All of them hated hospitals, having been there way too many times. Mantis had never been to one, but the amount of emotions-fear, grief, relief, joy-it was all too much to handle at a time. Yet, somehow, she managed to keep it all in. She remained quiet for the few hours they'd been sitting there, but nobody expected anything more.

Everyone got uptight when Maia was ripped out of Gamora's arms, and rushed into the emergency room. They were told to wait, causing Gamora to go into a state of rage and try to attack them. Luckily, Peter was able to hold her back, calming her down. Now, here they were, five hours later and still no word on Maia.

They were all sitting on leather, navy armchairs scattered around the waiting room. Peter, however, was pacing. The transparent walls revealed nurses and doctors rushing about the halls. Everything was silent, despite the sounds of the intercom beeping and the whining of a young toddler, who was sitting on his mother's lap in front of them. The Krylorian woman who held the child in her lap, stared at the strange family in front of her-specifically Gamora, who mirrored her position with a small Groot upon her lap. Gamora hadn't even noticed the woman as she was staring off into space. Groot frequently stretched his roots out enough to caress her check, giving her reassuring smiles. Having a mothering nature to her, the emerald woman would return the smile before staring off again.

Rocket on the other hand, did notice the woman's disturbed look. "Ya' wanna stop lookin' at us like we're a buncha freaks? Just because we don't look alike doesn't mean we ain't family, you das't idiot! Either getcha kid to shut the hell up or stop staring at us!"

The woman stood up with her child, scoffed, and walked to the other side of the room. Gamora glared at Rocket. "Rocket, shut up! Peter, stop the pacing!"

The raccoon lowered his ears and slouched against the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey, she's the one who's judging-"

Peter whipped around, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Who the hell cares?! Maia is in the E.R. right now and nobody's giving us any frickin' clues to if she okay or not." He pinched his nose and shook his head. Gamora stood up, placing Groot on the chair. She walked up to Peter and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"She's gonna be okay." Peter turned around to meet her eyes. "Xandar has one of the best medical teams in the universe." He nodded, turning back around towards the transparent glass walls enclosing the room. The worried expression on the man's face became one of hope as a tall, beautiful, Xandarian nurse approached the door of the waiting room with a data pad held against her chest. His eyes followed her every movement as she walked in.

Gamora never admitted it aloud, but she secretly got jealous whenever Peter would stare intently at another woman besides her. However, this time she didn't because she knew why he was doing it. Not because the woman was attractive, but because she was the only with information on Maia. The nurse's eyes, colored as the deepest ocean in the universe, scanned the the room. "May I speak to the parents of Maia Quill?"

Peter and Gamora locked eyes before approaching the nurse suit. The rest of the Guardians arose from their chairs, curious as to why the nurse only wanted to speak to their leaders. The flawless Xandarian gave the couple a gentle smile and looked down at her datapad. "So," Peter started out shakily as they stopped a few feet from her. "Is she gonna be okay?"

The nurse nodded with a large smile upon her face. "She will be just fine. Maia has a Terran illness by the name of 'pneumonia'. All it is, is a build-up of fluid in her lungs. She'll need to stay in the hospital overnight, just to be sure that there's nothing else wrong with her. Other than that, she'll have to take some antibiotics." Peter sighed in relief and nodded.

"I was just wondering," The man started out, in a curious tone. "Why couldn't the others hear this? Is there something else wrong?"

The nurse's soft smile soon faded as she tilted her head back down towards her datapad. "Unfortunately, there is. I'm aware that you two know of her post traumatic stress, yes?" The two nodded, Gamora biting her lip and Peter sneaking his hand into hers. "Maia is a very special girl; she has Celestial blood, she's extremely intelligent-but with that being said, she's special in another way as well. A child this young at age who has an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and on top of that, post traumatic stress,-she needs to be monitored more than you think."

Peter scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. The poor kid's been through a lot."

"She's strong." The nurse said with a soft smile. "We're going to put her on some antibiotics. Other than that, be sure she gets plenty of sleep and fluids." Peter nodded, looking towards the ground rather at her. "I know you said she has difficulties sleeping; my advice is to let her sleep with you two when that is an issue."

