Chapter 2

Rescuers blocked the whole road while they worked to pull Carissa from the totaled car. Her lifeless body was hanging half out the door. The rescuers worked diligently to free her from the smashed in metal and glass. Firemen stood by in case the car caught on fire. Fragments of glass and metal were strewn all over the road. Rescuers helped other victims from the car accident out of their cars. They hadn't seen a pile up this bad in years. "I need help over here!" One of the men motioned from Carissa's car. He managed to free her body and tried to get a pulse. An EMT gave her CPR to get her heart beating again. "We have a slight pulse. Let's get her to the hospital." Carissa was placed in the back of an ambulance and whisked away from the scene of the accident. Rescue workers searched the area for victims from the crash.

"That woman caused this accident." One irate victim hollered. "She was heading down the wrong lane."

"There was a little boy thrown from the car on impact." Another woman told one of the fireman.

Everyone was talking and shouting over each other trying to be heard. In all the madness, little Zack lay curled up in a ditch on the off ramp. He had been thrown from the car several feet from the crash site. His limp body lay obscured from the rescue team under some bushes. Zack lay there all alone as night began to fall on Salem. He reached out his hand as pain overtook his body. "Mommy." He cried and fell back into unconsciousness.

…A nearby ER…

"I need the paddles over here." A doctor screamed out to one of the nurses. "Okay clear!" Zap! Carissa's body jolted off the gurney. "No pulse. Clear again." Zap! Another jolt to her lifeless body. Still nothing happened. "Let's try it again. Clear!" Zap! Nothing. "Note time of death, 7:22 P.M." The doctor dropped the paddles and walked out of the emergency room. Carissa lay dead on the gurney as a little boy struggled to regain consciousness.

…11 P.M…

Doug paced around the living room constantly checking his watch. "Where are they?" He asked aloud.

"Darling you're wearing a hole in the rug." Julie looked over at Doug. His face was tense with worry as he waited for his grandson and Carissa to arrive.

"She said she'd be here by nine and it's going on eleven now. Something must be wrong." Doug looked at his watch again. "I'm going to call Hope and have her put out an APB on them."

"Doug Williams! You will not disturb your daughter at this hour of the night. I'm sure Carissa is probably stuck in traffic or even lost. Although, if she were lost I'd hope she'd have the sense enough to call for directions. Just give it a little while longer before you send out the brigade." Julie dropped the magazine she was reading onto the table. "Why don't you sit down with me and have some herbal tea."

"I don't want tea. I want to know my grandson has made it safely here. I promised Dougie I'd look out for him." Doug paced back and forth between the window and the front door, looking out into the blackened night sky.

…1 A.M…

Hope tossed and turned in her bed in a restless sleep. She kept hearing Zach crying out to her. She ran around looking for him in the dark. "Baby? Where are you?" She called out.

"Hope?" Bo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Hope. Sh. It's just a bad dream." Bo pulled Hope closer to him wrapping his arms securely around her. Hope woke up startled. "It's okay. I got you." He told her.

"Bo?" Hope looked over at her husband. "I was dreaming about Zack. I couldn't find him." Several tears streamed down the side of Hope's face. "I miss him so much." She cried.

"I know. I miss him too." Bo held his wife in his arms as they both drifted back to sleep.

…1:25 A.M…

"Mommy." Zack's voice came out weakly as he lay huddled in the ditch. He was trembling from the cold. Zack opened his eyes to strange surroundings. He was still lying under a bush. He heard cars racing by him just a few feet away. Zack turned on his side to see where he was. Several road crew workers were still clearing up the debris from the car accident. Zack looked around for Carissa. He wondered what happened to the both of them. The last thing he remembered was looking out the car window before he drifted off to sleep and then he felt himself being thrown from the car.

One of the workers spotted the boy lying on the side of the road. "Hey what's that over there?" He hollered to one of the crew.

"I don't know. Let's check it out." The two men carefully crossed the highway to where Zack was lying on the ground. "Hey there little feller, you alright?" He asked.

Zack didn't say anything. He just nodded yes. The man pulled him out from under the bushes. Zack winced in pain.

"I think he's been hurt. Let's get him to the hospital." The two men drove Zack to Salem University Hospital. Zack was brought into the ER where Dr. Wesley checked him out.

"Hey there big guy. I'm Dr. Wesley. Looks like you've been through quite an ordeal tonight." Dr. Wesley examined Zack. "I guess you were one of the people from the car accident. Do you have a name?" Dr. Wesley asked him.

Zack didn't say a word. He didn't know this man and couldn't trust him. He kept looking over at the door to see if there was anyone he knew walking by it. He remembered being in this hospital before. Aunt Lexie worked here. Zack closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"I guess you're too tired to talk." Dr. Wesley looked over the patients charts. "Nurse, see to it he gets a room. I'm going to call child services. The patient was brought in without any parents. With all the victims brought in tonight, it'll be hard to find out who he belongs to right now."

"Okay Dr. Wesley." The nurse went to take care of getting Zack a room.

"Poor kid. It must be scary to be here all alone after being in such a horrible car collision."

