"I didn't have my first scan until I was five months gone with you."

Ronnie was sat on the side of the bed, facing Danielle, she had Danielle's hands in each of hers and was caringly stroking her thumbs over her daughter's upturned palms.

"Nobody knew until then. I suppose I tried to pretend it wasn't happening. I was so young." Ronnie shook her head sadly as she remembered the fear, the denial that she had gone through.

"I wore baggy clothes, started hiding myself away. I knew I didn't want to have an abortion, right from the start I knew that, so don't think that I only had you because I left it too long. I truly wanted you, as soon as I found out I was pregnant I wanted you but I was scared, I didn't to face the truth. Having a baby was…it would change my whole life, I'd have this little person to take care of. I remember thinking that if I didn't tell anyone that it wouldn't really happen. But, well, there was only so long that could last." She gave a small sighing laugh.

It had always been painful for Ronnie to think back to that time, to her pregnancy and the birth, to holding her little Amy. But now that she was here, really here, she realised that she didn't have to hide it away like her dirty secret. Ronnie didn't have to mourn those times, now she could celebrate them. Share them with her daughter.

"I remember seeing you for the first time on that scan. My mum had me go but I went in alone. It was just me and you. The nurse started the ultrasound and I saw you. You were so tiny, your little legs kicking. And then the sound was on and your heartbeat…I've never in my life heard anything so breath taking. There was this second heart inside me, beating away. I couldn't stop looking at you. You were sucking your thumb, this tiny little hand up to your mouth. This hand," Ronnie said dreamily, lifting Danielle's left hand ever so slightly.

It was just a twitch, the smallest tap of Danielle's little finger against Ronnie's palm but Ronnie jumped as she felt it. She clasped her uninjured hand tightly, giving it a comforting squeeze before lifting it to kiss once again. At this, she saw Danielle's eyelids flutter. She watched intently, her hands both grasping one of Danielle's. She watched as Danielle's brow creased slightly, her eyelids flickering and suddenly she began to cough through the tube, her chest no longer moving in a steady rhythm but fighting against the ventilator.

Ronnie pushed the emergency call button beside Danielle's bed. She watched her daughter's eyes as they half opened and closed again.

"Come on sweetie," Ronnie whispered, she knew that over the noise of the machines Danielle wouldn't hear her, it was a wish, willing her daughter to be alright.

"Danielle, can you hear me?" Ronnie asked, holding her daughter's face in both hands even as she watched her throw her head back in a spluttering fit against the tube.

"Sweetie, I'm here." Ronnie called out to her.

A nurse rushed into the room, she moved over to the bed and even as she reached Danielle, another nurse entered. She ushered Ronnie out telling her that she couldn't be in the room while they dealt with Danielle.

Ronnie was out in the corridor before anything had registered. She stared at the door, angrily, desolately. Her daughter was awake and the first face she saw would be a stranger's. She stepped back slightly, not knowing what to do with herself. A doctor moved past her into the room, she said nothing, just watched her enter the room. Whilst the door was open she could see her little girl, her eyes open, the ventilator had been unplugged and she could see the nurse talking to Danielle before the door once again swung closed in her face.

Ronnie turned around, she looked for a seat, somewhere close to Danielle where she could wait but there were no chairs around. She ran her hands through her hair distractedly registering that it was still slightly damp and hadn't even been brushed since her shower. That felt like weeks ago now.

She stood in the corridor, just waiting, aimless and bemused. Her arms hung loosely by her sides, hands clenching and unclenching into fists just for something to do with herself. It was mere minutes before a nurse emerged from the room but to Ronnie it had felt like an eternity. How many eternities had passed in just one night?

"Ms. Mitchell," The nurse began. Ronnie's entire body was poised in attention.

"Ronnie." She corrected. She was tired of being spoken to so formerly, so distantly.

The nurse looked confused and Ronnie smiled, answering that they should call her Ronnie.

"How is she? Is she awake? And breathing alright?" Ronnie questioned, anxious to know what was happening.

"She's doing well. Come this way, into the relatives room and I'll talk you through things quickly." The nurse placed her arm on Ronnie's back and guided her down the hall. This time Ronnie walked with certainty. Her daughter was alright.

As Ronnie sat in the small room she looked at the nurse sat opposite her, she looked around the same age as Ronnie and yet at the same time she looked so young. She didn't have the sadness in her eyes, the years of pain.

"Right, Ronnie. Your daughter is absolutely fine." Ronnie smiled once again at those simple words. Words she hadn't ever thought she'd hear, not since her father had told her, her Amy was dead.

"She's awake and we've taken the tube out, so she's off the ventilator. Her breathing is controlled, still a little weak so if she finds it too much strain we can put her on an oxygen mask. She seems to be coping alright though." The nurse smiled warmly which Ronnie returned. She felt like a mother. It was surreal but she was being treated like a mother, like when she had been in labour, it was the first time since then but she was being treated like a real mother. She could hardly contain the elation that was building inside her. Danielle was her daughter, her Amy wasn't dead, she was Danielle, Danielle was going to be alright, everything would be alright.

"I'll take you in to see Danielle in a moment," the nurse continued, "she's only just regained consciousness so she won't be making much sense, she won't be fully aware of things yet. It's best to let her rest as much as you can." Ronnie nodded before rising to leave the room. She and the nurse made their way back to see Danielle.