It's already been weeks since Ashly disappeared.
The police have called off the investigation, that only held on because of public pressure from various countries' citizens, who were quite shocked and scared by the articles they read.
A strange man kidnapped a dying girl from an operation room, without showing on any security cameras- wild guesses and rumors were running around.
Some thought that it was for a human experiment, some said it was for human trafficking or a dangerous psychopath, and of course, there were many conspiracy theories that involved the governments and sometimes even aliens.
People have interesting imaginations¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
The desperate friends and family members were still looking, but every day they looked more and more haggard, and they were running out of hope to hang on to.
At his office, the police detective looked sadly at the middle-aged man in front of him, which he had argued with for the past half an hour. He wanted to help, but logically speaking, it was already too late for the girl, and they had no leads either. There were many other urgent cases he had to take care of.
He looked at the man and sighed again, saying "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do". Without saying another word, the man turned around and left.
On a chair in the hallway, his son was waiting for him. "Dad, are they really stopping the investigation?".
"Yes, John, I tried as much as I could, but they really can't continue. They have no leads and they also say that she had no chance of surviving, even if she hadn't disappeared. John, I know this might sound very selfish, but... maybe we should stop looking. It's been too long and without the police we can't do much on our own. You, your mother and I, we're all getting worse when we keep this up. Maybe it's time to just accept it...".
As he said so, he had a guilty, pained and exhausted expression on his face and his hands clenched into fists. He looked down, trying to hide his bitter and ashamed expression.
John grabbed his shoulders and made him look into his eyes.
"Dad, I know you want to stop it for me and mom, but we can't stop now!" He looked up, staring right at his eyes. Despite the pale complexion caused by sleepless nights, in his eyes lit a fire of absolute determination with a glint of real, concrete belief. "I know it, Dad! I can feel she's still alive!"
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A week later.
A figure appeared in an alley near a brightly lit hospital. No one was around her to see it happen- they would have been shocked from seeing someone appear out of thin air. She looked around her only for a second, slowly starting to walk out in the next.
Two nurses were hanging around the reception lobby, talking with each other. They were together on the night shift- it was already almost midnight and there weren't any other people around, a rare moment of relaxation for the hospital personnel.
Then, the automatic glass door opened, and they looked up. The neon lights from inside and a ray of the moon's light shined on the figure, revealing a teenage girl with tattered, bloody clothes. She stumbled inside and fell down since her legs couldn't support her weight.
One of the nurses rushed towards the girl. "Oh god, are you alright? Sally, call the doctors", she turned around and told the other nurse. Sally was frozen in her place.
"Sally, what are you doing, call the doctors!". Sally pointed at the girl, slightly trembling. "Maria, this is the girl".
"What girl?" Maria was confused.
"She's the girl that disappeared from here, about a month ago!"
Maria was shocked. "Go call the doctors and the police!". Sally nodded and ran inside.
Ashly moved, and Maria worriedly asked "Are you okay? Can you tell me what happened to you?"
She ignored her and and struggled to get up, staggering forward. "Pen..." she mumbled.
"What, a pen? I'll get it for you, just don't move". Ashly stopped struggling and waited for her. Maria came back with a pen. "Here", she handed it to her.
Ashly took it, scribbled something on her left arm and then fainted. Maria caught her, and then Sally came back with some doctors.
"Unbelievable, it's really her", one of the doctors said. "How is she still alive?" Another muttered in amazement.
"That's not important, we need to treat her first" Maria reminded them. They came back to their senses and started to check Ashly's condition while Sally called the police.
Meanwhile, John and his parents were trying to sleep. The atmosphere was very gloomy in the quiet house, and although they were tired and it was late, they had a hard time falling asleep.
Then, a phone rang.
The last time that happened brought really bad news to them, so they weren't very fond of calls right now. John's dad picked up the phone, wearily saying "hello?". After a short time, his face changed expression, and he stood up in shock.
"She's really there? Is she OK? We'll come right away!!".
His wife and son got out of their rooms. John asked "What happened, Dad?"
He had an almost crazy smile on his face and laughed while telling his son and wife "The police called. Ashly came to the hospital! The doctors said she'll be fine!"
His wife broke into tears of happiness and John had a huge grin on his face.
The three frantically got dressed and ran out of the house, driving the car as quickly as possible to the hospital.
Seeing Ashly on the hospital bed and confirming with the doctors that she was alright was like a dream to them.
In the hallway, away from his son and wife, John's dad talked with a doctor.
"...Yes, we checked. There aren't any signs that anyone beat her or...".
"In fact", he added, "All her broken bones healed, even some injuries that shouldn't have been able to heal. I mean, before she disappeared, her spine was broken and some of her ribs pierced her lungs. She would've probably died, we don't have an explanation for what happened. It's a miracle!".
Hearing that from the doctor, a relieved yet slightly troubled expression was on his face.
The next day, Ashly woke up, and opened her eyes slowly.
"Ash!" three different, worried voices called out to her.
Ashly looked to her right, and found three tearful people beside her hospital bed.
"John, Uncle Jack, Aunt Helen!", Ashly smiled with some tears in her eyes as well.
"Ash, are you okay? Where were you?"
Hearing the second part of the sentence, Ashly had a confused look on her face.
"What do you mean? I was in the city hall, and then there was the explosion and everybody else died... I jumped out of the window because it looked like the floors above were going to crash down. I managed to make it to the tree and I hit the ground and then I lost consciousness... What happened? How much time had passed? And actually, I feel fine, how come? I remember I got hurt really badly... My left hand was twisted and broken, and I'm pretty sure I hit my back when I fell... What's going on?"
The three exchanged worried looks.
"What?" Ashly asked. The glances they exchanged made her a bit anxious.
Just as Uncle Jack was deliberating on how to tell her what happened, a knock on the door interrupted them.
© 2021 Scarlet Embers