I woke up when I felt someone untying me. I remember Sir left me in the basement last night all tied up, so I guess it's morning. But when I finally opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar face. I've never seen this man before...
"Hey, kid... mmm, it's okay. Don't be scared. I'm a police officer." The man said, giving me a warm smile, but I was confused about what he was doing here and why he was untying me? I know who's police I've read about it in books, and they're supposed to be good, so I didn't resist his touches and went along when he gently pulled me up by my arms.
"Let's get out of here, yeah? I'm Louis, by the way. What's your name?" Louis asked. But I didn't answer. I don't speak. I can speak i just don't because I'm scared of doing so. Sir hated my voice, so every time I made a sound or asked a question, he slapped me across the face and then shut me up by something that was by his hand. So, I learned to be quiet.
"What's your name, buddy?" Louis asked again. Maybe he thought I didn't hear him the first time. I started waving my hands around, trying to get him to understand that I couldn't talk, but he seemed confused. Even if he knew the sign language, it wouldn't help because I don't know it.
"Is your throat hurting?" He asked. I shook my head no. "Can you write?" I shook my head, yes. "Ok, that's great! Let's get into the car and I'll give you my pad to write on." He said and smiled again. I didn't smile back. Sir said I'm ugly, and so is my smile. He used to cover it up with his hand so he wouldn't have to look at it.
I was still confused about why there were police cars all around the house and why they weren't Sir around, but I felt happy stepping out of that place. I don't remember the last time I smelled fresh air. It's so nice. A light warm breeze hit my face, and I just wanted to melt. I guess it's summer now because the flowers are blooming all around, and the sun is shining so bright. I don't think I've seen summer in real life. I've only read the descriptions in books, and it all seemed like a sweet paradise. I guess one of my dreams came true.
When we got to the car, Louis sat beside me and gave me his pad and a pen. I know how to write pretty well, and my handwriting is perfect. Sir teached me how to read and write and then he made me write some documents for him and when I made a mistake he would hit me. So I learned to write perfectly.
As I started to write I felt the car moving. That startled me because I've never been in a car before. It is so weird that we're sitting in a box with wheels, and it can move so fast. As I was watching outside the window in amusement, I felt a light touch on my shoulder. When I turned around, there was Louis smiling.
"Can you write your name now?" He asked, and I got scared for being so slow, so I rushed, hoping he won't hit me. I wrote "Angelo".
"Wow! That's such a beautiful name! And it suits you so well, Angelo!" Louis said, ruffling my hair. And I felt something I've never felt before. It became hot to my cheeks, and my heart started to beat a bit faster. No one has ever said that I have something beautiful. In one book I read a word beautiful was said many times. It was a man writing about a woman. He said she was beautiful. Her smile was beautiful, her freackles were so beautiful, her black wild hair was beautiful, her green green eyes were even more beautiful, her little nose was beautiful, her ears were beautiful, her soul was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I wondered if my name was as beautiful as that woman in that book.
I started to feel a smile moving to my face, but I quickly pulled myself together before it could happen. "And how old are you?" Louis asked. I wrote a perfect "7". "Oh, I see... do you have any relatives? Grandma, aunt, uncles, maybe?" I shook my head no, because the only person I ever knew was Sir. Louis sighed, scratching his forhead. "Do you have a passport?" I scrunched my eyebrows together. That's a new word for me. I wrote on the pad. "What is that?" Louis looked at me a bit shocked, but he quickly brushed it away. "It's nothing, don't worry. Mark, let's go to the hospital right away." Louis said to the driver, and I didn't question.
When we pulled up to the hospital, it was a big white house. It's really big. Louis opened the door for me and helped me to get out. He took my hand and we went inside. My first impression was that it smelled so bad. I don't even know what this horrible smell is, but it's disgusting. We walked through some corridors and stairs, and I saw many different people. I'm still not sure what this place is. We then got to sit on a chair and wait for my turn to go in. While we sat there, I became used to the interesting smell even though I really wished to be outside smelling summer air. Many kids came and went, and then it was my turn. Louis went inside with me, and there was a woman in a white coat.
"Hi, Jess." Louis said. It seemed like they knew each other. "This is Angelo. We found him in a basement today and... the situation is horrible, but can you run some tests and take his blood. He doesn't have a passport, so his fingerprints probably aren't in the system, too. I just want to make sure if he has any relatives or... you know." Louis said, and Jess nodded in understanding. "Hello, Angelo. I'm Doctor Calman. Come sit in this chair, okay?" She pointed to the chair beside her, and I obeyed. She pulled out some papers like a diary and wrote my name on it. After a while, she gestured me to step on scales. The number was 19kg. She sighed. Then she measured me but I didn't see the number. Doctor Calman went to her table again and wrote the numbers in the diary. "He's underweight for a 7 year old, and he's only 123 cm high. Well, he should recover if he goes on the right diet... but if not..." Jess said that to Louis, acting like I'm not in the room.
