AJ sat on the edge of the bed his head in his hands when he felt two hands slide up his back and over his shoulders as a pair of lips gently drifted up the side of his neck.  Lifting his head he looked beside him and saw Chelsea wrapping her arms around him. He placed his hands on her forearms and laid back in her arms as she rested her head against his.

“I miss you.” He whispered as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.  She didn’t say anything but he felt her arms wrap tighter around him.  “I saw her.” He told her.  “You’re right she has my eyes and she has my attitude but she has your laugh, your smile and she’s strong like you.”

AJ waited for her to say something but she didn’t she just held him.  “I wish you were here, I wish you could see her, but you will soon, you will soon sweetheart.”  Something shoved him and he opened his eyes.

“Nadia?” AJ said confused when he saw his daughter staring back at him.  “Everything ok?” He said as he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. He couldn’t get a flight out from Las Vegas until two in the morning and he didn’t want to keep Nadia up that late with everything she had gone through. The meeting was rough for her and she basically froze up and wouldn’t talk.  The councilor agreed to give her time to get use to the situation, so AJ planned to take a plane back in the morning.

“I can’t sleep.” She said quietly.

“What’s up?” He asked as he made room for her to sit on the bed.  She didn’t say anything but shrugged.  “Like I said at the meeting, you can talk to me.”

“I knew who you were when I first saw you, like, I knew you were AJ from the Backstreet Boys not that you were my dad.” She told him.

“Oh?” He replied wondering what brought this confession on.

“And I kind of knew Helen wasn’t my Mom.” She told him.

“You did?” AJ replied in even more shock.  “Did she tell you?”

“No, but I look nothing like her and we don’t really get along, I just thought I was one of those kids who didn’t get along with their Mom.” She shrugged.  “But when those FBI dudes showed up and told me what she did it just kind of like made sense.”

“I see.” AJ nodded.

“Do you have a picture of her?” Nadia asked.

“Of Chelsea?” He asked and she nodded.  “Yeah” AJ said as he grabbed his wallet from the nightstand.  He flipped it open, pulled out his latest picture and handed it to her. 

Nadia studied the picture.  “She’s pretty.”

“Yeah” AJ replied as he began to miss her.  “You have her smile.”

“How old were you guys?” Nadia asked. “Like when you got together.”

“We were both sixteen, she disappeared when we were about seventeen.” AJ told her.

“And you only found her a couple of years ago?” She asked.

AJ nodded.  “Yep, I was on tour down in Mexico, Kevin called me and said out of the blue some new information had come up about her Dad.  When he got there he found out she was being held captive all that time, that she didn’t die in the cabin like we thought she had.”

“That’s crazy.” Nadia said in awe.

“Yeah” AJ replied with a light chuckle and nod.

“I wonder why she took me.” Nadia said and AJ looked at her confused.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I always got the feeling she was stuck with me.  It was just a vibe, like she was going through the motions of a parent.  She never came to my school stuff unless she had too, she never really made a big deal about my Birthdays, and when I would want to talk to her like daughters and mothers do, she was always to busy.” Nadia told him.

When she told AJ that it made him mad, all this time Chelsea wanted nothing more than to hold her daughter, be with her daughter and she was robbed of all those things.  Now here was Helen the one who took all that away from her and she didn’t even want it.

“Maybe she didn’t want to be a Mom but maybe she thought she had too, Chelsea’s Father was a very disturbed man, and maybe she was trying to protect you.” AJ told her.

“Maybe.” Nadia said quietly.  “So what do we do now?”

“What time is it?” AJ asked looking at the small alarm clock.  It read five-thirty. “Hmm Wanna grab some breakfast?”

“Ok” Nadia nodded.  “Oh, here’s your picture back.”

“Keep it, I’ve got lots.” AJ said with a soft smile.

She smiled back.  “Thanks.  I’m going to get out of my PJ’s.”

“Ok come back here when you’re ready.” AJ told her with a light smile.

When he heard the door click close he let out a sigh.  It still hadn’t really sunk in, as of right now he was a Dad a dad of a female teenager.  He scratched his head and yawned as he crawled out of bed. Grabbing a clean pair of pants he slipped them over his boxers and then threw on a clean shirt.  His phone beeped and he stopped and stared at it for a minute. AJ walked over to his nightstand. Picking it up he brought up the text message and read it.

“Call me.” The text from Kevin said.  AJ quickly pulled up Kevin’s number and called.

“Hey man.” Kevin answered and AJ could tell in his voice something was wrong.

“Is she ok?” AJ asked his voice shaking.

“A couple of hours ago she started convulsing…” Kevin said.

