Chapter 2 - The Man Everyone Walked Away From
“Someone inside your house knows me.”
Those words repeated inside Annie’s head.
Again.
And again.
She stared at the man lying in front of her.
“How do you know my grandmother?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
His eyes closed.
His breathing became weaker.
“Sir?”
Annie gently touched his shoulder.
“Wake up.”
Nothing.
Fear finally started to enter her chest.
She was seven years old.
She was alone.
And the man she was trying to save looked like he was disappearing right in front of her.
She grabbed her old flip phone.
Her fingers shook.
She dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a man here,” Annie said quickly.
“He fell down. He can’t breathe.”
“Where are you?”
“Chicago Union Station.”
“Are you with an adult?”
Annie looked around.
The empty station.
The people who walked away.
The strangers who saw and ignored.
“No.”
The operator paused.
“You’re alone?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
Annie swallowed.
“Seven.”
There was a silence.
Then the operator’s voice changed.
“Stay with me, okay?”
Annie nodded even though nobody could see.
“I’m staying.”
Because that was what her grandmother taught her.
Stay.
Footsteps approached.
A man in a gray suit stopped.
Finally.
Someone.
“Please,” Annie said.
“Can you help me? He needs help.”
The man looked down at Daniel.
Then his expression changed.
“Do you know who that is?”
Annie shook her head.
“No. But he’s sick.”
The man stepped back.
“You need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because that man is dangerous.”
Annie looked at Daniel.
The man on the floor didn’t look dangerous.
He looked scared.
He looked human.
“He needs help,” Annie repeated.
The man looked around.
Lowered his voice.
“Listen, kid. Some people are dangerous even when they’re lying down.”
Then he walked away.
Annie felt something break inside her.
Not fear.
Disappointment.
“How can people just leave?” she whispered.
A few minutes later, paramedics finally arrived.
The station suddenly became alive.
People running.
Medical bags opening.
Questions being shouted.
“What happened?”
“Who found him?”
The paramedic looked around.
Then at Annie.
“You did?”
Annie nodded.
The paramedic looked surprised.
“You stayed with him the whole time?”
“Yes.”
The paramedic looked at Daniel’s face.
Then back at Annie.
“Kid…”
He lowered his voice.
“Do you know who you just saved?”
Annie shook her head.
“No.”
The paramedic looked toward the police officers arriving behind him.
“Her name is Annie Calehan.”
A police officer froze.
“Calehan?”
The paramedic nodded.
The officer looked at Daniel.
Then at Annie.
“That can’t be possible.”
Annie frowned.
“What?”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone suddenly realized something.
Daniel Moretti had not randomly collapsed at Union Station.
He had been attacked.
And the little girl who saved him…
was connected to the one family Daniel had spent twenty years trying to find.
May you like
TO BE CONTINUED...
---
