Running Out of Time

Chapter 9 - Missing In Action

Peggy sat silently on the couch while her two sisters watched the news. She took more time than necessary to look around the room. She would try to be subtle as she craned her neck to see further down the hall. For once, the quiet house was unsettling to her. It was starting to get late and she hadn't seen or heard Hamilton all day. Peggy didn't want to think that anything was wrong. It was possible, although unlikely, that he had became a person again.

She couldn't help looking around like this, she was waiting him despite him not being there. The past week had been long and rough but she didn't think she could forget it. Peggy found that she was almost missing Hamilton's annoyance. She could only hope that he was alright wherever he was. There was a possibility that he was off bothering Lafayette. She could probably make herself think that was the case for a while, it would take some of the worry away.

It wasn't until after Angelica had gone to bed that Eliza said anything about what was going on. "Are you okay? You seem a little spooked."

Peggy looked over at her. She realized that she may not have been as subtle as she was trying to be. "Yeah, I'm good. Great even."

"Okay," Eliza turned so her back was against the arm of the couch, "what's going on?"

Peggy shook her head, "there's nothing going on Eliza, I'm fine, really."

"Peggy, you have to tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," Peggy was trying to brush it off. Eliza was always the one who would push them when she knew something was up. PEggy wasn't convinced she'd be able to get out of this, she had to think of some distraction. It wasn't likely that Eliza would understand why the ghost of Hamilton disappearing was concerning, it wasn't likely she would even believe there was a ghost. Eliza didn't have to say anything else, the look on her face told it all. Peggy was trapped and they both knew it. "Personally, I think you have something to tell."

"Me?" Eliza seemed a little confused. It was a turn she had not expected.

"You're the one hiding things here."

"What do I have to hide," Eliza realized halfway through her sentence where this was all going.

"Relax," Peggy chuckled, "we don't care about your girlfriend."

"Who's we?"

Peggy's face froze for a moment. She had accomplished changing the subject but she had made a mistake, she wasn't sure what exactly to say but she figured it would work well enough. "Me and Lafayette."

"How does Lafayette know," Eliza raised an eyebrow.

"You know what," Peggy knew what she was about to do, "I don't feel good." She rolled off the couch and fell to the floor in an attempt to pretend to faint.

"You know that doesn't work, right?"

--

Peggy woke up and got ready as if it were any other day and for most people, it was just another typical day. She still had a bad feeling in her mind. There still was no sign of Hamilton. She stayed up a little later than usual just to see if he would show up but he didn't. Peggy was having a hard time thinking that Hamilton was alright. He would always follow her around but he hadn't even stopped in. She understood that he probably had some ghostly things to attend to but she couldn't stop thinking that something was wrong.

Before she finished her morning routine, she decided to step out of the usual line. She had to try and ease her mind somehow, it was worth the shot.

"Bonjour ma chère, bonjour," Lafayette said as he answered the phone.

"Good morning Lafayette, listen, I've got  super quick question," Peggy did her best not to pace around the room too much. She didn't want to be bothered by her sisters right now, she had far too much on her mind.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well," for some reason Peggy wasn't sure exactly how to word her question, "you haven't seen Hamilton, have you?"

There was a moment of silence. Peggy could picture him looking around the room. "No, I don't think I have. Is there something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Peggy explained. Her attempt to ease her mind hadn't worked. Now she figured she would have to look for him, she had no idea where he was or wheat he had gotten into. At this point, she wasn't certain it mattered. She was talking about Hamilton, knowing him he had probably already done something wrong. Peggy almost felt as though she was ready to clean up whatever mess he may have made.

"Why is that," Lafayette was confused.

Peggy had to think carefully about the explanation. She didn't want to have Lafayette freak out or panic over this but it was certainly an issue. Losing a ghost wasn't exactly an irresponsible thing. She had no control over what Hamilton did or didn't do. It was another tricky situation to say the least. It wasn't clear if Hamilton had run away or not but Peggy couldn't see why he would do anything like that. "He isn't here. I think he might be lost," she took her time to speak carefully.

"Lost? How could he be lost," the frenchman wasn't certain he understood what she was trying to tell him.

"I'm not sure. I don't know where he is. He was with me but, when I woke up, he was gone, I couldn't find him anywhere," Peggy sat back in the chair at her desk. It was a moment of silence as neither knew what to say or do. She pushed a pencil across the flat surface and watched it roll. It stopped as it hit the picture frame next to the mirror.

It was a picture of her and her sisters. They were together and standing outside of the hospital they all worked at. She knew it was from before they remembered they were sisters, she remembered how nice it was that they were already together. She didn't have to wonder what it would be like if they hadn't been together, it had happened a few times before. Those times were always a little rough, the world always seemed so big then.

As Peggy looked at the picture she remembered one more thing, the person who took it. They had asked a stranger passing by if he would take it which he did. He had been a nice man, a kind person. She remembered that they had talked to him for a few minutes, they were all young and excited so he was happy to chat. He had a normal story, it wasn't anything overly exciting. He didn't have any family but he was still happy. Then, Peggy remembered that they had seen the man on the news a few days later. There had been some sort of accident, those details weren't as clear anymore, but he had been left in a coma.

"Shit," Peggy's word was barely audible as she began to recall the man's face.

"What is it?"

"I think I know exactly where he is."