…2:17 A.M…

Doug was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Carissa and his grandson. They were over five hours late and he was really starting to worry. Julie had retired to bed hours ago, but he couldn't sleep not knowing what had become of them. Doug tried calling Carissa's cell phone number. It kept going straight to voicemail. "Carissa this is Doug Williams calling again. I'd really appreciate it if you could call me back. I'm really worried here. You were due in at nine this evening and it's after two a.m. now." Doug hung up the phone just as he heard a knock on his front door. "Finally." He got up to answer the door.

"Evening Sir." An officer stood on the other side of Doug's door. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. There was a head on collision tonight that resulted in the death of a Carissa LeClair. This is the only address we could find on her. Are you the next of kin?" He asked Doug.

Doug was shocked at the news. "She was married to my son." He couldn't get the words out. "Her son, my grandson, is he alright?" Doug asked the officer.

"I'm sorry sir, there wasn't anyone else in the car with her. I don't know what to tell you."

"They were driving here tonight from Springfield. She had to have had him with her. His name is Jack LeClair. Are you sure he wasn't in the accident with his mother?" Doug asked the officer.

"You can check with the hospital to see if anyone fitting the boys description was brought in tonight. I'm sorry I can't be of anymore help to you. Goodnight sir." The officer walked back to his car and drove off.

"I need to call Dougie." Doug walked back into his house and closed the door.

……

Zack woke up startled in the hospital room. He looked around to unfamiliar surroundings. "Mommy." He cried out. Zack wanted to feel his mother holding him safely in her arms. He cried himself back to sleep as Hope woke from another nightmare across town.

"Zack!" She cried out sitting up in bed.

"Hope. Come here." Bo pulled her close. "What is it?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I just feel like he needs me." She said through her tears. "I can feel him calling to me." Hope continued to sob in Bo's arms.

"Zack is in heaven Hope. He's not in any pain. You're just having a nightmare." Bo tried to soothe Hope. He held her closely stroking the back of her head as she drifted back to sleep in his arms.

…7 A.M…

"Dr. Wesley." Kayla called out. "Hi. It's so good to have you on staff here again. I've heard great things about you. I'm Dr. Kayla Johnson; chief of staff." She offered him her hand. "I hear you had the late shift last night. Pretty tough night for your first day back here."

"Yeah there was quite a pile up on the highway last night. We had a few casualties from it." He said.

"Dr. Wesley. Child services are here to talk to you." One of the nurses interrupted them.

"Thank you nurse." Dr. Wesley excused himself to go talk to child services. "Hello. I'm Dr. Wesley. I called you early this morning about a child who was brought in."

"Dr. Wesley, how nice to meet you." The woman offered him her hand to shake. "I'm Ms. Brown from Child Services. How can I help you?"

"Okay, the thing is, we had a lot of car accident victims brought in here last night. The boy wasn't brought in until much later, so I'm not sure if he was overlooked initially or if it's a separate case altogether. Several of the car crash victims have passed on and several more are still unconscious. We don't know for sure if any of them could be the boys legal guardians. The police are still piecing together the personal belongings found at the crash site." Dr. Wesley paused for a minute. "I just want to do everything I can to help find the family of this boy."

"I understand, sir. Have you been able to get a name from the boy?" She asked him.

"He wasn't up to talking last night. I was just heading to check in on him. Care to join me?" Dr. Wesley asked leading the way.

Ms. Brown followed the doctor to Zack's room. Zack lay sleeping peacefully on the bed.

"What a sweet little boy." Ms. Brown said. "The poor thing must be so frightened."

Zack opened his eyes from hearing the voices. He looked over to see Dr. Wesley smiling back at him.

"Good morning. How are you feeling today?" Dr. Wesley asked him.

Zack turned his head without saying a word. He looked around the room trying to avoid both the doctor and the lady who was with him.

"Cat got your tongue?" Dr. Wesley jokingly asked him. Zack didn't even crack a smile. "Listen. I know you went through a lot last night, but I need you to tell me your name so we can find your parents for you."

Zack started crying hysterically. "I want my Mommy and Daddy! I want my Mommy and Daddy!" He kept repeating over and over. Dr. Wesley gave him a sedative to calm him. Zack calmly fell back to sleep.

"Poor kid." Dr. Wesley turned to Ms. Brown. "I guess we won't be getting his name just yet. I'll give you a call once he wakes again. Hopefully we can get some information about him."

"I'm going to file a report and see if anyone has reported a missing child." Ms. Brown turned to leave. "One good thing, we know he has parents who love him. A child calling

out for their parents like that is definitely loved."

"Unless they were killed last night." Dr. Wesley mused before leaving to go home.

…8 A.M…

Hope was dozing on the couch when Bo came down for breakfast. "Hope?" He gently nudged her awake. "How long have you been down here? I didn't even feel you leave the bed."

"I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to keep you up all night." Hope reached out to kiss Bo. "Is Ciara awake?"

"She's getting dressed for school. Why didn't you wake me? I could've helped." Bo asked her.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong." Hope told him.

"Did you have anymore dreams about Zack?" He asked.

