Chapter 3 Missing

Julian POV

Shelly was official missing. She never got home after the party. I left right after my father called the police, asking to look out for her. I couldn't stay at home. I had to think for a minute, so I drove on my scooter to the marina and stepped on board of my boat. I stayed there from Friday till Sunday. My mother kept asking me to come home over and over. I ignored everyone. I didn't even speak with Sam. This was my fault. I should have brought her home. She didn't have her jacket on.

I lay on my bed when I woke up from loud voices. Then my bedroom door opens. My mother walks in, followed by JJ and Kelsey.

'Like what you have done with the place.' JJ said way too loud. I should not have drank all that beer last night. I had a huge hangover. I turn away from them and hide myself underneath my covers. 'Oh, come on Jule. Doesn't my little brother want to hang out with me anymore?'

'Go away!' I manage to say.

'Well, we are not leaving.' The bed dips as JJ jumps on the bed. It hurt my head a lot and I growled a little.

'Why are you here Jule?' my mother asked. She sounded hurt. I was a mother's child. I called her every day when I went on my holiday. No, I didn't miss a single day. Now I ignored her from the moment I left home. 'Talk to me son. Why are you hiding in here?'

'Yeah. Why sleep in here? The boat isn't even going to move.' JJ was actually right. It was winter and the boat was inside a huge barn for it's Winter check up.

I groaned, pushed my covers away and turned around to look at my mother. 'It's all my fault okay. I needed to be alone. I'm sorry mom.'

'What is your fault? What are you talking about?' Mom was staring at me with a frown between her eyes. 'What did you do?'

'No, it's not what I did, it's what I didn't do.' I groaned again and sat up. My head was spinning for a moment. 'I went to a party last Thursday. Just me with some friends I met some other day. I knew them from football and they asked me to come.' I just lied to my mom, but there was no going back now. 'I didn't know it was at a high school when I got the address. It was actually a nice party with some students that sang and a kid that was an amazing DJ. When me and a friend got some drinks, I recognized someone. It was Shelly.'

'Shelly?' my mother asked. She sat down at one of the chairs in my room. 'What was she doing there?'

'The party was actually at her high school. I was really surprised to see her there. I scared her and she ran away. I followed her outside, but she kept running. I should have stopped her and brought her home. She didn't even had her jacket on.'

'Oh, Julian. You are too good for the world.' mom said. JJ was making barf noises on my bed. 'No, listen to me. This was not your fault. Shelly probably ran away from home. That is what your father is thinking. He thinks maybe she is with one of her friends. Jack's police friends are looking for her. There is no way she isn't going to be found.' For a minute it relaxed me thinking that the police was on it and looking for her, but I couldn't stop thinking how she was laying in the forest somewhere, dead or something.

I shook my head. No, this was my fault. 'I should have brought her home.' I say again.

'Could you subscribe what she was wearing? I mean for the police, so they know what they are looking for.' Kelsey said. I totally forgot she was here too.

'That is a great idea, Kels.' JJ said, badly needing to be part of this conversation too. Like always.

'A black dress and black tights.' I suddenly remember.

'Hmm. I have never seen Shelly wearing a dress. Must have been from on of her friends.' my mom said.

'No, I gave her one of mine two years back.' Kelsey told us. 'She never wears it because she is never allowed to go to the party's.'

Then I remembered mom saying that father thought she was with one of her friends and Sam asking me if I knew Shelly. I couldn't ignore Sam any longer. It was time to talk with him.

Shelly POV

I woke up hearing the sound of my own heartbeat. It wasn't my first time waking up in a hospital. I could say I was here often. I broke so many bones over the years and had a few concussions. I had two surgeries to fix my ankle when I was nine. Teachers call me clumsy, but they don't know what's happening at home. They don't know the truth.

The question was now, where am I? If I was at the hospital close to home, Doctor Gerard would probably be here. Doctor Gerard has been my doctor for ever. He even stopped by during his lunch break when I was sick with the flu last month. Doctor Gerard was one of Jack's friends, if he knew I was here, than I was brought back to the tiny room, hidden in the hospital where only he knew the existence of.

I slowly open my eyes, thinking I was in that tiny room, but I wasn't. I look around to find three more beds in the room. There was a young boy sleeping in the bed in front of mine. Next to him was an older boy sleeping. The bed to my right was empty. I watched them sleep for a while. I wasn't tired, so I watched them sleep instead.

'Good morning everyone.' A young nurse in white scrubs walked inside the room, pushing a trolley. She walked towards the windows and opened up the curtains. 'Wake up, Jaimy.' The boy next to the window covered his face under his pillow. 'Wake up, Timothy.' The other boy moved a little but kept on sleeping. Then the nurse noticed me sitting up and she smiled bright. 'Well, good morning to you. How are you feeling?'

