When I woke, I was in a bed with aluminum side rails. I was lying beneath clean, white sheets and there was an IV taped to my arm. I felt as if I had been drained of all my energy and every joint of my body ached, throbbing like a bad toothache. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light above me. I groaned out, as if expulsing a nightmare. Ostin appeared at my side.
"Michael?"
I turned my head toward him. He was standing in front of closed blinds that glowed from the daylight behind them. Next to him were his mother and father. Ostin's father was in charge of maintenance for the county's parks and recreation, so he was rarely home. I was surprised to also see him in the room. I looked around for my mother but didn't see her.
"Where am I?" My tongue stuck to my dry mouth and it was difficult to speak.
"Honey, you're in the hospital," Mrs. Liss said. Her face was pinched with concern.
"How did I get here?"
"Paramedics," Ostin said.
"You passed out," Mrs. Liss said. "The doctors were afraid you had a stroke."
"Where's my mother?"
"Do you remember what happened?" Mr. Liss asked.
It hurt my head to think about it. "There was a guy with a gun. Then this man with two kids. One of them shocked my mother."
"Shocked?" Mr. Liss said. "What do you mean?"
I looked at Ostin. "Did I dream that?"
He shrugged. "I only saw the gunman."
"Is my mother okay?"
Ostin didn't answer.
I turned to Mr. and Mrs. Liss. "She's okay, isn't she?"
Mrs. Liss walked closer and put her hand on mine. Her eyes were filled with tears. "I have some bad news, honey. Your mother's gone."
I looked at her blankly. "What do you mean?"
"The police believe she's been kidnapped," Mr. Liss said.
My heart froze. Kidnapped? "Why would someone kidnap her?"
"We don't know."
My body's pain was nothing compared to the agony I now felt. Tears filled my eyes. How could this have happened? My mother had spent her life protecting and caring for me, and now I had failed to protect her. I had let her down. Why couldn't they have just taken me? I wanted to fall asleep and wake up again in my own house, talking to my own mother. I wanted something to make sense. I wanted the nightmare to end.