by Willow Rose
"I miss Mommy," his sister said, almost crying again.
"Me too," Rylan said. "She will wake up soon. She was just really tired."
"Do you think she's sick?" Faith asked, standing in the doorway to the bedroom, looking at their mother.
Rylan shook his head. "She's not warm. She doesn’t have a fever. She's very cold."
Faith wrinkled her nose. "She smells funny."
Rylan nodded. He had noticed it too. And the night before when he had crept into her bed and laid close to her, he hadn't been able to hear her heartbeat like he usually did. And she hadn't put her arm around him as she usually did. And this morning, the smell was worse than the day before, and he had to hold his nose when he went to check on her and see if she had finally woken up.
"Mommy needs to take a shower," Faith said and grimaced.
"She will," Rylan said. "As soon as she wakes up. She's just really tired; that's all."
"But she needs to take care of us," Faith complained, the sides of her mouth turning downward. Rylan hated when her mouth did that and rushed to hug her.
"Shh," he said like Mommy used to. He also stroked her hair the same way she used to do it and spoke the same words he believed she would have said:
"Don't worry. I'll take care of you until she wakes up. Don't worry, baby girl."
Faith sobbed a few times, then stopped. Rylan felt awkward trying to act like Mommy. He really wished she would hurry up and wake up soon because he was running out of hugs and nice words to say.
Chapter 73
"Your son has been quite disruptive in class."
Miss Melanie looked up from her papers. I sunk into the seat, feeling like a child at the principal's office. It was a quarter past three before I made it there, and me being late didn't impress Miss Melanie much. I had been late because I was on the phone with Matt, who called me from the hospital to let me know that Elijah was awake. He was severely dehydrated, and as soon as they got his levels back up, he opened his eyes and looked at Matt, then told him he was hungry for spaghetti and meatballs. He couldn't walk, though, since his legs were still too weak from not being used for two months.
"I’ve seen the notes," I said. "The ones you have him bring home."
She folded her hands in front of her. "We can't have this type of behavior in class. It's unfair to the other students."
"Listen," I said. "His dad and I are going through a divorce. He hasn't seen his father for several weeks now since his dad has been…well, busy. I know that the divorce must be taking a toll on him, with all the changes and the moving and all. I’m sure that, as soon as it all settles down and we get into a good rhythm, then he will calm down too."
Miss Melanie nodded. "I am aware of your situation, and I know these things can be very traumatizing for a young child, but I still think there is more to it than just that. I believe he is a child that needs a little extra attention, and I suggest we have him tested for…"
Oh, no. Here it comes. She wants him tested for ADHD.
"I am sorry," I interrupted her. "I don't think that's necessary. If we only give him a little time to settle down, I’m sure he will get better. Just give him a little time."
Miss Melanie cleared her throat. "Ms. Thomas, I really think he could benefit from being tested…"
"But I don't. These kids, once they get a diagnosis like that, it will follow them for the rest of their lives. It'll be in all his records, and he’ll be stigmatized. I don't believe in labels. And then they'll want to medicate him. I don't want my child to be popping pills at this age. I don't think it’s necessary and I believe too many children run around with a diagnosis on them when all they need is a little attention or help to get through a tough situation. I don't think my son has ADHD; I just think he's going through a rough patch right now, as are we all."
Miss Melanie looked at me in a questioning manner. She shook her head lightly.
"Who mentioned anything about ADHD?"
I gaped. "Uh…you did?"
She chuckled. "I most certainly did not. I was asking for your permission to have him tested for our gifted program. We believe your son is very smart and that he isn’t getting the challenge he needs in school. We often see kids act out and become very vocal under these circumstances. I think your son could benefit tremendously from our program. With your permission, I'll have him tested, and he can join as soon as possible."
I stared at the woman in front of me, wishing for a small space I could crawl into. Me and my big mouth.
"So…do I have it? Your permission?" she asked.
