silent

56

• AMALIA •

I continue to run, blocking out the burn in my legs and the horrific pain in my abdomen. The streets are practically deserted, with no one to go to. No one to beg for help. The phone is long gone now, discarded somewhere, and with it is any hope of talking to my dad so he can help me through this.

I just need to find someone—anyone who's trustworthy. Maybe I should go to a police station, but I didn't see a flash of one on the drive here, nor can I spot one now. So I just keep pumping my legs, thinking of my dad, of my brothers, of the rest of my family (and, of course, Petal) and what'll happen when I finally reach them, however long that may take.

I don't dare stop. I wrap my aunts jacket tighter around me, feeling my pocket to ensure that I have my anti rejection medication with me. If I don't get back to my family today, then at least I'll have these. I don't want anyone else to have to give up their kidney for me if my body rejects this one.

After a couple minutes, I begin to whimper due to the agony. But I don't stop, the pain only motivating me to go further.

Tears fall freely down my cheeks, finally able to be let out. It's becoming morning, I think. Which means I would've been asleep for a long time, therefore I should have a renewed energy.

The more I say it to myself, the more I believe it. My pace quickens, and when I think of everything I have to get back to, I become the quickest runner there is. The adrenaline blocks out all the pain, thankfully, but I know it'll catch up with me soon. Hopefully when it does, my dad will be able to rock it away and there'll be people around me to help send it away.

I don't wait for the lights to turn green when I get to a main road—which is risky, I know, but I don't know if Lexie is following me, and she's a grown adult who didn't just get a surgery, so she had the ultimate upper hand.

I shiver against the cold as I continue to run. It's freezing, and it's only now that I register the pain in my feet. I'm not wearing any shoes, only the hospital socks I was wearing when I was taken, which do a little bit to soften the blow as rocks and jagged ends of things attempt to pierce my feet.

I glance behind me, eyes widening when I see Lexie and Briana's car, the latter in the drivers seat but the former nowhere to be seen. I let out a strangled sob as I turn a corner, then another. Briana's car is forced to wait at a red light when one suddenly comes up in front of her.

My lips tilt up. Maybe God's finally on my side.

     As I run down the next street, I begin to notice familiar things, then I pause.

This is where I used to live.

I slow my run into a fast paced walk, and I'm about to try and remember if I can go to anybody when I see Briana's car. I turn and hide in a random garden, hoping and praying that she didn't see me.

     When I hear her car go past, I let out a sigh of relief, mixed with a sob. Instead of exploring my old street—which is full of bad memories—I bolt out of the garden once I can no longer see her car down the street and begin to run back the way I came.

• LORENZO •

"Amalia? Amalia? Hello?"

     The phone cuts off. My eyes water. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

     I refresh my laptop, but when it doesn't come back with Amalia's location—which I attempted to track while she was talking—punch the screen, knocking it onto the floor and breaking it.