When Sebastian woke, he was shocked to see such bright light coming through his bedroom windows. He rolled over to look at the clock. It was almost noon. He never slept so late.

He grabbed his phone, his heart racing for what might be there. But there were no messages or missed calls. Craig still hadn’t found anything? He sent him a text.

“Any word?”

“Nothing since what I told you yesterday. We haven’t been able to locate her mother’s house or her car.”

Sebastian growled in frustration and threw down his phone. Then, he snatched it back up. “What’s the old address? Where you said someone else lives now?”

Craig sent the address and Sebastian looked at his schedule for the day. He’d planned to work out and do some work, but that was about it. It would take over three hours to get to the address Amelia had used.

He didn’t think too much about it. He got in the car and drove.

The three-hour drive took only two and a half. He was unconcerned with getting speeding tickets, but he didn’t end up getting pulled over. He’d had a lot of time to think during that drive. He knew what he was going to say.

Private investigators generally didn’t do things like go and knock on doors to ask questions. Not in a situation like this where someone didn’t want to be found and things had to be handled carefully. If Amelia really wanted to get away from him, she might take off if she found out he was asking about her. But, he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to take his chances. And he hoped Amelia wasn’t that desperate to get away from him.

He pulled up to the house and knocked on the door. While he drove, he reviewed the file Craig had on Amelia, memorizing as much as he could. He knew her mother’s name, and that would be necessary.

A young man answered the door looking wary.

“Hi there. My name is Sebastian. I’m looking for Amelia Foley. Do you know where she is? Or her mother, Elizabeth? Do you know where she lives? It’s very important that I find Amelia.”

The man eyed him up and down, then looked at his car. “Who are you?”

“Sebastian Farrelli. I’m Amelia’s boss and friend.”

“Hang on.”

He shut the door. Sebastian tried to peak in the windows or hear what was going on, but he couldn’t see or hear anything.

The man came back. “She’s at Mercy West.”

Sebastian pulled his eyebrows together. “I’m sorry, I’m not from here. Is that a hospital?”

“Yep.”

His heart tightened and his throat grew thick. “What happened?”

“You’ll have to ask her. Elizabeth said it was okay to tell you she was there, but that’s it.”

“Are you related to them?”

“I’m Amelia’s cousin.”

Sebastian nodded. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for the information.”

“Sure thing.” He nodded at Sebastian’s car. “Nice ride.”

“Thanks.”

Sebastian got in his car and plugged Mercy West into his phone’s GPS. He drove as fast as he could. His mind spun with possible scenarios.

Had she gotten into a car accident on her way to her mother’s when she was upset and running from him? Was something wrong with the baby? Was it that asshole Jay, coming to take out his anger on her? Or had it been some sort of freak accident?

The ten-minute drive felt like hours. But he finally pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and dashed inside. At the desk, he asked for her and was told she was in room 304. He hurried to the elevator and to her room.

The door to her room was almost closed, and it was dark. He stepped inside and saw Amelia lying in the bed, her eyes closed. A woman sat at her side. Must be her mother.

“Are you Sebastian?” she asked.

He nodded. “What happened? Is she okay?”

Elizabeth stood and motioned for him to go outside. “I didn’t want to wake her with our talking. She lost a lot of blood, and she needs her rest.”

“What happened?” He almost screamed the question. It was killing him to think something could be seriously wrong with her.

“She had a miscarriage.”

Sebastian ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh. Is she okay otherwise? You said she lost a lot of blood? Did they give her more?”

“Yes, physically she’ll be fine. They’re just keeping her tonight to make sure she doesn’t start bleeding again, but she should be going home tomorrow. Emotionally, though, she’s pretty messed up. When she got to my house, she was a wreck with all that had happened.”

Sebastian swallowed hard before speaking. “So… the stress from everything… was that…?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I suppose it could have played a part, but she’s been under a lot of stress for months. If it was stress related, it’s not anything that you did. She didn’t have proper health care or even proper nutrition or a place to sleep for a few weeks. That might have had more to do with it, but the doctors said sometimes it just happens. It might have been one of those things or it might have been completely unrelated.”

He blew out his breath. He was grateful for her words, but still felt like he might have contributed. The guilt was there, hot in his chest. It wasn’t just because he might have caused it. It was also because, for just a moment, when she’d said “miscarriage,” he was relieved. It wasn’t something serious. Not in his mind. Not something life threatening in most cases. It was almost no big deal except that it was a huge deal to her. She’d just lost a baby. And the more he thought about what it all meant, the more his heart ached. He had, in the last few days, started to think of the possibility that they could be a family. That he might have a child in a few months. Knowing that was gone now gave him a hollow, cold feeling. And it made the guilt burn hotter that for a moment, he’d been only relieved she would live. A life had still been lost today.

“I’d like to go in and sit with her. Be here when she wakes up, if that’s okay,” he said.

“I think that would make her very happy.” Elizabeth touched his arm as he walked past her. “Just know, Sebastian, that she does have feelings for you. If you don’t have feelings back, it’ll be better if you left and sent flowers instead.”

“I understand,” he said, and walked into the room.

He sat by Amelia’s side, then picked up her hand after a few minutes. She looked so peaceful, but he knew when she woke, she wouldn’t feel peaceful.