Maria’s eyes fluttered and she looked up at Michael. Her head was throbbing. "Michael." She said.

He pulled her up into a sitting position and kissed the top of her forehead. "God Maria, I thought I’d lost you." He rocked her back and forth in his arms. She rested her head against his chest. She couldn’t remember what had happened. She remembered finding the report and reading it, finding out that her father was still alive. But after that, she totally went blank. She looked at Michael.

"What happened?" She asked, strength returning to her body. She felt as if all her energy had been drained.

"I don’t know, hon. One minute you were standing there and the next you were falling. I think that maybe the excitement of finding out our fathers were still alive got to you." Michael looked down at her worriedly. "You do remember finding out our fathers are alive, don’t you?"

"Yeah, but that’s all." Maria’s strength had almost completely returned. "What time is it?" she asked Michael.

"It’s almost noon." He said.

"We better get this box packed back up and get ready to go meet everyone." She said, grabbing a pile of the closest bills and putting them back into the box.

Michael grabbed her hand and forced her to drop the second handful of bills that she had picked up. He looked deep into her eyes. She could see for the first time how worried he had been. A single tear trickled down his face. "I almost lost you Maria." He said. "I maybe am being selfish, but I don’t want to go back just yet. I want to be with you right now, just you." His hand traced the line of her cheekbone, so strong, yet so delicate. He pulled her lips close to his and kissed her.