Enjoy...
"We could try calling the cops," Mosca suggested, yawning. He hadn't been able to get any sleep during the past few hours. None of them had.
"They won't do anything. They never do."
"Well, do you have any other ideas?" asked Mosca.
Scipio didn't respond.
It was now nearly eight o' clock in the morning, and they had all just returned from searching the neighborhood for Elaine. They hadn't found her, and now they sat in the living room, tired and numb with shock.
"Well, what is there left to do?" asked Hornet, tearstains on her cheeks. "God knows where she is right now. She could be out on the streets somewhere. She and the baby could get hurt."
"She did pack up some stuff, so she's most likely staying somewhere. A hotel, maybe?" Prosper asked.
"Maybe. She probably took money with her, so there is a possibility..."
"Should we go around local hotels for her, then?"
"I guess so." Riccio handed Scipio the phonebook and reciever. Scipio flipped through it and found that there were four pages of hotels in London. Having a feeling he would be busy for a while, he told them, "Well, this will probably take a good few hours."
"I think I'm going to go lie down for a while," said Hornet weakly, departing the room and going into her room. A moment later, they could hear her start to cry again.
"Yeah, me too," said Riccio, and he, Mosca, and Bo left. Prosper lingered behind, wanting to say something to comfort Scipio but not sure what exactly to tell him.
"Um, good luck," he finally said. "Tell us if you find anything, okay?"
"I will," said Scipio, already dialing. Prosper exited the living room and Scipio held the reciever up to his ear, listening to it ring.
"Good morning, you have reached Days Inn hotel," said a heavily accented male voice after a moment. "How may I help you?"
"I was wondering if an Elaine Vieri has checked in lately...?"
"I'll go check for you, sir," said the voice, and there was silence. Finally, the man returned and said, "I'm sorry, but there is no Elaine Vieri at our hotel."
"Oh." All the air seemed to be sucked from Scipio's lungs. "Okay, thank you."
Several hours later, Scipio sat on his and Elaine's bed, absently running a hand through his hair and feeling dissapointed. Elaine wasn't in any of those hotels, and he wondered where she was. She could be hours away from London by now. Or, like Hornet had said, somewhere out on the streets. What if she'd ran into some idiot and gotten hurt? What about the baby? Was it okay?
He slumped down onto the bedsheets and thought. It was all his fault. Elaine had said so herself: "Oh, give me a break, Scipio. Like you actually want me to stay here." He shook his head as though to rid it of the thoughts, but they wouldn't go away.
Scipio stood up and left the room, making his way down the stairs. He was starting to feel a bit trapped. He sat down in the living room again and turned on the TV. A game show was on and he watched it without really knowing what was going on. Scipio could imagine Elaine sitting next to him, leaning forward and saying excitedly, "Oh, I know the answer! It's that...word...I forgot what it is, but it's like...Maine...or Marne...or---" And then the host said the answer when none of the contestants could get it right, and Elaine would say, "Yeah! That's it! Maine."
He shook his head again and suddenly heard thumps nearby and the sound of doors opening. Hornet and Riccio emerged from their rooms and sleepily greeted Scipio. He nodded and they went into the kitchen. Scipio turned in his seat to watch them; Hornet was getting out some leftover sandwiches from lunch the previous day and Riccio was complaining about being hungry.
"Get your own food," she snapped at him. Riccio rolled his eyes and, showing no sign of getting up to find something to eat, propped his feet up on the table.
"Riccio, how many times do I have to tell you to not put your feet on the table?" said Elaine's voice in his mind, and Scipio winced.
"Riccio, get your feet off the table."
"What?"
"Feet off the table."
Riccio gave Scipio an odd look, but obeyed.
Scipio turned back to the living room and found himself facing a sight he didn't exactly want to see; not right now, anyway. The wall was covered in pictures of all of them, and even ultrasounds of the baby. Scipio felt a terrible sadness when he saw a picture of he and Elaine sitting together on a park bench. Scipio's arm was around Elaine's waist and he was giving her neck a kiss, while Elaine was laughing and cuddling up against him. Hornet had taken this picture, and Elaine had thumbtacked it on the wall as soon as it had been developed. Scipio felt a sudden desire to rip it to pieces.
"See, this one was the baby three weeks ago, and this one is the baby now," Elaine was telling Bo, pointing to the two different pictures.
Scipio blinked several times and said under his breath, "Leave me alone already!"
"What?" came Hornet's voice from the kitchen.
"Nothing, Hornet. I'm just kind of tired."
"Well, maybe you need to take a nap or something," she said, coming into the doorway and looking at him with a worried expression.
"Maybe I do," said Scipio, heading up the stairs.
"If you need anything, be sure to just ask," called Hornet.
Scipio nodded, though he knew she couldn't see him, and went back into he and Elaine's bedroom. He laid down and turned over so that he was facing Elaine's now empty side of the bed.
"Geez, am I tired! The baby's not even that big yet and I'm already falling asleep all over the place!" Elaine exclaimed, grinning over at him. Scipio closed his eyes, trying to think about something, anything else. But he couldn't. Turning over again, he took a deep breath, let it out, and tried to stop the tears from coming.
And failed.
Over the following six weeks, Scipio couldn't eat, sleep, or think straight. Without Elaine, he felt numb, empty. Incomplete. Nothing could go right any more. He stayed in bed all day and didn't leave the house at all, excluding going to the backyard every now and then. Scipio was worried over by everyone in the house, but he really didn't care any more. He didn't care about anything.
Madalyn stopped by once after not hearing from Elaine or Hornet for a few days, and Hornet told her what had happened. She talked to Hornet every now and then, but besides that, she focused more on her job and started working double shifts, trying to work off her stress. At least it kept her from being home and being alone with the truth.
Elaine's abscence took its toll on everyone. Suddenly, Riccio stopped making so many rude remarks, Mosca was uninterested in his boat, Prosper worried more than usual, Hornet found her books rather boring, and Bo stopped laughing and playing around so much. A sense of anxiety settled over the house. All they had left to do was wait for Elaine to come back.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait...
"Scipio? You awake?" asked Hornet's voice from the hallway, and Scipio didn't answer. After a second, she opened the door and, noticing he was awake, sat down on the bed.
"Come on, let's do something today," she said.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm really tired."
"You're always really tired, Scipio. I'm really starting to worry about you. You never get out of the house or anything, and I was wondering---"
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. I can tell. It's about Elaine, isn't it?" Without waiting for a response, Hornet rushed on: "Come on. You know she wouldn't want you to be all...upset over her. Just because she's not here doesn't mean you have to mope around all the time."
"I do not mope."
"Sure you don't." Hornet knew he was about to come up with some sarcastic comeback and said, "Well, breakfast is ready. You'll come down and eat with us, won't you?"
"Yeah. In a minute." Hornet left the room and Scipio pulled the covers over his head. He wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep and forget reality. But the world keeps turning, and he'd have to go along with it.