A moment later, the door clicked, signaling her exit.
The moment he walked into my room with a solemn look on his face, I knew there was something wrong, and suddenly my vow of silence didn’t matter anymore. Call it an inclination or a sixth sense, but something was terribly off, and it had something to do with my daughter. He sat in the chair in front of me, running his hands through his hair, unable to make eye contact.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked Dr. Greene, unable to still the tremors running through me. My mouth felt dry suddenly. I knew that look of pity and uncertainty well, the inability to say the words out loud. I’d seen it countless times.
“It’s Gracie, Alyssa. We received a message from your sister. She’s missing.” He kneeled before my bed and placed a hand on mine. I looked at him, my eyes widening in horror, and I had to fight back the tears as they stung my eyes. I started to choke up, and there was no stopping the flood of emotions from bursting out.
Of all the horrible things that could happen, this has to be the absolute worst. I let out a howl, sucking in all the air I could manage. Luke hesitantly sat on the bed beside me, wrapping me in his arms, and I didn’t have the energy to fight him off.
“How long, Luke?” I sobbed. Calling him by his first name sounded foreign.
“A day. Meredith thought it was just Gracie being a regular teenager and hanging out with friends lately, but she’s been gone over twenty-four hours now.”
My palm connected with the solid wall of his chest as I shoved him away, attempting to stand, but I’d been medicated since earlier that morning and I had dozed off when Nurse Jones finally left.
I tried to swallow, but my mouth had become like the Sahara.
I needed to find Nurse Jones.
She’d get a message to Meredith.
She’d help me.
“Alyssa, concentrate.” Luke’s strong arms tightened around my shoulders, demanding my attention. “Is there anywhere you think she might run off to? Any friends who you think will hide her away for a day or two?”
I shook my head from side to side. “She wouldn’t run away, not my daughter. She would never do that.”What had I done?I thought she was safe. I refused to look at Luke.
He took my chin gently in his hand and turned my face toward him. “Let me help you, please.”
I had no choice. I knew I had to trust him. My daughter’s life depended on this moment right here.
“He has her,” I told him. “It has to be him. He probably found out that I’m speaking again, and he wanted to send me a message.”
“Who ishe?” I loathed the bastard and saying his name made him real, made him exist. I wanted to forget he even existed.
“Gregory Evans.”
“Who is Gregory Evans?” he urged.
When I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t help but burst into tears again.
“I don’t even know his real name. That-that’s what Malcolm called him… it’s what they all called him, but I never believed it, not when everything went south.” Saying the words exhausted me, but I had to focus. I had to get this into perspective because if I didn’t, who knew where my daughter would end up.
“I have to see my sister. Please. I have to see her.”
“Alyssa, you know that isn’t possible.”
“There must be… a way… some way.” I nodded my head frantically. “Nurse Jones, she can take a message to her for me. She’s been helping me get messages to Gracie and Meredith.”
“Nurse Jones?” He looked at me, puzzled.
“Yes, my nurse, she is the one who gives me medication.” He stood up and started to pace the room.
“I’ll be right back. I just need to look at your chart.” He stepped out, and I wrapped my arms around my legs, feeling helpless.
Luke came back in and walked over to me. “There is no Nurse Jones allocated to you, not as far as I can see,” he said as he shook his head.
My eyes widened. “Then who is she? She’s here almost daily.”
