please." He informed.

Since Laura was an unmarried woman and had no spouse, the information of her wellbeing went to the second in line, her parents. Charles and Naydean quickly hopped off the bench followed by Takashi. When the doctor saw the young man behind the older couple, he opened his mouth only for Charles to quickly inform it was her son. The other two women also followed and the doctors assumed they were all together.

"So Laura had severe internal bleeding in the brain. She's lost a lot of blood that a blood transfusion couldn't fix. Not enough oxygen was being pumped to her brain during the time of the surgery."

"Okay so what are you saying?" Takashi said turning his hand in a circular motion. He was nervous because the man didn't seem sympathetic or content. His expression didn't give away any indication to Laura's current state so he had no clue what was going on. Takashi didn't have time for the medical mumbo jumbo, he just needed a straightforward answer.

"...I'm saying she was brain dead before we even started the operation. She didn't make it, I'm sorry."

Naydean screamed out and fell to the floor. Braelyn and Charles rushed over as Toryn also fell to her knees in her own corner and sobbed uncontrollably. Now looks of sympathy crossed the medical staff as they all gave each other looks not really knowing what to do. Takashi felt a lump form in his throat. Hearing it from Toryn was one thing. But to hear it from the professionals made it hard for him to breathe.

"Wait...so she's...dead?" Takashi whispered.

The man firmly nodded his head. "Yes sir, I'm very sorry."

The head doctor took the first step off as the rest of the crew began to follow behind him. Takashi gripped the arm of a female nurse harder then he meant too which stunned her, until she saw his face. She recognized the hurt and pain in his eyes. She saw it almost every day. "Yo' that's my mom in there man, please. Can you guys give it one more go? Please?"

"We did all we could sir but we couldn't save her. I'm sorry..." The middle aged woman said gently placing his hand back at his side.

Takashi's eyes fluttered open. That was over a week ago, now he was practically living in a hotel. He hadn't seen anyone since finding out about his mother's death. Not Braelyn, Toryn, Brielle his other family members or friends. The whole planning of Laura's wake had been done by Naydean and Charles. Takashi hadn't gone to the funeral, the burial or the repass. He just spent his days sleeping and showering.

He had three months off of work with paid leave. He had no clue what was going on back in his world nor did it really cross his mind. He knew it was wrong to abandon his family and those close to him, but he just needed time alone. He got plenty of calls and messages everyday he was sure were mostly from Braelyn and Toryn, but he only checked them and never replied.

He was numb to everything. He honestly thought about becoming a deadbeat dad, cutting Toryn out of his life permanently and divorcing Braelyn on several occasions. He cared about them all and he didn't think his heart could take a second blow. He couldn't even take this one. He had tried to kill himself in his hotel room over the last few days multiple times.

He kept taking a handful of pills strong enough to make him sleep and never wake up again. But every time he swallowed them, in less than forty seconds he would force himself to throw them back up. It wasn't because he was scared of dying, he just always had a phobia of still being alive and being able to feel but not able to move or talk. Being buried alive was the most fucked up way to go out and that kept crossing his mind.

There was a knock on his room door. It was room service. They came by every single day to clean his room and he always sent them away. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn't know how long this would last, but to cope he needed to be alone and only people who truly cared about him would understand that.

*******

Two weeks later...

BRAELYN'S AT HOME TIME HAD finally come to an end and she was back at work. To make matters worst she had a late shift too. She remembered how she actually started to like these because of Takashi's disrespectful and rude behavior, but now she couldn't wait to get back home, in hopes of seeing him there.

She hadn't seen him since the night at New York Methodist when Laura was pronounced dead. It's been two weeks and she had no way of contacting him except for text and calls which he never responded too. He didn't show up for Laura's viewing, burial or repass. A lot of his family members were upset with him for that, including Laura's parents. Even his father and his father's mother showed up. Even Toryn was there. Braelyn couldn't lie, she was a little disappointed in Takashi for missing his own mother's funeral; but she wasn't personally going through what he was so she couldn't judge.

Braelyn's job had only gave her two weeks off. Her job did give her paid leave for the two weeks, but because it was not her direct family she didn't get as much time off as Takashi did. Even though they both had a solid bank account that could afford to pay the bills without them working for a minute, Braelyn felt she needed to be strong. So she was willing to go to work and hold the house down; it made no sense staying home either when Takashi wasn't there for her to take care of. Brielle had been staying at her parents house for the last few days because she had nobody to babysit her when she was at work.

Braelyn was relieved her shift was done for the night and everyone was getting ready to go home. Braelyn, Mary-Ann, Isabelle and Becca were all in Braelyn's classroom as Braelyn filled them in one what's been going on the last couple of weeks. They were aware of her mother in law's death but Braelyn informed them on Takashi's female friend who had been staying with them briefly before. She told them about her inappropriate behaviors with Takashi before she left the house.

