Tommy had speeding down the highway. Determined to get home, at least, to his now destroyed home, as fast as he could. He had to check on Hope. He needed to make sure that she was ok. Tommy didn't care about all of their materialistic belongings, all he cared about was Hope being safe. Finally reaching his destination (a.k.a: his burned down house), he saw what damage had actually happened. Looking through the ruin, he found old burned up pictures of him and Jude, their old CD's, burned clothes, it was all gone. Bending down, Tommy picked through the ruin, looking for anything that was saved. As he was picking through it, he touched something. Picking it up, he realized what it was. It was Hope's old stuffed bunny. Tommy had bought for Hope when she had first come to California. Holding it in his hands, he felt as if he had lost Hope forever. He thought that Hope had burned to death. Walking around in the ruins where his house used to stand, he bent down and started to pick around again. He wasn't looking for something in particular, more like someone. Hoping to find some remains of what he thought would be Hope's body, he found nothing. Tommy was starting to get worried. What if she had completely burned? What had happened to her? Tommy was starting to wonder what had really happened to her. Nothing was there, nothing but memories. Suddenly, he heard a little girls voice calling him. "Daddy!"
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Hope had still been asleep on Mrs. Thompson's couch when Mrs. Thompson had seen Tommy pull up into what used his driveway. She had been watching him pick through the ruins. She knew she should take Hope to him, but she thought that Tommy should have a little time for the fire to sink in. Mrs. Thompson woke up Hope after a couple minutes of watching Tommy. She brought Hope outside, and waited for Tommy to finish picking through the ruins of his house. Hope couldn't contain her excitement, so she had to yell out to Tommy, "Daddy!" Tommy just turned around in surprise. Not seeing Hope, he turned back around and started picking again. Hope yelled out in frustration again, "Daddy!" Tommy once again turned around. He was so nervous. Tommy thought that he was hearing things again. Looking off into the distance, he saw someone waving their hands up and down. Now Tommy was really scared. He thought that it was a ghost or something. So he carefully walked up to the moving figure. "Who's there?" Tommy asked carefully while walking.
"Daddy! It's me, Hope!" Hope yelled. As Tommy neared the person, he saw that it really was Hope! He ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Hope, I'm so glad you're ok!" Tommy exclaimed. Hope just hugged Tommy tighter while Mrs. Thompson walked inside before Tommy could thank her. "I am so sorry that I forgot to turn off the stove," Tommy said. Hope just looked at him with questioning eyes. "The stove?" Hope asked. "Yeah, that's what caused this fire right?" Tommy asked just as confused. "No, the officer said that someone had threw a match in here," Hope said. "WHAT?" Tommy asked confused and infuriated. "Who the hell would do such a thing!" Tommy bellowed. He remembered that Hope was right in front of him listening. "Um, Hope, don't ever repeat that word, ok?" Tommy said with a little embarrassed laugh. "No daddy, you're right. Who the hell would do such a thing?" Hope asked. Tommy answered with a laugh before becoming serious once again. "I don't know Hope. But I promise that I will figure out who it was if it's the last thing I do," Tommy vowed. Hope just nodded. Suddenly, Mrs. Thompson walked back out. "Tommy? I think you may want to get to the hospital right now. Something's wrong. Jude's doctor just called," Mrs. Thompson said quickly. Tommy and Hope looked at each other, then thanked Mrs. Thompson. Tommy and Hope ran off into Tommy's car and sped off to the hospital. Tommy shook his head. "What else could go wrong tonight?" Tommy asked himself. As he got to the hospital, he got his answer.
