"Brian, it'll be okay, she'll be found." Howie assured the next night. "Yeah, I mean, she'll be back." Kevin said. "But it's been twenty-four hours!" Brian cried. "Bri, she's probably mad, or scared. Either way, she'll come to her senses and find a way back. She's smart enough." AJ said. Another hour passed, when they heard a siren, and saw a police car approaching the house. Brian hurried out of the house and demanded what had happened. "Mr. Littrell, we found her." the office said, and waited for a reaction. "Where is she?" Brian asked. "Hospital, we found her passed out. They think she suffered severe dehydration and she has a pretty high tempature. She'll be kept overnight on a drip to replace lost fluids and they'll monitor the fever." the officer explained. "Can I go see her?" Brian asked. "Hop in." "It's room two hundred-sixty." a nurse said, and pointed down the corridor. Brian nodded his thanks and rushed to the room. He was clutching a stuffed animal as he hurried in. She was awake, reading some magazine. "Hey Tommy." he greeted, like nothing had happened. She looked up and he saw fear in her greyish blue eyes. "Look, I'm really sorry I burst and got mad at you. But you're not supposed to lie. I got worried you were really gone, and that scared me to death." Brian said. She nodded and reached for a hug. "I thought you were gone, I thought you'd actually left and weren't coming back. It scared me so much." She hugged him tightly. "I decided on the way here that you should go back home to Kentucky. I mean, if you really can't trust me, if you really just can't handle living here..." he trailed off and she cried out, "I do trust you!" He looked up shocked, did he just hear her talk? "I do trust you! I do! Please, tell me what to do, tell me what to say!" she cried, breaking into tears. He hugged her and rocked her small body. "Please Bri Bri, I love you too much to go back to Mummy and Poppys, please. I do trust you." for once, he could tell she had an english accent. He could tell her voice was young and high pitched, that she was a child. "I know, I know Tommy. It's okay." And the two hugged like that for what seemed like an eternity, and neither protested.
