Hope

The family realizes Ashley is missing. Amber comes home from the hospital with Jesse in tow.

I was once again alone in the hospital room flipping through channels. Mom got restless and started wandering the hospital halls for the twentieth time today. I was pretty sure she’d made a few friends already. Mom was always charismatic like that. She’s one of those people you could put in a room with a hundred strangers and by the end of the night she’d spoke to three fourths of them. It made me wonder why Ashley or I never got that trait. Oh well, there was still hope for Max.

            One thing I knew for sure is I was getting tired of lying in this hospital bed. I no longer needed the IV drop and the nurse didn’t need to change my bandage until tomorrow morning. I was still required to wear the hospital gown even though mom brought me clothes from home. I needed to stretch my legs so I removed the plain white blanket covering me and got out of bed. It felt good for my feet to touch the ground. The hard floor was cold so it was a good thing I had on socks. I gave my legs a good stretch by touching my toes a couple times.

            I heard a loud screech outdoors. Curiosity got the best of me as I went to the window. I moved the blinds aside and peered out into the world. I couldn’t decide if I was bummed or relieved to see traffic steadily moving along the four lane street. The hospital was surrounded by businesses most names I couldn’t make out from the window or didn’t care to try to. I almost closed the blinds back until I saw him. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were playing tricks on me or if he was really there. My mind began to split in so many directions I could see myself screaming and panicking fleeing the room for help. Then I saw myself staring into his beautiful brown eyes even from the height of my window I could see him clearly. I felt like putty in his hands. Then reality hit me and truth is I did none of those things except move the curtain back and then look again and he was gone. My mind was definitely playing tricks on me.

            Mom came through the door quickly as if she were in a hurry. “Amber, what are you doing out of bed? I need you get back in there this once. Your father will be here soon. Ashley left the house and he can’t find her so we're going to go look for her.”

            I got back in the bed quickly. I was worried at the thought that Ashley was missing or worse somewhere hurt.

            “Don’t worry baby, we’ll find her.” Mom said to me although I knew it was an attempt to make herself feel better. She kissed my forehead and left out the door as quickly as she’d arrived through it. I tried to watch television afterward, but nothing would take the thought of Ashley from my mind.

            Mom had been gone from the hospital for hours and it was late now. They finally called to tell me that there was no news of Ashley. The rain had only just begun to fall as I heard the drops threaten to shatter my only window. An officer remained posted outside my hospital room after my parents informed Detective Morlutt of Ashley’s disappearance. I was starting to get tired as my eyelids began hurting because they didn’t want to be open any longer. I was finding it increasingly difficult to sleep tonight. I was afraid to see him if I closed my eyes and rain drops hitting the window mimicked my terrified heartbeat. On the other hand I got to go home tomorrow and if I slept I hoped that Ashley would be here at the hospital in the morning and her whole disappearance would have been nothing more than a misunderstanding. Finally, I just let my eyes drift off. I think it was due more to exhaustion than an actual choice on my part.

           

            Jesse had spent the entire night at a vampire friend’s home. It made him feel safer there than his own house. He knew it was only a matter of time until his family would find any reason to attack Ashley. It was their hatred for the humans that blindsided them. Their hatred of humans not his association with them would possibly expose them.

            “He awakes,” a male vampire said to Jesse when he walked through the living room groggy eyed.

            “Yea yea,” Jesse responded. He sat down at the table with his friend who had black hair and eyes. The guy tossed him a glass filled with blood.

            “Dude, it’s like nine in the morning, you got up late.” His friend said pointing at the clock as Jesse gulped down his glass.

            Jesse turned his head toward the clock quickly. He took another big gulp of blood from the glass then took off out the door. “See you, Max.” He yelled back to his friend. He didn’t have time to wait for a reply. He wanted to be there when Amber left the hospital so he could see her. Traffic appeared like blurred images as he sped up and down the streets and alleyways to reach the hospital in time. He hadn’t seen her in a day and at this moment he’d give anything just to see her.

            He arrived to the hospital in record time. He had to force himself not to run up to her room, so he stood near the cars awaiting valet parking. He strained his earlobes as much as he could to try to hear anything. He listened to many meaningless conversations hoping her words would appear, but they didn’t. He almost lost hope and was ready to hightail it towards their cabin when he saw a familiar frame exit the doors. He had to hurry to duck behind a small planted tree. He watched, waited and listened to her every word. Still, he didn’t know what it was about this girl that had him so attached.

 

            I was so happy to finally be going home. I was so upset that Ashley still hadn’t been found. This was very unlike her to be gone all night without mom or dad’s permission. The hospital forced me to take a wheel chair all the way outside to get in the car. I tried to object, but it was pointless. Mom pushed me through the double doors and we waited along the curb for dad and Max to come pick us up. “They still have no leads on Ashley,” I asked looking at mom who’d positioned herself beside me.

            “The police are doing everything they can. They just want us to stay at the cabin and wait.” She finished just as dad pulled up to the curb.

            He quickly got of the vehicle to help me get into the van even though I didn’t need much help. I knew that putting up a protest would only do more harm than good. I let him load me into the middle seat in the van and even allowed him to buckle my seat belt. Dad and mom got in the vehicle and began driving the route back to the cabin. I couldn’t decide how I felt about being back in the same place where I was nearly killed. I tried not to think of it even though it’s presence upon me was inevitable. I sat in silence for the trip only nodding when every couple of minutes one of my parents would ask if I was alright.

            When we reached the cabin both of my parents decided to help me out the vehicle. When my feet landed on the ground it felt rough, but then again when mom brought my clothes for some reason she grabbed flip flops. A slight breeze swiped past us and made me look up at my bedroom window. Someone placed a curtain or a towel over it, because I could see it swaying. We started walking towards the door and I silently kept giving myself breathing lessons for when I went inside. I crossed the threshold and I felt no adverse reactions so I thought I was doing well. I started going up the stairs when my mother grabbed my hand.

            “Honey,” she said turning me around to face her. “Don’t feel like you have to go up there.” It was weird the way she said up there, it made me feel like I was about to have a date with death.

            “I want to,” I said holding her hand with both of mine. “When Ashley comes home I want to be where she’ll expect me to be.” I added with a smile and slowly released my mom’s hand.

            I left her at the base of the stairs as I climbed them. I entered my bedroom quickly and felt as if I put too much thought into being afraid of it. Our room was spotless there was no blood or broken glass to speak of. If the sheet hadn’t been covering the window there would be no evidence that anything had occurred. I walked over and sat on Ashley’s bed and just lied down. I hoped with everything in me that she was alright. I hoped that the man who attacked me didn’t hurt her. I hoped that it was all still a misunderstanding.