"Can we see her?" Gamora interrupted, only wanting to see the young child for herself.

"Yes, of course."

The bright sun rays shone down onto the unconscious child's ghostly pale skin. She was lying still as a statue on a floating, egg-shaped hospital bed. It was silver with several glowing rectangles of blue showing the child's vitals and personal information on the sides. The child was clad in white long johns and covered with a silky, white quilt. Her partially ebony hair was extremely tangled and she looked as if someone gave her two black eyes.

The transparent door that separated the room from the hall, slid open as soft, yet audible, footsteps entered. A sudden addition of weight caused the bed to descend closer towards the ground before it levitated back to its original height. A gentle hand caressed the young child's pale cheek.

The young girl's small eyelids fluttered open, revealing her beautiful brown eyes. She smiled softly once she noticed who was sitting beside her.

"Maia."

"Momma." The young girl whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Hi." Gamora said softly as the corners her lips twitched upward. "Go back to sleep, my brave, little warrior. You need your rest." She cautiously ran her fingers through the child's hair, trying to avoid pulling on the knots. It seemed like only seconds had passed before the girl's eyelids fluttered shut.

The rest of the Guardians stood in front of the door, watching over the two as if they could be attacked at any moment. It wasn't long before Peter pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on, and took a seat next to Gamora.

"I am relieved that our youngest friend is alright." Mantis whispered, softly smiling at the sleeping child.

"I am Groot." The small tree said as he sat upon the bug-like alien's shoulder with his legs dangling down.

"Groot says that he's glad she's okay, too." Rocket translated from beside them.

"On the brigh' side, we only have ta hear one kid screamin' and yellin'. It'd be nice ta get sum' sleep 'round here once in er' while."

"Kraglin, they're kids-what did you expect them to be...quiet?" L'Wit stated in a sarcastic tone. The Ravanger looked at her as if that was exactly what he thought. "Are you serious?"

"I mean, Quill could be a pain at times, but fer' the most part, he was purdy quiet."

The green-haired girl gave him a look of disbelief and shook her head. "That's because you guys probably scared the shit outta him. He was probably too afraid to speak up." All the man could do was shrug, earning a small eye roll from L'Wit.

Drax, who was uncharacteristically quiet since they arrived at the hospital, finally spoke up, "I don't understand-".

Being the only one to have heard his barely audible whisper, L'Wit whipped her head around towards him. "What?"

"Gamora-she is still presiding as Maia's mother, yet she knows that once we find her biological mother, she will no longer be of assistance to Maia."

"Wait, what?!" L'Wit scrunched up her face in disbelief. "That's not true! Maia can still consider Gamora a mother, even when...if...we can find her biological mother."

Drax ignored her statement and continued his point, "Furthermore, once her mother is found, it would only be reasonable for both of her biological parents to raise her together-which, unfortunately, would mean Quill and Gamora would have to part ways as lovers."

L'Wit gaped at him, astonished at the words coming from his mouth. "Drax, even if we find her mother, that doesn't mean Gamora and Peter have to break up! It's obvious that her biological mother wants nothing to do with her anyways, being absent all of her life!"

"You don't know that. There are certain circumstances in which a parent must make a difficult decision, knowing what's best for their children. I should know."

"You...have kids." L'Wit raised an eyebrow, not believing a word he said.

Drax sighed and crossed his arms. "Had-" He corrected. "Her name was Kamaria. She was slaughtered in cold blood along with her mother-my wife-Hovat."

Although, the tattooed man would not look at her, L'Wit looked at him with nothing but guilt and somber in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Drax...I didn't know-"

"Apologizing will not change the past. They are deceased and one day, I will get my revenge."

Just as L'Wit turned around, the man muttered something inaudible under his breath. "What was that?" She asked in a warning tone.

"I am going to tell Gamora what would be best for Maia and convince her to do so."

The somber that was once in the girl's golden eyes, turned to rage. "Don't you dare say a word to her! What Peter and Gamora feel is right for Maia, is between them-not them and you!" The muscled man scoffed at her. "I mean it Drax!"

"You are still a child; you would not understand."