“He left?” Hunter asks, his voice cracking.
“B’s going to come back. The police can use his phone to track him, or something like that,” I say, trying to find a light in the darkness, but the truth is I don’t know if he will. What I do know is I’ll do anything to never see Hunter look this broken again.
My phone vibrates in my other hand, and I realize just how fucked we are.
Mirabelle
Bailey was gone before we woke up this morning.
He wiped all of his electronics before he left, and the security cameras caught him leaving on foot with a backpack.
Kaitlyn
Why aren’t the police doing anything to help?!
Mirabelle
Because he ran away, and it hasn’t been twenty-four hours so he’s not a missing person.
Kaitlyn
That’s fucking bullshit.
My phone vibrates again with another response, but now that I have confirmation from Mira, I think I feel worse than before. There’s got to be more to the story than Henry and Mirabelle are sharing.
“What are we going to do?” Hunter asks, and I look out at the vibrant stars, glowing in the night sky.
But the answers I’m looking for don’t appear because the one person who can give them is gone.
“I don’t know,” I whisper back, wishing I could fix this for everyone. He grips my hand tight as if holding onto me will somehow make all of this better.
Maybe this is all a bad dream, and Bailey will be at the house when we get back.
1 Listen, please.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Bailey
NOW
It’s beena little over a week since Javi was released from the hospital, and it’s been an adjustment for everyone. The doctors warned us to keep an eye on his mood because it can be difficult for children recovering to understand why they can’t do things they could before. They suggested acting it out with toys to explain it in a way he might understand, so we tried that at the hospital with a play therapist, and he responded pretty well.
My parents surprised Javi with his own room by converting one of the guest rooms, and it made me tear up when he asked if he’d have to give it back if he got in trouble.
I guess they’ve been putting it together for a while after the way he freaked out last time to show he’ll have a home here for as long as he wants one. I’m just relieved it went better this time.
Between the room and the stuffed monkey Henry and Mira gave him, I’m not sure he’ll ever want to leave—so it’s a good thing they want him to stay.
Javi is lying next to me on the couch, and we were watchingFinding Nemo, but I noticed a little bit ago he fellasleep, and if I move, I’ll wake him up. I’m essentially trapped, but we still have a couple of hours of peace before Kaitlyn’s supposed to be back from the gallery.
It’s not like I’m counting the hours or anything.
JJ and Marley are upstairs packing his things, and my parents had to meet with Nora, their lawyer, to make sure everything is still going well with Javi’s foster placement.
Hunter is still hiding at my uncle’s house, and has yet to respond to me. It makes me feel a little less guilty for wanting Kaitlyn, but I’m not going to push her for anything until she’s ready.
I can be patient.
