Life Lost and Found

31: Missed

Sydney woke with a start. Her phone was ringing. She grabbed it from the nightstand. "Gina?" she asked, because that's who she always expected it to be late at night. "Hello?" Her breath was short from the jarring extraction from her dreams. No answer. She looked at her phone. A blank screen. There was no one there.

She was certain it had rung, though. As certain as one could be without being, strictly speaking, conscious. So perhaps not all that certain.

She exhaled slowly and returned her phone to the nightstand, exchanging it for a glass of water. Everything was fine. Her unpleasant dreams had been just that—dreams. Back to sleep.

But she couldn't sleep. She was anxious and worried. Was Gina working too hard? Was she living? Was Sofie going to make the gymnastics and tumbling team?

And what about Madeline?

"Dammit, Sydney, you were too hard on her," she said into the darkness of her bedroom. "That look on her face..."

Sydney remembered that look. She had seen it on her own face in mirrors often enough. That look of shame. She knew very well how vicious a beast shame could be. She knew how deep it could claw—how potent its venom could be.

She grabbed her phone and began a text message to Maddy. The girl had to know it would be okay. That she was safe. That she was still welcome and loved, and please don't go to L.A.

No, a text wouldn't work. They had to talk. Get some coffee or something. Or—it was late—maybe waffles. Oh, but what if she was being impulsive again? This could wait until morning, couldn't it? Yes, morning. First thing.

Except that, for some reason, she felt this couldn't wait. She was about to call Maddy... but what would she say?

She was still thinking when she jumped as her phone buzzed, and the first half-second of her ringtone went off. She tried to answer it. But again, there was nothing to answer.

2 MISSED CALLS.

She squinted at the screen. "What in the name of—?"

And then it started ringing again. For real this time. And it was Gina. "Hey, sweetie!" she answered pleasantly despite the hour. "Sleeping troubles?"

"No. I'm worried about Madeline."

Sydney heard the emotion in Gina's voice and sat up straight. "Maddy? What about her?"

"She never came home tonight."

Sydney switched on her lamp, swung her legs out of bed. "She didn't come home?"

"No. She never stays out this late without saying something. Ever. And, I... I said things to her, earlier today, when we got back from the airport. Things I... Mom, I have to apologize to her! But she's not answering."

"Have you tried calling Rob? You did say she had decided to—"

"Rob's not answering either. But she's not going with him. I can just feel it—she didn't go to L.A."

Sydney was not as certain. She had some experience with this sort of thing. "I don't know, hon—"

"She didn't go," Gina repeated firmly.

"Hold on, sugar, I just got a text." Sydney held the phone in front of her. "Oh, dear God!"

"Mom?" Gina asked. "Mom, what's happening?"

Sydney was already on her way to the door. "Get to the Studio! Five minutes ago! Move it!"

●●●

Sydney was at the crash site within minutes, wearing her pajamas and a trench coat.

"Maddy? Maddy, where are you?" She pulled out her cell, switched on its flashlight, and began searching around the wrecked car for any sign of the girl. She cringed when she saw the driver, slumped against the steering wheel. She quickly checked him for a pulse. Nothing. "Oh, dear God!" Fear beginning to peak, she backed away. "Maddy? MADDY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Sydney tightened her coat. The night's rain had stopped, but the air was still chilly and damp. She started dialing 9-1-1, but stopped when she saw—"Maddy!" She ran toward her.

"Madeline!" Sydney dropped to her knees. The girl was lying on her face, and Sydney gently rolled her onto her side. She was completely limp—her skin cold, her face whiter than a fresh sheet of photo paper, her blue lips tinged with smears of red. A wide stream of blood trailed from her leg, and her ankle looked like it had been—she couldn't look.

"Maddy! Maddy, can you hear me?" Sydney's voice became frantic as icy hands closed around her heart.

She heard a motorcycle approach. With a crunch and a small shower of sparks, Gina carelessly dropped her bike and ran over. "You found her? Is she—?" She drew a sharp, terrified breath.

Sydney tossed her cell. "Do it!"

Gina fumbled with the phone for a second before she managed to dial.

Sydney checked Madeline for a pulse, and after not finding one in her wrist, checked her neck. What she found was so faint, she couldn't be sure if it were real or wishful thinking. But she decided it was real, because the alternative was... unacceptable.

"Maddy, you're alive! Stay that way!" she snapped. Options—what options did she have? Think!

Okay. Okay, first, she made sure Madeline's airway was clear, then she stripped off her trench coat and removed the belt. She tied the belt around Madeline's leg just above the knee, tightening it as much as she could. Done, tourniquet applied, what next? Body heat. She lay down next to Maddy, pressing herself as close as possible, and draped the coat over them both like a blanket.

Maddy was so cold and wet, Sydney began shivering as soon as she made contact. "Oh, Maddy! Oh, my lovely girl!" She stroked the girl's wet hair and face, whispering words of encouragement. "It's okay. Everything's going to be all right. Not much longer now, sweetheart, and everything will be just fine. I've got you. It's okay." She held her closer.

"Mom..."

Sydney looked at Madeline. Had she really heard her speak, or had it been more wishful thinking?

Gina was on the phone, pacing back and forth frantically, looking panicked and unsure, which was not like her. Not these days. "They say they're coming! They're on their way!" Gina called out as she ran to Madeline's lifeless, broken body. "Maddy, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she began sobbing. "Please, you said—you said I was your best friend! So, you can't! You can't go!"

Sydney slowly removed her fingers from Maddy's neck. She stroked her hair, nuzzled her head, and placed a single, tender kiss on the girl's icy cheek. She knew what she wanted to say to the girl now. "We love you, Maddy. We love you, and we... we're gonna—" She choked. "We're gonna miss..." She couldn't finish. It was too hard. It was too... late.

Seeing her mother's tears, Gina began backing away, terrified, shouting, unwilling to accept. "No! Mom, no! She can't be! She isn't!"

Sydney wanted to tell her daughter not to worry. Not to cry. That everything was going to be all right. But that was something she could not do. Not this time. She could only whisper, to the girl in her arms...

"Goodbye, Madeline." She placed one more kiss on the girl's head. "We're gonna miss you. We're gonna miss you so much!"