Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Brielle.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Het, Stripping, Exotic Dancing, Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, etc.

Hurriedly, Chris pulled out of traffic and turned off the car. He went around to the backseat, unlocked the door, and pulled Brielle out of the mess. "Brielle? Brielle?"

The child didn't answer him.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I'm so sorry, baby. So sorry. But don't worry. I'll find someone who can help you." Chris assured her immobile, lifeless form.

Brielle only continued to stare at him blankly, unmoving. It broke his heart to see her this way.

"Where the hell is the hospital? There has to be a hospital around here somewhere! There has to be someone who can help her! There has to be someone who can save her."

For the first time, he could feel her breathing shallowly against him. It gave him hope.

And then, about ten feet ahead, he saw the universal sign for the hospital. "Oh, thank God! Just hold on for a few more minutes, baby. It'll all be over soon."

Brielle gargled and her eyes fell closed.

"C'mon, baby, it's okay. Just a few more minutes, baby." Chris climbed back behind the wheel, Brielle in his arms, and pulled back onto the road.

He was already doing twenty over the speed limit and was pushing the gas pedal even harder. He needed to be at that hospital yesterday. Chris could feel her breath start to stagger against his chest, picking up speed as her little body succumbed to shock. Taking one hand off of the wheel, he started to rub her little arms and legs and force some heat back into them. She moaned softly and her head lolled to the side. Quickly realizing that this wasn't working, he cracked up the heat to maximum power and cuddled her closer to his chest to preserve her body heat.

Chris could feel her floating away from him and it scared him. It wasn't like the kind of fear he felt when his father came this close, this close to taking her away from him. No, that had been a cold-blooded fear. He had reacted without thinking and now, it had almost cost him his everything. But after what he had done to Adam, didn't he deserve to have Brielle die in his arms? Didn't he deserve to have everyone that he cared about brutally torn from his arms? No, he didn't. Chris would make sure that she lived and then they would continue to move toward their destination.

The hospital was closer now. He could see the building in the distance. It was a large brick building, maybe three or four floors high. Chris made a sudden left turn and sped down the final road that would lead him into the parking lot for the emergency room. Selecting one of the nearest spots, he skidded to a halt and cut the engine, stuffing his keys into his pocket and carrying her over to the reception room. He was scared and she went through triage in less than half an hour, but it felt like an eternity. A few minutes later, she was in one of the beds and a doctor was taking her vitals.

"What seems to be the problem with her, Mr. Irvine?" The doctor asked sweetly. She brushed the small child's hair away from her face and put a thermometer into her ear.

"She just had serious heart surgery. She was born with a defect and had to have one of her heart-valves replaced." Chris explained. "The doctor cleared her into my custody and I've kept up with her care as best as I could."

The doctor nodded and took the thermometer out. She didn't have a temperature and Chris was thankful for that. "What hospital did she come from, Mr. Irvine?"

All of the color drained out of Chris' face. "Now that you ask, I don't remember the name of it…"

"Oh, really? That's a shame. It would've been easier to call and have her records transferred over."

Hurriedly, Chris shook his head. "No, no. I would be more than happy to fill you in on all that you need to know."

The doctor tilted her head to the side, confusion etched on her pretty face. Finally, she shook it off. "Okay, then. I need her date of birth, the name of her birth defect, her mother's name, and any other information that I would need to know."

Chris filled her in on all of the information that he knew. He didn't know her date of birth, but he told her that it was on record with the court house that he should receive a birth certificate for the child in a few days. He supplied the name of the birth defect, and the only reason he knew that was because it had been on her discharge papers. Her mother's name was easy. Adam Joseph Copeland. When the doctor looked at him oddly, he realized that it must've struck her as odd for the child to have a male 'mother'. He explained that some men were 'carriers' and could bear children.

He told her about the symptoms that she had started to exhibit in the car. He told her about how scared she had been and then, when Chris had suddenly stopped the car, how she had lurched forward and landed underneath her seat. Playing the part of the distraught father to a tee, he cried about how he wished he knew what he could have done differently so that none of this would have happened. The doctor consoled him as best she could, telling him that nobody could have known that this would be the outcome. But Chris had known. He had known and he didn't care.

"Okay, Mr. Irvine. Hush, now, it'll be okay. I'll make sure that she receives all of the care that she needs. I need you to sign here so that she can receive care, however. Can you do that for me?"

Chris nodded, wiping crocodile tears from his face. He took the clipboard from her hands and scribbled his name onto the dotted line. "You'll make sure that her body hasn't rejected the heart?"

"We'll do the best that we can, sir." The doctor assured him. "Now, we'll need to run a full-body scan to see if anything else has been affected by her heart defect. Also, we'll run an x-ray of her chest and see if we can't identify the problem."

"Did you hear that, baby? The doctor is gonna take excellent care of you. There's nothing to fear." Chris smiled blandly at the child, whose eyes had now opened and stared at him blankly.

"I'll send a technician in for her in a few minutes. You should use this time to console her. Make her feel at ease." The doctor offered, her smile never faltering.

Chris nodded fluently, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "Of course."

Chris waited a few minutes until the doctor was out of eye and ear range and then turned to the child, who had started to drool a little bit. It was tinged pink with blood, but otherwise, she looked every bit the normal child. Chris drew his palm back and struck her across the face, watching her head loll to the side and her little cheek stain red with the beginnings of a bruise. The pink tinge became a little darker, but then evened out as her eyes fell closed. And Chris leaned in close, so close that his inhale was her exhale, and vice versa.

"You little bitch! If you die on me, I swear that I will not rest until your bastard mother is six-feet-under at your side. You're not allowed to die, Brielle. You're mine, and I won't let you escape so easily."