Chapter 2 - The Emergency Room
The sterile scent of bleach in Seattle General Hospital did nothing to wash away the stench of that basement from my memory.
I paced the waiting room for three agonizing hours before a doctor finally emerged.
Leo was severely malnourished, dehydrated, and suffering from a cocktail of heavy sedatives that had been forced into his system.
When I was finally allowed into his room, the steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound. Leo’s eyes fluttered open as I pulled a plastic chair to his bedside.
"Sarah?" he rasped, his voice barely a whisper.
"I'm right here, Leo. You're safe. The police are outside the door. Arthur can't hurt you anymore."
Tears welled in the sixteen-year-old’s sunken eyes. He weakly reached out, grabbing my wrist with a desperation that shattered my heart.
"You don't understand," he gasped, fighting through the haze of the drugs. "He wasn't just hiding me. He was trying to erase me. Just like he erased Aunt Claire."
The room seemed to spin. My sister Claire’s death four years ago had been ruled a tragic accident—a fatal fall down the stairs during a power outage.
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"What do you mean, Leo?" I asked, leaning in close.
"The trust fund," Leo choked out, his monitors spiking. "My dad’s money. Claire found out Arthur stole it. That’s why she died. And that's why he locked me away."