I nodded, biting my tongue. "Where do I sign?"
Chapter 74
I had barely entered the house before I could hear the kids screaming and yelling at one another. Alex was shooting his toy police gun at Christine, while she was eating a sandwich, and Christine was yelling at him to stop.
"Hi, guys," I said and entered the kitchen.
"Mommy!" Alex yelled, then threw himself in my arms. I hugged him tightly, reminding myself how fortunate I was that it wasn't my kid that had spent two months locked up in some box. I held him for a little longer than he cared for and, as soon as I let go of him, he stormed into the living room.
Christine was on her phone, grumbling something.
"What's with you?" I asked.
She sighed, then grumbled again. I couldn't hear what she said. I walked to the coffee maker and made a fresh pot. Two nights with barely any sleep made it hard to keep it together. It was going to require a lot of coffee to make it through the day.
"So, I’ve been thinking," I said. "About next week. How about you take Friday off and then go early to see your dad? Make it a long weekend? I haven't talked to your dad about it yet, but thought I'd call him tonight and plan the details."
"It doesn’t matter anymore," she said, not looking at me.
"What do you mean?" I walked closer to her. "Did something happen?"
She stared at her screen, punching it harshly.
"Christine?"
She finally looked up. "He canceled, okay?"
"He canceled?"
"Don't act so surprised," she said. "You never wanted us to go anyway. You probably told him to cancel."
"I did not."
I said the words, but she didn't believe me. She shook her head at me.
"You ruin everything, do you know that? Everything. Dad says so too. He says you ruined your marriage. It was all your fault."
Ouch.
"Listen, honey. I know you're upset, but it isn't my fault your dad canceled. I’m sure something came up, maybe work. He's been gone for quite a while. He needs to make money at some point."
She stared at me, her jaws clenched, her nostrils flaring slightly. "It's all your fault. The divorce, the move, everything. Why did you have to ruin it? We were doing fine in Washington. I was happy there. Why did you have to change it?"
"Honey, when two people decide to…"
"Oh, don't give me that," she said with a sniffle, then slid down from her stool. "You don't care about any of us. You never even asked us if we wanted to move down here; you just decided to do it. You don't care about anyone but yourself. You're so selfish!"
"You think I’m selfish?" I said. "Your dad is the one who left. He just left us all. And now he doesn't want you anymore. He doesn’t want to see you. He has moved on. He has a new woman now. He wants to marry her someday. He has a new family now. And you think I’m selfish? At least I’m here; at least I’m not going anywhere."
My daughter stared at me, her eyes wild and angry.
"You're lying! You're nothing but a selfish liar!" she yelled, then ran up the stairs. A second later, I heard the door to her room slam shut and music blasting so loud her sister started to yell for her to turn it down. In the living room, Alex knocked over something big, and it shattered with a loud crash.
I sank into a chair with a deep sigh, then hid my face between my hands, thinking it didn't matter how hard I tried; I simply couldn't wi
n in life.
Chapter 75
As she whistled through the air, eyes closed, prepared to hit the water, Maddie was certain it was the end. She would most definitely die now. But as she plunged through the murky water, she felt very much alive, and soon after, she swam toward the surface.
Maddie gasped for air as she poked through and saw the blue sky above her again. She couldn't believe her luck. But as she looked back at the house behind her, where she had jumped from, she realized it wasn't over yet. Her captor was coming out the back door and rushing toward the canal.
Half in panic, Maddie started swimming. Living in Florida, most kids learned how to swim at a very young age, but Maddie hadn't had that luck. Her mom hadn't taken her to swimming lessons and, therefore, she was fairly old before she learned and wasn't among the best of swimmers. That meant she had to fight to swim fast, and it wasn't easy. Maddie whimpered while pushing her way through the dark water, trying to keep the thoughts of what lurked underneath the surface at bay.
