Lost

Chapter 23: The Call

Unedited. Post your reactions as your read ;)

I got 1K comments on the previous chapter. Let's see if you can get me that much again :P.

William's P.O.V.

William's heart skipped a beat when he heard his cousin's voice. For a moment he was stunned, quite certain that he was hallucinating.

William was sitting in the the kitchen at Asim's, together with Anne and Alley. They were discussing the rescue mission that was planned out for the next day. Asim was complaining how it was unfair that he was not allowed to join the team, when it was his plan that they were using. Alley was telling him off for wanting to go to the forest again and that's when William's phone had buzzed. He had picked it up without really looking at the Caller's ID. The person on the other end would not respond and William was getting a bit annoyed.

He was about to hang up when he heard Salma's voice down the line.

"W-William?"

If it was not for her continuous sobbing on the other end of the line, William would have been certain this was just another dream.

"Will, it's -"

Salma got interrupted by a hiccup but William had already jolted up in his seat. Her saying his name again was all it took to break him out of the trance that was freezing him to the spot.

"Sally?" he breathed out in shock, still having hard time believing it was her.

No sooner had the words escaped the curly boy's lips that three pairs of eyes snapped in his direction. His heart started racing, and he gripped the phone more tightly.

"Sally! How - where are -"

The phone was snatched out of his hands. He stood up to take it back, but Asim pulled away from him.

"Salma!" Asim cried, unable to hold onto his calm. "Oh my God! Salma!"

"Asim!" William tried to intervene, trying to keep it together. The whole kitchen was barely able to contain the emotions of the four of them. The two ladies had gone pale with shock. Alley was gasping for breath, while his mother's hands had jump to cover her mouth as she started crying. Asim, on the other hand, was going in tight circles, saying his sister's name over and over, running frustrated a hand through her hair.

"Salma, I-I, oh God! Salma I-"

"Asim, listen to me!"

He just pushed William away, blinking back tears as he frantically attempted to talk to his sister and ended up saying nothing. William grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Dude! Get a grip!" he raised his voice. Asim paused. "Sit down!"

Breathing hard, William pointed to the chair. Asim bit his quivering lip hard, holding the phone even tighter to his ear.

"Sit down, Asim," William repeated softly. He obeyed. "Put the phone on speaker."

The moment Asim did as he was told, the four of them heard Salma crying. Alley lost it.

"My baby!" she cried as tears freely ran down her cheeks. William quickly got to her side, putting his arms around her to comfort her. "Sally, my little girl!"

"Mum?" Salma gasped.

"Yes, honey, it's me," Alley wept, "It's mum!"

"Mum, I - I'm," Salma's voice cracked, "I was so scared, mum - for Asim! I thought - Mum, I thought."

William felt his heart stab. Lost, alone and frightened, Salma was still trying to play strong, trying not to cause her family any more worry. William knew her well enough to know she wanted to tell her mother she was really scared right then, but instead, she chose to say she was scared for Asim.