Captured By The Dragon
Episode 51

Patara

I hurried inside the car before Malcom could see I was outside of it. I prayed that he wouldn’t notice the dents Dylan put on his door since it was pitch black outside. In the morning, he might just think someone had hit his car and drove off after he went to bed.

Dylan disappeared into the darkness and I wasn’t sure if he was truly gone, or nearby watching. It still didn’t feel real that he was here—it felt like forever since I felt him touch me.

Malcom hurried across the parking lot to the car and slipped inside. I held my breath and counted the seconds it took him to settle himself and turn to me. It felt like eternity had passed when in reality it was less than ten seconds.

“I think I know what happened to your child—or at least the start of it.” He said. I felt like all the air had been taken from my lungs. Any thoughts of Dylan were gone, all I could focus on was Malcom’s words and what he might say next.

“One of the nurses that was there that night looked guilty when she heard my questions. I saw it all over her face and I managed to get her alone to question her when the doctor refused to talk because she had work to do.” Malcom said. It was so dark in the car, I could only see an outline of him.

“When she was alone, she spilled a lot more than I think she intended to. She mentioned how you as the mother wouldn’t know how to care for the baby and they wanted him to go into a home where he would be properly cared for. She sounded as if she thought they were doing the right thing.”

I gasped. “How could she know if I was or wasn’t a good fit for him?”

Malcom gripped my hand politely. “There’s more. I know how hard it will be for you to hear and I’m not sure it’s right for me to even tell you this—“

“Please, just tell me. I haven’t slept much since this happened and I need to know. Please.”

Malcom looked over at me and hesitated. “The nurse said that they did it because they were told it was what you wanted. They were told that you didn’t know how to ask for it yourself.”

It felt like everything halted around me, the world tilted. “What…?”

“She said that a family member was certain you didn’t want the child. I have to call this in and report the hospital.”

“She said that a family member was certain you didn’t want the child. I have to call this in and report the hospital.”

My hands trembled. “A family member…?”

I knew without him saying anything that it was my mother. Even my father looked upset over hearing that the baby died—

“Why would they tell me that the child died…?”

“They didn’t want you to come looking for him.” Malcom rubbed his eyes. It had to be near 2am but I felt wide awake. “The nurse said she couldn’t handle her guilt any longer especially when I told her that you wanted him.”

“I can’t believe this…” I couldn’t believe that my mother would go to this level to get that baby out of her life. She had me mourn him when she knew he was out there alive. She was perfectly fine with letting me suffer and letting me spend my days crying when she knew that the baby was fine.

“How…how can we get him back? How can I get my baby?” I asked, my hand tightened on his own.

Malcom sighed. “Patara… hospitals do this more commonly than you think. They take children and sell them to traffickers and pretend the baby is dead. This is the first time I’ve had a case at this hospital, but they all follow the same pattern. They make sure that the child will never be found again. It’s near impossible to replace out who they gave the child to because it’s all done secretly.”

“You’re saying that you won’t be able to replace him…?”

“I’m going to try to see if I can replace the trail but Patara… it almost never happens. Once they give the baby up, the trail is cold and gone. They’re probably long gone from this city.”

I almost fainted when he mentioned my child being sold into trafficking. To think that he would go through a life of pure pain and abuse…made me sick to my stomach.

“You found me, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes but—“

“Then you can replace him.” I whispered. Malcom sighed.

“I will do my best, Patara. I promise you that.”

I said nothing as I pulled my hand away. He started the car and drove back to my house. How was I supposed to live there now that I knew what my mother did? How was I supposed to pretend everything was normal when it was so far from ever being okay?

All those years where I was her perfect daughter. All the years I never talked back and never did anything unless she told me to. I was a doll for her to parade around to her friends and show them that she could mold the perfect person.

It felt like a cord inside me had snapped. The cord was already wearing pretty thin and it was only a matter of time before I wanted to see it break. But this made it to the point where I knew it could never be mended.

Just the thought of ever being what she wanted me to be made my b***d run cold.

Malcom pulled up to the front of my house and made sure his headlights were turned off. I went to open the door, but paused.

“Did she mention who in my family had requested this?” I asked.

Malcom hesitated. “I shouldn’t say…

“Please. I just want to know for sure who put their feelings above mine.”

“She said it was your mother. That was why they did it because she said your mother was only trying to make sure you had a normal life. A lot of the doctors thought it was the right thing to do.”

I closed my eyes for a long breath and nodded. “Thank you. Thank you for doing this for me, Malcom. Truly.”

“You’re welcome, Patara. I’m sorry it came out this way. I might lose my job for even telling you this.”

I frowned and he waved his hand. “I’ve never played by the books to get information. Don’t worry about me for a second.”

I leaned over and hugged him before I slipped out of his car. I didn’t care if Dylan saw it. Malcom risked a lot to get me that information and didn’t ask for anything in return. He was a good man and one day he would make another girl very happy.

“Hey, I’ll see you later?” He said before I could close the door.

“Yeah.” I said before I closed it. I slipped through the gate and left it slightly opened before I hurried inside and up to my room.

I could already feel his eyes on me.