As my eyes go from the test results to the heart monitor, watching each beat as it appears, I try to come to terms with my new reality. For fifteen years, I'd lived with the idea that I had lost the greatest love of my life—my childhood sweetheart and soul mate. I thought our child died with her, having never taken a breath, never been held by loving arms, and never knowing the love of the parents who created him or her. I was told repeatedly, year after year, to move on, to accept that Bella was gone and nothing could bring her back. It took me a long time to even begin to live again. I threw myself into my military training, medical school, and residency.

I didn't date or even consider finding someone else—until Kate. She's the only person I've told about Bella, and she lets me talk about her, about what our baby could have been, and how much I miss my wife. She's never asked me to tuck my pain away and move on, which is probably why I was finally able to be with her.

But now . . .

Our child is alive. Somehow she made it at least close to term, and everything I believed feels like a lie. I should have known. How I'm not sure, but I should have. My baby girl needed me. Bella needed me. I never gave up hope, but I feel like I should have done more to find them. I kept living, and all the while, this little girl was out there . . . somewhere. She's gone through milestone after milestone without me. God only knows what her life has been like, but I know it couldn't have been easy. Imagining the horrors she may have faced makes me sick to my stomach. I have so many questions, but I'm unsure I can handle the answers.

A knock on the glass door pulls me back to reality, and I clear my throat, scrubbing a hand over my face as I tell whoever it is to come in. I look up to find my parents and quickly rise, hugging my mom. I called them first thing this morning.

"Oh, Edward," Mom says, looking past me at my daughter in the hospital bed. "She looks like both of you. Bella's face . . . Your hair. She's the perfect mix."

"She's definitely mine," I say, handing Dad the DNA results. "Jasper is working on emergency custody, and the hearing is first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good," Dad says, walking over to his granddaughter. "Tell me more about her injuries. When will they wake her?"

I sit back down as Mom presses a kiss to Lucy's forehead. Oddly enough, Lucy was on our name list, but I hate that I can't call her by her real name.

"She's scheduled for surgery in the morning for her leg. So far, there's been no more bleeding, and her vitals have been good. Her BP is up in a normal range now. Peter wants to wake her up after the surgery or the next morning, depending on how she does."

"And how are you doing? Did you get any sleep?"

I shrug. Closing my eyes was next to impossible last night. I couldn't stop watching her chest rise and fall and listening to her heart rhythm on the monitor. Every time my eyes closed, they would soon jolt back open.

"Not much, to be honest."

"Have you eaten?" Mom asks, and I shake my head.

"Only a doughnut this morning."

She stands, shaking her head. "I'm going to get you something to eat. And you need to rest. We're here now, and we'll keep an eye on her."

"She's right, son," Dad says as he sits across from me. "I won't take my eyesoff her."

I know they're right, but I've had enough coffee to keep me going a little longer. I am starving, though. I ask for a turkey sub from downstairs so she won't have to go far, and then she kisses Lucy again before leaving.

"Have the police found anything out?" Dad asks.

I shake my head. "No, until she can tell us who she is, there's nothing they can do. They did charge the guy who hit her, at least."

"It's just a miracle you found her."

"I think she found me. I swear she recognized me before she was hit. Maybe she was looking for me, and it wasn't some weird coincidence."

He nods, taking her hand. "She could have been."

"What if Bella's still alive?"

"That would be amazing, Edward, but we can't know until this young girl wakes up. I don't think we should speculate."

He's right, but I can't help but wonder what happened. Was she taken? And who would do that? I need to know what happened, but I have to wait, and it kills me.

"I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I have a teenage daughter. How the hell do I handle this? What do I do for her?"

He lifts her hand, kissing her scraped knuckles. "Just be there for her, son. I'm sure she'll wake up frightened and confused, so you'll need to be strong for her. You're going to be a great dad."

I hope he's right, but I'm clueless. She will need so much, and I don't know where to start. Maybe I can ask Alice to get her the things girls need as well as some clothes. She enjoys shopping anyway, and Lucy will need everything.

That's an easy enough place to start.

. . . . .

Dr. Tanya Delano comes in first thing the following day to go over the surgery to repair Lucy's leg. She's one of the best the hospital has, so I'm relieved it's her working on my girl.

"How are you holding up?" she asks, pulling back from listening to my daughter's heart.

I lift my coffee, taking a sip. "I'm just ready for her to wake up. It's been horrible not being able to talk to her."

She nods, throwing her stethoscope around her neck. "I can imagine. So, the surgery should take about three hours. I'll keep you updated the whole time."

I hate the idea of being without my girl for that long. "Any chance I can observe? I won't say a word."

She smiles, cocking her head. "No backseat doctoring, got it?"

I nod. "Absolutely. I just don't want to be away from her. It's like I'm afraid she will disappear on me again."

"I understand," she says, looking over Lucy's left leg and foot. "The swelling has come down really well. I shouldn't have any issues securing the bones."

That's one good thing, at least. Another orthopedic surgeon stabilized the bones as best he could during the first operation, but we couldn't keep her under long enough to put the plates and screws in because her pelvis was more urgent to fix. Now that the swelling is down, it'll be easier, and I trust Tanya to do a good job.

Lucy will have to learn to walk again, but everything points to a full recovery.

"I'll see you in an hour," Tanya says. "Try to close your eyes. You look exhausted."