“Oh god.” AJ blurted out as he covered his mouth, his eyes filling with tears.

“The doctors gave her some medication through her IV and they were able to stabilize her.  They sent her down for a CAT scan, the results came back and they said she’s losing more brain activity.” Kevin said as AJ started to cry.  “Now Alex the doctor re assured us that she could still pick back up, that her brain has been working over time because of the swelling and it’s taking like a vacation and the convulsions are a reaction to that.”

“Why do I think you’re about to say a but here?” AJ said as he sniffed and wiped his eyes trying to keep calm.

Kevin paused and there was silence.  “But the fact that her brain is losing activity could be the result of her falling deeper into the coma.”

“Fuck me” AJ cried as he dropped his phone and put his head in his hands.  He could hear Kevin calling to him but he didn’t care, he didn’t care about anything right now because right now he was losing his Chelsea.

“AJ?” He heard a voice say that wasn’t the faint voice of Kevin coming through the phone.  His eyes darted up and he saw Nadia standing in the hallway.  “AJ what’s wrong?” She asked.  Reaching down he picked up the phone and put it to his ear.

“I gotta go.” He told Kevin and hung up the cell.

“It’s Chelsea isn’t it?” Nadia said as she walked over to him and all he could do was nod.  “Is she ok?”

AJ took a deep breath; he didn’t know where to begin. “That was Kevin.” He said trying to catch his breath and get himself calm.  “He said that Chelsea…” He stopped; his mind was going a mile a minute. “Ah…He said that Chelsea started having convulsions…”

“Whoa.” Nadia gasped out.

He took another breath.  “They got them to stop, took her down for a CAT scan and…” he couldn’t finish, his voice fell into a whine and he started crying again.  “Her brain…her brain is losing activity, it’s a sign she’s slipping deeper into the coma.”

“What does that mean?” Nadia asked.

“The deeper she goes…” He stopped; his breathing was heavy and jagged.  “The deeper she goes the more likely she won’t wake up or she’ll just…she’ll die.”  He took a moment.  “He said it could just be from the swelling, the brain is relaxing, kind of like going into sleep mode and she could still recovery but…”

His cell phone rang and he sighed as he turned it over.  “It’s my Mom.”

“I can wait in my room if you want.” Nadia told him.

“Actually I want you here, can you stay here?” He asked her with a small timid smile and she nodded.  AJ looked away from Nadia and picked up the call.

“Hello?” His voice cracked as he spoke.  “Hello?” He repeated again.

“Are you ok darling?” She asked.

“If you mean am I going to raid the mini bar, yeah I’m ok but I’m tittering.” He told her.

“I know it looks bad Alex but the Doctor said that she is still breathing on her own, that’s promising and it’s still too early to tell, like Kevin said her brain just might need a short break.” Denise told him.

“I hope so.” AJ replied trying to hold it together.  “I’m going to go see if I can get an earlier fight.”

“Alright” Denise said.  The Mother and Son said their I love yous and goodbyes and then hung up.

He sighed again as he put his head in his hands, still holding his cell phone.  His foot tapped nervously on the floor as his mind raced on what he had to do to get home to Chelsea.  Tell the Detectives, find a flight, book a flight and then get to the hospital as quick as possible.

“Is it true that people in Coma’s can like hear you, when you talk to them?” Nadia asked as AJ looked at her with his red bloodshot eyes.

“So they say.” AJ replied.

“Do you think if I talk to her it will help?” Nadia asked and AJ lightly smiled.

“Couldn’t hurt” He told her.  “I’m going to go find a flight and let the Detectives know we need to leave early.” AJ got up from the bed. “Do you need to pack?”

“No, I’m already to go.” She told him and he nodded as he head towards his hotel room door. 

AJ left the room and walked Nadia down to hers.  “I’ll come get you when I get everything worked out ok?”

“Ok” Nadia nodded.

AJ walked down to Detective Wilkos room and knocked on the door.  He wondered if he was going to wait long because most likely the man was still sleeping but when the door opened he was surprised to see the man was dressed and wide awake.

“Hello AJ is there a problem?” He asked.

“I need to go back to Cali, my brother in law called and Chelsea starting having convulsions and there’s been a change in her brain activity.”

“I take it not a good one?” The man replied.

“They’re telling me not to worry but all I see is the loss of brain activity and the fact that it could lead to her falling deeper into the coma.” AJ told him his bottom lip quivered as he held back his tears. “I just want to get Nadia too her, let her hear Nadia’s voice.”

“Ok” The man nodded.  “I’ll get the court date papers ready for you and then you and Nadia can go.”

“Thank you.” AJ said with a little bit of a relieved smile.