Her captor reached the seawall and was yelling at her. Maddie panted and swam as fast as she could when she heard an engine start behind her and turned to look with a gasp. Her captor had wired his boat down from his dock and was soon rushing toward her. Maddie tried to scream but got water in her mouth and coughed instead. As she saw the boat begin to move toward her, she pushed herself even harder, trying to swim as fast as she could, panic eating at her.
Please, dear God. You've helped me get this far; please, help me get away. Please, God.
Maddie splashed in the water, panting as the boat came closer and closer. The engine roared behind her like some wild animal and Maddie was about to cry helplessly. As it came really close, and the man reached his hands down toward her, Maddie took in a deep breath, then dove down into the dark water and started to swim in the opposite direction, going underneath the boat. She kept swimming with all the strength in her small body, underneath the water, getting as far away as possible from the sound of the boat, pushing herself until she could hardly take it anymore.
Finally, she swam to the surface, then turned to look. The boat had disappeared far down the canal, and her captor hadn't realized what had happened. He was still looking down into the water, searching for her in the wrong place. It would take him a while to turn the boat around and, by then, she could be long gone.
Maddie made sure not to make a sound, then continued to swim down the canal, staying close to the seawalls and the houses. She made it down another canal, then heard an engine approaching from behind her. With a gasp, she swam underneath a dock and held onto the pillars while the boat rushed past her, the engine roaring loudly. She stayed there till it got dark and she finally dared to let go again and plunge herself into the water. As she swam again, she thought she heard a sound coming from the mangrove she had just passed and turned to look, staring straight into the eyes of an animal. Maddie had been living in Florida most of her life and knew exactly what she was looking at.
Gator!
Frantically, Maddie splashed her arms to get away from it, then reached a dock and pulled herself out of the water just in time. She crawled onto the grass, panting in exhaustion, and lay on her stomach for a few minutes, catching her breath before realizing she couldn't stay there in case her captor came back. She had to keep moving.
Chapter 76
My mom had invited us for dinner so, after taking a nap, I told Alex to put on his flip-flops, then walked upstairs to get the girls. I knocked on Olivia's door and peeked inside.
"Hi there. You ready to go?"
She took off her headphones, then groaned. "Do we have to go? I can't stand the food she serves."
I sighed. "Me either, but it means a lot to Grandma and Grandpa that we come over. It was one of the reasons we moved down here. So you kids could get to know them better. Plus, it means I don't have to think about dinner tonight. It's a great help."
Olivia scoffed, then rose from her bed. "It's not like you cook anyway. We could just order pizza again."
I gave her a look. She chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'll go. But I won't eat anything."
I laughed. "That bad, huh?"
"Worse."
Olivia walked down the stairs, and I heard her talking to Alex while looking for her flip-flops. I hurried to Christine's room and knocked. The music had stopped. I hoped that meant she wasn't angry anymore.
"Christine? We're getting ready to leave."
I opened the door, and my heart dropped. She wasn't there.
"Christine?" I asked and looked in her walk-in closet and then her bathroom, but she wasn't there either.
That is odd.
I walked back into the hallway, then to the stairs, where Olivia and Alex were waiting. Their eyes rested on me.
"Are we leaving or what?" Olivia asked.
Alex had grabbed his fire ax and hat. I could tell he couldn't wait to go play with his grandpa.
"Have you seen Christine?" I asked.
Olivia shook her head. "No."
My heart started to beat faster in my chest. "She's not downstairs?"
I walked down toward them, then into the kitchen, then the living room, and finally, I checked the backyard. No sign of my daughter anywhere.
"Could she have gone to a friend's house?" Olivia asked.
"Without telling me? That's not very like her," I said. "She knows how terrified I get when I don't know where you are."
Olivia gave me a look. "Because of what happened to your sister, oh, yes, but think about it. Maybe that's exactly why she didn't say anything. To get back at you. You two were fighting earlier, right?"
"Yes, she got really mad and ran upstairs, and then…you think she snuck out while I was sleeping?" I asked.
