Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 33

The clock read 2:00 AM as the busy streets began to quiet down. Emily walked back home from the hospital, her head bowed, with her hoodie over it. Her phone rang, and she reached for it in her pocket.

It was Ma.

"Ma," she answered immediately but there was a pin drop silence on the other end of the phone.

"Ma? Are you alright?" Once again, she was met with silence."Ma? Can you hear me?"

"They took him away," she heard a whisper through the phone.

Emily's heart immediately began to race. Took who?

"They took him away...I...I don't know...why...."

The whispers were Ma's, and she sounded broken.

"Who? Who did they take away?" Emily prayed silently, hoping it wasn't what she feared.

"Lucas...he's gone," Ma said. "I tried to fight, but they pushed me away, and I...I hit my head and..."

The phone slipped from Emily's hands to the ground.
Nothing else mattered now.
Her son was gone.
She dropped to her knees on the sidewalk and froze.

$&$#%£€

Donna squeezed the remaining water from the warm towel and placed it on Emily's forehead. Emily stared at the ceiling, her mouth slightly open, and her eyes blinking once in a long time.

"You should never pull a stunt like that again," Donna commented. "You literally fell out there, allowing yourself to be vulnerable. What if the man you had been running away from all this while found you? How about traffickers?"

"Lucas," Emily whispered, as if she had not heard Donna's complaints. "I'm sorry, Donna," she said. "Forgive me."

Donna was quiet for a moment before speaking up. "You don't have to say sorry. I was the one a bit too harsh on you. Your son was kidnapped. I'm sorry."

"Why do you think this is happening to me? Have I wronged God?" Emily asked.

Donna stared at her in silence and pity

"I have served God with all my heart since I was a child. I don't know what wrong I did to deserve this suffering. I want Him to forgive me, to remember me..."

Donna didn't know what to say. Emily touched a scar on her thigh. "Is it the sins of my father?"

From the way she caressed the scar, it was now evident was reminiscing about her time with Mark. Donna immediately figured it out, and she had to stop her.

"Emily," she pushed her hands away from the scar with hopes that Emily will regain herself.

"What if he fell into the hands of those child traffickers?!" Emily immediately screamed causing Donna to get startled. "What if my son has been taken for organ harvesting?!!!! What if my boy is out there lonely in the hands of predators!" She grabbed a chunk of her hair on both sides and tried to pull them apart loosening her already messy bun.

Her face was red in pain. Donna had never seen her that red before, she was in agonizing pain that nothing could calm her down right now, all her words fell on deaf ears as Emily decided to scream and wail.

"God why?! Why do you hate me?!" She buried her face in her arms. "Do you even exist?! No you don't! You don't exist! Where is the loving and merciful God that saves his people from suffering! Am I not your child?! Why do you hate me so much! I have done everything!"

"Emily be calm please, this is not you!" Donna stood with the towel watching her break down.

"How much more do I have to suffer, I'm losing my mind?! I regret ever putting my trust in you! I want to die"