She's not wrong. Even with Mom and Dad arriving yesterday, I didn't get much sleep. I'm literally running on caffeine, and it's not working as well now, so I should close my eyes.

Once she leaves, I stretch out the recliner and try my best to sleep. Somehow, I manage the full hour, but I wake up with anxiety and quickly examine my daughter's monitors—thankful nothing has changed.

I stand and lean over her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "One more surgery, little one. Then hopefully, you can wake up and tell me who you are. I can't wait to hear what your real name is. Just know you're safe now, and I won't let anyone hurt you again."

I've told her that countless times—even though she probably can't hear me. I just want her to wake up, finally feeling safe.

Soon enough, it's time to take her down and get her prepped. I stay by her side, except for when I have to scrub, and then I take a seat beside her head. Tanya works diligently and makes sure Lucy's leg is set perfectly before putting the hardware on to keep it together. Eventually, the hardware will have to come out, but it'll be a few months before another surgery.

I hate that my daughter was hurt so badly. If that car hadn't hit her, everything would be different. I'd know who she is, and she would know she's safe. I'd already have transformed my guest room into whatever she wanted, and we'd be getting to know each other. I'm glad the asshole was arrested because he stole precious time from me, and I've already lost so much.

"It looks good, Edward," Tanya says, looking over at me. "I'm going to close her soon, so you can breathe a sigh of relief anytime. She's a champ, really. This couldn't have gone better."

I'm so fucking relieved.

. . . . .

By the time Lucy is out of recovery and back in her room, Jasper is out of court, and I learn my custody has been granted. My parents are back and waiting for us and quickly congratulate me.

"Here's the paperwork," Jasper says, grinning as he hands me the proof. "We'll update everything once we know her real name, but it's all final."

I embrace him tightly. "Thank you so much, man."

"You're welcome. So, how's she doing?"

I smile, looking over at her. "Fantastic. Peter might try to start waking her today, but we'll see how she tolerates coming off the vent. Unfortunately, she did code, but she wasn't down too long, so hopefully, there's no brain damage. That's the biggest concern."

I have to believe she's going to wake up okay. She might have some memory loss and motor function issues, but we'll get through them. I'll get her through this recovery.

"Alice is already shopping," he says with a smirk. "You didn't give her a limit, so you only have yourself to blame when she goes overboard. She's been wanting to buy for a girl forever."

I'm sure my credit card statement will scare me, but I don't care.

We all sit around talking about Lucy's prognosis and what to do next when Peter finally comes in. He pulls up the CT images from early this morning on the computer and smiles as I look them over.

Her brain looks perfect.

"Let's wake her up," he says.

"I'm worried about controlling her pain, though," I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face.

Peter nods. "We can manage it. Let's just give it a try, all right? If she doesn't handle coming off the vent well, we'll wait a few more days."

It takes imagining what her voice may sound like to finally convince me to try. I'm terrified we won't be able to control her pain, but Peter's right; she needs to wake up, and it's as good a day as any.

"Let's do it." I sigh, hoping this won't hurt her.

Lucy's breathing on her own by one o'clock in the afternoon, and I can't take my eyes off her. Of course, neither can my mother and father. She's going to wake up in her own time, but I just want that time to be now. What will her voice sound like? Will she know who I am? God, what's her name? So many questions circle in my head, just waiting to be answered. I don't want to bombard her with them, but it feels like I'm bursting at the seams—needing to devour every single drop of knowledge she holds.

I have to go slowly, though.

"Where do I start?" I ask, looking over at my parents. "I'll want to know if she's in pain, how she feels, what her name is, where she's been, if she knows who I am, and Jesus if she doesn't, how do I explain that one? There's just so much, but I can't overwhelm her."

Dad nods in understanding, lightly tightening his grip on his granddaughter's small hand. "It's a lot, but let's focus on how she's doing physically first. It's what we'd do with any other patient. She'll tell us her name when she's ready, and if she recognizes you, she'll say so."

"Tell her she's safe and assure her things will be okay," Mom adds, resting her head against Dad's shoulder. She's so excited and nervous, too, but keeps reminding herself to be calm and patient, like him. "Maybe let her ask you things first, honey. I know we've missed a lot, but we have plenty of time ahead of us, so there's no rush today."

She might be too tired to say much, I think, trying to prepare myself for that possibility. "She could be terrified. I mean, strange people, strange place, and she'll be in pain."

"Quite likely," Dad says. "She might need some time, and if it's the number of people concerning her, we'll step out. Edward, it's going to be okay. She's not the only one who needs to know that."

I'm so fucking nervous, but Dad's right. She's back in my life, so we'll face everything together, and it will be okay. I don't need to stress over exactly what to say because it'll all get said at some point. She'll tell her story, and while I know it'll be torture to listen to, I need to hear it. I'll make sure she gets all the help she needs, and if Bella is alive, we'll find her. I don't know anything else, but at this moment, I'm sure of that.

I'm not giving up on her this time. I'll never stop looking because if this is possible, finding my Bella alive is, too. And when I do, I'm never letting either of them out of my sight again.

Don't own Twilight.

Thanks to May, Brier, and Mary for prereading. And thanks to Fran for beta'ing.

We meet Lucy next chapter! Thank you all so much for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing! I cherish your words!