Finding a Family

Chapter 1

Eliot's POV
We were about to do a bust. We were about to raid the house of two notorious criminals in the state, a man and wife, who we had been hunting for months. It was time for us to enter and I was ready, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Their time was up and I was going to be the one to put them away. I was in a trance all I remember was seeing the signal, the next thing I knew we were busting their door down and rushing into there place with guns drawn.

We tore the place apart but nothing. They must have known we were coming and ran when they got the chance. I was furious. They were supposed to be mine.

Suddenly I noticed a closet we missed. I approached it slowly and heard breathing. Someone was definitely in there. This was it, I was about to get them. I opened the door, my gun drawn, ready to end their freedom. I scanned the space and found the unexpected; a girl huddled up in the corner looking petrified. She was about 5'0 and skin and bones. She was clutching a stuffed elephant, cowering in the corner. Everything about her gave away she was a little. She must be theirs. I immediately put my gun down and turned my attention to her. I tried to walk towards her but every step I took she was whimpering and trying to push herself more in the corner. "Shhh it's okay honey I won't hurt you." "My name's Eliot I'm a police officer. Whats your name sweetie?" I said trying to calm her. It was understandable why she would be scared of me seeing as that ten seconds ago I had a gun pointed at her. She looked at me, fear still in her eyes and continued to whimper. I tried to soothe her, "It's okay I'm not going to hurt you, can you tell me your name?" I asked "I-I- I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," she replied sheepishly. "Honey that's a very good rule to follow but I'm a police officer and it's my job to keep you safe, so I'm not really a stranger. I'm here to help you." "My-my name is Hannah. A..am am I in trouble?" "No Hannah you're not in trouble but right now it's not safe here.  Right now it's important that you come with me so I can take you some place safe pumpkin. Your friend can come too," I said referring to her stuffie. She mumbled, "I can't walk. I..I hurt my ankle." "Well then about I carry you then? I won't hurt you I promise," I offered. She slowly reached her arms up toward me and I carefully scooped her up. "Who's your friend?" I asked referring to her elephant. "Ellie" she replied.

I walked her out of the house shielding her from the chaos that was going on around us and being careful of her fragile body, she weighed almost nothing and it was just like holding a small child. "So now we're going to take a ride in an ambulance and we're going to take you to a hospital where a doctor is going to take a look at you and make sure you're okay" As soon as I uttered those words she started panicking and struggling. "NO! No shots! I won't want to get poked!" "Hey, hey, shhhh it's okay. I know it can be scary but we need to get you checked out, especially since you have a hurt ankle." She buried her face in my neck and started sobbing. " shhh shhh it's okay. I'm going to stay with you the whole time princess." As I attempted to lay her down on the stretcher, she clung to me making it impossible for me to lay her down. "It's okay Hannah, I'm not going anywhere I'm going to ride with you" After hearing  those words she slowly loosed her grip and allowed me to place her down.

When the ambulance started she got frightened by the sirens, "shhh Hannah it's okay, those horns are just letting everyone know that a very special little girl is on her way." She looked at me with fear in her eyes, "my Mommy and Daddy can't know that I'm here, I'll be punished." "Now why would you be punished pumpkin," I asked "I'm not allowed to leave the house," she replied. "Hannah I know that's usually really important rule but right now is a little different. You're hurt and we need to get you some help, and because I'm a police officer you're safe with me." "They're going to punish me!" she cried out. "Hannah what happens when you get punished?" I asked her carefully.  She looked down and whimpered, "I don't want to talk about it" "Okay okay we don't have to talk about that now," I tried to soothe her. The next thing I knew we had arrived at the hospital and they were rolling the stretcher out of the ambulance. She grabbed my arm in a panic, "Hannah it's okay I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere," I soothed her. "Now there's going to be a lot of people in there and a lot of noise but everyone is there to take care of you. Nothing bad is going to happen in there." 

As they wheeled her into the hospital, We were met by a grey haired male doctor who was there to tend to her.  "Hello there love, my name is Dr. Murphy, but you can call me Alan. I am going to be taking care of you today," he told her.  "Love, we're going to have to move you from this bed to that bigger more comfy bed over there," he continued, "would you like to be carried?" She reached her arms out towards me, the doctor nodded at me and I picked her up and carefully placed her down on the gurney. It was then when I placed her down, that I was able to fully take her in. In the light, I could see that she was even more frail than I had originally thought. She had scars and bruises all down her arms and legs. Her ankle was purple and swollen. The doctor asked her, "princess, can you tell me what happened to her ankle?" "I-I fell" she nervously replied. "You fell? Usually when people fall they don't get bruises this bad," he stated gently but skeptically. "Usually when people have bruises this bad it means that someone smashed their ankle." he stated gently "I don't want to get in trouble," she stated with fear in her voice. "Hannah did you Mommy and Daddy do this to you?" I asked her. She slowly nodded her head and began sobbing I wrapped my arms around her and began to soothe her.

As I held her I told her, "I promise I won't let them ever hurt you again."