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"What?" Adam exclaimed, his eyes almost wild as he stared at his wife. "You think *Matt* took her?!"
Amy nodded weakly, reaching back behind her as she felt for a chair. Fortunately, she found one and sank down into the seat, her eyes closing as she tried to catch her breath. Everything suddenly seemed so hot - and the room was beginning to spin as she grew dizzy.
"That son of a bitch!" the tall blond man snarled. "If he *does* have her, and if he does *anything* to hurt that little girl, I'll *kill* him!"
Trish watched her friend with concern as Adam raged, and she hurried over to the redhead's side. Amy was fanning herself, her breathing becoming slightly erratic. The little blonde touched her arm gently.
"Adam, I think she's starting to hyperventilate!"
The Canadian sprang back to the reality right in front of him, alarm taking over as he too rushed to Amy's side.
"Ames, baby..." He raised a hand and touched her forehead, finding it clammy yet cool at the same time. She seemed on the verge of collapse, of fainting - just as she'd done a few months earlier. "... Baby, breathe!" He turned to Trish at his wife's other side. "Go find a paper bag in case she hyperventilates!"
The short blonde nodded and ran off.
Tears were suddenly streaming down Amy's cheeks as harsh, gasping sobs overtook her entire being. She felt as though she never cried so hard before. Mandy was gone... Her darling sweet, precious little girl... What was Matt going to do with her? He'd always loved her in the five years they'd been together. Surely, he wouldn't do *anything* to hurt the little angel - *would* he? But she knew how much Matt had come to despise Adam and herself over the past few months. He'd probably taken their little girl as a way of getting back at *them*.
"M-Mandy!" the redhead cried. She looked her husband directly in the eye, her vision blurred by the next torrent of tears. "Adam, we have to get her back!"
"We will," he replied firmly, a strange calm coming over him as he spoke. "This I *vow* to you - we'll get her back." From his position, knelt before her, he placed a hand to her moist cheek, cupping it gently.
The redhead's hands went to her slightly protruding belly, as though seeking reassurance from the unborn child.
Adam's concerned green gaze followed the movements of Amy's hands. Dear God, what was this going to do to the baby?
Trish returned then, with Jay and a paper bag in tow. Immediately, she crossed the room to hand the bag to Adam.
"Mandy's missing?"
The tall blond man ignored his best friend for the moment to tend to his wife. He opened and positioned the bag appropriately, handing it to her.
"Here. Breathe into this, baby."
Amy obeyed, ignoring her still running tears as she held the open bag over her nose and mouth and tried her best to take a deep, even breath.
"What happened?" Jay asked, worry etched on his face.
"I told you, Jay! Mandy is missing!" Trish snapped. She didn't mean to take her anger and frustration out on her boyfriend, but damn it, she felt like shit. As far as she was concerned, this was all *her* fault. "I'm sorry," she apologized, looking up at him balefully with her brown eyes. "This is *my* fault... It's *all* my fault." The little blonde again began to cry.
"Trish... Don't blame yourself," Jay crooned, gathering his girlfriend into his arms. Tenderly, he stroked her long hair as she sobbed against his chest.
By now, Amy's breathing had somehow returned to normal. Now, she sat there with an almost eerie calmness. Adam flinched at the sudden, strange change in her demeanor.
Suddenly, they all looked up at the sound of someone new rushing into the room.
"Thank the gods you're all here," Jeff Hardy said. The young man was partly out of breath, and he held his cell phone in one hand. "I just got the strangest message from Matt..."
Adam shifted his gaze to Amy, then back to Jeff expectantly.
"... He said he won't be spending Christmas with me and Dad this year... but the weirder part was
that there was the sound of a little kid crying in the background."