Her heart began to pound the moment she heard the first chime of the phone. Nothing good came from phone calls in the middle of the night and every mother knew it. The actual conversation was now a bit of a blur. She was on autopilot as she gripped the steering wheel and stared at the road ahead of her. The robotic voice of the GPS guided her as she made her way to the house that she knew nothing about, to the son that she'd not seen or talked to in weeks—the son that might now be….

She slammed on brakes as she reached the driveway, furiously trying to turn off the ignition and open the door of the car. Smoke poured from broken windows and fireman crowded the building as they fought the ever growing flames.

"My son is in there!" Jill screamed, racing towards the stone steps. An officer grabbed her, pulling her back towards the caution tape.

"You're Jill Abbott?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, her heart still pounding in her chest as she struggled to get closer to the house. "My son…Billy..he's.."

The office shook his head. "They're working on your son right over there." He pointed to an ambulance.

Jill turned to see a group of EMTs huddled together working feverishly on the ground. She couldn't see him, but the sheer number of people terrified her. "I need to see him. He needs to know I'm here."

"You can't..not now. Let them do their work." He reached into his pocket. "We found this with him," he said softly, holding out the picture towards her. "We weren't sure if this was something you'd want or if it was someone you'd need to contact."

Jill took the photo in her hand, her heart sinking.

"Thank you," She whispered. For a moment she stood still, simply staring at the photo. She had known this relationship would lead to disaster and now look at where they were. She was standing in front of a house that was going up in flames, a house that until moments ago had her son inside—and she now had a pretty good idea as to why.

She'd had high hopes that Billy would walk away from this fairly unscathed, especially when she'd heard Phyllis had come to her senses and decided to work on her marriage, but she hadn't counted on one thing. Billy was in love. She hadn't realized it right away, chalking up his horrific reaction to male ego and his competitive nature, but at some point the bravado faded and she could see the loss and emptiness behind it. It killed her to know she'd fought so valiantly against something he wanted so much, but it had been for the best, hadn't it?

The sounds of the frantic voices of the EMTs made her want to scream and she realized she was clenching the photo in her hand. She looked down, the picture now crushed and folded. It felt right to do this—almost as if she was being given a chance to right a wrong even if she wasn't entirely sure there was a right and wrong here.

Jill took a breath and dialed the number on the phone.

Phyllis grabbed the phone from the nightstand, sleep instantly fading from her mind.

"Hello?"

Jill nodded, recognizing the tone. It was the same for every mother when the phone rings late at night—when your mind races to mental check of where your children are—of who could be calling at this hour, of what they might say.

"Phyllis," Jill said softly, "It's Jill."

Phyllis felt her heart drop. She threw the covers off immediately, swinging her legs off the side of the bed. "Jill….what's wrong?"

Jill hesitated, suddenly questioning herself. If Phyllis was trying to rebuild with Jack, this was certainly not going to help. "I'm sorry, Phyllis. I know you're trying to work things out with Jack. Maybe I shouldn't have called."

"Jill. Is Billy okay? Has something happened?" She was standing now, her robe already wrapped around her.

"There's been an accident. I'm really not sure what happened."

Tears immediately filled her eyes. "My God." She sat back down on the edge of the bed, forcing breath back into her body. "He's not…He's not…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"They're working on him now…trying to stabilize him to take him to the hospital. If you wanted to, you could maybe come meet us there?" Jill left the question hanging, letting Phyllis make the next move.

"No," Phyllis responded quickly. "I can't do that."

Jill closed her eyes. "I understand. I really do."

"No..No…" She stood again, walking quickly to the closet and pulling out the first clothes she could grab. "I'm coming to you now. Give me the address where you are."

Jill stood back, her hand still gripping the phone as she silently prayed. Every time she heard one of the EMTs raise their voice she'd swear her heart would stop. Never before had she felt this completely helpless. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the mass of people parted and began to move lines and medical equipment around. Billy lay on a gurney completely still.

She rushed forward. "Can I see him? Please? I'm his mother. I just want him to know that I'm here."

The EMT looked at her, nodding quickly. "Just for a second…We're trying to get him ready to transport."

"Is he okay?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"We're doing everything we can."

The answer was like a slap in the face. She knew what that meant. That was the answer they gave when they had no other answer or when the real answer wasn't something they wanted to deal with. That was the answer that meant it could go either way. She couldn't handle that….not when the answer involved her son.

She walked over to him slowly. He wasn't burned badly that she could see. There were a few bandages on his hands but his face appeared okay. They had an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth and his eyes were closed. "Billy," she said softly, her voice breaking as she spoke to him.

There was no response. She turned around, her eyes meeting one of the men who'd been working on him earlier. "Is the conscious?" she asked. "Can he hear me?"

He smiled kindly at her. "He's not conscious, but we don't know if he can hear you or not. It certainly can't hurt to talk to him."

Jill nodded. She turned back to Billy, her hand trembling as she very gently stroked his hair. "I'm here sweetheart. I haven't always been here for you and I know that, but I'm here now." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "And I called her. She'll be here soon." The picture was creased and wrinkled, but she smoothed it out as much as she could before pressing it into his hand. "Here's your picture, baby," she said softly. "You hold onto that until she gets here."

She hadn't allowed herself to cry—not yet. If she stared, she was afraid she wouldn't stop and that was the last thing anyone needed—especially now. The not knowing was the hardest part. Jill had told her virtually nothing…all she knew was that there had been an accident and that he was alive. She didn't know what kind of accident…a car accident, motorcycle accident, a fight….The scenarios made her head spin and each possibility seemed more horrific than the next.

The drive seemed to take forever even though in reality it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes. The smell of smoke permeated the air far ahead of the actual house. She slowed to a stop in front of the house, the flashing lights and smoldering flames beckoning her towards the site. Phyllis jumped from the car and ran towards the tree where she saw Jill.

"Oh my God," she said, coughing as the thick smoke made it hard to breath. "What the hell happened?"

Jill shook her head. "I don't know," she said honestly. "I just know Billy was in the house when the fire started. They got him out, but…" She turned towards the gurney which they were now beginning to load into the back of the ambulance.

Phyllis stared at him. "Wait," she yelled, rushing over to them as they began to shut the door. "I need to see him…please…Please let me see him."

"Maam. We have to get him to the hospital. You can follow us in your car. You can see him then."

"No," Phyllis screamed in protest. "I need to see him now. He has to know that I'm here. He needs to know. He's going to think I'm not here…that I don't care." The tears began to fall down her cheeks now, no longer abiding by the rules she sat. She looked back over her shoulder. "Jill," she said, her eyes meeting hers. "Please…tell them. Please tell them to let me see him."

Jill walked over to her, gently grabbing her shoulders. She nodded at the EMTs who closed the doors and walked to the driver's side of the ambulance.

"Come on," she said softly. "You can ride to the hospital with me."