Page 3 of Four Times Saved

It was minutes to ten at night, and Lily was an early bird, having to get up at the break of dawn to start her routine with her mother, so that Mrs. Thornbread could have a sense of stability despite her catatonia distancing her from reality. She was still aware of everything by Lily's accounts, and could be having a nervous breakdown behind her stone-like appearance. It was important to establish safe and inclusive predictability, if that makes sense.

So, she wouldn't have just left the house with Mrs. Thornbread at random hours of the night, without returning home before her bedtime, which was eight o'clock. I knew, not only because we spent a couple of months together before I had to leave, but also, because when I was there, we'd all exchange a glance at that time, knowing it was 'go time'.

We'd be halfway out of our clothes by the time we hit the bedroom, even though she'd insist on having a shower first to get rid of the muck of the day. Being a practical nurse for someone who was unable to do anything for themselves was not an easy or pretty task. We'd be right there helping her though, so it only made sense to take a shower together for some of those moments, if we could contain ourselves long enough to make it to the bathroom.

The point was, Lily wouldn't be out with Mrs. Thornbread right now. They should have been in bed, sleeping. And she wouldn't have gone to bed without calling me first. I knew she could be so tired from today that she fell into bed, unable to lift a single finger to call me. No, my internal voice said as I shook my head. As I said, something was off. Unless something had happened to Mrs. Thornbread and she had an emergency. She might have just forgotten in the chaos of the moment to call me. I hoped nothing was wrong with Mrs. Thornbread.

I didn't know why my first thought was to call Ryan, but it was instinctive. The man was so obsessed with Lily that even though he was in Hawaii, I doubted he had given her a break. I meant that in the best way. We all couldn't get enough of her, but for Ryan, it was an addiction. However, with him being in Hawaii, he was in the same boat I was in. We were both too far away to know what was happening. So, I called Ethan. His phone, like Lily's, went to voicemail. Okay, my heart dinged like a notification bell as I began to relax a little.

It was possible that they were together, which was why I couldn't reach any of them. I couldn't say I wasn't a bit irritated that she wouldn't call or that Ethan would choose to take her out at this time, which was the only time of the day I could get to speak to her, according to the rule she set. But, I tried again, because the voice in my head was telling me that I needed confirmation. Especially, but I couldn't with Terry's ass still hiding out somewhere like a rat. That slimy scrawny bastard had always made my woman's life hell and up until a couple weeks ago, he had no intention of stopping. I'd only met the man twice, once when we were teens and the other, two weeks ago, but I doubted he was the type to go away after a bit of talking. It was why I was so against Ethan and Matt leaving her alone. They hadn't been in Lily's life as long as I had, they didn't understand the decades of weight that man had placed on her shoulders.

My abs tightened with the need to know that she was either with Ethan or Matt, or at least that they had heard from her. Their phones rang out, so they weren't locked off. They must have been able to see me calling, unless they were coitally engaged. Still, they both knew that this was the time

Lily and I talked. It was unlike either of them to at least shoot me a message if they got caught up. I tried both their phones again, several times. Nothing. Damn it, now I was ready to throw the phone into the wall and I didn't even have an anger problem. It was just not knowing, along with the doomsday tune thumping out a rhythm inside my head and beneath my skin that had me ready to fulminate. Something wasn't right. The tingling throughout my body was telling me it wasn't. And then my heart expanded, tightening inside my chest and suffocating my lungs when I tapped the screen again and noticed a glow coming from the front door.

Immediately, I swore, forgetting Ethan and calling Matt.

My breath came flying out of my mouth when he answered.

"Fuck, man! Thank goodness you..." I started, my knees giving out

Matt was not matching my energy. "Bro! How're you doing? How's the family?!"

What the fuck? The world was crashing and burning around me. I didn't have time for pleasantries. "I need to know where Lily is," I cut him off. "You know if she's with Ethan?"

"I don't know man, have you called him?" he asked, all relaxed and calm.

"Of course I called him!" I yelled, zooming into the footage of the open front door. Shaking my head to make sense of what was happening and find justification for why the front door would be open while the house was in complete darkness, I began to search every single room, zooming in as close as I could and investigating every pixel. "When's the last time you saw Lily?" I asked, the side of my head pounding, my fingers slipping across the phone from sweat.

"Uh...two days ago." He cleared his throat. "She wanted..."

"Two days ago!" I exploded. My blood drained right out of my body when I found Mrs. Thornbread in bed, and the rest of the house empty. Panic wrapped my throat in its grip and everything went silent, except for my booming voice. "I knew it was a bad idea for you guys to leave her alone! I don't know why I thought I could trust you with keeping her safe," I spewed before I could take it back.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Matt's voice deepened. "What the hell makes you think she's in danger? Did something happen?" Now, his breathing shortened.

"I can't reach her on the phone. At least tell me Ethan's with her!" The words flew from my mouth as I attempted to put two and two together, desperate to find a reasonable explanation, one that didn't involve her being in danger. But my throat closing in on me told me all I needed to know.

"Fuck, so you can't reach her phone and she's missing now?" He scoffed.

"Why aren't you taking this seriously? Terry..." I began.

"...is long gone. Seriously, do you think Ethan or I would've left her alone if we thought she was in danger? Three weeks we stayed with her and he was nowhere in sight. How dare you insinuate that..." He argued.

"Just tell me if Ethan's with her," I begged.

"I'm on my way home. I'll let you know if Ethan's there or not when I get to the Airbnb. Stop freaking me out, man. Get some sleep or something." Matt hung the phone up in my ear before I could tell him that I wasn't overreacting.

At least, I hoped I wasn't overreacting. Was I just mentally drained? Rubbing between my eyes, I rewound the footage. The last time Lily was in the house was that afternoon. She went to the door and that was it. She didn't come back in. My soul departed my body. My limbs became air. I couldn't feel the phone in my hand as I called back Matt or Ethan. None of them answered.

Needing to rid myself of the nightmare I already knew was looming, I considered one last attempt to make it all make sense. What if Ryan came back early? What if he was the one who surprised her at the door and they'd been at it outside, and lost track of time? Tears stung my eyes as I clung to what I hoped wasn't delusion.

Ryan

"No offense bro, but you're not the one I want to talk to now." My smile weakened when I tapped the side of my wireless earpiece and it was Eric's voice instead of Lily's.

She and I had spoken already that morning, and I knew not to call her around this time, since it was reserved for Eric. But I'd been missing her. Beautiful views, fresh air, a luxurious hotel and no Lily to share it with. I saw her in every new experience I wanted to share with her. Throwing my camera backpack over my shoulder and grabbing the tripod, I made my way to my car.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. I can barely make out what you're saying. The reception is terrible," I said, tossing my things inside the back seat of the rental and moving away in search of a better signal.

---