A week later, they were called back to the hospital. This time, Dr. Hanson told them to come as a family, so Lyric’s dad was with them too. The three of them were led straight into Dr. Hanson’s office as soon as they arrived.

Dr. Hanson looked sad, and fear gripped Lyric as she sat down. Not for the first time, she wondered what the saliva swab had been for. Was she sick? Was she going to die?

“The hospital has made a terrible mistake.” Dr. Hanson started.

“What kind of mistake?” Lyric’s dad asked warily.

“Seventeen years ago, a rushing nurse got careless.” Dr. Hanson took a deep breath, clearly trying to figure out the best way to say whatever horrible news she had. “The identification bracelets for two infant girls got mixed up.”

“Mixed up how?” Lyric’s mom asked in a small voice. Lyric had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer.

“They were placed on the wrong infants.” Dr. Hanson explained. She took another deep breath.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rivers, when you took Lyric home from the hospital for the first time, you were actually taking home someone else’s baby.”

* * *

The world was a whirlwind as Lyric ran. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she had to go somewhere. She couldn’t sit still. Maybe, if she ran fast enough, she could pretend she didn’t exist.

Of course, she did exist, and she was no athlete. Eventually, her leg muscles screamed at her and she had to stop. Doubling over, she gasped for air.

Everything started to catch up to her.

Her mom and dad weren’t her actual parents. There was another couple in the city who had raised their child instead. Another couple who… Who were Lyric’s actual parents.

Dr. Hanson had offered to ask the other couple if they would be willing to meet with the Riverses. Lyric’s mom and dad had agreed while Lyric just sat there. Now, she wondered what their motivation might be. After seventeen years, did they want to correct the mistake and go from there?

Lyric was scared, but at the same time part of her also wanted to meet her biological parents. She also wanted to meet the girl whose life she had lived, and who had lived hers. She was a little curious about whether they would have anything in common besides their situation.

But what if the other girl hated Lyric for stealing her life? What if--

Lyric glanced around frantically. She was on a bridge. She ran to the side and braced herself against the railing.

“AHHHH!!!”

She let everything inside out in a scream. All her doubts and frustration and guilt over the whole thing. There was nothing else she could do about it. She had been a baby. It wasn’t her fault.

She screamed until she threw up. Leaning over the edge, coughing and spitting down into the water. She hated that she felt a little better after that.

“Please don’t jump.”

Startled, Lyric stumbled away from the railing. She turned toward the soft voice.

Luke was standing at the other end of the bridge. He looked afraid, and his arms were outstretched as if he was trying to calm a frightened animal. Slowly, he took a step toward her.

“I’m not going to jump.” Lyric assured him. If she did, her biological parents would probably sue her mom and dad, blaming them.

Luke visibly relaxed and he dropped his arms. He closed the distance between them and studied her face. Probably trying to see if she was lying.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” She asked, giving herself a mental reminder to ask Michael for any notes she had missed.

“Shouldn’t you?” He countered.

“I had a… thing.” She jerked her head back the way she had come, although she wasn’t sure how far she had come from the hospital. She didn’t know how to put into words where she had come from, so she shrugged it off. “Got signed out, all legal and good.”

Luke chuckled at that. “Well, as long as your absence is legal.”

She looked at him expectantly, but he didn’t say any more. “You?” She prompted after a prolonged silence.

He shrugged and turned away. “I don’t go to school.” He said quietly. “Stopped a few months ago.”

“Oh.” Lyric could hear in his voice that there was something he wasn’t saying, but she figured it wouldn’t help to push on it.

Instead, she gestured over her shoulder again. “You wanna go get a burger or something?”

He smiled at her. “Thanks, but I can’t.” He sighed heavily and rolled his shoulders. “I have to get to work. There’s a game tonight, so the place has to be in tip top condition.”

“Oh, okay.” Lyric was disappointed.

As Luke walked past, he jerked his head for her to follow. “You can get a burger there, if you want.”

“I don’t like the cold.” She reminded him, although she followed anyway.

“Burgers are hot.” He said with a laugh. “And served outside of the rink area.”

Lyric laughed with him as they walked.