~Year 1990~

"Very good, class. I will see you all in two days. Don't forget your homework! Au revoir! (F Goodbye!)" The nice teacher dismisses her third grade students, and all the kids start packing up.

The first one out of the classroom is a small, eight year old girl. Her long blonde, wavy hair bounces with each step toward home she takes. Her pale hands grip the straps of her aqua blue backpack tightly, as if she doesn't want it to fall off. After a little bit of walking, the girl reaches her cute, small house shared by her and her parents.

The girl, who is named Lauren Thompson, places her bright backpack on the kitchen counter. She stands in one spot and slowly turns around, her green eyes scanning for any sign of life. She looks around the house for a couple minutes, but doesn't find her dad anywhere.

Lauren decides not to worry about it and walks out of the house. This usually happens - her dad gets held up at work and she has to go see her mom alone. She doesn't mind that much, now that she's getting to be a bit older she can walk to places by herself.

In practically no time, Lauren approaches a tall building with a label on it that reads, Hôpital d'urgence Nest, or translated to English, Nest Emergency Hospital.

See, Lauren lives in Paris, France, but she was not born here. Her family moved here from America just last year for a bunch of reasons. Since only her parents knew how to speak French, Lauren had to get used to the transition pretty quickly. She can form sentences and have simple conversations, but she is still learning a lot.

Lauren enters the hospital and goes straight up to her mom's room, but something is strange. The door to her mother's room is cracked open. Lauren peeks inside and doesn't see anyone in there.

The little eight year old starts to panic, but thankfully there is a nurse nearby who notices her. "Petite fille, es-tu perdu? (F Little girl, are you lost?)"

Shaking, Lauren looks up at the lady and points toward the open door. "Ma mère... (F My mother...)"

The nurse smiles sadly, understanding the situation. She carefully takes Lauren's hand and walks her over to the elevator. The two ride up to the third floor, which Lauren has never been to before. They pass a couple doors and twist around many hallways until they approach a glass door. The door has a red word marked on it that reads, Endiguement (F Containment).

The nurse nods and pats the girl on the shoulder before turning around and heading back toward the elevator. Lauren slowly opens the door and sees a white room. The tiles on the floor are grey, and the ceiling and walls are pure white. There's nothing on her side of the room, but there is a glass wall separating her from the other side. Behind the glass wall is her mother laying down on the only bed in the room.

"M-Mama..." Lauren gasps and quickly walks over to the glass. She didn't notice before, but there are two doctors on her mother's side of the room. One turns around and notices Lauren, and he tells the other doctor. The two doctors keep a straight face as they wheel Lauren's mom's bed over to the wall, and lift up her headrest. After that, they quietly leave the room.

Lauren's mom opens her green eyes and sees her daughter trying not to break down in tears. She lifts her hand and picks up the red phone beside her, holding it up to her face.

"Hey there, Angel." Lauren's mother's voice is weak, and Lauren can barely hear it through the speaker.

Lauren picks up the phone in her side and asks, "Mama, why did they move you up here? Are they getting rid of the disease forever?"

It takes a moment for her mother to speak, but she collects her words. "Óchi, Ángelos. Páo se éna kalýtero méros. (G No, Angel. I am going to a better place.)"

Lauren's mother, who's first name is Crystal, is half Greek. She learned how to speak and write in Greek along with English at a very young age, and has also taught it to Lauren. The eight year old can speak English and Greek fluently, but is struggling a bit on her French.

"Allá poios tha me prostatéfsei? (G But, who will protect me?)" Finally, some tears fall from Lauren's eyes.

"Esý tha. (G You will.)" Crystal feels her heart break, but knows she has to leave a strong mindset for her daughter. "Thymitheíte póte oi ánthropoi eínai sígouroi gia esás, agonízontai epísis me ta diká tous provlímata. Eínai akrivós aftoí pou ekfrázoun ta synaisthímatá tous. O kathénas échei kaló se aftoús, Ángelos. (G Remember when people are mean to you, they are also struggling with their own problems. It is just them expressing their emotions. Everyone has good in them, Angel.)"

"Okay, mama. I'll remember." Lauren sniffs and wipes her eyes with her free hand.

Crystal smiles weakly. "You are my Sigma, the sum of everything I love."

A couple of tears fall out of the corners of Crystal's eyes. She looks up at the ceiling, her breathing slowing down. The machine next to her releases a long beep sound. Lauren doesn't register all the doctors and nurses scrambling in the room with an AED machine and performing CPR. She doesn't even notice the pair of hands that wrap around her shoulders and lead her out of the room.

All Lauren can think of at the moment, is that her mother's disease of Tuberculosis finally took her over, and now she doesn't have a mother to protect her from the dangers of the outside world.