“Deal.”
It had been easy to agree because in her childish mind, she could never imagine a time when she might need his money. Until today. Painstakingly, she’d printed her note.I need $10. It’s me. Not a thef. Rosie xx.
She’d taken the money in one dollar bills and headed to the bus stop. When she asked the driver if he was going to the hospital, he’d been busy and didn’t spend much time reassuring her. “Yeah honey, but not for a while. You getting on?”
She’d paid her money and sat near an older lady. Scared but determined, she sat quietly and stared out the window. After a little while, the woman smiled and began talking. The first question she asked her was how old Rosie was?
“I’m ten. Well, almost eleven.”
Seemingly shocked, the lady looked at her closely. When she spotted the bruises Rosie got from falling off of her skateboard numerous times, she made pitying noises before gently patting her leg. Feeling strange, Rosie covered her wounded knees.
“Does your mommy know you’re taking a bus by yourself?”
Flippantly, Rosie replied, “She wouldn’t care.” Of course, she didn’t mean it badly, but somehow Rosie knew inside that her mother would understand about her little girl’s determination to see her daddy. Her mom wouldn’t be angry.
Suddenly, the lady became weirder, smiling strangely and this time patting Rosie’s arm. “Don’t you worry sweetie, there are people who will take care of you.”
Not understanding yet feeling uncomfortable, she wished she hadn’t begun talking to the lady. Sure, she seemed nice at first, but now Rosie sensed a difference. When the lady smiled her goodbye and got off at the next stop, Rosie felt glad. Watchingfor the hospital, she moved closer to the window and kept her face turned away.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t see the uniformed policewoman who approached her seat. “Hi there.” The young cop crouched down next to where Rosie sat. “Where are you off to today?”
Looking around her and seeing the inquisitive stares, Rosie felt instantly in danger. Not understanding why she would be getting this kind of attention; she refused to speak. Instead, she just shook her head and turned to look out the window, her way of hinting for the woman to leave her alone. Only she didn’t.
“We’re going to take good care of you, sweetie. Don’t worry.” Next thing she knew, the officer took her arm and forcibly pulled her from her seat, made her follow her to the door, and before she knew what happened, she was in the back of a police car. Now she was scared. She’d seen movies where kids were treated badly, taken from their parents who never found them again. Sobbing inside yet refusing to let her fear show, she held her hands tightly, bit her lip, and became a rock. They would get nothing from her.
She had no doubt her mommy would never give up looking for her little Rosie and neither would Uncle Lance. So she blinked, swallowed, prayed, and refused to say a word.
Chapter Fifteen
Damon had experienced massive pain while trapped in the building and had gotten used to the sharpness of agony flooding his body until he’d lose consciousness. Hell, that’s when he’d had many of his out-of-body experiences, shadowing his people. And while he’d watched over them, he’d learned so much about himself, things he was ashamed of. But one moment stood out more than any other. One shamed him more than he thought possible. After listening to Lily’s confessions over the last few days while they were stuck together, he knew what he had to do. If he didn’t want his own daughter to live with unnatural beliefs and the same kind of self-image problems Lily had been cursed with, he had to make things right.
Unfortunately, instead of his body suffering a normal loss of awareness like it had in the disaster, the hospital folks pushed drugs into his system until he’d black out. Those made a huge difference. They shut down his mind as well as his body. Having no choice, it had stopped his ability to spirit travel. Now, when itwas most imperative for him to urge Rachel to hurry, he couldn’t go anywhere.
Thankfully, the medications were beginning to wear off and his ability to think had returned. On the one hand, having that soft foggy den of darkness to hide in felt so good, but it also made him sad. He needed to stay aware. Needed to fight. Stay alive until he could see his Rosie and tell her…
Oh, no. They’re here again, feeding him more drugs. He tried to stop them, but his guttural sounds made no sense. Couldn’t they understand? He had to be ready for when Rachel brought Rosie to see him.Stop! No more drugs. Please.
“He’s restless. I’ll up the dose for now. He’s barely alive, and his best chance to survive the next few hours is having more morphine to help with the pain.” The nurse practitioner spoke, unaware that he heard her words and had tried to communicate. Next time, he had to try harder. Next ti…
***
Once they arrived at his office, Lance and Rachel searched the entire building and the vehicle yard in the back. They called and called but no one answered. Finally, in tears, Rachel turned to Lance. “Rosie’s not here. There’s no way she’d hide from us… not like this.”
“I know. Okay, let’s reach out to all her friends. Maybe go talk to her teacher to see what she might know. If we still can’t find her, I think we should go to the police.”
“Oh, Lance. That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“I know. But they have systems for finding lost kids. Once we’ve checked all the possibilities, we can’t take the chance she’s just doing her own thing. She’s only ten, Rachel. I don’t want to believe anything bad has happened to her, but we have to make sure.”
“You’re right, I know. It’s just so hard to believe.” With her body shaking and hands trembling, Rachel went to his laptop and opened the special parent’s website for Rachel’s class. “Here’s the list of kids in her room. Those two, she hangs out with, even though it’s been a while since she’s spent any time with them. Can you call them?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll talk to these ones here. She played t-ball with them a while back. Maybe they organized a game, and she forgot to say anything.” Knowing the unlikelihood of this happening, Rachel still clung to the chance that her Rosie might have decided she wanted to be with kids her own age. Though it would go against Rosie’s present behavior of staying in her room, reading her books, and drawing, Rachel prayed that maybe the little girl had reached out to her peers. Being that Carlton Grove was such a small town where everyone on the list lived close to each other, certainly within walking distance of home or even Lance’s place, it made sense to follow up on these names.
After numerous questions and negative replies, Rachel finally turned to Lance and broke down completely. Sobbing her heart out, she dropped her face into her hands and let loose. “I’m such a rotten mother. How could she just run away? I have to face it. The bond we used to share is flawed – no… no, broken. Lord above, Lance, I’m scared. I don’t know what to do anymore. What if she’s been in an accident? Or lying in a ditch somewhere calling for me?”
“Hush, honey. Don’t let yourself go there. I’ve no doubt, she’s fine. Rosie is a smart kid. Have faith.”
