One Heart- The Greatest Showman

Chapter 74

Phillip's Pov 

The curtains add an orange glow to the morning light, allowing the illusion of a perfect sunrise though the sun had rose many hours ago. For a moment, my mind conjured rhythmic waves, soft on the sandy shore as I watched the ocean emerge under the golden shimmer. There was no reason behind me thinking of the beach at this moment, Countess Adele had mentioned something about the beach being lovely while I was at her mansion. But nothing had triggered that thought except the cascading rays of light entering the room. 

I wonder if Lizzy has ever been to the beach?  I thought to myself as I extended an arm out to tap her in order to ask. Instead, I was met with a ripple of air. My hand gliding through the emptiness, cutting through the particles of oxygen with ease. 

I turned my head slightly, a slow, dull pain shooting through my neck, as I looked over to where an Elizabeth should of laid. Opening my eyes again, blinking due to the sunlight, I could see a wooden table, with a today's newspaper, a cup of what I hoped to be coffee and some beans on toast,  on top of  a vivid rug. 

The crust of the toast was not burnt, therefore meaning Lizzy most likely did not cook it. Slowly I sat up, looking around the room to see if there was any sign of Lizzy. Instead I was met with two familiar faces: Anne and W.D. The two siblings sat over at the table, discussing something in a small whisper before Anne caught my eye, noticing that I had woken up. There was a flash of something, something that spiralled across her face before she nudged W.D, mutely telling him I was awake. 

Piece by piece the events of last night returned very slowly, bombarding me all at once before fragments began to clear up one by one. The house. Hannah's room. Hannah. Lizzy telling me not to go looking for Hannah because I was too exhausted ( I will admit that she was correct about me being over-tired but she shall never know that), the slow carriage ride that had black fuzzes all over it then when we pulled out outside the Wheeler's apartment, that was when full blackness took over. 

"Where's Lizzy?" My voice was coarse, still waking itself up as I pushed aside the strain of my neck to scan the room. Light and the shadows combined to form a ying-yang sort of pattern across the floor, but no light path or ying-yang design took me to any elements of Lizzy's where about. 

Anne picked up the plates of her and W.D's breakfast and took them over to the sink, beginning to clean up while also letting her brother be the one to tell me about Lizzy. He walked over, creating a massive shadow over the living are before sitting on the chair across from me. W.D didn't say much just that Lizzy had left this before handing me a small note, the words engraved in pencil on a torn piece of parchment. It has a ruffle down the edge, but other than that only a few words were printed on the top of the paper. 

Gone looking for Hannah. 

 That was it. Somehow she wrote that in the brink of darkness and it still had a cursive flow to it. She had said that she was going to look for her, despite my attempts at protest in the carriage. I should of known though, she is too stubborn to listen when something is on her mind. 

It is one of the things I love about her. 

The door bell rung, lifting me from my thoughts as Anne went over to the door, talked to whom ever it was before closing it again. Only when she closed it, she had two more people with here. One blonde and one brunette. 

"Phillip!" Helen and Carline yelled as the ran over to see me. I gave them hugs, placing the note from Lizzy onto the table in front of me. 

"I told Charity I would baby sit them today while she was visiting her parents", Anne stated as she stood behind the couch, the girls hugging W.D. 

I wanted to go start helping Lizzy look for Hannah, but I had no idea where to start for either of them. Picking up a piece of toast and placing it in my mouth, I began to put my coat on as well as my shoes. It was overly formal thank the stars, I had a plain grey shirt on, green vest and brown slacks as well as a pair of black shoes. I was lacing up my shoes when Helen walked over and began to pick up Lizzy's piece of parchment, playing around with it in her finger tips. 

"Where are you going?" She asked as she read over the note, holding it in her small hands. 

"Just going to meet up with Lizzy," I replied, not wanting to tell her anything that was actually going on. 

"Can I come?" Her eyes had lit up and she held the note tight to her chest. 

"I'm sorry but no. Maybe next time though?" I re-assured her, allowing the gleam in her eyes to reappear. 

"Why is Lizzy looking for Hannah?" 

"Just so we can talk," I tell her. It isn't a complete lie, just not the full truth. I did want to talk Hannah, make sure she was okay. 

Her next question astounded me and caused me to realize what Lizzy's real message was in the note. 

"Why did Lizzy rip this page out from a book? "Great ex-pec-tat-ion's" Helen sounded out each syllable and passed me the page. She was correct, the front title page of the "Great Expectations" had been ripped out so Lizzy could write on it. 

It is not like Lizzy to ever handle a book with out care, let alone rip a page out. I moved into where she should of slept last night and sure enough, lying on the bed in plain sight was the book by Charles Dickens'. 

"Great Expectations". 

Looking out the door, I could see Helen now talking to W.D while Caroline baked with Anne. Cautiously, I opened the book to see the ripped edge of a page still inside the book. The outline meeting up with the one in my hands. Turing over one more page, Lizzy had elegantly scribbled something down on this page as well. It wasn't much help to locating her, but it helped with something else. 

Everything connects. From the night we went to your parents house to now. It all connects.