Hey, everyone! I cannot BELIEVE people actually left me reviews! I haven't seen this many in one chapter for a long time.
So, to RAJ, AMANA, Rosiek79, MyChem2019, forshizzle930, NAGARO and xSommerRegen, AfterMidnight8, ilovecrimedramas, as promised, next chappy is up. I almost forgot to upload with all the havoc running in my life!
I would also like to thank my wonderfully talented editor MEGALEGU who also happens to write amazing Royal Pains stories.
Message to troller:
Good to know you seem to find my story interesting. However, a lot of hard work goes into these chapters, A LOT. It may not seem like it to you because, clearly, you're implying you have more writing skills than I do, since you think I torture readers for kicks and I write anything willy-nilly without considering the amount of detail I add to the story. I've come across lot of ungrateful readers who would just read and take off and only come back for updates without leaving anything, not even criticism. As a writer, I become very bothered by this because it feels like the story isn't good enough, and it doesn't encourage me OR help me improve. I also didn't say anywhere that I wouldn't upload at all, unless people really don't enjoy it, in which case I'd just write for myself and won't bother people by uploading it; I said I'd upload it QUICKER, stating that I'm encouraged to upload quicker if I get reviews telling me it's worth something. And what was in the bracket was clearly meant as a joke, that only you didn't seem to get a grasp of.
So before you start criticising about the way I update, how about you take a second to think about why I do it in the first place. Oh, and the next time you leave me a review, try to not coward out by becoming anonymous. JUST SAYING.
Disclaimer: If I did, this season would've turn out a lot differently.
Chapter 2
When the police arrived the air was subdued, like the calm after the storm, minus the actual storm. Jill and Divya sat close, quietly conversing amongst each other. Hank was just standing off to the side, clutching the photograph of Evan he'd carried around with him in the town.
His father stood before the officers, talking in a low voice to the senior of the two. He shot glances at Hank every few moments and then warily gestured his son towards them. He needed him to show the officer the photograph but he was almost afraid to ask. Despite how strong his elder son seemed to be appearing, Hank was trying hard to hold it together. But if Eddie wanted his other son back...if he wanted Hank to return to a fraction of himself again...he'd do this.
"Hank?" Henry blinked away his clouded thinking and looked up to the sound of his father's soft tone. "The police would like to have a few words with you."
The doctor nodded, the room suddenly being blanketed in silence. It was as if a spotlight has suddenly shone down on Hank, his father and the policemen, rendering Jill and Divya motionless, a faded background on the stage.
"So when exactly did you start to notice your brother had gone missing?" the senior officer bluntly asked, pen poised above the lined pages of his notebook.
Hank tried not to react, tried not to recoil at the harsh wording of the policeman, as if the sharp words were reprimands. "After the first day. Usually he would leave a note, or a message-" he sighed, "-if he was heading off somewhere for a while."
"But he hasn't contacted you or anyone for the past three days?"
Hank nodded, lips forming a straight line.
"Was he acting peculiar that night? Did you notice anything off about your brother?"
Hank shook his head. "No. He was perfectly…Evan."
"Then he leaves his phone here…" the cop's partner, a much younger man, confirmed the rest of the story. "And takes off to run an errand with his car."
The older cop stabbed a full stop at his notepad. "Have you got a record of information of your brother's car? A licence plate perhaps?"
"Uh, yeah. Let me just…" Hank searched frantically through drawer to drawer, pushing through everyone's way. He then made a hasty turn towards the seat of an armchair. Digging his hand under the seat, Hank pulled out Evan's minivan documents. He momentarily smiled at his brother's ways, smiled at his knowing of his brother's ways. But the momentary setback vanished as quickly as it had begun. Hank stood up to deliver the thin, plastic folder.
"Thank you. We'll have this returned once we file the information." The elder cop flipped through the folder and closed it. "Have you got a recent picture of…?"
"Oh, yeah." Hank reached for his back pocket and lifted the photo he'd been clutching all day, his fingerprints marking crescent-shaped indentations.
"Can we take this?" he requested.
It was a simple question. But Henry hesitated for a moment because it was the most recent thing he had of his brother, a still of a happy moment. What if there were no more? What if this photo was the last tangible proof of his brother?
"Uh," Hank clutched onto the photo and forced his solid grip to let it go, land into the waiting palm of the police officer. "Yeah."
"We'll see what we can do, Mr Lawson," the younger policeman smiled, and then turned to his partner as he added, "And we'll get back to you as soon as we find something," waiting for a nod of his acknowledgement, as if wondering whether it was the right thing to say to a civilian.
Hank figured he was a rookie, which didn't exactly make him comfortable or convince him that they'd do everything they can. He needed professionals here, full-force, no holds barred, effort from every available source. He didn't have the time for inexperienced newbies.
But what he did instead, rather of reacting the way he wanted, he replied, "Thank you." And before he could help himself, "And...call me Hank."
xXx
After the police officers left, Hank reached into a draw and pulled out a stack of take-out menus that he'd kept hidden on days Evan was too tired to cook. He slapped them onto the counter with more force than necessary and plastered the biggest smile he could afford onto his face. "So...who wants to eat?" he asked, even though his stomach is already protesting at the thought of handling Panda Express along with the roiling that came with his brother's prominent absence.
