Closer 2

129.

"I'cream!" Elise said cheerily up at the man behind the counter where she knew the ice cream was. "Please."

"Are you here all alone, little one?" the man asked, and Elise figured he just hadn't understood her request.

"I'cream, please," she repeated, pointing to the counter where baba had lifted her up so she could pick flavours.

The man walked around the counter and squatted down next to her. Maybe he didn't hear her?
"Do you know where mama and papa are?" he asked, but she had no idea what the man was talking about. Who was that?

"Noo?" she answered, figuring that's what he wanted to hear. It seemed to be the wrong answer, though, as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"No? How did you get here, then?" he asked, and Elise took a step back, feeling unsure from all the questions she didn't understand or know the answer to.

"I'cream?" she requested again, looking up towards the ice cream counter. The man stood up.

"Okay, how about you get some ice cream and then we go talk to the nice lady at the front desk, hm?"

...

"He's so beautiful," Brett hummed right next to Eddy's ear, looking down at little, fragile Aiden who rested safely on daddy's chest. "Looks a lot like you."

"Aren't you a sweet talker?" Eddy chuckled, stroking Aiden's cheek with his finger. "But he is beautiful, you're right. And strong. Our little fighter."

"Our little fighter," Brett hummed, turning his head to kiss Eddy's cheek.

"Maybe Elise wants to meet him too? And not just through the incubator?" Eddy suggested, looking towards where he expected Elise to be. Sharkie laid abandoned on the floor, but no Elise. "Elise?"

"Where are you baby? Wanna meet your littlest brother?" Brett asked, standing up. Sometimes she hid behind the incubators or under tables, so having to look for her in the room wasn't all too unexpected. "Elise?"

He got more worried when she wasn't in any of her usual hiding places, and looked into their little bathroom as well as the door had been cracked.
"Elise? Baby, baba's getting worried..." Brett said, furrowing his brows.

"Can she have gotten out of the room? Maybe she's just down the hall, she's been out there a bit so she could've..." Eddy tried, feeling Aiden get a bit squirmy on his chest. He turned his attention back to him. "Shhshh, it's just big sis who's playing hide and seek, it's okay, it's okay."

"I'll go look for her. Call if she shows up," Brett said, feeling the adrenaline make him very alert. Where was she?

"Hi Brett, can I help you with anything?" nurse Hannah asked from behind him, and seeing her without Elise made him even more worried. She was the one Elise would try and find the few times she stuck her head out in the corridor. "How's Aiden?"

"Aiden is perfect, but have you seen Elise? We can't find her in our room, so we think she might've snuck out here," Brett asked, not feeling any better when Hannah furrowed her brows.

"No, I haven't seen her. I've just been checking on all the patients in the rooms down the corridor, so if she's not in the break room I don't think she's here," Hannah said, starting to walk down the last few meters to the break room door. "If anyone's seen her, I'm sure they'd bring her here too."

Brett felt his heart sink to his stomach when she opened the door and found the room empty. Where the hell was she?