Chapter 2: Secrets in the Blood
The emergency room was a blur of fluorescent lights and shouting voices. Arthur stood in the corner of the trauma room, a silent guardian, watching as the doctors cut away the girl’s damp, oversized shirt. Underneath, her torso was covered in a sickening mosaic of old and new bruises.
“We need an ultrasound, now!” the doctor yelled. “She’s got internal bleeding in the peritoneal cavity. Prepare her for emergency exploratory laparoscopy.”
Arthur felt a sickening wave of guilt and rage wash over him. Who could do this to a child? She looked no older than thirteen—the exact age Emily would be today. He stared at her face, trying to find the features of his lost little girl beneath the dirt and swelling. Emily had a small mole near her left collarbone. Arthur stepped closer, squinting through the chaos of wires and tubes. There, just beneath the collar of the hospital gown, was a tiny, dark speck.
His breath hitched. Could it really be her?
Before he could process the thought, Detective Marcus Vance walked into the room. Vance had been the lead detective on Emily’s missing person case seven years ago, a case that had eventually gone cold, much to Vance's personal failure and regret. Arthur had called him on the way to the trauma bay.
“Arthur,” Vance said, putting a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “The nurse said you caused a scene. Tell me what’s going on.”
Arthur pointed a trembling finger at the silver bracelet, which a nurse had just removed and placed into a plastic biohazard bag. “Look at the locket, Marcus. Look at it.”
Vance picked up the bag, his eyes widening as he recognized the piece of evidence he had looked at in photos a thousand times. “My God. Where did she come from?”
“She just walked in,” Arthur said, tears finally spilling down his cheeks. “She’s starving, Marcus. Someone has been beating her. Is it her? Is it my Emily?”
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“We can’t know for sure based on a bracelet and a mole, Arthur. We need a DNA test,” Vance said gently, though his own heart was racing. He turned to the attending nurse. “We need a rush DNA profile on this patient, compared against Arthur Pendelton’s records on file. Label it an emergency tied to an active abduction case.”
As they wheeled the girl out to the operating room, the plastic bag containing the bracelet stayed in Vance’s hand. The mystery was deep, but one thing was certain: the girl had escaped from somewhere horrific, and whoever she was running from would likely come looking for her.
