Aria tapped her fingers impatiently against the steering wheel as she waited in standstill traffic. If things didn't start moving soon she'd be late for work. Nathan's daycare wasn't that far from her work place but the 405 was notorious for its traffic. Besides for the obvious annoyance of traffic, alone, in her car she had time to think and right now she didn't want to think.

It was almost a week since Ian walked out. Lucy had yelled at her for being a coward and for hurting Ian but she couldn't deal with all that right now. She had known from the beginning it was a bad idea. No matter how miserable her life was she was better off with just her and Nathan; at least it was a lot less complicated.

"Finally," she muttered to herself as the traffic began to ease up giving her a chance to ease up on her thoughts as well.

She arrived five minutes late and her boss met her at the door.

Great. "Sorry I'm late – "

"Hand me your cell phone."

"What?"

"We are very behind on the upcoming issue and I need everyone's full concentration. No phone, no distraction." She rattled a box in front of Aria's face and Aria saw all her co-workers phones inside. "Everyone handed theirs in; you'll get it back at the end of the day."

Aria turned off her phone and gave it up with a sigh. It's not that she needed her phone; she usually didn't call anyone during the day anyway. It was more of a security thing; she felt lost without it. With another sigh she headed to her cubicle. She may as well get some work done.

" Crap!" Aria exclaimed as she looked at her watch. She'd be late for picking up Nathan if she didn't hurry. She grabbed her phone out of the box, not bothering to turn it on, and ran to her car.

She pulled into the daycare parking lot and hurried into the small, colorful building. She glanced around for Nathan but couldn't find him. Her heart began to pound as she approached the secretary.

"Hi, I can't find my son…" her voice trailed off. She felt like she sounded pathetic.

"Are you Mrs. Parker?"

"Yes, I prefer Aria."

The secretary stood up and beckoned her into the office.

"Where's Nathan?" her worry skyrocketed.

The secretary knocked on the inner office door, artfully sidestepping the question. "Mrs. Parker is here."

The door opened and the principal Ms. Newman stood there. At least that's what Aria thought of her as. It was only a daycare, but regardless of her official title, she was the one in charge. Aria had chosen the daycare for its professional state-of-the-art facility. The building and playground were new; the classrooms bright an airy. The teacher-studio ratio was very high. Aria had been impressed by how well it was run.

"Mrs. Parker, come take a seat."

Aria reluctantly stepped inside. "Where's Nathan?" she repeated, her mouth dry. "And call me Aria please."

Ms. Newman waited until Aria was seated before she spoke. "There was a little accident today."

"W-what?" Aria closed her eyes for a moment. No, not again. Not an accident. Oh God, please, no. I can't handle another… accident.

"In the playground. A few of the children were waiting for their turn on the slide when Nathan lost his balance and fell off from the top of the slide. He hit his head."

Aria followed the principal's gaze out the window which had a perfect view of the playground. The slide was about three feet high. Her first reaction was denial.

"But… but aren't there regulations? Doesn't the ground have to be soft or something? Where was the teacher?"

She nodded sadly. "The ground is softer but it seems he banged his head against one of the poles of the frame. It happened so fast, the teacher didn't have a chance to catch him."

"Where is he now? Is he okay? When did this happen?"

"He's at the Mt. Sinai Hospital. I'm sure he'll be fine. It happened at about eleven this morning."

It was now after five.

We've been trying to reach you all day." There was a reprimand in her voice.

Aria pulled out her phone fighting back tears. "My phone was off. I was at work," she tried to explain.

Ms. Newman stood up. "I can assure you we will compensate you for everything. This is an unfortunate mistake and we will try our best to ensure it won't ever happen again."

Aria nodded and stood up as well. The daycare obviously didn't want her to sue them but she didn't have a head for that right now. "I've got to go."

She drove to the hospital like a maniac, her heart pounding. Her Nathan, her little baby, was hurt. It was her fault; why did she turn off her phone? Why did she hand it in? She smacked her head angrily. She hadn't even gotten enough information. Was he badly hurt? Oh, her poor baby was alone in the hospital all day.

