The Missing Boy

Chapter 2 - Gone

"No! Don't touch him! Please! Don't take my son! He's all I have!"

Richard yelled, he screamed, he cried but the man with the smile walked back to his car, with Richard's son in his arms.

Richard fought against the blinding pain, he sought to get himself on his good leg, but it was too late. The black car had driven away, his son limp in the backseat.

He fell to the ground, unable to support his weight on one leg and tried so hard to memorise the number plate.

LH1 56B

LH1 56B

LH1 5-

Eventually the pain was too much to bare.

When Richard woke he heard the unmistakable blare of the sirens and felt his body shake as the ambulance sped to the hospital. And whilst strapped to a stretcher with an oxygen mask covering his face, Richard made a promise. This won't be the last time I see you.

•••••••••••

Finally. Miles thinks as Axel gets up from the door step. He brushes the dust off his black jeans or wipes his sweaty palms, Miles can't tell. Then Axel takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. Twice.

•••••••••••

"We're going to need you to calm down, Sir."

"He took my son! The man who drove off, he took my son!"

"Just calm down Sir. We'll be at the hospital shortly."

Richard wanted to yell again but before he could, he was knocked out cold.

The next time Richard woke, he was in a hospital bed. His right leg was gone. His son was gone. His wife was there, but she looked gone too.

•••••••••••

Miles doesn't blame Grace for not recognising Axel straight away. He himself barely did. Miles, sent to the kitchen by his father to get him a cool beverage, got distracted by the missing boy sitting across the road from him. He was shocked to see him there and still is 15 minutes later. Miles hears his father call for him, rushes to get the bottle from the fridge and runs into the living room where his father is sitting and watching the game on TV. When Miles gets back to the kitchen window, the neighbour's front door is closed.

•••••••••••

Richard's flesh was replaced with metal. He had to go to physical therapy to learn how to walk with a prosthetic leg and would occasionally walk with a walking stick when his leg wouldn't cooperate. The reporters held back on interviews at first, they wanted both parents to get better. They never really did.

The thing that troubled Richard the most, besides his son being taken at the accident, was that the man who had caused the collision was never found. His son also.

After a while, Richard took to the news, his wife tearful at his side.

"There was a crash. This car, out of nowhere, crashed into mine. I tried to get out of my car. I tried to get to my son but this other guy showed up and got to him first. I thought maybe he was going to get help, maybe he was a doctor or something but I could tell he wasn't. That bastard took my son! And I don't fucking care what I have to do to get him back!" Richard limped away, his wife never leaving his side.