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Amy laid there on the comfort of the queen-sized bed, desperately wishing. She wished she could fall asleep for several hours, wake up rested, and discover that the entire situation had been nothing but a horrible dream.
Of course, she knew better than that. It was no dream, but it was most definitely a living nightmare.
Her head spun with worry, her temples throbbing from the tension migraine she had. Never before had Mandy spent a night away from her, except when she'd stayed with her mother. But Christie Dumas didn't have her granddaughter right now - Matt Hardy did.
"I know it's unbelievable, Mom..." Adam was on the phone with his mother, Judy Copeland, as he'd just explained the horrid situation to her. They would not be going to Toronto for Christmas now... Matt had ruined Christmas for all of them. The selfish, sick bastard very well might have even ruined her *life*.
"... The police are searching," the tall blond man continued. "We know who has her." There was a brief pause, then Amy - who, by now, had one arm draped over her eyes - heard her husband speak again. "I know. We will, Mom... We will."
The redhead moved and rose from the bed before she had the chance to hear the Canadian end the conversation and phone call and hurried into the bathroom. She made a beeline for the toilet as she felt her stomach lurch, raised the seat and lid and retched.
It was horrible... The nausea was exceptionally violent, so much so that she suddenly began to fear for the baby inside of her. Her morning sickness had never been *this* bad.
"Amy?" Adam ducked into the bathroom, concern flooding through him at the sight of his pregnant wife so violently ill. "Oh, God... Ames." He stepped directly up to her, his hand gentle as it stroked her back.
Just as the redhead was through, the tears came yet again. Amy thought she must have shed enough of them to make a small lake in this single night alone. She thought constantly of poor little Mandy. Her daughter had to be so miserable. She wondered if Matt had even fed the little girl in the hours since he'd snatched her. Amanda tended to be afraid to go to sleep when Mommy wasn't near as well. She dreaded the mere idea that her baby would not be getting any sleep that night.
Damn Matt Hardy... Damn him to *hell*!
After thoroughly rinsing out her mouth with water and mouthwash, the redhead allowed her husband to lead her back to the main room. Her body was wracked by now harsh sobs. She missed Mandy terribly, and she feared Matt was mistreating her. In spite of what she'd said and thought earlier that night, she could definitely see her ex-boyfriend mistreating her daughter just to get some sick "revenge" on her and Adam. The thought broke her heart.
"Mandy!" she cried, her hands flying up to her forehead. She sobbed hard, curling herself into a fetal position on the bed.
Adam felt so unbelievably helpless as he gazed down sadly at the redhead. It was not at all a comfortable feeling. He wished there were something he could do. He wanted to find Hardy, track the asshole down and hurt him. He wanted to find Mandy, take her away from the bastard, put her somewhere safe and then beat the living crap out of Matt. He wanted to tear the jerk's head off, rip him to pieces and spit in his bloody face.
However, as it was, he had to get hold of himself. Now was definitely *not* the time to lose his temper. He had to comfort his wife.
"Amy... Ames," he said soothingly, crawling to her on the bed. He gathered her form in his arms and gently held her like that. "Listen to me... We're *gonna* find her. We *will*." He brushed some strands of her hair that had gotten damp from her tears off her face and kissed her. She seemed unresponsive except for the blinking of her eyes. Also, a moment later, her right hand grabbed at one of his.
"Shh... Go to sleep, baby," the blond man murmured. Amy had to be absolutely exhausted since the start of this nightmare.
They laid there for a good five to ten minutes, Adam cradling the redhead in his arms, until the sudden ringing of Amy's cell phone on the nightstand startled them both. Adam turned to eye the device with alarm, suspicion filling him as he rose reluctantly to retrieve it. A quick glance at the number displayed told him nothing - it was a local number.
Amy shot up from the bed and went to him, her teary eyes meeting his green but not reading much in them. Gratefully, she accepted her cell phone and answered the call, wondering who it could be.
"Hello?" she said, her voice coming in a slight croak, thanks to her crying.
"M-Mommy?" That single word was all the child could get out before the phone was hung up. She could detect small telltale sounds coming from the background, and then a click of the phone being hung up.
Amy was speechless as she simply gripped her now dead silent cell phone to her ear. Calmly, but her
heart thundering like a drum in her chest, she slowly flipped the phone to a close, her eyes unblinking.
Then, as the shock of it all came back full force, she suddenly blacked out.