Unexpected

Part 4: Don't

"Sorry Dr. Sharpe- I haven't seen anyone like that today. If I do, I'll let you know.

"Thank you- her name is Daphne Ahmadi."

"Alright." Nodding, Helen decides she should probably check the next floor down from her since she checked her entire Oncology department.

Making it to the elevator, she rides it down and gets off at cardiology. She searches everywhere.

Asks everyone.

And yet, she can't find her missing niece.

"Helen?" Turning around, she finds Reynolds coming towards her.

"Floyd- oh thank God. I need to ask you something and I desperately need you to say yes."

"Oh...Kay???"

"Have you seen my niece, Daphne?"

"No."

"Dammit!"

"You lost her? How did you lose her?" He asks a bit shocked that the perfect princess of Oncology fucked up big time.

"We took the stairwell and we were just talking and next thing I knew she was gone. Just vanished out of thin air! I don't know what to do. I checked my floor and this floor. I only have tens left and honestly I have no idea where to start."

"Okay, um, first- let's call all floor nurses stations so they know and can spread the word that she's missing and get the security guards to start going through some footage for you."
He says rationally and Helen really begins to panic.

"What if someone took her Floyd. She was my responsibility! My Father sent her here so she could get away from all the shit that followed him to London from Iran. He and I are all she has left and if I can't even keep track of her—." She begins getting choked up and worried. Her stomach knotting and Floyd immediately grabs her and wraps his arms around her.

"It's alright. We'll find her. Okay. Does she have a history of running off?"

"I...I don't kno...I haven't had much time with her. We usually FaceTime at least once a month- but she's only nine and I doubt she just runs away."

"Okay, well- either way- we have to take the steps to find her." He says and takes his phone out. "I'll call the ED, radiology, and neurology. You call psych, the lobby and trauma. Then we'll go from there. She has to be in here somewhere. She wouldn't just wander off in New York alone at night.

***

"Um...hi..." Max says as he glances down at Daphne and then searches both sides of the hallway for Helen.

"Auntie's not here."

"Oh." Max says nonchalantly and then it hits him. He's no longer tired. He's fully awake. "How did you...."

"I followed you."

"You...you followed me all the way to Brooklyn? I'm impressed, but...but Daphne that's not okay. You could have gotten hurt or kidnapped. You could have gotten lost. Your Aunt would have been devastated." Max kindly says as he kneels in front of her and holds onto both of her forearms gently.

"No she wouldn't be."

"Yes, she would— she..."

"I'm just a burden. She doesn't want me. She said she only took me because Grandfather begged her too." She begins to get teary eyes and it breaks Max's heart. "My daddy died!"

She wails and all Max can do is pull the girl into his arms and squeeze her.

"Shh...it's okay. It's alright. I got you." He feels as if his heart is shattering into thousands of pieces. The tiny tot with her proper British accent reminds him of Helen. She even sort of looks like her in a way and it melts him. "Listen to me...hey...listen- Sweetheart."

He pulls back to look at her and she tries to wipe her big sopping ears away with her hands- but he does it for her with his thumbs as he caressed her cheeks.

"Your Auntie and your Grandfather love you. Deeply. I know your Auntie very well and she adores you."

He never knew she had a niece.

He never knew she had a brother.

He apparently knows very little about Helen Sharpe.

"There is nothing more important in this world to her than you. I know it's tough losing someone you love...Can I tell you a secret." She nods and he smiles softly. "When I was about your age, my twin sister Luna...she...
huh...She died. She got really really sick and there was nothing anyone could do. I felt like a burden after that. I felt like I lost apart of me that I could never get back. One day, I was walking home from my bus stop and I just stopped. I felt...lost. I felt like...like nothing mattered anymore. Like I didn't matter. I locked myself away from people physically and emotionally for a very long time- until I met my wife. But I got sick. Real bad and I didn't want to feel like that burden I always had before. Your Auntie Helen...she made me feel like I mattered. Like...like all my everlasting fears of not mattering and just a waste of space- that all disappeared- because she once said to me: the only way to beat death is with life. I know right now it's scary and you feel lost and unwanted, but you're not- Daphne. Your Auntie wants you. Your Grabdfather wants you. I want you."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I can always use new friends. Especially ones as super cool and beautiful like you- and smart. Definitely smart." Her smile widens and her tears stop flowing down her face. She crashes her body into his and he just holds her. "It's okay to feel sad and lost sometimes, but you need to remember that friends and family aren't just there for the happy moments. They're there to help you through the bad ones too."

"Can I just stay with you forever? You remind me of my Daddy." She says and he smiles softly.

"I wish you could, but I think your Auntie is probably already panicking." He takes his phone out and she begins shaking and reaching for it.

"No! Please don't! She'll be mad at me! She won't keep me. She'll send me away for causing problems. Please!" She cries again and Max sighs.

"Daphne, I have to call her. You don't want her to worry."

"Please....please don't call her."

"Okay. I won't call her—right now. Let's just calm ourselves. Are you hungry?" The girl nods and Max smiles. "Okay, I think I have Dino Nuggies and waffle fries in the freezer I can make."

He begins to make her food and in the back of his mind, he knows the longer he waits, the worse it'll be when Helen arrives, but he also knows that Daphne probably needs a bit of a break from all the gloom.