DISCIPLINE✔ (DSD SERIES, BOOK THREE)

ALEXIS JACOBS (DYLAN)

It's been half an hour since Christina fainted and we're all sitting here, in the Computer room, just looking at each other, confused. We had decided that to have this discussion it would be advisable to go somewhere secured.

Hence the Computer room.

Johnattan sits in one of the chairs holding Christina in his lap, arms around her midriff as she stares a Dria with red, puffy eyes.

"You don't remember anything?" she asks Dria sniffling.

"Nothing," Dria explains sitting across from them, Daniel standing beside her. "I woke up in the hospital not remembering who I am. The doctors say it might be my mind trying to lock away the trauma I've been through."

She hugs herself, looking over at Christina with sympathetic eyes. "I don't remember you..."

Christina nods in understanding but you can see the inner turmoil brewing in her. She is confused and no doubt hates herself for not thoroughly investigating her best friend's death. The same way I feel in regards to my lack of monitoring Ana, I missed eight years of my daughter's life because of it.

"H-How did you get to that hospital?" Christina asks shaking in her husband's arms, in her eyes you could see she is reliving those memories that she had tried to push down for years.

"I found her," Daniel speaks up drawing attention to himself.

He's leading on the desk in a grey T-shirt and black jeans with combat boots. His hair is also in a low ponytail, his face more prominent and also the scars adorning it visible.

"I was raiding one of Ferrez's warehouse when I found her," he continues, folding his hands against his chest looking at Dria and she nods. "She was beaten, drugged up and left to die. When I rushed her to the hospital, she barely had a pulse and then after three days in a coma, she woke up without her memories."

Christina and Johnattan tense while I clench my jaw. Left to die ... Drugged... Beaten. Ferrez, you are a fucking dead man.

"Daniel and his wife helped me to get on my feet," Dria says smiling at him before looking back at us. "They helped me to get a new identity and to get my life on track. I got into a community college where I did Computer Science, hence the hacking ability, a job and then my apartment. Everything was fine for two years until I remembered something. I was in a hospital bed with a baby in my arms and I feel connected to him. He was mine..."

Her voice starts to break as she looks over at me, tears trailing down her cheeks. Pain radiates from my chest and I find myself clenching my fists, the fire in my eyes burning into hers.

"It was then that I decided to stalk Giovanni," she breathes out, "I watched him for years trying to get enough dirt on him, trying to find out what happened to my child. I had no idea who my baby was, where I had him, or when I had him. It was a lost cause but I decided that even if I didn't find my baby, I would bring down Giovanni trying."

She wipes away her tears, sniffling before looking towards us. "...and here I am, close to bringing this bastard down and near to people who knew me... in the same room as my son."

Dria knows this much because Christina had given her the rundown of why she had called her Lexi and who we were to 'Lexi'. This led to her not being able to recall any of the memories, thus, we found ourselves here, discussing the reason.

I don't know how to react to the idea of Dria being my mother. I don't have that connection with her, not that if we don't try it wouldn't develop but this isn't the ideal time. Emotionally, I can't... I'm too closed off.

"What happened to me?" she asks breaking me from my thoughts. She is addressing Christina. "How did we get separated?"

Christina tenses, that day has always been a sore spot for her. When I had asked as a teenager she had broken down unable to fully tell me. With each word, it was like she was there all over again.