Missing Piece [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eight

Panic set in, Cody had been shot and a strange guy was edging his way closer to me.

I quickly pulled out my phone, dialed 911 and simultaneously grabbed the mace from my purse.

"Is that you Ellie... Wow you're quite the looker now aren't ya?" The man spoke, eyeing me up and down.

"Who are you??" I shouted, and the operator answered, "What is your emergency?"

"There is someone shot, off of Durral and Blike St, Fernwell Park," I said rapidly, watching the guy walk closer,

"There's a dangerous guy here, please come quickly!"

The man jumped and grabbed me, making me drop my phone. He held the gun close to my head, his hot breath pouring down my neck.

What had I gotten myself into?

Was I really going to die all because I got involved with Cody?

Tears threatened to push their way out of my eyes but I choked them down and stood bravely.

Sirens wailed in the distance and I could feel the guy tense up, he chuckled, "Tell Tim I said hi doll face."

And he let me go and bolted in the opposite direction.

Disregarding my trembling legs I breathed a sigh of relief and reached Cody who was shaking on the ground, blood pooling around his wound soaking his white T shirt red.

My eyes then let out the tears I was holding back, waterfalling down my face now with ease.

"Cody...." I muttered, his eyes locking on to mine, and his weak hand gripped mine.

"I-....I m s-sorry..." He breathed heavily, and I could tell talking was taking a lot of effort for him.

I shushed him with my lips as they pressed against his, my tears falling down my nose and hitting Cody's cheek.

His hand reached up and curled a loose hair behind my ear, and smiled before closing his eyes.

The ambulance arrived seconds later, hurriedly taking Cody's vitals and yelling frantically for the other EMTs to help.

They got him on a stretcher and pulled him away, and fear was crippling me, hoping Cody would make it out okay.

"A cop wants to talk to you," a lady spoke, and pointed to the officer pulled up behind the ambulance.

As I walked closer I recognized the man as the same cop that went after Cody.

His eyes narrowed on me and his mouth upturned into a frown.

"I see you found Cody Stanson," he said solemnly.

My eyes darted down, knowing I hadn't' "told the police Cody's whereabouts" and I sheepishly replied with, "Sorry."

My eyes kept darting back and forth from the cop to Cody.

The cop rolled his eyes over the papers in his hands, he was quiet for a few minutes until he looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry to tell you but if Cody makes it through this he will be going to a detention center for a while."

My heart dropped, I didn't know what to think.

The policeman walked back to his car, so I rushed to my car to go to the hospital.

Before I got into my car I quickly dialed my mother and explained how Cody was in the hospital. She gasped when I said he was shot, skipping the part where I was almost killed myself. She agreed to let me go and told me to call her every so often.

My face was streaked with tears as I sped towards the hospital, thinking of Cody.

As I arrived the hallways of the ER were jam packed, ranging from a pregnant woman having contractions to an angry man who looked like he had had a bit too much to drink.

I stepped up to the receptionist, "Cody Stanson, is he alright?"

The nurse pursed her lips together and clicked away on her computer for a minute. She looked up at me and questioned, "Are you a relative?"

I nodded, lying so I would be able to see him.

"He's in ICU at the moment honey but if you take a seat, they will call you when he's in a room."

For the first hour of waiting I was nervously pacing the waiting room.

I had tried watching the news on the TV but my mind would not concentrate. I even tried flipping through some magazines but they didn't hold my interest.

There were a few people also waiting, a young mother and her two kids, an old couple, one with a breathing tube, and lastly a middle-aged woman with a splint on her arm.

This lady sat closest to me and she could see how nervous I was, she commented as I brushed past her,

"Honey, the Lord's got it in his hands, you don't need to worry about a thing."

A obvious religious woman would say that, as I noted her necklace of a cross, I smiled awkwardly and responded, "I hope you're right."

Time dragged on forever and I found myself groggy and fighting to stay awake. I drifted off and was awakened much later by a soft nudge.

My eyes met a nurse with kind green eyes and a warm smile, she told me Cody was out of ICU and in stable condition.

"He's still sleeping, but you can come see him."

I glanced at my phone as I followed the nurse back, I had slept for a good four hours, and I could feel how sore my neck was after sleeping upright.

We entered a green, softly lit room with blue curtains and blue chairs. The walls were that ugly off-white hospital color.

I hated hospitals.

I noticed an older woman standing by the bed looking at Cody I assumed this was his mother.

The nurse left after looking at Cody's vitals and closed the curtain behind her. I neared the bed looking down at Cody, his mid section bound tightly with gauze and bandages.

The lady on the other side smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Debbie, Cody's mom," her quiet voice sounded.

"I'm Ellie Riding," I replied, shaking her offered hand.

Her eyebrows arched and then she smiled even wider,

"Oh Ellie, is that you? I used to babysit for you when you three or four, do you remember?"

I tried to think back, and vaguely recalled a gated backyard, complete with a swingset and a sandbox. I remember the house smelled like lemon, and they had goldfish I would sit and watch in their pond.

Then I suddenly remembered a little boy. He was my age, and he had curly brown hair.

He would play with me and share his cookies with me.

The little boy was my best friend, and I remembered the strange promise he made to me.

"Ellie when we are bigger and stuff I am guna marry you. We are guna have two dogs, a big house and a pool."

I giggled, "Okie dokie," I responded, so naively agreeing to a future request.

I then looked down at Cody's sleeping face, and realized the little boy I used to play with.....and who promised to marry me......was him.