Dispatched || Maddie Buckley

Chapter Five- Lost and Found

After receiving the BOLO, Mikey planned out his entire search based on the distance an elderly woman could travel on foot and then took into account the bus stations and subways in which the woman could be travelling. He called each station to gain more intel on their schedules around the time the woman had gone missing.

After hours of searching, there was still no sign of the woman. He only had an hour and a half left of his shift and he didn't want to just up and clock out knowing that this elderly woman was still out there on the streets missing or possibly harmed. He had a heart of gold, one that had brought him to become a cop in the first place. He had watched as bad cops surfaced more and more and he wanted to be a friendly face in the crowd. It was something he longed for and dreamt about for quite some time now. Being a cop was more than just a badge and a gun to him, it meant he could change the world one saved person at a time. Those were the moments he lived for, the moments that made the job worth it.

The idea of hospitals crossed his mind and suddenly he found himself driving to the closest one, County General.

He pulled into the hospital parking lot and rushed inside to the front counter.

The nurse at the desk smiled at him, "How may I help you today, Officer."

"I'm just on the hunt for an elderly woman, goes by the name Patricia Clark. She has Alzheimer's and left her house on foot late last night. Just wondering if you have had anyone that looks like this woman here." He held up his smartphone, revealing a picture of what the woman looked like.

"No sir. We haven't had anyone come through the emergency room that fits her description." She said with a frown on her face.

Mikey nodded and smacked his lips, "Okay well if you do end up seeing her, just give me a call." He handed her a card with his cell and office number printed on it and left as the defeat settled in.

-

He wasn't going to give up his search and as the hours passed, Mikey had searched every part of town that he could think of, even places that he thought the elderly woman wouldn't have made it to just in case by some miracle the woman would just show up.

*buzz buzz*

His phone rang in his middle console as he slowly brought his car to a stop in a nearby parking lot.

"This is Officer Andrews." He spoke into the phone.

"This is Amanda, the nurse you spoke to earlier this morning. We just had a couple of young men bring in the woman from the photo. I figured you would want to come and check her out." The nurse spoke, he could tell she was smiling through the phone.

Mikey let out a relieved sigh and rested his head against the steering wheel.

"Sir? Hello? Are you still there?" The woman's voice echoed through the phone.

Mikey brought the phone back to his ear and smiled, "I'm here. I'll be on my way. Thank you."

"You're very welcome." The woman said and hung up.

-

Mikey quickly drove to the hospital and hurried through the doors where he was met with Nurse Amanda. She led him to the room where they were keeping Patricia.

He gave a quick thank you to the nurse and walked over to the elderly woman, "Hey Patricia, my name is Michael. You went on some adventure today, didn't you?

The woman looked a bit startled at first to see a cop standing in front of her, "Oh, Oh...hello? Am I in trouble?" She questioned, the same frightened look on her face.

Mikey's gaze softened and he shook his head, "No Ma'am, not at all but I am going to call your daughter and have her come pick you up, okay?"

Patricia nodded, "Abby.. My daughter.. Yeah, that'd be good."

Mikey nodded and pulled out his phone and dialled Athena's desk number. He listened to the dial tone until she answered.

"Sergeant Grant's desk?" She answered.

"Sergeant Grant, this is Officer Andrews. We found Patricia. She is safe and at County General. A group of young men brought her in." He spoke, pacing back and forth through the hospital room.

"That's good work, Andrews. I'll call Abby and we will head on over. Thanks." She said before hanging up the phone.

-

Abby, Buck, and Athena all three arrived at the hospital in a hurry. The trio rushed through the doors and down the hallway. Mikey greeted them with a smile, giving a quick handshake to Buck who thanked him almost immediately for the help. Abby also gave her thanks before rushing to her mother's side.

Athena pulled Mikey to the side to get the story only a few feet down the hall from the others.
"So tell me what happened?"

"They just said they found her and knew that she didn't belong." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Athena nodded, "Okay, now why are you still on shift? Yours ended six hours ago." She questioned, her hands now resting on her hips.

"I couldn't leave a shift knowing that she was still out there scared, confused, and lost. Nobody deserves to ever feel that way." He wet his lips and pursed them, leaning against the cold bricked wall.

"Well go home and get yourself some sleep, Andrews. You did great work out there today. You're gonna make one hell of a cop." She reassured him, giving him something that he never knew he needed until that moment.

Mikey was in awe of the compliment. It sent him spiralling into his own thoughts of every dream he had of becoming exactly what Athena said he would become.