A Lost Soul (part 2)











…
At the end of the day, Maddie waited outside of the school for her brother to pick her up. She grabbed her bag and walked toward the end of the sidewalk when she saw his enormous black truck turning around the bend. But the closer the vehicle came, the better Maddie could see the face of the driver. It definitely wasn't her brother. She leant back against the fence until the truck pulled up right alongside the sidewalk. Although Maddie tried not to stare, she couldn't help but glance up.
She felt like she knew this man who was still sitting in his truck, staring right at her. Should she say something? Should she go back to campus? Maddie just decided to walk back to the other side of the school. But glancing again at the man's disheveled face, she wanted to run. Taking a calming breath she quickly picked up her bag and turned toward the school building. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she heard two loud honks right behind her. Whipping her head around, she sighed in relief when she saw her brother's truck pulling into the spot that the other vehicle had just driven away from.
Yanking open the door Maddie exclaimed, "Jesus, Will. You trying to give me a heart attack or something?!" She got into the car and threw her bag behind her.
"Sorry, Mad, but you were walking away from me" Will said laughing.
"Yeah cause there was a creepy man staring at me from that truck," Maddie exclaimed.
William looked at her incredulously.
"What? I'm not lying," Maddie told him.
"Well who was he?" asked Will. He looked at her with wide eyes, waiting for an answer.
"I don't know. If I knew him I wouldn't have just called him a creepy man, I would have said his name. Duh," explained Maddie. She purposely left out the part where she thought she recognized him. No need to give anybody a panic attack today.
…
When they arrived home, Maddie went upstairs to her room. She couldn't stop thinking of her conversation with Alyssa a few hours ago. Given her history, Maddie felt like she should do something for the girl. But she often jumped to conclusions too early. There's probably nothing wrong, stop overacting, Maddie thought to herself. She just couldn't get those eyes out of her head. To anyone else, Alyssa's big green eyes would not be of any concern. But to Maddie, they were the eyes of someone who was hiding something. Those bright green eyes held a flicker or sadness, undistinguishable by most. Maddie knew… She just knew there was something about Alyssa that was like herself. Every time Alyssa's face appeared in her mind it reminded Maddie of how she used to be, back when she was with-
"Maddie, can I come in?" a voice called from outside the door.
Maddie jumped at the sudden knock that awakened her from her daydreaming. "Um, yeah, come in," said Maddie.
Rosalie walked into her sister's room, softly shut the door behind her, and leaned against it. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Why?" Maddie inquired. She thought Rose was acting weirdly, like somebody died or something.
"William told me about your little incident today," said Rosalie. She looked at Maddie expectantly.
"What? About the guy in the truck?" asked Maddie. Rosalie looked like she was waiting for some kind of in-depth and award winning explanation.
"It wasn't a big deal, Rose. Gosh can you stop freaking out over every little thing for once in your life? It's annoying," Maddie complained. She didn't mean to be so insolent, but she just remembered where she had seen the man from the truck. If Rosalie found out… No, telling her wasn't even an option.
"Stop giving me attitude, I'm just trying to help," said Rose.
"Great, okay, well news flash, you're not my mom. Now can you get out of my room please? I have homework to do," said Maddie.
Rosalie's face changed from one of anger to concern. "Maddie, what's wrong?" she asked.
Now Maddie felt kind of bad. Rose was trying to be nice after she had just been so rude to her. "Nothing. I'm fine," said Maddie. Looking up at Rosalie she saw that the concerned look still hadn't diminished. "Really," Maddie tried to reassure her.
"Okay," Rosalie said, unsure. "You know you can talk to us any time, even Mom and Dad, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, I know," Maddie said simply. This conversation was making her uncomfortable.
Rosalie left and Maddie settled back down on her bed, trying to keep her thoughts at bay. What a weird day this has been, she thought to herself. First Alyssa and then the guy in the truck. She didn't even know his name, but she was almost one hundred percent positive she knew where she had seen him before. And if she were right, she should probably tell someone. But she didn't want her family up in her business any more than they already were, so she decided to keep quiet. About the man, and her new friend.
…
The next day at lunch, she used the excuse of studying again to get away from annoying flock of girls who seemed to have made it their mission to annoy her by not ever shutting up. She didn't give a care about what colors look good on her in what season, or what a good nail care routine was. Spotting a curtain of dark, shiny hair, Maddie made her way over to Alyssa.
