Chapter 20
One day later
Taylor
squinted down at her map, making sure she was supposed to turn at the next exit
to get to Coopersville. She was, and so
she did.
After
her conversation with Brent the day before, Taylor had made a decision. She was going to Coopersville to see her
brother. She had left a note for her
parents, who were gone at the time, telling them she had to go somewhere, but
couldn’t tell them where, and that she would call them later. She knew they would be angry, but she didn’t
care. If this was really Brian, they
would be too happy to care. And if it
wasn’t, she would take her punishment, but at least she wouldn’t have gotten
their hopes up by telling them her plan.
Somehow, though, she knew they were going to be happy. Brent was Brian, he had to be.
Minutes
later, Taylor was entering the city of Coopersville. It was not a large city, but certainly was
bigger than Redridge. Still, it was
small enough that finding the hospital didn’t take long.
She
parked in the parking deck of Coopersville General and hurried inside. Stopping at the receptionist’s desk, she
asked, “Could you tell me what room Bri,
I mean, Brent Cooper is in?”
The
receptionist smiled at her, looked it up, and gave her his room number. 314.
Taylor
hurried to the nearest elevator and took it to the third floor. She hurried down the hall, looking at the
room numbers, and finally came to room 314.
The door was closed partway.
Taylor
knocked lightly, and heard a “Come in”.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and entered the
room. It was a private room, with just
one bed, and in it lay Brent.
He
looked much sicklier than when she had first seen him, and the sight of him
alarmed her. But she hid that and
stepped forward so he could see her.
“Taylor!”
he gasped. “What-“
“I
had to come,” she answered. “I had to
come see you.”
He
looked shocked, speechless. And she
didn’t blame him.
“Where
are your parents?” Taylor asked. “I
think we should talk to them.”
Brent
shook his head, his eyes widening. “No,
you can’t do that,” he said.
“Why
not?” she asked.
“They’ll
get angry. They… they’re not the most
mild-tempered people,” he admitted.
Taylor’s
eyes narrowed. He seemed almost
frightened by his parents. “What have
they done to you?” she asked.
He
looked up sharply at her. “What do you
mean?”
“Have
they, you know, abused you or anything?” Taylor wondered aloud.
A
look of panic crossed his face. “I…
well…” She knew the truth already. And more.
“They
do, don’t they? And your brothers and
sisters too?”
He
nodded slowly, refusing to look at her.
“You
know, they don’t put orphans into abusive homes,” Taylor said slowly. “So, maybe they didn’t adopt you legally
after all.”
“What
are you trying to say?” Brent asked.
“I
think there’s something I need to tell you,” Taylor said. “I never knew my brother, Brian. He disappeared the night I was born…” And she began to tell him the story she had
heard from Harry about what had happened that night.
“So,
you’re saying that I could be your brother, Brian, who was kidnapped when I was
five by the people I’ve considered my parents all these years?” Brent asked
incredulously.
“It
makes sense, Brent,” she said. “You
know how you don’t remember anything from the time before you were five, before
you were living with the Coopers? Well,
maybe that “accident” you had wasn’t an accident. Could it be that they made you hit your head
hard enough to cause amnesia? To cause
you to forget your real identity, your real family, your real life?”
Tears
had risen in his eyes now, as he considered that. “I guess they could have,” he said
slowly. Taylor’s eyes widened. She hadn’t really expected him to agree with
her that easily.
“Brent,
I know that’s hard thing to think, and maybe it isn’t really true. Maybe you were kidnapped by someone
else. But I know there is one thing
that’s true. You are my brother.”
He
nodded. “I believe you, Taylor,” he
said, his voice husky with tears.
Taylor
began to cry then and climbed onto the bed, throwing her arms around him. “Brian,” she sobbed.
His
arms came around her, and they held onto each other for a few minutes. Suddenly, the door of the room burst open
wide and heavy footsteps entered.
“What
the hell is goin’ on here?”
Taylor
looked up in alarm to see a man standing there, a tall man, dressed in an old,
stained white T-shirt and ratty old blue jeans with big black boots. Beside him stood a huge woman, who was
nearly as wide as she was tall. She was
dressed in a big turquoise muumuu. Both
of them looked angry.
Taylor
could feel Brent stiffen. “Momma, Dad,
this is Taylor,” he said, his voice small.
“Where
did you come from?” Mr. Cooper asked, glaring at Taylor. Taylor looked at Brent, not sure what to
say.
“There’s
something I have to ask you,” Brent said to his parents. “Where did you get me? I know you’re not my real birth parents. But how did you get me? Was I adopted… or was I kidnapped?”
The
Coopers exchanged glances and turned their eyes on their “son”, rage crossing
their faces. “You have no right to ask
us that!” Mrs. Cooper yelled, her chubby face turning bright red with anger.
Mr.
Cooper said nothing. He stared at them
for a moment, his eyes cold and hard. A
low growl escaped his lips, and suddenly, he lunged for Brent.
Taylor
screamed, leaping out of the way, as the burly man grabbed Brent by the collar
of the hospital gown he was wearing, jerking him up. Taylor backed up, and suddenly noticed the
controller that had slipped off the bed with her. It had buttons on it to control the TV… and
the nurse call button, which was a big red one. Taylor quickly punched the red one. No one noticed her move.
Brent
cried out in pain, as the IV coming out of his arm was stretched taut and then
ripped out. His arm began to bleed, but
Mr. Cooper did not back off. He shook
Brent. “You son of a bitch!” he yelled,
raising his hand as if to strike his son.
“Stop!”
came a voice.
They
all whirled around to see a muscular male nurse standing in the door way. Gently shoving Mrs. Cooper aside, he strode
into the room and grabbed Mr. Cooper by the arm. “Get away from him,” he said lowly, pulling
Mr. Cooper away from Brent. “Get out of
here.”
Mr.
Cooper shook the nurse’s hand off of him, grabbing his wife instead. “Come on, Sue,” he said through gritted
teeth, leading her out of the room.
While
the nurse eased Brent down into bed and put the IV back into his arm, Taylor
said soothingly, “It’s over, Brent. You don’t have to stay with them
anymore. You’re twenty three, an
adult.”
Brent
nodded. “But what about the other
kids?” he asked. “I can’t abandon
them.”
The
nurse eyed them. “Don’t worry kid, I’ll
call the authorities. They’ll make sure
your brothers and sisters get taken out of your home. They’ll be put in nice foster homes until
they’re of age.”
Brent
nodded, and the nurse left the room to go call the police. Taylor smiled slightly at him and said, “I
have a call of my own to make.” Then
she picked up his phone and dialed home.
***