"We've got burgers...Mexican...anyone want Italian?" Hank shifted through the colourful stack, avoiding the collective gaze of everyone. No one said anything. "No Italian?" Hank filled the silence, looking up with raised eyebrows.
"Um," Jill looked over at Divya, as if deciphering from the PA's expression on what way to go with the conversation. To the side, Eddie R. looked like he wanted to say something but kept opening and closing his mouth in a silent protest.
"Pizza would be good!" Divya blurted and Jill looked surprised at her outburst.
"Yeah, pizza," Jill echoed. She glanced over at Eddie and he just shifted his position again.
"Pizza," Hank said, softly to himself and then nodded, reaching for the green and white laminated menu before locating the menu. He'd already dialled the number, keeping the phone up to his ear by his shoulder, and asked, "Cheese? Pepperoni?"
"Uh...both?" Jill said-asked.
Forty-five minutes later, Jill, Divya, Eddie and Hank were all crowded on the table outside, silently eating and passing the cardboard boxes back and forth amongst themselves. Divya kept picking at the crust on her slice, Jill ate one slice and then another in record time and Eddie just looked down at the lone slice of pepperoni on his plastic plate and made no move to eat it. Hank sat at the end cap, tearing a loose strand of cheese from his slice and then looked up at the heavy sigh of his father.
"Hank..." he said. "Could we talk in the other room for a moment?"
Jill and Divya both look up, a similar expression of guilt flickering between them.
Hank hesitated, staring down at the food he knew he won't be able to stomach anyway. "Sure," he pushed his chair back and joined his father in the kitchen.
Once they were out of earshot, Eddie seemed to give his son a complete once-over, scanning him from head to toe. "Are you...are you okay?" he asked, wincing slightly at the phrasing of his question.
Hank couldn't help but feel his mouth form into a frown. "I...yeah, Dad...I mean, no, I'm not fine, but I am..." he sighed heavily. "I'm trying." There was no possible way he could explain to his father that this was how he'd chosen to cope. That he'd shifted gears and thrown himself into a role he knew all too well – the caretaker, the saviour. The doctor.
"I know, son," Eddie said gently. "I just...I just don't want anything to happen to you too."
"What makes you think something had happened to Evan?" Hank asked quickly.
Eddie stared back, mouth agape. "I didn't…"His eyes flickered for the briefest moment and Hank felt a suspicious tug inside him at the sheer vulnerability written on his father's face.
"Dad, listen to me. Nothing's going to happen," Hank insisted, noticing helplessly the way his voice hitched. "To me or to Evan."
Eddie briefly hesitated before nodding. "Okay...okay, I just needed to hear that." He clapped a supportive hand on Hank's shoulder but it turned into a half-hug and then a complete embrace as Hank accepted his father's welcoming hold.
"Come on, before Jill eats all the cheese slices," Hank said, and it wasn't convincing, not really, but it gave Eddie a half-smile, a small chuckle and they return back outside.
xXx
By the next morning, Paige had already arrived. Hank woke up to yet another silent guesthouse, which he had yet to get used to (hopefully wouldn't have to), and approached a waiting, concerned friend; and not just a friend, but his brother's fiancée. Hank knew immediately this was going to be a long morning.
"And you're sure he says just that?" Paige said, questioning every detail of the report.
Hank sighed. "Yes, Paige," he reaffirmed, just as he'd been reaffirming everyone, including the police, what had happened the night Evan disappeared.
"And he left exactly twenty hundred hours, telling you he would be back in a few minutes," she confirmed.
Hank blinked, momentarily calculating the number in his head. "Yeah."
Paige softly tapped the kitchen counter, thinking of the next response. "What about his car? Did you ask around about that?"
Henry almost immediately responded, but held himself at the last minute realising… "No, I didn't…"
"And while you do that, I'm going to use every resource my family has to help." Like how Hank switched to doctor mode, Paige switches to military mode. "I'll also go start making the posters."
Hank's heart suddenly dropped. His brother had just become a face on a milk carton.
Paige didn't seem to notice Henry's change in demeanour and stood from the kitchen counter. She then turned to him, squinting in thought. "Do you…have that picture? The one at the formal party?"
Hank's ears perked up. "The one you took?"
"Yeah."
He mentally kicked himself. "I gave it to the police."
"No worries. I think I still have it in my camera somewhere," she reassured, then looked at her soon-to-be brother-in-law's expression. "Don't worry, Hank, we'll find him."
Hank nodded. Maybe if he kept hearing it, he might just begin to believe it.
TBC
I hope you enjoyed! Give me your thoughts or critiques.
I have a plan for this story but I haven't exactly got the detail to fill in the gaps. But I'll work doubly hard for you all.
Again, thank you to MEGALEGU for helping me accomplish writing this story! You're my inspiration!