Familiar tragedy

6.Be Careful.

"Hello Mary-Lynne, it's Lainey, how are you ?"

"Lainey, it's so nice to hear from you, we are doing great. How are you?"

"I'm good. I had just come from the hospital, the man woke up. He doesn't know who he is or where he is from. The doctor said he has memory loss due to traumatic brain injury. He might get his memories back within a few days, maybe weeks, or he'll never get them back."

"Oh heavens, that poor man, he must be so confused and overwhelmed. What can we do to help ?"

"The doctor said he'll need a few therapy sessions and someone to take care of him until he recovers. I am going to call a few people and arrange for some stay-in care takers."

"Lainey dear, please let us take him in. We have more than enough room , i can take care of him and do my daily chores. I think the farm and some horse therapy would do him good."

"Mary-Ka..."

"Please let us do this. It's the least we can do to help him until he is back on his feet."

"Fine, but I'll get a stay-in nurse to help him. You can't take care of him while you're training the new workers."

"That sounds fair enough. When will he be discharged? I just need to know in advance i want to get his room ready?"

"I'm not sure the doctor wants to keep him there a few more days for observation. You should come see him before then. I think it'll put him at ease to meet you before he goes home with you."

"We'll be there , thank you for letting us do this. Bye for now."

After i spoke to Mary-Kate, I headed to the café. I told the doctor about the strange men hanging around. He seemed uneasy when i first mentioned it. He told me that strange men had been coming around about two days after the stranger had been admitted.

This made the situation a lot more complicated. If we moved him to the farm, we could have the risk of them following us. We don't know what they are capable of. We need to find a way to get the stranger to the farm undetected.

I left Marcell a message and asked him to meet me at my office to discuss the matter at hand. He wasn't very fond of the idea, but he agreed to help me. We decided to set up a decoy. We're going to bandage Marchell's face and head to make him unrecognizable. Marcell will be placed in an ambulance which will take him back to his hometown. Meanwhile, we'll take the stranger up to the roof and fly him to the open field a few miles from the farm where the Harding's will be waiting with the truck. Let's hope these men take the bait. Or just follow the ambulance long enough for us to get the stranger to the farm. We have to give this man a name. We can't keep referring to him as The Stranger. He kind of looks like a Liam or a Noah. You know what, we'll let him choose a name, he'll be the one who has to live with it until he remembers his real name.

I had just finished looking through the student's request when I realized it was already past midnight. With everything that's been going on with the stranger, I forgot about my annual sponsorship for the less fortunate students. Each year i pay the college a sum of money to enroll a few students who want to build a career for themselves, but can't afford tuition. Once the students have finished their studies, I meet with each student to find out what they want to do moving forward. I then offer them the chance to start their careers, which I will then help with. I've had quite a few students, some who chose to keep studying and others who made their dreams a reality, from owning their own bakery to expanding companies across the globe. I want to give back to the community and help others. It gives my life purpose. One student in particular caught my attention. Out of all the things he could have done, he decided to open a non-profit organization called Haven's Angels, a place where he'd teach kids from the street, those less fortunate when it comes to education. Some lost their families to gang violence, others abandon them. There are so many things that lead to children living on the street. He wants to give them a place to live and a place that will help them become who they were always meant to be. Haven's Angels will have a rehab center for the kids that have turned to street dr*gs as a way of surviving. I loved the idea. He has good intentions, and he wants to do good. I tried to reach out to him to tell him that I wanted to build this place for him and that I would be funding it, but I haven't heard from him. The place he stayed at informed me they hadn't heard from him in two weeks, which was unusual for him because he always followed rules, and he always kept in touch. They put out a missing person alert but still haven't heard anything. The last known location was the Williams Whinery. It was on the way to the Harding's farm. I'll head there in the morning.

I headed home. When I got home, I went straight to bed. Anna didn't wait up because I told her I'd order something to eat.

I got into bed and tossed around for what seemed like hours, when I finally fell asleep I had a similar dream to the one I had a few nights ago. Heartly came running up the hill and right behind him a herd of horses, and again a man with no face was leading them, he came to a stop right next to me and whispered .

"Be careful."

As he said those words i was woken up by a loud thud. I got up to see where it came from when the large window in my room shattered. I covered my face with my arms, the glass went flying all over the place. The piece somehow ended up in my pajamas. I turned around to call Anna. I needed to know if she was alright. As I turned to the door, I noticed a hole in the wall. Is that....a ... What the f**k ?

I ran out the door just as I heard a gun go off. My heart sank to my stomach and flashes of the bridge came into my head. Now was not the time to get sucked into the past. I needed to get myself to safety and away from the windows. I dropped to the ground so that whoever was shooting at me wouldn't see me. Mom, you had great taste, but what went through your mind when you decided to build almost half of the house with glass?

I crawled my way to the kitchen, which was the only room in the house without windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling.

When I got to the kitchen, I pushed the panic button and set off an alarm so loud you could hear it from the hospital. Within minutes, the police arrived. Not fast enough though, the shooter was long gone when the police showed up.