"Okay, Angelo, come here. Can you lift up your shirt? I will listen to your heartbeat, yeah?" She said with a metal circle in her hand and two earplugs in her ears. I lifted up my shirt and saw her eyes widen a bit, and she looked at Louis, but I didn't give it much thought. Maybe she was scared of my scars. But it wasn't that bad. When the cold metal touched my skin, I flinched, but I knew I had to stay still. After some time, she was done, and she told me I could put my shirt down. Then she gestured for me in another chair where i could lay all my body back. It was really big. "Now I will take some blood from you, okay?" What Doctor Calmn said sounded weird. How can she take my blood? She gently grabbed my arm and tied something around it, and then she took a needle in her hand. "Alngelo, I will push this needle in your arm, and it will hurt a bit only when I put it in, but it's better if you look away and distract yourself from the pain, alright? I will make sure to be quick." She said smiling, but it looked scare when she had a needle in her hand. Louis came around and took my other hand. "You can squeeze it if you want." He told me just as Jess pushed the needle into my arm. I flinched and squeezed Louis arm , and it all happened so suddenly. "Done." Doctor Calman said. Already? That was so fast, and it truly didn't hurt that bad. She told me to press a white cotton onto the place from where she took the blood on my arm, and then she came back with many colorful band aids. I chose the one with yellow stars. As we were leaving, Louis said, "Can you run his DNA today?"I will try," answered Doctor Calman. And with that, we left.
After some time, Lousi took me to a cafe, saying it's his lunch time. The cafe was small and cozy, and it smelled delicious! Louis gave me some papers with many names of dishes, but I didn't have a clue what many of them meant. "Did you pick what you want?" Louis asked me. I shrugged. "Here, let me help you. How about chicken nuggets and fries? Many kids like them." I looked at him, confused, hearing those names for the first time. Isn't chicken alive? How can I eat it? But as I was wondering about what the food looks like, Louis had already ordered our food. After that, we sat in silence. It's not like there was something to talk about, and in any way, it would be only Louis talking. I felt his gaze on me, but I was looking outside of window studying people. I've never seen so many different faces and clothes. After a while, some women put plates on our table, and on mine were yellow sticks and some different shaped things. Louis started eating what was on his plate, but I didn't know if I could. "Why aren't you eat? It's for you." As soon as he gave me the permission, I started to dig in. At Sirs house, I barely got to eat because Sir said I didn't need it, but every time he gave me something, I knew how to appreciate the food I'm given.
Yellow stick tasted really good, and even I decided to try the other things, and it was delicious. I've never tasted something like that! I was full after some more bites, and I couldn't eat more.
Later we went to the police station and he had to work on his computer a bit. I just stared out the window, looking how the wind blew the tree leaves, and at that moment, it was all I cared about. I forgot about Sir or why am I here but I felt so relaxed just looking out the window. After some time, the colors outside the window changed, and my eyelids started to drop. Louis came up to me and shook me out of my thoughts. "Hey, buddy, do you want to sleep?" He asked, and I nodded my head. "Come here." Louis said, taking my hand. We went into a different room with a desk and many papers all around. "This is the chefs office but I'm his son so I hope he won't be against if you sleep on his couch" Louis said sitting me on the couch and he went to a closet to pull out a blanket and a pillow. "I often sleep here, but today you need it more." He said, helping me adjust to a comfor position, and with that, he turned the light off and went out, but I was so sleepy that I was out in a second.
3th person pov:
The clock on the wall said 9:00pm. The police station was silent, but suddenly a phone rang and startled Louis. He quickly picked it up, scared of waking Angelo up. "Yes?" He answers. "Hey, Lou. You won't believe this!" On the other line, Jess said. "What? You got s boyfriend?" Louis chuckled. "I'm not a magician. Listen... Angelo is the lost son of Solovyov family." After hearing that Louis eyes widened,"What?" Louis asked.
After Louis calmed down from the unexpected information, he hesitated to call Mr. Solovyov. It's not like anyone dreams of calling him. He's a scary man in many ways. The oldest brother of the family. But he knew he had to pull himself together, so he found the number and started the call. After 3 beeps, Mr. Solovyov picked up. "Hello?" Was heard from him. "Hello, I'm Officer Louis Smith. I'm calling from xxx (I'm lazy to come up of city they're in. Let's just think it's like 6h away from New York. Yeah, I just came up with the idea about 5 seconds ago that everything will be happening in New York). I want to inform you... we found Angelo Solovyov. Your lost brother." There was no sound from the other line. "Ah.. are you still there?" Louis asked, but Alexander was too stunned to speak. Eventually, he managed to get out. "How is he? Is he hurt? Where did you find him? When can I come get him? Oh God, I will arrange my flight right now. Thank you for your information. I will be there in the morning." Alexander said and hung up. Louis just signed and hoped that Angelo didn't go through hell.