Chapter 2: Lost and Found

Ethan groaned, head aching and mouth fuzzy from sleep and tasting like something had died in it. He slowly pulled himself from his cocoon of blankets and sheets, wavering unsteadily on his feet for a moment before his balance came back to him. Scratching at his chest, he dragged his aching body across the hall and through the laundry area to the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror for a minute with bleary, blood-shot silver eyes, rubbing a hand over his cheeks to see if he needed a shave, and running fingers through his short nest of ebony black hair, before leaving the bathroom.

Walking into his kitchen, wearing only a pair of deep blue sweats and a sleepy expression, he tries to make coffee for himself, still not fully awake. It took him a full fifteen minutes to realize that one: no the dishwasher was not the coffee machine and two: it was quiet, too quiet for a Saturday morning when his assistant was supposed to be off. After only a few moments of thought, and two more tries at making a pot of coffee, he remembered that they had released their last overnight patient the day before, and had not had any more admitted before closing up. Pouring himself a cup of the coffee he sips at it, enjoying the bitter taste of it as the hot liquid as it slides down his throat. After drinking half the cup as he retrieves the morning paper from the mail elevator he had installed he sets it down on the counter, feeling more awake, and walks to the fridge to pull out the ingredients for an omelet.

Ethan methodically diced strips of red, green, yellow, and orange sweet pepper, and sweet onion, tossing them into the hot sauté pan and swishing them in the butter with the spatula before adding sliced fresh button mushrooms. As the mixture in the pan cooked, filling his small but well-arranged kitchen with their aroma he adds some ground sausage to the pan. Once again he stirred the mixture of softening the vegetables, cooking the sausage through, and allowing the flavors to intermingle. Seasoning the vegetables lightly with some salt and a pinch of red-pepper flakes he transferred the mixture to a small bowl and set it aside on the dark gray counter. Setting his omelet pan on the burner he dropped a chunk of butter into it with a heavy sigh.

Cracking three eggs he whisks them together with some heavy cream and pours them into the bubbling hot butter that had melted. Nodding to himself after a moment he picked up the omelet pan and shook the eggs loose, flipping them expertly and sprinkles a layer of sharp cheddar cheese atop the lightly browned mass. Spooning the sausage and vegetables he had sautéed earlier on top of the cheese, flipped the other half of the eggs over them, and slid the whole thing off onto the warmed plate he had waiting before turning off the stove and topping it with some salsa, sour cream, and chopped green onion. Taking a bite of the hot food he moans appreciatively and carries his plate to the living room to eat while listening to the news and browsing through the paper.

Without the need to check on any overnight patients Ethan took his time wandering around the apartment he lived in over his clinic, cleaning and doing chores that had been left undone over the past week or so. By midafternoon he had finished most of his chores and was ready to sit down with something hot to drink and relax the rest of the day; that is until he realized he had practically no food left in the house and would have to go grocery shopping if he wanted any dinner that night. Grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys pulled on his jacket with a sigh and locks the door behind him. The weather outside was nice enough, a bit chilly and wet, but the freezing rain was not coming down too hard yet and he thought about walking the short distance to the nearby store. After a couple moments of consideration, he decided that even though the weather was not that bad yet he ought to take the car instead, in case the weather got worse while he was out.

His beat up old car had sat parked in the small staff parking area behind the clinic for the past week and was now covered in a sheet of ice close to an inch thick, from the freezing rain and snow they’d had over the past couple days. It took him a while to clear off the driver’s side door so he could open it and start the car to warm up; meanwhile he cleaned the ice off the rest of the windows so he could drive safely. He really didn’t have much to pick up at the store, living alone was nice like that, he never had to buy much when he went to the store, and what he did buy almost always lasted until his next day off, provided he didn’t have any surprise guests. This week was no different; he had no plans for anything out of his normal routine, so he only had to get the essentials. There were also a few things he had gotten in bulk that he had finally run out of, as well as a few he had decided he could go ahead and get, despite not needing them. He knew there were a couple of good specials on some of his favorite treat this week as well, and made a note on his mental list to make sure he picked those up while he was there too. It should have been an ordinary trip to the store; the traffic was light for a Saturday and he had little trouble getting to the store, what happened when he got there though, was not what he had expected.

