What You Don't See (wlw)

[12] Rescue

My phone started ringing in my pocket, making me jump. It was an unfamiliar sensation - pretty much no one calls me, ever.

I looked at the caller ID to see Amy, and smiled instantly.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Verity? Can you hear me?" I immediately noted how distressed she sounded - heavy breathing and stressed words.

"Yeah I can hear you. Is everything okay?"

"No I, erm, I," I couldn't tell if she was on the verge of tears, or she was already crying "I went on a walk with Henrietta and she, she left me and I don't know where I am," Shit. I knew Henrietta was a complete arsehole but I didn't think she'd be that awful. Leaving Amy alone in a place she doesn't know? That's fucking horrendous.

I heard her sniffing, indicating that she was crying and again her breathing was panicked. It made me feel sick that she was so upset.

"Hey, it's okay I'm gonna come find you okay." I sprinted out to the garage, unlocking my bike from it's lock. "Just take some deep breaths okay, it's gonna be okay."

"Yeah," I knew right now she probably wasn't properly registering anything - being in such a distressed state and all - so I just kept repeating the words.

"Did you start the walk from Henrietta's house?"

"Yeah from her house - I think we went right from her front door." She responded through sobs. It physically hurt me to hear her in so much pain.

"Okay," I started racking my brain for walks Henrietta would take Amy on. "Did you feel like you were going up a hill?"

"Yeah, like five minutes in." Bingo.

"Okay I know where you are. Just stay there okay! Stay on the phone with me." I plugged in my earphones so I could still hear her and mounted my bike, cycling as fast as I could (safety) to what I always used to call 'Henrietta's horrendous hill'. She always made us go up it when our parents sent us out for walks.

"I'm coming to get you, everything's going to be okay." I kept repeating the words to her again, hoping that they were making a difference. I was just so relieved that at least I knew where she was now, and I could go and find her to take her out of this horrible situation. I couldn't imagine how terrifying it would be to be all alone like that without being able to see. Again, anger towards Henrietta surged through me, but I knew that that wasn't what Amy needed from me right now - it wouldn't help anything in this current moment.

I sped past Henrietta's house - or mansion more like. It was absolutely massive, much bigger than mine, which I knew took up a lot of space in my mother's head too much of the time. I didn't really care that much, never have.

The incline of the hill definitely made cycling harder but I knew at least I was close to Amy now. Finally, after what felt like a bit of a brutal climb, I reached her. She was stood near a tree, her cane folded up in her hand.

"Amy," She turned round in the direction of my voice and immediately started crying more, probably out of relief more than anything. I remember having to see a counsellor when my dad died, who said that the period after negative incidents is usually a lot more emotionally stressful than when you're actually in them. Something to do with being in shock and adrenaline.

"It's okay, I'm here." I said to her softly, holding her hand with mine as we slowly sat down together on the ground. She'd mentioned to me before that she didn't like sudden movements where she felt like she was being grabbed, so I waited a while before pulling her into a gentle hug.

We stayed there for a while. She rested her head on my shoulder, gradually calming down as I kept stroking her hair, whispering that everything was okay over and over again. Eventually, after what felt like around half an hour, she lifted her head.