Over Again (Baker Boy Sequel) Book 3

Chapter 24

Maedbh’s POV

I hadn’t gotten the call until I’d gotten back to school and was getting ready for bed.  At about 6, Uncle Si called. Asked me if I knew where Caellum was.  I didn’t, but I told him to call his friends, figuring he’d gone over to one of our neighbors to hang out. I got another call at 8, saying that he’d called everyone he could think of and he was no where to be found. Now I was getting nervous. Uncle Simon told me he was going to drive around and see if he was at the park or library or something by himself while I promised to call anyone else I could think of who might know where he was. Another hour later, I’m full on panicking. No one seemed to know where he was and Uncle Si couldn’t find him anywhere.

“I’m calling the police,” Uncle Simon says hanging up the phone. Katie is sitting next to me, trying to keep me calm but I can’t stop shaking. My little brother was missing. Where was he? How could he just vanish? What if something happened to him? What if he was hurt somewhere? What if someone had taken him? We needed to find him. Now.

I don’t know what possessed me to call him. He was probably the last person I should talk to. He probably didn’t even want to talk to me. Yet at the same time, he was the only one who could help me. He could reach out to millions and ask them for help. If they’d seen the small blond haired boy. I knew how dedicated his fans were. If he asked, they’d all be on lookout. I don’t expect him to answer when I call which only makes the tears fall harder. He was my only hope.

“Harry? I don’t… I don’t know who else to call.  He’s gone. They can’t find him. I don’t know what else to do,” I cry, half in relief half out of desperation when he answers the phone.

“Slow down. What’s happening?” he asks calmly, his voice low and soothing.

“It’s Caellum. He’s gone missing.” He doesn’t respond for a moment and I half think he’s hung up. “Harry?” I ask pitifully, well aware of how desperate I sound.

“I’ll take care of it.” The phone clicks off and I breathe out a sigh of relief I hadn’t known I’d been holding. Harry would help. He always comes to the rescue. A flash of guilt races through me at this thought. Despite everything that happened, he was helping me. I think back to his voice on the phone after I asked for his help. He sounded so detached. So distant. I’d never heard him like that before. At least not in person. It hurt to hear him like that. Like I was just any other person to him now. It’s what you wanted, I tell myself, pushing the thoughts away. He’s going to leave you alone now and you can move on with the rest of your life.

The next two days were torture. Harry, true to his word, had sent out a tweet with a picture of Caellum, asking for help finding him. Any tips were to be sent to a specific hotline where he had a team looking for him. He also set up a £5000 reward for anyone that found him which I was eternally grateful for. I’d only been hoping for him to tweet it or somehow get his fans involved in searching. I hadn’t expected him to organize search parties or set up a reward. I returned back to Holmes Chapel and, with Uncle Si, searched every inch of the town. Every minute he was missing drove me more and more into a panic. Where was he sleeping? Was he eating? Had someone taken him? Was he even still alive? My hours consisted of crying and anxiety attacks. It was like the accident all over again, those first couple days after I woke, wondering if my brother would wake. Then, the anxiety had faded when he’d stabled out, but for this it wouldn’t. I didn’t know where he was and that was 10 times worse than sitting by his bedside.

On the third day, it started raining which only added to my mood. Things couldn’t get any worse. By now, we were driving a couple hours away to search those towns and plaster up signs, slushing through puddles and putting up signs that’d fall in a couple minutes from waterlog. It was hopeless, but I had to be doing something. Just sitting made me even crazier as my mind floated to all the terrible scenarios. My phone rings and I have it out, answering it before the first ring can even finish. Maybe it was Uncle Si or the police having found him.

“Hello?” I ask, hardly daring to let the hope show in my voice.

“We’ve found him. They’re ta…” I barely hear the rest as the police man starts talking. A roar of relief fills my ears and I feel like I’m about to pass out. I thank the guy a thousand times before hanging up and quickly dialing Uncle Simon’s number to give him the news. He tells me he knows and he’s already on the way. Northampton Hospital. That’s where they were transporting him. He’d been found huddled in an alley in the middle of the rain and they were taking him there to make sure he was ok. Despite the fact I was headed towards the hospital, I couldn’t help the feeling of relief that engulfed me. He was found. He was alive. He was safe.

I break about 50 traffic laws as I speed to the hospital, but I’m not stopped.  For once God was on my side. When I pull up to the hospital, I double park in my haste to get inside, rushing to the front desk to get his room number. As I approach the room, doing my best to not run, I see police walking out of the room. They must’ve finished their questioning, because they passed me down the hall. I enter the room, letting out a breath as I see Caellum on the bed. I had scarcely dared to believe it was him.

“Caellum” I cry out, throwing myself across him. “Don’t you ever do that to me again! I was scared to death.”

“Sorry,” he murmurs weakly as I suffocate him in a hug.

“Are you ok? How are you feeling? You feel hot. Has the doctor been in?” I say, instantly switching to mother-mode as I feel his forehead see if he had a fever.

“My chest hurts” he says before releasing a phlegmy cough.

“I’m going to go get the doctor,” I tell him, pressing a kiss to his feverish forehead. It takes me a while, but when I finally find the doctor, Uncle Simon is there also.

“They say he’s caught pneumonia,” he tells me. “The rain and hunger weakened his immune system making him more susceptible.”

“Will he be ok?”

“He’ll be fine. They’re just going to keep him a couple days to make sure he’s recovering,” he assures me. I nod, taking a shaky breath and Uncle Simon pulls me into a hug. “He’s fine. Everything’s ok now,” he says assuringly, sounding like he’s trying to reassure himself as much as he was me. When I get back to the room, I find Caellum fast asleep and with a sigh, I settle in the seat next to him. I’d wanted to ask him what he was doing. Where he’d gone and why he’d run away, but I guess that would have to wait. He slept the next couple hours, probably exhausted from his last couple days.  I was getting tired myself now that the adrenaline had run off. I must’ve dozed off because I’m awoken a while later as someone cleared their throat.  I jolt awake, rubbing my eyes as I turn to the door, freezing when I see Harry standing there.

“What are you doing here?” I blurt before I can stop myself. That was an incredibly rude thing to say considering he’d orchestrated the whole search.

“They called me when they found him. I finished up at the studio and then came here to see how he is. That’s ok right?” he asks uncertainly. I nod my head turning to look again at the sleeping boy. This was just awkward. I didn’t know what to say to him. What could I? What can I say to the person who’d essentially saved my brother? Thanks didn’t seem good enough. I’m saved from too awkward of a silence as Caellum begins stirring.

“Hey buddy,” I say softly as he comes to consciousness. He lets out a cough before his eyes focus ahead of him, a smile lighting up his face.

“Music Man!” he exclaims. “You came!”

“Hey little man,” Harry says with an affectionate smile, walking to the other side of the bed and ruffling his hair. “You scared us. What were you doing?”

“You weren’t coming back,” Caellum says, a hurt expression filling his eyes. “I was coming to find you.”