"Hey!" Maddie said to her while sitting down.
Alyssa looked up quickly at the exclamation."Oh, hey," she said quietly in response.
"Can you stop that already? It's getting annoying," said Maddie.
"S-stop what?" asked Alyssa.
"Stop being so shy and quiet all the time. It's annoying," she told her.
Alyssa didn't respond. She only smiled slightly and looked down at her lunch.
"Do you always get school lunch?" Maddie asked.
"Yeah, it's fine though. It's not too terrible, sometimes," she said.
Maddie looked at Alyssa's bowl of… whatever it was. "Here," she said, "take this instead." She took her sandwich and offered it to Alyssa. It was only PB&J, nothing spectacular, but at least better that.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. But thanks," Alyssa said, politely refusing the sandwich.
"No, seriously, my mom packs me enough food for three days. Take it," Maddie insisted.
Alyssa reached out tentatively to take the sandwich. "Thanks," she said.
"No problem. Maybe you should pack your lunch more often though," Maddie suggested. If she had to eat that blended garbage every day she would pack her own lunch!
"Hah. I would but I'm not allowed to," Alyssa said. Right after she said that, she quickly looked away from Maddie, as if that would make Maddie not realize what she had said.
"What do you mean you're not allowed to?" Maddie asked, confusedly.
"Um, I mean my foster parents say that the school lunch is fine," Alyssa explained.
Foster parents? thought Maddie. She's a foster kid?!
Composing herself, Maddie said, "Oh, well we can just keep sharing. I don't mind." Maddie kept on staring at Alyssa until she finally couldn't keep herself from inquiring more about her situation. "So… You're in the foster system?"
"Yeah," said Alyssa. She seemed to be looking at something far off in the distance, or she was just in deep thought about something.
"I was too, you know," said Maddie, "I was in the foster system for about 10 years." She glanced at Alyssa and debated whether or not she should ask her any more, but her curiosity was killing her, so she asked, "What happened to your birth parents? You don't have to say if you don't want-"
"No it's fine. They died three years ago. It was a car accident and they were hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light," explained Alyssa. She added more quietly, "I still remember the night it happened."
Maddie leaned in closer to hear her better.
"I was at home with my grandma who was living with us back then. We were both in the living room watching TV when there was a knock on the front door. She went and answered it and I stayed on the couch. All of the sudden I heard her cry out, so I went to go see what was happening. Before I could reach the door though my grandma saw me and told me to go sit back down. I remember being confused but not that concerned. When she finally came back in the house I could tell something was wrong. She sat next to me and told me what the cops just related to her. After that everything was kind of a blur…" Alyssa said.
Maddie was astonished. She couldn't imagine losing her parents at that age. The only reason she was able to speak of her parents' death was because she hardly remembered it. But if she lost Brandon and Adelle… She couldn't begin to fathom how she would cope.
"My grandma was put in the hospital about three months later. She ended up dying that January of bone cancer, and that's when I was put into the foster system," continued Alyssa.
"And have you always been in the same foster home?" asked Maddie.
"Um, no. I've been in two so far," said Alyssa while tucking her hair behind her ear.
Maddie looked inquisitively at her. Looking her straight in the eye she asked, "And how have they been?"
Alyssa smiled feebly and responded, "Fine."
Then finally Maddie saw it. Some kind of mark that would confirm her suspicions. As Alyssa made to cross her arms, the sleeve on her left arm rose almost to her elbow. Maddie was just able to catch a glimpse at the nasty purplish bruises in the shapes of finger prints on Alyssa's forearm before she yanked the sleeve back down.
"What happened to your arm?" asked Maddie seriously.
"Noth-" started Alyssa.
"And don't even try and tell me that it was nothing. I saw your arm. Now tell me what happened," Maddie told her. Her worry might have been coming off a little too much like anger, but she couldn't help it.
"It's a bruise, gosh! You act like you've never seen anything like it before!" exclaimed Alyssa. Her defensiveness was a little too much to convince Maddie. If anything it only heightened her suspicions.
"I've seen bruises before. And yours certainly looked like fingerprints. As in someone grabbed your arm and squeezed it. Am I right?" asked Maddie.
"No! Just stop, okay?!" said Alyssa. She stood abruptly and left the table.
