Raelyn’s POV

Arabelle had finally calmed down when we arrived at the hospital. I murmured empty words of encouragement to her, hoping to convince the both of us that we wouldn’t lose another member of our family.

I called the boys and my sister who were at the beach. I called Sara and let her know what happened. She said she would come to help watch Arabelle so I didn’t have to worry about her and I could focus on helping Austin get well.

We sat in the lobby. A doctor would come out and give us a report as soon as possible. Arabelle sat on my lap, reading a book from the hospital children’s library in the corner. There were a few other patients that moved in and out of the sterile lobby. It was late afternoon. My husband would go into surgery soon enough. He should be out by nine at night.

The clock showed that it was 5:30. Alan sent me a text saying he would pick up food for us. I thanked him quickly before shoving my phone in my pocket. There were some officers here that were asking me questions about what happened.

Yes, I had run into Hex before.

Yeah, he was pretty insane.

Clinical? I don’t even know.

Arabelle got off my lap to show Officer Colts something. He had been nice enough to her and she thought of him as her new friend. He sat in a chair a few feet away as Arabelle wobbled up to him and sat next to him. I saw my daughter adjust herself a little before opening the book.

“Do you like this book?” He asked her.

“Yeah. I like reading Goodnight Moon.” She smiled. It was one of her favorite picture books.

“It’s a really good book.” He agreed. She opened it up and began to recite the words on the page. My daughter was an amazing reader and I was very proud of her for it. When she read her first chapter book, Austin had gone out to the store to buy her flowers.

Needless to say, she thought it was that the moment he brought her flowers was the most amazing thing in the world.

So in the middle of that sterile smelling, clean floored, wide open lobby, my daughter read a thirty six year old police officer Goodnight Moon. Thing was, he actually looked into it. He actually was leaning over, nodding occasionally, and getting into it.

Arabelle didn’t struggle a bit with the words or the large size of the book. She easily flipped through the pages until he got to the end. I saw some of the officer’s comrades actually clap and smile a little.

“Thank you for reading that to me. It’s my favorite book.” Officer Colts thanked her. She beamed as if he handed her a statue of gold.

“You’re welcome! Do you want me to make you a bracelet?” She asked him. Officer Colt’s eyes widened.

“I would love that. Do you have beads and string?”

“I have the beads. It was my ammo for the slingshot to take out the bad guy.” She giggled. I turned to her at that. So that’s why Hex had been in pain. I had forgotten my daughter had her slingshot!

“Can I have a green bracelet?” The officer asked. Arabelle nodded and moved to the floor. She opened her purse and pulled out string and started sorting through a pile of green beads. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Miss Carlile?” A woman asked. I looked up. It was an officer with a notepad and her radio in her hand.

“Yes?”

“We have great news. The S-and-R team just found your daughter. She’s alive and well. It looks she wasn’t under much stress or harm. We’ll deliver her to you in about fifteen minutes.” She smiled. I nearly burst into tears and thanked her many times until she walked off.

I had Beth back.

It had to be a miracle.

It had to.

Now, we just had to wait for Austin.

The officers left me in silence. Only Officer Colts stayed behind for a little while longer while his partner filled out some reports. The friend to my daughter looked down as she fiddled with beads that refused to go on her string. She had a pattern of light green, blue, and sparkling silver on there. I chuckled a little at the sight, despite the calamites that had occurred today.

“Are you sad that Ryker is gone?” Officer Colts asked quietly. Arabelle looked up.

“The man with the tattoos?” She asked curiously.

“Yes, him.”

“Oh, no.” She shrugged and went back to her beads. It seemed that everyone had frozen. She always referred to him as her guardian angel. Why wouldn’t she be sad? Even the lady at the desk seemed to look up in curiosity.

“Why not?” The officer asked. His partner looked up from the rapid notes to pause and witness this little conversation. Arabelle’s small fingers continued to fit the beads on the string in a neat little row. She occasionally stopped to untangle it, or pick up more beads.

“Well, he’s my guardian angel!” She chuckled easily. Colts looked to me. I shrugged, silently asking him to go along with it.

“Your guardian angel?” He asked her. Arabelle nodded and smiled, looking out the window.

“Yeah. He protected me.”

“But he was shot.” Officer Colts asked in confusion. I’m pretty sure they had never gone through anything like this so far in their career. This would be one for the books!

“Yeah, but that means he just returned to heaven. That’s all.” Arabelle hummed a little as the officer was stunned into silence.

Arabelle kept on beading, and humming…

Notes