All the girls remembered Toryn as the girl from the Christmas party who was talking to Takashi so they remembered who she was. Braelyn huffed, her stress apparent. Talking badly about someone was never good, but it felt better than people sending their condolences to her for Laura a hundred times a day. She was hurting as well and didn't want to be reminded every chance she got. It took her mind off of Laura and off worrying about Takashi who was practically missing.

"I may be overreacting, but she's so pushy to me. She use to walk around the house in shorts and tank tops all the time and every second they were running around playing or talking. All she wanted to do was be in his face. And when I asked Takashi to make her leave he got so upset with me."

Becca shook her head, what the girls didn't know was she dealt with infidelity all the time. Her husband worked in a cooperate office and always had allegations of having some mistress probably about twice a year. It go so bad that they had to move from where they originally came from down to New York and start a new life. And still the drama and women followed. But you stuck with your husband no matter what as a real Christian.

"Honey, this has to stop." Becca said, "I can't believe she was living with you guys! That was awful."

"I agree." Isabelle said.

"It is, I'm not a mean person I know she has no place to go. But I'm sure this girl has family. She never goes anywhere else. She just stayed in the house all day, trying to be around Takashi all the time. Now she's at our other home."

"Wow." Mary-Ann said.

Becca closed her eyes. "Too bad you can't tell your husband how you really feel because the tragedy in you guys life is still fresh..." Her green eyes then popped open, pointing her index finger up like an idea came to her, "but this calls for this young woman to be pressed!"

"Pressed? What is that?" Braelyn questioned.

"In the urban dictionary, to press one means to interrogate very intensely. You have to interrogate her, you know, get in her grill." Becca said, waving her hand back and forth in front of her face like she was practicing the famous wrestler John Cena's You Can't See Me intro.

Braelyn nodded her head, she did need to find out why Toryn was still around, living in their quarters with no job. There was something about Toryn that she didn't like, she more came off like a mean girl which was very surprising because she wouldn't expect Takashi to keep that kind of company.

"Okay, so after I press her should I ask her for her original address?" Braelyn asked, looking between the three girls for confirmation.

"For what?" Mary-Ann asked.

"How else will I get into her grill? I'm pretty sure she keeps them in the backyard when she's ready to barbecue."

"That's true." The other two girls agreed.

"No honey, grills just means her teeth. Like get into her face, in her personal space."

"Oh, okay." Braelyn said. "I can't do it right now but when things cool off, Toryn will be pressed and grilled."

The women clapped in excitement as everyone left and went back to their own rooms to gather their belongings to leave. Braelyn buttoned the last two buttons on her wool coat and locked her closet. Pulling her purse higher on her shoulder Braelyn nearly fell on the ground when she turned and saw Miguel standing there.

Her heart felt like the blood was draining out of it. She didn't even hear him come into the room. "Oh, Miguel, you scared me."

"Sorry about that, I don't want to keep you long but I just wanted to ask you something." He said. He had on a long sleeved white cotton shirt, a pink tie, pink suspenders and black slacks that matched his well styled hair and quirky square shaped glasses. He smiled to soften the mood.

"Um...okay." Braelyn said gripping her bag handle, he still made her uneasy.

He whipped out a pink rose from behind his back, "I would really like it if you would go on a date with me. I know coworkers shouldn't fraternize but—"

"Excuse me? Go on a date? Did you just ask me to go on a date with you?! I'm married Miguel, why would you ask me something like that?" Braelyn asked, appalled. He's always been creepy but this one took the cake. In the morning she was going straight to the Board of Ed to make a complaint.

Miguel also looked taken aback, standing up straight. Then his face contorted as if he randomly became confused. "Are you serious? I heard you guys got a divorce. There's rumors going around that your husband got a DNA test on your daughter and you found out so you left him. I thought you were single now."

"What? My husband got a DNA test on our daughter? No, no. There's nothing like that going on. And I'm flabbergasted that people are saying such nasty things like that behind my back. We just lost somebody very important in our family and you guys are talking about me?" Braelyn wept.

"Brae—" Miguel said reaching for her.

"No." She said moving back, as the tears streamed down her face. She was shocked but more so embarrassed. Who would say such nonsense and start such nasty rumors? "There was never any DNA test and there is no divorce. I'm still happily married. My husband loves me and I love my husband and we're gonna be together forever." Braelyn said with her head held high, briskly walking toward the door.

Her heels clicked dangerously loud as she tried to make it to the staircase. Then she noticed the rest of her girls further up the hall. She wondered if they knew anything about this. Instead of going down the stairs, Braelyn called out to them where they were taking a different exit out the building. All her friends looked concerned when they saw her. They were just talking to her five minutes ago and now she was distraught and crying.

"Did you guys know about the rumor going around about Takashi taking Brielle to a DNA center?"

Mary-Ann, Becca and Isabelle couldn't hide the guilt on their faces even if they were trained professionals. Isabelle was the one to speak up. "Okay yes, we've known about it for a while but with everything going on with you and your family, was obviously not appropriate to bring up at the time. You remember my cousin Claudia?"

Braelyn nodded her head. Claudia hung out with the group a few times. She was a pretty Indian girl with long jet black hair.