By Your Side

Chapter 2

It was a happy day. Mike and Kelly were at the hospital ready to bring Alex home. Alex was trying to remember what had happened to him, but he just couldn't. The doctors had said he had amnesia and didn't know how severe it was or if it would ever go away.
"Time to go, Alex," Mike said at the door. Alex turned and saw the couple there. They looked really nice. Kelly was smiling at him warmly.
"I'm coming," Alex replied. He went to the door and Mike wrapped an arm around him.

Once they returned to the house, Mike showed Alex where he'd call his room. It wasn't much but the couple had said they'd bring him out shopping when he felt up to it. Alex was beginning to like them. They really wanted him.
While putting what little the hospital had given him, Alex searched for bugs. He didn't know why he was doing it, he just knew he had to.
"You up to going out?" Mike asked. Alex turned towards the door. Mike was standing there looking like he was ready to leave.
"Yeah," Alex replied. He grabbed the coat he had been wearing when he was found. He felt something in the pocket but shrugged it off. He could always find out what it was later.

Behind a bush across the street sat a man. He had been hired to find Alex by MI6. They needed to know he had succeeded with his mission. It should've only taken a week. Once they had realised what had happened, they hired someone to find him. That man was about to succeed with that.
He watched as the Donehey family climbed into their car with Alex. The man climbed into a car of his own and followed the family to a mall. Perfect. He could lure Alex away and take him back to England. But he had to make it seem like it wasn't going to happen. Alex couldn't find out about it until he was on his way home.

Alex followed Mike around. He didn't want to get too far away. He felt safe around Mike, but there was a feeling he couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. He felt like he was being followed.
The two were in a store when Alex got the feeling he was about to be in danger. He had told Mike his concern and Mike seemed to brush it off. Maybe Mike didn't understand. Alex didn't fully understand either. But it happened quickly. The man that followed him from the house came up to him.
"Hello," he greeted them happily. His accent was similar to the one Alex had.
"Who are you?" Alex asked. He didn't know who the man was even though he seemed completely familiar.
"That doesn't matter right now. All you need to know is that I'm with MI6. And they've assigned me the task of bringing you home," the man replied. Alex tensed. "So you remember."
"No. I don't. You're just weirding me out."
"Look, he's just a kid. Please leave us alone," Mike told the man.
"He can't protect you from the people who are coming after you, Alex," the man said. Alex backed away from him.
"I don't need protection," Alex said. He couldn't keep the fear out of his voice. Mike went over to him and guided him away from the man.
"That was weird. Come on, Alex, let's got get something to take our minds off of that," Mike said. Alex nodded in agreement.

After the trip, Alex was exhausted. He went into his room and settled down on his bed. He fell asleep soon after.
A few hours later he was woken up by a car pulling into the driveway and the door opening and closing. The dog barked a few times. Alex rolled out of bed. He peered out his door and saw a man inside. He didn't recognise the man at all. He had black hair and glasses. Following close behind him was two kids and a woman. They were greeted by Mike and Kelly. Alex exhaled in relief. It was just friends of the family.
"He's in here. I checked on him an hour ago and he was completely passed out. I'll check on him again," Mike said. He came near the door and Alex made it look like he was just waking up.
"Hello," Alex said. He tried to sound as exhausted as possible. It wasn't too hard.
"Jeff and his wife are here. They wanna meet you. Are you okay?" Mike asked. Alex nodded. Mike pulled him into a hug. "It's okay if you're not."
"I wish I could remember," Alex replied. It was the first time he'd ever said anything like that to Mike.
"I know."
"What if I never remember?" Alex asked. Hot tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he looked at Mike.
"We'll take care of you. You always have a home here," Mike wiped the tears away. Alex smiled. It was genuine and he felt like he hadn't smiled like that in a long time.