Among the Stars (Shidge AU) [Book 2]

Chapter Thirty-Four

"I found something!" Hailey smiled as she looked over Timothy. She got out of her seat excited as she practically ran over to his seat. "Timmy, I found something!" She shook his shoulders.

"Hailey!" He exclaimed as he pushed her hands off his shoulders. "Please calm down!"

"You wouldn't believe what I found!" She smiled as she ran back to her seat.

"What did you find?" He sighed as he looked at her. "This is the tenth time you've said you found her."

"But the evidence is irrefutable this time!" She exclaimed as she pulled up the info on her computer. "Come here!"

He sighed as he stood up. "Fine." He walked over to her.

She then started to speak to prove her point. "First! She was immited January 27th in the afternoon. The same day Katie Holt was claimed missing. She was found the woods not too far from Clements Street, which is in a close proximity of the AMS (Albano Middle School). And guess what, this girl was described as 'Small girl around 8-10, medium length light brown hair, and found in a long green shirt'! Timothy! It's Katie!" She smiled as she looked at him.

"Katie is twelve, almost thirteen, year old girl." Timothy pointed out.

"But Mrs. Holt described her daughter as someone who looked younger than her age!" Hailey pointed out.

Timothy then looked closer at the screen. "Hailey, it says her name is Hannah Doe. She's already partially identified. It's not Katie."

"What if she was falsely identified?" Hailey asked.

"Hailey. Just keep looking. That's not Katie." Timothy insisted.

Hailey glared at him. She was not pleased at all.

"Who here has more years of experience?" Timothy asked.

"I hate you." She mumbled.

He walked back to his seat as he said, "Sure you do."

Hailey grabbed her phone as she stood up. "I'm going to take a quick break."

"You do that." He replied as he went back to work.

Hailey walked out of the room and into the hallway as she dialed the hospital on her phone.

"Pines City Children's Hospital." She heard the receptionist answer.

"Yes, this is Agent Roberts from the Albano Police Station. I have clues that leads me to an unidentified patient you hold."  She explained.

"What patient?" They asked.

"Patient number 2850, Hannah Doe." Hailey told her.

"Are you coming to visit?" She asked.

"No, I'm just keeping tabs. Call me when she wakes from her coma."

"No problem."

---

"Garret?" Lindsey spoke up. "What if we don't have the money to support her for as long as she needs? What if we need the money for something else?"

"Lindsey, we have the extra money, so we should do the best we can." Garret replied.

"But she's not our child." Lindsey added.

"Yes, we don't need to take care of her. We are not required to care for her, but let's say we didn't take care of her. Let's say she died. Yeah, it would be sad, but it wouldn't be our fault. Let's say, a year later, you ran into the girl's family. How could you face them when you had the ability to save thier daughter, but you didn't." Garret posed.

Lindsey looked down. She didn't know how to reply.

"Or let's say we lost James. He went missing and something bad happened that put him in a coma." He added.

"Then I would pay for it and support him. He's my child." Lindsey responded.

"But you don't know where he is, and you don't know he's in a coma, but the family that found him had the money to help him, but didn't. How would you feel?" He asked.

She could feel her heart break. That would be tragic for her. She could feel tears picking her eyes. "I only asked you a simple question! You didn't have to send me into a guilt trip!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry, I just-" But then Lindsey headed out of the room giving him no time to talk.

He sighed. He honestly hoped Hannah's family would find her soon.

It's been a month since he found Hannah and he and Lindsey would visit every so often. But Linsday was often impatient and always asked if she was going to wake soon. The problem was, Hannah's condition never seemed to get better, and the serch for where she came from has been also unfruitful. It's almost like she just appeared there.

He looked up at the little girl as she laid on the hospital bed, still in her coma. He remembered the first day when Lindsey saw her, she mentioned she felt like she knew her. What if Lindsey had met her before? What if she met her in Arizona where Lindsey grew up? What if she was from Arizona? If so, how'd she get here in Texas?

***

~KanGian