"A few. They weren't as bad though. Bo…never mind." Hope got up from the couch. "Do you want some coffee?" She asked him as she headed into the kitchen.

"Sure. What were you going to say just now?" Bo asked.

"Nothing. It's just my mind playing tricks on me." Hope bit on her bottom lip. "I just feel like Zack is so close right now and he needs help. I know what you're going to say, Brady. He's dead. I know. But my heart keeps telling me he needs me." A few tears welled up in Hope's eyes.

"Come here Fancy Face." Bo pulled her into his embrace. "I know how much you miss Zack. Maybe it's you missing Shawn, Belle, and Claire that has you thinking about Zack. And now with Chelsea moving to Europe to live with her mother, that has to be in the back of your mind too." Bo tried to rationalize with her.

"I've forgiven Chelsea, you know that." Hope told him.

"I know you have." He pulled her back into his arms. "I just think a part of you will always associate her with Zack's death. She's moving away and Zack is on your mind."

"I don't know. Maybe you're right. I just can't shake this feeling that something is wrong." They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Let me go see who that is." Bo went to answer the door. Hope heard him call Doug and Julie's names and went to see what brought them by so early.

"Hi Princess." Doug greeted his daughter. "I just got off the phone with Dougie and he's flying in tonight. I was hoping you and Bo would help with the search."

Hope looked puzzled. "Daddy, what search? Why is Dougie flying in? I thought you were taking care of Carissa and Jack."

"I thought you might have already heard the news seeing how you're both cops." Doug explained to her.

"What news?" Bo hunched his shoulders as he looked at Hope.

"There was a major car pile up on the highway last night. Carissa was killed in it. Her son Jack is missing." Doug told them.

"Oh my God. Have you checked with the hospital?" Hope asked him.

"Not yet. I've been trying to get information out of your fellow officers about the crash. I spent most of the night on the phone with Dougie. He's a wreck."

"Okay. I'm going to call the hospital to see if there was a boy brought in last night." Hope left the room.

…8:45 A.M…

Zack sat up in his bed and looked around the room. No one was there to check on him. He hopped out of his bed and wandered out into the hall. Zack walked around the hospital looking for Aunt Lexie. She would know where his parents were.

"Hey there little guy." Kayla stopped him. "Where are you headed to?"

Zack smiled up at Kayla. She looked familiar to him, but he didn't know why. She seemed very nice too.

"Aren't you a little cutie with those dimples. Did you want something?" She asked him. "You shouldn't be out of your bed." She led Zack back to his room. "You know, you look familiar to me. Almost remind me a little of my nephew." Kayla pushed the thought out of her mind. He looked so much like Zack. "Do you have a name?" She asked him.

Zack sat on his bed without saying a word to the nice doctor. He looked around the empty room over to the window and then back at Kayla.

"How about I get some books and toys for you to play with?" Kayla asked ruffling his hair. "Then maybe you can tell me your name." Just then Kayla was paged to the ER. "I'm sorry. I have to go now. I'll be back later to check on you." Kayla walked out of his room and Zack hopped off his bed to go back out into the hall again. He was determined to find his Aunt Lexie.

…On a flight from Paris…

Doug LeClair looked out the window wondering how soon he'd be landing in Salem. He felt uneasy going there. He hadn't seen Carissa or his son in two years. After the divorce, he flew to Paris to make a new life for himself. He was sure Carissa had turned the boy against him. Jack always drew an extra man in all of his drawings. He never spoke a word, but Doug somehow believed his wife was cheating on him and turning their son against him. He didn't want Jack to get caught up in the mess, so he left thinking it would be easier for the boy. He still kept in touch with Carissa asking about his son. After a year, he learned she was still single and their son still wasn't talking. He felt guilty for what he put his family through believing the worst about Carissa all that time. She had never strayed from him and their son was suffering while he was halfway around the world and couldn't help him.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" The stewardess asked him.

"No thank you." He told her. As she walked away, Doug called out to her. "Miss?"

"Yes sir?"

"How much longer before we land?" He asked her.

"We'll be landing in Salem in 15 minutes." She told him before going down the aisle to check on other passengers.

Doug looked out the window again. 'I hope they've found you by the time I get there.' he whispered aloud. He wasn't sure how he felt about his son. He had been so distant with him before he left for Paris. Jack would be turning nine soon. He wondered if he could ever feel the love for him that he once did. He pulled out a picture of Jack form his wallet. Carissa had sent it to him at Christmas. The boys eyes looked so vacant and lost. He wondered if his leaving had anything to do with that. His son had been such a happy child, but something happened during the three day trip he took to Salem with his mother. He came back despondent and fearful. Jack winced whenever he went to hug the boy. Doug wasn't sure if he wanted him to be found. Carissa was dead which left the boy's custody to him. He didn't think he could handle a boy like him anymore now than he did then. He knew Jack still didn't speak. He wanted his son to go back to being the boy who was so full of life. It pained him to look at his son now. He felt horrible for thinking the way he did, but he couldn't help it. Jack was no longer the son he so adored.

An announcement came over the intercom: Please fasten your seatbelts and return your seat to an upright position. We will be landing in Salem in five minutes.