Palpable | Latent 2

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sophronia

We never heard anything back from the police yet. I was hoping it wouldn't take too long, but I thought wrong. They ran the plate, but it wasn't that much help since the car was owned by my uncle. Now, they were currently searching for the car.

"When did you see Ally get into the car?" Mom asked as I helped with the dishes after dinner.

"I didn't," I said. "Dustin did. He went for another walk and saw her, so he came back to tell me. I hope it actually did something."

"I think it will help," Mom said. "Now they know exactly what to look for."

"Yeah," I said. "Do you think it will take long?"

Mom shrugged. "It depends how careful Ally and Jacob are. If the car is parked right in the open, then it won't take too long when the police look around."

I nodded and went back to drying the dishes. I really hoped it didn't take too long to find Dustin. I needed him back in my life, and not just invisible.

The phone rang, so Mom dried off her hands before answering the phone. "Hello...? Oh, hi, Beth. How are you...? Really? That's amazing! Is he okay...? Yeah, okay, we'll head over. We'll see you soon... Bye."

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

Mom nodded, a smile slowly appearing on her face. "Yeah, Dustin was found. He is in a coma, but now that he has medical attention, they suspect he'll wake up soon. He's in the hospital now so we'll head over now."

I smiled before hurrying up the stairs to get my sweater. Dustin was laying down on the bed and he sighed heavily. "I'm craving lemons," he said. "This is pure torture and I don't recommend it."

"Dustin, they found you," I said.

Dustin sat up and looked at me. "Wait, what?"

"They found you," I said. "You're in the hospital now, still in a coma, so that's why you're still here."

"That was a very confusing sentence," Dustin said.

"Yeah, whatever," I said. "My mom and I are going to head over to the hospital now. You want to come?"

"And see my own body?" Dustin asked.

"That does sound weird," I said. "So..."

"Uh, yeah, I'll come," Dustin said. "Maybe me being close to my body will wake me up so I can finally have some lemons. I miss sorbets. And lemonade."

"And everything lemon?" I asked.

Dustin nodded. I rolled my eyes before grabbing my sweater and putting it on. I went back down the stairs with Dustin following to where Mom was by the front door. "Dustin's coming too," I said. "He's hoping if he's close to his body, he'll wake up."

"And have lemons again," Dustin said.

"Yes, and have lemons," I said.

"That might work," Mom said. "I still have no idea how any of this is possible, so I can't say for sure, but it's worth a shot."

I put on my shoes, then the three of us headed outside of the house and to Mom's car so we could head over to the hospital.

As soon as we got there, Mom asked which room Dustin was in. They told us, but they also said he should only have two visitors at a time and one person was already in there, so Mom told me I could go on ahead. Dustin said he was going to come too, even though it was going to feel really weird for him seeing his unconscious body.

When I reached his hospital room, I hesitated. "It's okay," Dustin said. "It will be fine. I'm alright."

"I know," I said. "I just don't know what you're going to look like. You could have been severely injured. Bruises and cuts and..."

"Hey, I'm okay," Dustin said. "At least, I think I am. I personally feel okay, but I'm not too sure about my body. Come on, let's go in together."

I nodded and took a deep breath before walking into the hospital room where Dustin's mom was sitting on one of the chairs beside the hospital bed. She looked at me and gave me a small smile, and it took all my courage to look at Dustin's body laying on the bed. He was injured. Very injured.

He had a large cut running across his forehead, as well as a few bruises that formed all around his body. His cheek, his arms, his chin. His bottom lip had a cut too.

"Wow," I said softly. "I... I was expecting some injuries but not... Not that much."

"Me too," Beth said. "When I got the call saying he was found quite injured, I still wasn't thinking this much."

I sat down on the other chair. "Where exactly was he found?"

"In the abandoned warehouse right outside of the town," she said. "Since the license plate and description of the car was released to the public to help keep an eye out, someone called the police and said they saw that car park there a few times. Unfortunately, when they got there, it wasn't there that time, but Dustin was at least. The doctors said that he should wake up soon."

"And by soon, how long are they thinking?" I asked.

Beth shrugged. "Either a couple days, hours, or weeks, but they don't expect it taking longer than a month. His head injury isn't too severe."

"I hope it won't take too long," I said. "At least he's fine and okay."

"Yeah," Beth said. "Is he... Is he still invisible?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's in here with me." I looked over at Dustin, who was staring at his body laying on the hospital bed. "Who hasn't really said anything."

Dustin looked over at me. "Oh, sorry. It's weird, seeing myself all hurt and injured, and thinking about what someone did to me. But the weirdest part is seeing myself. It's not like I'm looking at a picture, or if I had an identical twin because they're still separate. That's me right there."

"I'm going to go get something to eat," Beth standing up. She looked over at Dustin laying on the bed and smiled softly. "I hope you wake up soon." She kissed his forehead before leaving the hospital room.

"Well, I guess standing close to my body isn't working," Dustin said. "I wish there was some way for us to know what exactly is going on."

"I think there is," I said. "We'll go tomorrow, but I think there is a way for us to know."