Maddie continued sitting, watching Alyssa rush out of the cafeteria. She felt kind of bad for pushing her so hard, but she was just so sure there was something she wasn't telling her. And if there was something she could do to help she wanted to do it. If something were to happen, she didn't think she could live with the guilt of knowing there was something she could have done to stop it.
…
On Saturday, Maddie walked down the stairs looking for something to do, but instead she found her sister Allie sitting on the couch reading a fashion magazine. Typical. As she went to walk past the couch towards the kitchen, Allie snapped shut what she was reading and turned to look at her.
"Dad wanted me to tell you that you have to go with him to work today. He said to get dressed and be ready in 10 minutes," she told Maddie.
"What? Why? Where is everybody going?" asked Maddie. She did not want to spend her Saturday at a stupid hospital. All she ever got to do was sit in the break room. And if she wasn't doing that, she was filing papers for the annoying receptionist who smelt like she just rose from the dead at the front desk.
"Mom's with Rose touring colleges or something, William's at his basketball tournament, and I'm going shopping," Allie told her.
"Well why can't I just go with you?" asked Maddie, clearly annoyed at her weekend being ruined.
"I'm going Christmas shopping. You can't come," she explained.
"Christmas shopping? It's November!" exclaimed Maddie.
"Exactly! I'm way behind schedule. They're having great deals right now on a lot of things I know someone would like," Allie said while giving Maddie a pointed look.
"Ugh whatever. Maybe Dad will let me stay home by myself."
"Yeah I doubt it. I'll buy you something nice today, okay? Now go get dressed before Dad has to wait," Allie said.
…
Maddie and her dad pulled into the parking garage of the hospital where he works. Maddie realized she might have the slammed the car door just a little too hard when her dad looked over at her with raised eyebrows. She hated that look. It was the kind of look that said You better cool it now or you're gonna get it. Maddie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
"Come on Madeline you only have to stay here until 2 and then William will pick you up. Besides, I think Dr. Kennedy's daughter is there too. You like Bailey, don't you?
"Yeah sure," replied Maddie. Truth was she actually couldn't stand Bailey. She was two years younger than herself and so annoying. Cross a voice as high pitched as a dog whistle and the whiniest two year old you've ever met and that's Bailey, well, according to Maddie. She so was not looking forward to spending the next 3 hours with that.
They reached the floor where her dad worked and parted ways. As Maddie was making her way into the break room, she heard her father's voice behind her. "Alyssa! How are you feeling today?" The voice that followed confirmed Maddie's curiosity. She backtracked a little bit toward the voices. She was just able to catch a glimpse of the inhabitants of the room before the door closed shut. And what she saw left her wide-eyed and agape.
As the young lady in the room took off her sweater, a variety of different colored marks covered the back of her arms and shoulders, one of which was in a cast. If that were not clue enough for Maddie, it was the hip-length dark, shiny hair falling down the girl's back.
Without even thinking, Maddie yanked open the door and burst into the small room. Both her dad and Alyssa shouted in surprise at being intruded on. Her dad composed himself first and turned to his daughter saying, "Madeline, you cannot just-"
"You lied!" Maddie screamed at Alyssa. "I knew it. I knew it! Something has been going on with you and your foster parents! No one is that accident prone. And if my dad's been believing whatever lies you've been telling him then he's an idiot." She heard her father say something, probably chastising her for her language. She didn't care. "Just admit it, Alyssa. Someone else has been giving you these injuries. Just admit it!"
Her father and Alyssa just stared in shock. Maddie whipped around and practically fled from the room, too overcome with emotion to remain there any longer. She vaguely heard Alyssa calling out behind her, but she continued to run down the hallway.
…
That night Maddie stayed in her room without saying a word to anybody. After rushing out of the hospital she had called William and asked him if he could pick her up early. She didn't know if it was something in her voice or just a sibling's intuition but William was there in less than 10 minutes. Thankfully that wasn't long enough for her dad to come searching for her on the hospital grounds. He didn't press her to explain why she called him in the middle of his tournament, nor did he ask her why she looked like she was about to either scream or cry at any possible second, and she was grateful for it. Maddie did feel guilty for keeping him in the dark about the whole situation, but if she were to go explain it to him now she would probably end up right back where she was. In her room trying to hold back a tidal wave of emotions.
