Chapter 4: No One Was There To Lift You Up Into Their Arms
Henry looked down at the lifeless body of his daughter. For the first few seconds he could not do anything. It was as if something had physically frozen his body. Then as he felt feeling begin to return he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the diner. He had to call someone to come and help. If there was any chance of Charlie still being alive, he had to get an ambulance to the diner- and he knew that he did not have much time to make that call. He fumbled the keys as he frantically tried to unlock the side door to Fredbear's Family Diner. Quickly recovering he shoved open the door with all his might and made a mad dash to the phone in William Afton's office, which was closer than his own.
The few seconds of the dial tone after he punched in the numbers 9-1-1 felt like an eternity.
"Answer the damn phone," Henry shouted. Then he heard someone on the other line connect. Without giving the operator any chance or time to ask what the problem was- or even say 'hello'- Henry began to rattle off information.
"There has been a stabbing outside of Fredbear's Family Diner. I need an ambulance here now. It's my daughter," Henry said in a way that he was not sure if the operator got all the information or not. He hoped that the man on the other side of the phone got enough to send someone to help.
"Fredbear's Family Diner? That's the animatronic arcade, right?" the operator asked. Henry did not have any time to answer questions like that one. Didn't the 9-1-1 operator know that! After all, this was an emergency call and not a business one.
"Yes. Send some help now," Henry's vocal tone neared on an order that a military commander would give to a new recruit.
"Okay. I am dispatching police and EMT now. They will be there shortly. Can you stay on the line with me for a little longer," the man who was taking the call, who sounded elderly, asked.
"No, I need to call my wife," Henry said as he felt somewhat calmer knowing that help was going to arrive shortly.
"But, sir, I need…" Henry hung up the phone and then picked it up again. He dialed the number for the landline at his house. There was no answer, so he put the phone back down and then tried again.
"Hello," Henry heard his wife's voice say after a few more attempts.
"You need to get here. It's Charlotte. She's…" Henry would not allow himself to finish the thought.
"Henry, what's wrong? Where are you," the womanly voice asked.
"I am at the diner. Please, hurry and get over here," Henry nearly felt like he was begging. He heard the end tone and he hoped that meant that his wife was on her way.
When Henry went back outside, he was surprised that the rain was slowing down. That was not the only surprise that he found. The security puppet that William and Henry had designed (well, okay, mainly Henry) was gone. He had seen it near Charlie before, right? Where could it have gone to?
It seemed strange to Henry, but he did not have the time to focus on it. He felt a small sense of relief when he saw the police cruiser and ambulance pull into the alleyway where he and Charlie's body were. The officer who got out of the cruiser was a young guy. The first thing that Henry noticed about him was his gray eyes. The eyes seemed to nearly search deep into Henry's soul.
"I am Detective Burke. You can call me Clay," the officer said as he walked towards Henry, "You must be the one who called us in."
'Yeah, good observation, detective,' Henry thought.
"Dispatch said this is your daughter," Detective Burke commented as he pulled a small notebook out of his front pocket, "Can you tell me what happened here?" Henry did not appreciate how forward the seemingly careless detective was being. Meanwhile, Henry noticed that the EMTs were leaning over Charlie's body.
"I don't know. I was closing the restaurant. I tried to find Charlie, my daughter, and couldn't. Then, I came outside and there she was," Henry said trying to avoid babbling like a baby. Recounting the events proved to be more difficult than Henry thought that it would be.
"You work here," Detective Burke asked. Before Henry could get an answer one of the three EMTs called out.
"Burke, you should get over here," the EMT said loudly.
"Stay here," Detective Burke said in a vocal tone that Henry assumed was attempting to be comforting.
Henry tried to listen into what the EMTs and Detective Burke were discussing but they were speaking in hush voices. Henry assumed this was probably not a good sign. Just then a small brown car drove up the diner's parking lot. Mrs. Emily got out of the car and nearly fell faint when she saw the police and ambulance. She ran next to where Charlie was laying.
"Ma'am, please give us some space," Burke said as he tried to put some distance between Mrs. Emily and the body.
"That is my baby. Let me through," Mrs. Emily tried pushing her way through the officer. Henry walked up next to her.
"Detective Burke, uh, Clay. Everything is going to be all right, right? I mean you guys are going to be able to help her, right," Henry asked.
Burke took a deep breath before he gave an answer.
"I am sorry. I never got your names," Burke said as he looked down at the notes he had jotted down.
"Henry. Henry Emily," Henry said, "Tell me that everything will be okay."
"Mr. Emily, I truly wish that I could. We have called in the coroner's office. There is nothing more that we can do. I truly am so sorry," Detective Burke said. Henry could tell that Clay Burke meant that last part. It did not make him feel any better, though. In a moment everything that Henry cared about was ripped away from him. Little did he know then that the agony was just beginning to settle in.