Chapter 2.

Ellen Sachs was in her kitchen when she got the call from a friend who was a nurse at Cincinnati General. She was stunned by the news that her daughter had been in an accident and was undergoing emergency surgery. Her momentary shock wore off as she quickly grabbed her purse, keys, and coat before leaving without further delay. When she got to the hospital her friend, Freda, told her that they were operating on Andy to stop some internal bleeding and that she would likely need another surgery to deal with a broken leg. She also told her that the Doctor's were concerned about a head injury. Freda escorted her to a large medical suite and told her that this would be Andy's room once she came out of surgery. Ellen thanked her friend then looked around the well-appointed hospital room. She was a little surprised as she was not aware the hospital had any suits as nice as this one. She sat down and wondered what her daughter was doing back in Ohio.

Miranda walked into the hospital and asked for Andrea's room. The woman behind the desk made a call and two minutes later the hospital administrator came down and reintroduced herself.

"Mrs. Priestley, I am Audrey Spellman we spoke on the phone."

"Andrea is out of surgery and is now in post-op recovery."

"I will take you to her medical suite and her doctor will come to brief you in a few minutes."

Without thinking about it Miranda performed her customary head to toe inspection of this woman who she had to admit was impeccably dressed. She gave the woman her nod of approval before being escorted towards the nearest elevator.

Ellen looked up as she heard someone enter the room and was completely stunned to see Andy's former boss stroll into the room. She quickly stood up and began to introduce herself but was cut off by the woman's harsh glare.

"Mrs. Sachs I am perfectly aware who you are."

Ellen was now even more confused as she wondered just what Miranda Priestly was doing in her daughter's room and why was she so hostile towards her. She could not figure out what brought this woman here right now. Before she could ask any questions a tall handsome woman entered the room and introduced herself as Dr. Anna Stern.

Miranda and Ellen both introduced themselves. She then turned towards Miranda and began explaining the nature and extent of Andy's injuries, that they had stopped her internal bleeding, and that she would need a second surgery to repair her broken left leg.

"I am also concerned about her head injury."

"We did a scan, but without a baseline, it is difficult to tell exactly what's going on."

Miranda reached into her purse and retrieved a large envelope then explained, "This is from Andrea's last full body scan done during her last annual four months ago."

Ellen looked at the envelope wanting to know why this woman had her daughter's medical records. They both waited patiently while the doctor reviewed the scan.

Dr. Stern looked at Miranda and said, "I am more optimistic now that I am able to compare before and after brain scans."

The doctor told them that Andy would be moved from recovery to her room in a few minutes. She also cautioned them that they should not expect her to wake for a while.

The doctor looked at Miranda and asked, "She is a real fighter isn't she?"

Miranda smiled then said, "She has a lot to fight for."

The women exchanged handshakes and then the doctor was gone leaving the two women in the room alone and Ellen with more questions than answers.

"I didn't think Andy worked for you anymore," Ellen stated still trying to organize her thoughts.

Miranda looked at her appearing to compose herself before answering.

"No Andrea has not worked for me for many years now."

Before she could stop herself Ellen asked, "Then why are you here?"

Miranda gave her a glare that made her regret asking the question but before the other woman could respond her daughter was being wheeled into the room. The look of pain on Miranda's face shocked Ellen badly. She watched as Miranda walked over to Andy's bed, grabbed her hand, and whispered something she couldn't make out into her ear.

Ellen waited patiently for Miranda to finish talking to her unconscious daughter. She observed the woman closely trying to make sense of what was happening, clearly, the two had kept in touch since her daughter left Runway. She, unfortunately, did not know much about her daughter's life now because they had not spoken for more than five years.

It had started with her daughter's choice to move to New York in the first place and when she had broken up with her boyfriend both she and Andy's father had been in agreement that it was time for her to move back to Ohio. They gave her an ultimatum that either she moves back or they would withdraw all financial support. That conversation had not gone as anyone had expected and harsh words had been exchanged. Her daughter had displayed a defiance that neither of them had expected and when she dug in her heels her father had been the one to escalate things even further by letting her know if she did not move back than they would sever all contact with the family. Andrea had initially been stunned by what he said and even gave him the opportunity to take back his threat. When neither of her parents said anything she had shown just how grown up she had become. She made it clear that she would not be forced to do anything by anyone.

That conversation had broken Ellen's heart but at the time she'd felt she had to stand by her husband. She'd also deluded herself into thinking that what they were doing was in Andy's best interest. As time passed she began to question the soundness of their approach but held on to the idea that their position had been the right one. They had been afraid for their daughter who was a young, single, and attractive woman alone in a dangerous city. She was brought back from her own thoughts by the feeling of eyes looking at her. She looked up to see cold blue eyes staring back at her. She may not know exactly what was going on but she could feel the anger coming from the other woman in waves.

Miranda spoke with an edge to her voice, "You asked me before what I was doing here."

"Well, it occurs to me that I could ask you that same question, Mrs. Sachs."

"What do you think you are doing here?"

Ellen was taken aback not just by her words but by the cold tone of her voice.

She replied, "I am her mother, of course, I would be here."

Miranda's response was both quick and devastating, "Are you her mother because she could have died at any point in the last five years and you would have been clueless."

Before she could respond Miranda continued, "And before you try to disagree ask yourself what do you know about your daughter's life in the last five years?"

"Nothing, otherwise you would not ask me what I am doing here."

"If you had even bothered to read a single letter that she wrote, you would be very clear on why I am here and why I used every resource at my disposal to get here as quickly as possible."

Ellen looked into frightening blue eyes and asked, "You were in New York when you heard about the accident?"

She was at a complete loss at what would motivate her daughter's former boss to drop everything and come to Cincinnati. Miranda could apparently read the look on Ellen's face as she turned away from her in disgust. When she spoke again it was so quiet that Ellen had to listen very closely to hear.

"You call yourself her mother, but I would never break contact with any of my girls no matter how much I disagreed with their decisions or no matter how justified I thought I was."

"With the pain that you and your husband caused Andrea, that you have the nerve to sit there and justify your presence here while questioning mine astounds me."

She walked over to her bag and pulled out a bundle of letters, she walked over and dropped them into Ellen's lap before leaving the room without another word.