With everything that had happened today, well actually since the day she met Alyssa, she couldn't stop thinking about when she was with Phillip. He was the reason for her pain. He was the reason that Maddie would never go out in public without wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He was the reason that just by looking at Alyssa, she knew she was suffering too.
It was her fifth and final foster home, but also the worst one yet. After four failed foster families, Maddie was about ready to do anything to be adopted. So when the first punch came about, she swore she would keep quiet. It was pretty easy. It's not like people just went around asking her to lift up her shirt and show them her stomach. And so long as Phillip was happy, she was happy. But soon it was no longer just an occasional swing of the fist. It turned into a few punches and a kick. And before she knew it, she was sitting in the ER with a broken rib and a bloody nose. Not only did Phillip's friends know about the abuse, they took part in it too. That's how she recognized the man from the truck the other day. He would threaten her by telling her he would let his friends take advantage of her if she ever told anyone. Fortunately it never escalated to that, but the threat alone was enough for Maddie to keep quiet for nearly two years.
It was getting harder to keep it a secret at school. And it wasn't long before a certain sophomore named Rosalie who sometimes sat on the bench with her at recess began to get suspicious. After weeks of Rosalie trying to gain her confidence, Maddie finally told her in simplest and most ambiguous way possible of abuse which she had been suffering. If she ever thought Rosalie would respect her wishes not to tell anyone, she was proven wrong when the police showed up at her house that very night.
Everything after that was kind of a blur to Maddie. She ended up staying with Rosalie and her family for the next few weeks. During her stay there she was reunited with her brother William who had been staying at a different foster home at that time. Maddie knows that to this day William has never forgiven himself for letting them be apart for so long, and probably never will. That was probably why he was so protective of her, because he believes that if he would have done more to be placed in the same home as his sister, none of this ever would have happened. After almost four months of living with them, Brandon and Adelle decided to adopt both of them.
Even though the past will never fully leave her, with her mom and dad's help, Maddie's social skills have improved and keep improving every day. And even though Maddie seldom shows it, she could not be more thankful to her parents if she tried. That's why she cared so much about Alyssa. Because she had been there. She had been Alyssa once before. And if Maddie was able to do anything to help, if she was able to be what Rosalie had been for her, she would not stop at any cost to do it. She felt a little guilty for basically screaming in the girl's face, but if that's what it took to get her to realize how important it was to get help then so be it. She would explain that to Alyssa when she saw her on Monday, and hopefully she would see it that way.
…
Sunday passed by peacefully. Thankfully her dad was called into work again so she didn't have to deal with a lecture on respect and whatever else. It's not like Maddie would have listened anyway, but still, pretending to listen is exhausting enough. Actually retaining what he said was not exactly Maddie's ideal way of spending her last day of the weekend.
At lunch on Monday Maddie looked around for Alyssa but didn't see her anywhere in the cafeteria, so she decided to sit with the annoying girls whose names she didn't even bother to remember. After a few minutes, however, the one with curly red hair and braces asked, "Hey, Maddie, isn't that your mom?"
Maddie turned in the direction the girl was looking and sure enough her mom was walking toward her along with the secretary, Mrs. Nadar. Her initial thought was that she was in trouble, and she began ransacking her brain for anything wrong she might have done that day. But as the two women got closer and Maddie was able to see the expressions on their faces more clearly, she became confused. "Mom? What are you doing here?"
Her mom only grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair and toward the doors.
"Where are we going?" Maddie asked.
"Alyssa's in the hospital," she replied.
Maddie stopped. Why was her mom acting so serious? Better yet, how did she even know about Alyssa? And to top it all off, why was Alyssa in the hospital? Her mom pulled her along and Maddie followed her to the car, completely confused as to what was going on.
…
"Mom, what happened? Why is she in the hospital?" Maddie asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Maddie, honey, I already told you I don't know. Your father didn't say anything about what happened when he called, all he told me was that some girl in the hospital who was in critical condition was asking for you." They were now at the hospital. On the fourth floor they exited the elevator and rushed quickly to Alyssa's room. Finding the door labeled "Room #121" Maddie opened it and stepped into the room. At first she saw her dad leaning against the wall dressed in his white doctor's coat. And then Maddie turned her in the direction of the bed. Se couldn't help but gasp at what she saw.
There lay Alyssa, so covered in bandages and wires she was barely recognizable. If it weren't for the steady beeping noise of the machine, Maddie would have thought she was dead.