Olivia threw out her hands. "What better way to get back at you? That's what I would do."
She was right. Christine knew how scared I got in these situations. If she really wanted me to suffer, this was the way to do it.
I grabbed my phone and called her, but she didn’t pick up. "It goes directly to voicemail."
"Because she doesn’t want you to find her," Olivia said.
"You try," I said. "You call her."
Olivia gave me a look. "Mo-om. First of all, don't you think she can figure out that you told me to call her? Besides, if she shut off the phone, it doesn’t matter who calls."
"Then I'll just have to call everyone in her class and ask if they know where she is."
"You really think that's necessary?" Olivia asked. "Think about it. You'll only embarrass her, and she'll end up resenting you even more."
I exhaled. "Then I don't know what to do."
Olivia put her arm around my shoulder. "Relax, Mom. Let's just go to Grandma and Grandpa's; then she'll probably be here when we get home."
"Yeah," Alex said, holding out his ax in front of him. "Let's go now!"
Chapter 77
We all seemed to be getting on each other's nerves. I don't know if it was something in the air or the food, but everyone at my mom's dinner table seemed to be grumpy.
The only one who was completely unaffected was Alex. He played with his ax around the house while my mom kept a watchful eye on him, making sure he didn't tip over any expensive antique vases or slam the toy ax into any furniture and make a dent.
I had told them that Christine was at a friend's house but found it so hard to focus on the conversation we were having while my thoughts kept circling around my daughter and where she could be. With all that had been going on, I simply didn't like not knowing where she was.
"What do you think, Eva Rae?" my mom said.
I hadn't heard what they were talking about, so I answered in confusion. "About what?"
"Dear Lord, Eva Rae, where is your mind these days?" my mom said. "I was talking about the Begonias in the front yard and how beautiful they were when they bloomed. I was wondering if I should remove the Periwinkles and make room for more. What do you think?"
I stared at her, my eyes blinking
. I had no idea what to say. I couldn't care less about flowers right now. I never cared about flowers. I liked looking at them, but that was about it.
"Christine is missing," I said instead of answering her. As I said the words, tears finally escaped my eyes, and I couldn't hold it back anymore. "I don't know where she is, and I keep imagining these scenarios with all the kidnapped children lately and with Sydney and all that…I just…"
My mother stared at me, mouth gaping. Her eyes flickered a few times back and forth, and then she rose to her feet and was about to walk away.
"No, Mom," I said and grabbed her hand. "You can't go now. You always leave when…"
But my mom wouldn't hear me out; she pulled her hand away. "I have to check on the bean-flour pie," she said.
I slammed my hand onto the table, and the silverware clattered. "No, Mom! I want you to stay now. I need you to stay here and talk to me. My daughter is missing. You can't just run away from me when I tell you something like this. I need you, dammit. I need you to comfort me, to tell me it'll be all right, that she'll be fine."
My mom froze in place. She stood for a few seconds with her back turned to me, then turned around.
"I can't say that."
"Why, Mom? Why can't you say that? Why can't you, for once, comfort me when I need you to?"
She swallowed. Her nostrils were flaring. "Because…it might not be okay, Eva Rae. It wasn't for us. It never became okay again. Life was never okay again. That's why. So, forgive me if I am not very good at comforting you when things go wrong, but it is not my strong side."
She was about to turn again and leave, but I wasn't ready to let her. "Why did you never want to talk to me anymore. When it happened? Why did you freeze me out? Was it because you blame me for what happened to Sydney? Was it because you wished the kidnapper would have taken me and not her? You blame me for it, don't you? Because, believe me; I do too. Every day, I tell myself I could have done things differently and maybe saved Sydney. Because I didn't call for help early enough. Because I fought myself out of his grip and then he chose her instead. It's all my fault, isn't it, Mom? You've always believed it was. And you could never look at me the same way again. Every time I sought you, you'd turn your back on me."
