Ronnie sat beside the hospital bed holding Danielle's hand, praying, begging, and willing for her to wake. Her thoughts were drifting all over the place, should she continue to talk to her daughter? She wasn't sure what else she could say; it was like she had run out of words. Danielle had been lying here for days now, although the nurses were insistent that they call Danielle's next of kin, Ronnie could be persuasive if she wanted; she was after all Danielle's mother, and after quite a bit of debating the nurse conceded; she had after all been there, and came in with Danielle, and the similarities between them were clear, it was agreed that Ronnie would contact Andy; yet here she was, three days later and still she had not been anywhere near the phone. She had been sat with her daughter in this hospital room, refusing to let anybody else in and see her, Stacey and Roxy had been waiting outside, every now and again one of them would leave to shower and sleep, but Ronnie, well she only left to use the bathroom. Roxy had bought her a change of clothes the night the accident happened: she had been in them ever since. As she sat, her head on the bed beside Danielle, she felt that she was being selfish, but this was her daughter, that little girl she thought dead. Nobody was going to interrupt them, not her sister, not Danielle's friend, and certainly not Danielle's father. This was their little bubble, Ronnie had told Danielle everything, and all she wanted to know was that Danielle had heard her, and that she would wake up, though then the peace would be disturbed, and Ronnie would have to deal with what she had said to her poor little girl. Ronnie was certainly grateful for all that her adoptive family had done for her, they had bought her up right, and she had good manners, a genuinely nice person; and had given her good sense to go out into the world with. Now though, Ronnie wanted her back; it was as though they had 'borrowed' her for a while. As crude as that thought was, now was the time that Ronnie could begin her life again and finally put her past to rest, just Ronnie and Danielle, they did not need anybody else.

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Danielle began to stir, her eyes began to open, and as they did, all she could see was blurry shapes, there was light, 'am I dead?' Was her first thought, a sudden pain in her side quickly reassured her that she was very much alive, as things became more focused she tried to figure out where on earth she was. Relying on her senses to tell her, she could hear beeping, and murmuring above her, though she could not quite figure out what was being said. She could smell antiseptic, and felt the rough sheets of the bed she was lying in. Sure enough, she began to focus more she was in a hospital. 'How on earth did I get here?' She felt somebody's hand in hers, and she turned her head to the woman beside her who was speaking.

"Danielle? Can you hear me?" Ronnie called out for a nurse, and continued to watch as Danielle awoke. Danielle still lay there, staring blankly at Ronnie. She had seen her somewhere before, but where from. Was she some kind of distant relative? Surely not, if she was in the hospital her Dad would be by her side, then who on earth was she? Her face was so familiar to Danielle it was frustrating, all she wanted to do was call out, who are you, and where the hell am I? Yet, all she could manage, or at least what was heard was a groan it would seem that she couldn't quite get her words out. The door opened, and a doctor came through, smiling down at Danielle, he introduced himself as Doctor Kimmy, and began to take a look at Danille asking her all kinds of questions.

"Okay, Danielle, can you remember what happened?" Ronnie looked on expectantly, waiting for an answer, but all Danielle could do was shake her head. 'Danielle, you were in a car accident.'

"Car accident? What do you mean, but I can't have been."

"What do you mean, 'can't have been' Danielle?"

"I was on the train, I was going to...to London." Danielle was struggling to figure out how she got from the train to, well the hospital. The doctor pulled a face, and Ronnie remained rooted to the spot as she processed this information.

"Danielle, what's the last thing you remember?" Asked the doctor, taking down some notes on her chart.

"The train, I'd just got on a train..." she trailed off, looking around frantically. "Where's my Dad, if I was in an accident then surely he'd be here?" Danielle was becoming erratic, and the doctor glanced at Ronnie, who looked suitably embarrassed.

"Okay, Danielle, its ok. You are in London, in hospital; can you just tell me one more thing Danielle, what is the date?" Ronnie looked fearful as Danielle responded,

"October first 2008." Ronnie closed her eyes and sighed; that was seven months ago, did this mean Danielle had forgotten about her? All the encounters between them, she looked up at the doctor, who motioned for them to step outside.

"Miss Mitchell, can I please have a word with you outside now." His tone was quite harsh, which Ronnie had expected but now what was she going to say? As they left the room Danielle lay there looking at the ceiling, she knew that name 'Mitchell...' A nurse was taking notes about Danielle's condition, but she barely noticed, she was struggling to remember, she knew the name and the face but she could not think where from, it was beginning to worry her. She absent-mindedly grabbed for the locket as she often did when she was scared or nervous, but it was not there. "Nurse..." she asked ever so lightly.

Outside, the Doctor looked at Ronnie directly in the eye "Who are you" he demanded of her.

Ronnie glanced in the window and swallowed, she would have to tell the truth, or she was sure that they would call the police. "I am Danielle's mother, her birth mother. She was adopted and I only recently found out. The Doctor looked at her unsure how to proceed, this woman had been by Danielle's side ever since the accident, he should call the police, but she clearly was not here to harm his patient in any way.

"I would like for you to wait here, you are not to go into my patient's room until I have spoken to her. As she is over eighteen it is down to her whether to permit you to visit, but until then please go and wait in the visitor's room." Ronnie opened her mouth to argue but knew it would be fruitless, she nodded, three days of very little sleep began to take their toll, and she turned to leave: but not without taking one last glance at her little girl. As she walked away, tears, the tears that had been threatening to fall from the moment her daughter woke up, the moment her daughter could not remember her, began to fall thick and fast, and Ronnie let them.