Despite the lack of traffic on the streets, the store parking lot was full and Evan had to park next door and walk. The rain had started to fall a little heavier while he was driving and he was certainly glad he had decided not to walk all the way from the clinic. As he walked from his car to the store the sound of soft whimpering and coughing caught his attention, concern for whatever or whoever was making the noise causing him to stop and investigate. Stepping into the dim ally it took Ethan a moment to find the source of the pitiful sounds; it was a young boy curled up in a makeshift shelter, his clothes thin and faded. Kneeling down he placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder gently, his voice soft as he spoke to him.

“Are you alright, this isn’t the best place to be sleeping, especially in this weather.” When he did not receive any response, he rolled the boy onto his back carefully. It was not until he pulled away the old, worn blanket to check on the boy’s pulse that he saw the boy had a tail and ears, and realized that he was a neko. Pushing aside his lack of experience with anything other than normal animals Ethan checked the boy’s pulse, his hands cool against the boy’s feverish skin. Worried by how high the boy’s temperature felt Ethan pulled him carefully from the makeshift shelter and picked him up to carry him to his car. It did not matter that the boy was a black cat neko, there was no way Ethan was going to leave a kid out on the cold streets, especially near winter when he was sick.

As he carried the boy to the car noticed that not only was he clutching a ragged, old, stuffed toy as though it were a lifeline, he had also woken up for a moment. Speaking gently Ethan tried to comfort the young boy as he carefully settled him into the front passenger’s seat of his old car.

“It’s ok, you’re alright; everything is going to be just fine. You seem like you’re pretty sick, so I’m going to take you to the hospital and get you some help now.” Pulling a thick, warm blanket from the plastic bin on the floor under the seats, he covers the boy up and buckles him in before carefully closing the door and walking around to get behind the wheel. As he started the car Ethan reached over to turn the heat in the car up; the boy was shivering, which meant that, despite how hot his skin felt when he had been examining him, he was cold. Ethan had to get the boy to the hospital, it was about a twenty-minute drive from where they were, and he really hoped nothing delayed them. The coughing and fever were bad enough, but from what he could tell it looked like the boy also might have frostbite on his hands, and with how cold and wet it had been lately that meant he probably had it on his feet as well.

Pulling out his cell phone Ethan dialed the number of a nurse he knew who would be on duty, hoping he could get her to meet him at the entrance so they would not have to waste too much time once they got there.

“Rose? It is Ethan. Look, I found this kid on the streets and he does not look like he is in the best of shape. I am bringing him in; can you meet me at the hospital entrance and take him? I don’t want to waste time parking before bringing him inside when I get there.”

“Of course I can Ethan, don’t worry about it, just bring him on in. I’ll have a bed in the ER waiting and meet you at the entrance with a chair, just don’t get in any trouble trying to rush him over.” The gentle voice on the other end of the line was reassuring, and Ethan felt better just from hearing it, knowing he could count on her help.

“Thanks Rose, we should be there in about twenty minutes.” Hanging up the phone he checks to make sure the boy was still all right before backing out of his space, then pulls out onto the road and heads for the Hospital. Keeping his eyes locked on the road ahead Ethan drove as close to the speed limit as was safe, the roads becoming more icy as the weather worsened. Glancing over at the boy while stopped at a red light Ethan studies him, his hand seemingly moving on its own to brush aside the boy’s bangs and check his temperature again. The boy seemed to be growing restless, even in his unconscious state, and it seemed as though he were having a nightmare. Talking to him softly in an attempt to comfort the unconscious boy Ethan tucks the edges of the blanket around him more and turns the heat up some.

By the time Ethan had pulled up in front of the ER and helped Rose get the boy from the car and into the wheel chair he had started to whimper again, continuing to cling desperately to the stuffed toy. It was nearly heat breaking as he watched the toy being taken from the boy’s hands and tossed back into the car by the male nurse who had come out to help Rose. Parking the car Ethan grabbed the toy and stuffed it in his coat pocket to give back to the boy later, in the meantime he could already tell it was going to be a long evening, and probably an even longer night.