The Six Of Us

How could you?

Blake's POV

(A few days after finding Cole)

We sat in the lobby, the silence suffocating me. Ariana's fingers were laced through my own, Sky leaned against Jacob and Mavis sat hugging her knees on an enormous window seat. A man and woman walked in looking distressed. "Tyler." Sky stood and embraced the tall caramel haired guy. They began to converse and I was glad for the noise. A small woman with greying hair entered the room tapping the clipboard in her hands with a pen. "Well, we have examined the patient and we can conclude: he was kidnapped and abused by a male roughly his age, his emotional, physical and psychological state are damaged severely and his recovery will not be a walk in the park. He will need support." Ariana tensed beside me, making me glance sideways at her. Sweat beaded her forehead. Strange. The woman looked to us. "He's been asking for you lot. You can go in."

Inside the hospital was, small, to say the least. We were crammed around the bed, Sky right beside Cole, clutching his hand and sobbing uncontrollably. "It's great to see you guys again." Cole rasped. He smiled through his pain; a true soldier. "We're so sorry Cole. We should've...I should've...done more to...to stop this..to find you." Ari cried heavily, burying hair face in my shoulder. My fingers ran through her short hair. Jacob was silent, his strong demeanour made shivers run down my spine. Heat rose in my cheeks and I had to turn away. Hushed murmurs echoed in the hall and two doctors burst into the room. "Visits are over. Sorry. You need to leave." The shoved us all out into the lobby, Sky screaming as tears poured from her eyes.

We walked through the automatic doors of the hospital, the suffocating silence back. Sky was drowning in tears, falling behind the group as we walked. Ariana was squeezing my hand and choking back tears. The doctors seemed strange, rushing us to leave. "I've got a bad feeling." Mavis suddenly mutters, stopping us all and turning heads. Jacob has Sky in his arms. "Those doctors were just too pushy." She goes on. I find myself nodding and saying "I agree."  Ariana makes a coughing sound and steps back, dropping my hand. "Ari?" She starts running full speed away from the hospital, sobs escaping her as she flees. Panic sets in, the shaking takes control and the familiar black void begins to blur my vision. I want to sit down to steady myself but I end up falling onto the bitumen. "Blake!" Sky shrieks, Jacob pulling her back and dropping beside me to pull me into his lap.

Ariana's POV

Air escapes me rapidly as I sprint from the hospital. The sky is darkening and fear is seeping through my cold skin to my bones. I drop the act and stumble onwards instead of running. A figure emerges from the shadows, scuffling boots giving away their position. I lift my eyes and gasp.

Josh.

"What do you want from me Josh?" I pant, leaning on my knees as not to fall. "You know what I want. Do you have the information I'm looking for?" I looked at him. He seemed to be paying an awful lot of attention to my hair. "He's currently a patient at the Minnesota hospital on Charles street." I keep my eyes on the road. I can't bear to look at this horrible person. He grabs my chin and yanks it around so I'm facing him. "Why are you doing this?" I growl and he laughs, dropping his hand. "Because I can." He starts to walk away when he stops and stares at the ground. I hear him mutter

"You can't escape me Cole."