Maddie looked at her dad who nodded toward the bed. She walked toward the broken girl while trying to keep her emotions at bay. Alyssa didn't look like Alyssa anymore. She had dark purple bags under her eyes, a busted lip, and a good portion of her hair was missing from the right side of her head.
"Nobody for sure knows what happened," Maddie heard her father's voice behind her, "but I'm sure we're both thinking the same thing."
She didn't trust herself to speak right at that moment, so she settled with nodding her head.
He walked up behind her and said, "She's in critical condition right now. She had some bleeding in her head and a few broken ribs we were worried about. Right now she's stable, but that doesn't mean the worst is over. We're doing all that we can, though."
"Mom said she wanted to see me," whispered Maddie. She feared if she talked any louder she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears.
Her father nodded. "She told me to tell you she's sorry."
"About what?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. She was slipping in and out of consciousness when they brought her in," he explained.
"Oh," Maddie breathed. She was starting to feel sick with guilt. She knew it wasn't her fault, but still she couldn't believe it had gotten this bad. Maybe I should have told her my story, she wondered. Then maybe we wouldn't be where we are now.
Before she could stop it, a single tear spilled from her eye and rolled down her cheek.
"I think that's enough for now. Come on baby," her mother's concerned voice broke the silence.
Maddie turned to go with her mother, wanting nothing more at that moment than to be alone. However, when they reached the door they heard a soft noise and the of rustling sheets behind them.
Maddie whipped her head around in time to see her friend stirring feebly in her bed. She immediately went and stood by her side.
"Alyssa?" she called softly.
Alyssa's eyes fluttered open and stared right into Maddie's brown ones. It seemed to take her a minute to comprehend her surroundings.
"Do you remember what happened?" Maddie asked.
For a while it looked as though Alyssa didn't understand what she had said. She continued to lie still and dart her eyes all around the room.
Maddie was just about to repeat her question when she heard a strained "Yes" from Alyssa.
"Can you tell me then?" she asked. Alyssa didn't say anything. Instead she glanced up at the others in the room. Maddie got the hint. "Mom? Dad? Can you give us a sec?" she asked. After her parents left, Maddie looked again at Alyssa and waited for an explanation.
Her friend related the details of what happened that led to her being in the hospital. Apparently her foster parents had gotten a call from someone named Dr. Brandon who wished to inquire about the well being of their daughter. At this Maddie instantly felt bad for treating her father so horribly the other day and made a mental note to apologize later. Her foster parents must have thought that she told Dr. Brandon about her conditions at home and they started to question her about it. Alyssa didn't go into any specifics which Maddie was thankful for, but her recapitulation and her injuries to prove it were enough to convince anyone that it was time for her to get out of that house.
…
The next few weeks passed by, thankfully, with less chaos. Alyssa was discharged from the hospital five days after later with specific instructions to not over exert herself in any way for the next month at least. This was proven to be quite an easy task, considering Alyssa was now living with the doctor who prescribed those instructions.
Both girls were ecstatic when they were told about the living arrangements for the next few weeks. While she was still in the hospital, Maddie and Rosalie gathered all of Alyssa's belongings and brought them over to their house and set them up in Maddie's room where she would be staying.
One Saturday, about a month since Alyssa had first come to stay, Mr. and Mrs. Brandon called the children to the living room. Once they were all seated and settled, Dr. Brandon began, "So, as you all know, your mother and I agreed to care for Alyssa for a few weeks while she recuperates." Everybody nodded in agreement. He continued, "Well, it's been a few weeks, and we have decided it's about time Alyssa is put with a permanent family. Don't you agree, Alyssa?"
"Yes, Sir," Alyssa replied. She and Maddie looked at each other sadly. They knew they would probably still see each other at school, but it had been so much fun being sisters for the past month that neither of them wanted it to end.
Dr. Brandon sighed. "That's why we've decided," he looked at his wife, "if it's all right with you all," he looked at all of his children, "we would like to make Alyssa a permanent addition to this family." He smiled at his youngest daughter and waited for her reaction.
"YES! Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!" replied Maddie, jumping up and down. Her siblings laughed.
"And what about you, Alyssa? Would that be alright with you?" asked Mrs. Brandon.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Alyssa smiled hugely and answered, "Yes that would be alright with me!"
Everybody cheered and the happy family found itself enveloped in a big hug that nobody bothered to break out of for quite some time.








THE END