The cold air made Holly shiver. She didn't have a watch, but she guessed it was past midnight. All she could think about was home.

After walking another mile, Holly finally got to her driveway. There was a car in the driveway, a black BMW. It was a convertable, but the top was on. She walked in the door and saw her only guardian sitting in the laz-y-boy.

"Where have you been?"

"I was just with at a friends house," Holly said.

El got up and walked towards her. "You didn't think to call? You know better than this."

Holly looked down. El was only 9 years older than her but she had been like a mother to her while growing up.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"It better not, now go to bed."

Holly went upstairs and lyed in bed. El had never punished her, whether she diserved it or not. She only made Holly feel guilty, which seemed to work well.

El gave Holly a lot of freedom. She could spend time with her friends as much as she wanted. She had no curfew, but expected to know where she was. Holly thought it was because El had to work so much, but it was really because El wanted Holly's childhood to be nothing like her own.

_

El wasn't home much. She was a surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. When she wasn't working she was stressing about her... what was Holly to her? Her daughter? Her sister? El didn't really know, but she had custody of her and she cared deeply for her. Ever since her old life was left behind all she had was Holly. She wanted her to have a bright future. Holly always got strait As but El wanted her to have a better life than she did. She didn't want her to be lonely, and urged her to make friends with people.

It was a warm summer morning. El and Holly were up at the pool with a few of her friends. El could only think about how much Holly was like Mike. Anyone could see the resemblance, but Holly was also a die-hard Star Wars fan and loved comic books. She was sweet and thoughtful, despite everything she had lived through. El noticed how strange some of Holly's friends treated her. They were never rude, but she suspected that they thought it was strange a 22 year-old watched over a 13 year old.

El's work pager went off, so she had to go into the hospital. She got into her car and drove to work.

She walked into the busy building and went towards the O.R.s.

"What do we got?" she asked a nurse.

"22 year old male. Lacerations on the stomach. Severe organ damage and bleeding."

She stepped into the room after washing her hands. El walked towards the table and a nurse put gloves on her. She looked down at the table and stood back in horror.

"What's his name?"

"He's a John Doe"

"No, his name is Mike. Michael Wheeler."