A week past by since Lucas was admitted to the hospital. Lucas's condition didn't get any better, but on the other hand, it never worsened. Either Way, Flint stayed by his bedside day and night, only leaving for food or hygiene purposes. After a little while though, Duster started getting worried about Flint, so he started checking up on him every now and then.
"Wow, it's still raining …" Duster whispered more himself than anyone, but was hoping for an answer from Flint. Unfortunately there was none.
"And it's getting harder by the hour. Boy, I hope it doesn't flood"
"Hm."
"I mean … with the river already deep as it is …"
"Hm."
Duster slightly glared at Flint. "You know, you could at least donate another word towards this conversation."
"Hm."
Duster Sighed "I'm sure Lucas is fine. Just look at him! He's sleeping very peacefully!"
Flint twitched at Duster's words. In reality, Lucas wasn't sleeping peacefully most of the time. He would from time to time get up and start wondering around the hospital, as if looking for something. He had returned to his state of soulless, blank state. The only time his emotion would return was at night, when he was dreaming. The nurses kept passing it off as "A really bad nightmare", but Flint felt in his heart there was something more.
Duster coughed "He's remaining very still at the moment … he could be getting better".
Flint was about to say something when the door slammed open. Startled, Duster literally jumped up a few feet, and met eyes with his own father, Wes.
"Dad! Try to be careful! Lucas-!" Duster said in a tiny voice.
"NOT NOW, SON!!" Wes roared, then promptly looked at Flint. "Flint, we have an emergency!! T-The river down hill has flooded and-!"
"Was everyone evacuated to higher ground?" Flint said on a flat tone.
"Y-yes … but-!"
"Then everything should be fine …"
"But Flint, when we did a head count … we were missing some one … we're afraid he or she may have fallen in the river!"
Flint finally got up and sighed. "Alright, lets see who isn't here. Who do you remember coming here?"
"Well …" Wes said, concentrating "I remember Lighter and Fuel, Leder, Mapson, Nippolyte … Just about everyone, I really can't think who's missing"
Duster uttered in a few words "Don't forget Alec. He was the one doing all the evacuating!"
Wes Rolled his eyes "I was GETTING to him …"
"What about Thomas?" Flint asked.
Both Duster and Wes stood silent.
"You did see Thomas come in here, right?" Wes asked Duster
"Uh … No … did you?" Duster uttered back.
Flint looked out the window to the river down below, its raging stream getting larger and rougher by the minute. He then studied the banks of the river and noticed pieces of wood scattered.
"Where is Thomas's house in relation towards the river?" Flint asked.
Wes thought for a moment "Hm … well … just a few miles up-stream, 'bout 15, possible 30 feet from the ri-."
Wes stopped mid-sentence, struck by the horrible reality.
Duster, who was thinking the same thing, jumped to action "We all need to get to the river and find him! He could be drowning as we speak!"
Flint was about to rush out the door when he looked back at Lucas. He was still sleeping peacefully, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything dangerous while they were gone. Duster, studying Flint's face, thought of an idea.
"Look … why don't we just simply lock the door and ask Tessie to guard the outside? There's not much he can do while there's so many people here."
As much as he wanted to stay with Lucas, he knew he had a job to do. He had no choice but to accept Duster's plan.
Duster nodded "I'll get Bronson and Alec. We may need their help" Duster said, walking out the door.
Flint took one last look at Lucas before closing the door. Duster did have the right idea; Lucas couldn't do much in an empty, locked room. He could even still be sleeping when the came back. Trying to calm himself down, he took a few steps away from the door before finally rushing outside.
It was pouring rain. It was supposed to be mid-day, but the myriad of clouds made it as dark as night.
Gearing up the best they could against the rain, Flint, Bronson, Alec, Duster, and Wes prepared for the rescue. The were soon after joined by Lighter, who was, as always, carrying a large log on his shoulder. The crew thought that that may be helpful if the needed to get across the river.
"I hope he hasn't drowned by now …" Bronson sighed worriedly.
"I'm sure he's okay. Thomas is a smart man, he would know how to handle himself." Duster replied.
"Why thank you, Duster!!" A voice came from behind the group. They all turned around, and found that, not only was Thomas okay, he was also geared up heavily against the rain.
Duster stood in shock "We … we thought you were in danger!"
Thomas only smiled "Well, not really. I was just making sure there were no more people here who needed to be recued."
Alec shook his head "Sorry to break it to you, Thomas, but everyone was already evacuated to higher ground. Everyone is safe as far as we are aware."
Duster motioned to the river "Guys, if we don't leave soon, we'll ALL be in danger."
Wes nodded "As much as I can't believe it, Duster is right. Everyone's safe, there's no need to look into this further. We all just need to hide out in the hospital until the water level recedes and the rain has ended."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Flint looked to the sky and thanked whoever was out there silently to himself. There would be no lives lost today.
But as the gang ventured back to the hospital, Tessie, the nurse in charge of watching Lucas, rushed out into the pouring rain, her face fixed with fright.
"Tessie? What's wrong?" Duster asked.
"Lucas … he …" Tessie took a moment to catch her breath, "Princess Kumatora, Fuel and I entered the room to make sure he was okay … and ..."
"What is it?" Flint asked coldly.
Tessie sounded more frightened than ever "Lucas … he's gone! He … somehow escaped his room and … and now he's missing ..!"
The new had hit everyone hard, especially Flint. Duster had noticed Flints face and saw something he never saw before in all the time he knew him: Flint was scared.
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