She cursed as she tried to find parking. Why was it so difficult to find parking in a hospital? She cursed again as she was force to go up another level in the parking garage. She finally found a spot and hurried into the building and up to the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm here for Nathan Parker. He was brought in here earlier today. He's a toddler."

The receptionist gave her an evil glare. "One moment." She stood up from her seat and disappeared into the back.

"Where the hell is he?" she yelled to the retreating form. "Shit." A few tears escaped. She took a deep, shaky, breath and managed to hold the rest back.

Aria took a seat in the waiting room, one leg shaking impatiently. After what seemed like forever the receptionist returned, followed by a plump woman. She had short blonde hair that Aria suspected was a wig, a stern face, and square rimless glasses that hung around her neck.

"Mrs. Parker?"

Aria shot out of her seat. The woman extended her hand and Aria shook it reluctantly.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Muller from Child Services. You are Mrs. Parker?"

Child Services? "Yes. Where is my son?"

She took Aria by the elbow steering her down a long maze-like hallway. "Walk with me," she commanded.

Aria had no choice but to comply.

"Nathan is alright. He just needed stitches. It was a head wound and was bleeding profusely; it worried the teachers."

She spoke in clipped sentences, as if she was counting every word she uttered. Aria heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"Can I go see him?" she hated how small her voice sounded, how small she felt. She hated how big the hospital was, how the protocol was so unfamiliar, and how nothing was in her control.

"I'm afraid not. See when the school and the hospital couldn't reach you they had no choice but to call us. You've been neglectful."

Us. Social Services. She was a bad mother. "I was at work," her voice was shrill. "You have to believe me. Nathan is my life."

The women smiled a cold smile.

"Wait, what about the emergency contact numbers? The daycare had my Mom – "

She stopped midsentence when realization hit her.

"We tried your Mom."

"She flew out of town today. She was probably on the plane."

"And we tried the other number, your sister?"

Aria's heart sank. "My sister was shooting all day. She probably wasn't able to pick up her phone."

Mrs. Muller gave her a strange look.

"Filming, shooting scenes, she's an actress," Aria explained shortly.

Aria took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. "Please, I need to see him, he's probably miserable. This is all a big misunderstanding. I would never willfully neglect him," she begged.

Mrs. Muller folded her arms across her ample chest. "Mrs. Parker, please see this from our point of view. A child was hurt and we are unable to get hold of any responsible adult. We need to examine this situation and ascertain that you are a fitting mother. As of now you have forfeited the right to see him."

Aria nearly collapsed right there in the hallway. She couldn't stop the tears this time. "Please, I'm a single Mom. Why – "

"You are all the same, aren't you? You think raising a kid is easy, you think you could do it all on your own, until it gets too hard. It's not fair that your child has to suffer through your mistakes. A stable home would be much healthier."

Aria flinched from the venom in her tone. She felt anger rising at the woman's assumptions, at her false accusations. Aria worked hard to keep her voice even. "My husband died just over a year ago. Believe me, being a single Mom is not my choice."

Aria detected a flicker of sympathy in the woman's eyes but in a flash it was gone. She cleared her throat and led Aria back to the waiting room.

"I will be with you shortly; there are some things I need to clarify."

"Call my boss, please. She'll tell you that I didn't have my phone on me because of her, please."

Mrs. Muller nodded with her lips in a thin line. "We'll see," was all she said.

Aria slumped in her seat, the tears still flowing freely. She tried Lucy but got her voicemail. She left a tear-choked message.

"Hey Luce, Nathan is hurt. I'm at Mt. Sinai. Please come as soon as you can."

She watched the clock; watched as the minutes slowly passed. Anger surged through her again as she imagined Nathan alone in a hospital room crying for her. She wasn't a bad mother; was she? She tried so hard; it wasn't fair. She needed to talk to someone right now before she lost her mind. Her fingers dialed Ian's familiar number, ignoring the fact that she was supposed to be mad at him, instinctively knowing that he would provide the comfort she needed.

He picked up on the first ring delighted that she was finally calling. He didn't expect to hear her voice, choked with tears.

"Aria? Are you okay?"

"No. I'm at the hospital; Nathan's hurt and they won't let me see him."

"Don't move. I'm coming right now."