FOUR

Tory had a plan.

She had her cardboard and glue that Mandy had help her get.

All she needed was a very nice picture of her mother, and she was going to get it.

She could suffer the pain of not having her mother with her but she couldn't survive knowing that her friends pitied her because she didn't have a typical family.

She had her mother's number and that was because it was one secret she kept from her Dad.

Ms Bryant's voice rang out disturbing her thoughts. "Class, do not forget to round up your cards and bring them tomorrow."

Josh's hand went up. "I'm not really good at craft, Ms Bryant."

"You can ask your brother to help you out. But I trust that if you do it with love, it'd come out looking beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as mommy though." He gave a wide grin

Ms Bryant smiled. "Really? Prettier than me?" She joked.

"Now, that's hard to say." He said in a singsong voice that made everyone giggle.

* * *

She was supposed to wait for her Dad in the reception but she didn't. She waited for the janitor who was watching the kids whose parents sometimes didn't meet up with the time to excuse herself to go to the toilet and ran out of the building, took out her diary where she had written her mother's number and hurried down the opposite way where her Dad would be coming from and the familiar road to the diner.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she had walked quite far from school. She just had to look for a phone booth now and she would be fine.

"Hey now take a look at a lost princess, would you now?"

She turned and saw a couple of bad looking guys in rugged jeans and armless tee shirts and dragon tattoos on their arm. She looked away ignoring them and turned to the page where she wrote her mother's number. She knew someone would pass anytime soon and she'd ask them where the closest phone booth was.

"Well isn't this just a cliché, princess. You're lost aren't you?"

"Hold on now, little missy," He began as though realizing something and Tory turned to him. "Are you running away from home. Oh no! What did Daddy do to the princess now, huh?"

Tory frowned, stiffening and snapped in a way that would make grandma squeeze her lower lip if she was rude to an older person. "Stay out of it!"

"I sure have a good idea, princess. How about we help you disappear. Pooh! Right, man?"

They were coming closer.

Oh no, these were bad people.

Not thinking, she ran across the street.

And before she knew it, the world around her was spinning.

* * *

Jody was glad she didn't get the feeling of someone watching her today. And she had closed already. She was going to her parents to have dinner with them and her handsome knight in shining amour.

She grinned.

Her phone rang just as she walked out of the diner and waved good bye to Martha.

"So then my handsome knight is missing his..."

She frowned and stopped when she noticed that the number was unknown. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching.

There was no one.

She picked up. "Hello?" She asked hesitantly.

"Jersey City Hospital. Am I speaking to Mrs Howard?"

She cringed. No one had called her that in years although that was who she still was.

"Um...yes ma'am." Then her first sentence clicked "Wait. Why on earth would a hospital call me?"

"Your daughter, as identified by her school ID, Victoria Howard was in a car accident. The hospital thought you'd like to know."

"What?!" She swallowed and tried to calm her racing heart. "Of course. Thank you. Has her father been notified?"

"No. She only had your contact with her."

"Okay, thanks. I'll be right there."

Oh no. What had happened to her baby? Tears clogged her throat as she waved down a cab and went in as soon as it stopped.

* * *

"Excuse me please, Victoria Howard was admitted moments ago from the car accident that occurred recently." She told a nurse she met in the hallway.

"Oh. I'm sorry I just came out of her room. You have to be patient. You can't see her now."

"How is she? Is it bad? Is she going to be okay? How long do I have to wa-?"

"I apologize but right now, there are no answers to your questions, however, the paediatrician is with her now and will have answers for you soon. Excuse me." She hurried away without waiting for a response.

Her cell phone rang

Mom. She picked up. "Mom! My baby..she's...she's..."

"Calm down and tell me what's going on. Meanwhile I'm on my way, just tell me where you are."

"Jersey City Hospital."

Sophia gasped. "Oh my goodness, what happened to Tory?"

"Car accident. Can you imagine? I don't get how."

"You know that God takes care of His own, right? So don't worry, she'll be fine. Just calm down and call her father."

"I can't. I..."

"You can't or you won't? Right now, who cares what happened between the two of you, you have a six year old who is lying on a hospital bed right now. That's all you should think about."

"But I'm not allowed to contact him."

"Call him now because I won't. See you in twenty. Thank God Einstein was in his room when you called, otherwise one look at my face and he'd have known what happened."

"I would have loved to have him here, Mom."

"Well it's up to you if you want him to meet his father now."

"No way. So that I can be accused of being a woman of ill repute again? No, thanks."

"As if Steve's blind."

"Leave it alone, Mom. Vincent is all mine, it's going to kill me to lose him too."

"Okay. Just call him." With that she hung up.

She sighed.

Steve would be worried about Tory now, it was only fair to call him.

She took a deep breath and tried to stop her hand from shaking with nerves and her voice from shaking. It was the first time she would speak to him in years. The reason she had his number was because he had not changed his number since when they met and she had never deleted it.

The phone vibrated shortly notifying her that the receiver had picked.

"And who is this?" The familiar voice barked.

Her heart constricted with pain. He had deleted her contact. Not that it mattered now. She got straight to the point.

"Its Jody." She said. Surprised that her voice sounded calm and collected, she continued confidently. "Tory was in an accident. She's being treated right now at Jersey City Hospital. I thought you'd want to know."

"W-what?! For the love of God, how did that happen? What did I say about taking her without my consent?"

"I didn't take her. It’s not my day to visit yet. I think she left school on her own and the hospital called me."

She heard him snort with disgust and her patience fled. "And why would they contact you?"

"I thought you'd be more worried about your daughter's safety but it turns out I was wrong." She hung up.

She sighed. She really didn’t need the confrontation now.