I didn't say anything back. I don't like strangers. I don't trust anyone.

The nurse frowned at me, but didn't ask me anything more. She walked to the trolley and gave me a tray with food and a glass of milk. 'You must be hungry. If you want more food, don't be afraid to ask.' She walked towards the other beds and yanked the covers away from the boy that she called Timothy. He screamed like a girl, what made me giggle. The nurse followed the sound and she smiled at me when she saw me laughing. She did the same to the boy next to Timothy, the boy she called Jaimy. His reaction was quit similar. I couldn't help but giggle from their reactions. 'I will come back to pick up the trays.' She left the room, leaving me alone with two boys.

'Hi, I'm Jaimy and this is my younger brother Timothy.' The eldest said. They didn't look alike. I never should have guessed they were brothers. Jaimy's skin tone was a lot darker than his white-blond brother. He probably saw my reaction, because he started to explain: 'Timothy is my foster brother, but he will be adopted soon.'

'Jaimy is fourteen years old and I am nine.' Timothy said holding up nine fingers in front of him. Only his thumb was down. He was smiling at me and I saw he was missing a few of his teeth. 'What is your name and how old are you?'

'I'm Shelly.' I whispered. 'I'm fifteen years old.'

'Did you say Sally?' Jaimy asked. 'I'm sorry, you were speaking really soft.' I just nod. Sure my name was Sally. 'Oh, hi Sally.'

The boys began eating like animals. They were making awful noises with their mouths. I wasn't that hungry after hearing it. I only took the cup of jelly and ate it. Doctor Gerard gave me a cup of jelly a few times when I behaved. I loved jelly.

When the nurse came back, she took the empty trays from the boys and than turned to me. She was actually disappointed in me, when she saw I only ate the jelly. 'You didn't eat much. Please eat something.' I shook my head. She sighed and took my tray. 'You sure don't want anything else? Maybe..' She gave a look over my tray. 'Some more jelly?' I nodded.

Not a few minutes later, the nurse came back with three more jelly cups. 'Thank you.' I whispered.

'Don't thank me yet. I called for the doctor to give you a check up. It's not healthy to be this thin at your age. You didn't even eat the pancakes.'

I lowered my head. I didn't like pancakes. Grandma made me always pancakes when I was little. I loved them actually. She was the only one that really cared for me in my family. Not even my own mother did care for me. I haven't spoken to my mom since before Halloween. It was now December.

The nurse asked me my name and I told her it was Sally. Yeah, I was going to stick with that for a while.

I ate the cups of jelly, while the boys were picked up to visit their parents in another room. I was alone for almost a hour before the doctor came to visit me. He sat next to my bed on a chair. The doctor was old and gray and he had round glasses hanging on a cord around his neck. He was wearing a white doctors coat with a tiny bear inside his pocket. It was clear to me that I was in the children's wing of the hospital.

'I'm doctor Hobart and I'm not going to lie to you, Sally. I never had to deal with a case like yours.' The doctor started. 'You almost died. You were lucky the man found you while walking his dog on the beach. He almost didn't see you, but the dog kept on barking and found you.' Wait what? What was I doing on the beach? I was close to home when I was hit by that car. Did the person move me? 'You had a fracture in your scull, but that wasn't the biggest issue. There was somehow a piece of red glass sticking inside your left leg and you almost bled out to death.' The man glared at me, but my face was neutral. The person that hit me, dumped me on the beach to die. Was it too hard to bring to a hospital? I was lost in my own thoughts, until I heard him say: 'I spoke with the police and they want to talk with you. They want to know how you got at the beach in the first place.'

I shook my head. No. No police. This was bad. My hands found their way to the IV sticking in my hand and I pulled it out. The clip holding my finger to monitor my heart rate I also got rid off.

'NO. Stop.' The doctor looked at me with concern. 'You can't leave. You can't even walk.' He stopped me from moving. 'I have seen your scars and bruises.' He said. My head fell back down on the pillow. 'Some were really old and others new. I know you must be terrified right now. But I promise you, the police can stop the person that did that to you.'

I shook my head again. 'No one can stop him.' I whispered. 'He will find me and bring me back.' Tears were rolling down my face. I found myself finding it hard to breath and the pain in my chest was getting stronger with every deep breath I took. Oh no, not again. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my breathing even and slow. I was having a panic attack. I hadn't had one in months, but I didn't take my medicine in I don't know how many days. I heard the man next to my bed trying to keep me calm, but it didn't work. I started to hyper ventilate and before I even knew it, I passed out again.