Chapter 22

 

Brian was growing drowsy from the medication he had been given by the time they got to see him in the holding area, but he was glad to see them.   He glanced at each other their faces, first at Taylor, his younger sister, who actually looked quite a bit like him, although he had never really noticed it before.    Then at his mother, Jackie, who also had striking resemblance to him.   He knew he had inherited most of his features from her.   At his father, Harold, who was so different from the father he had known before, the raging Jack Cooper.   And finally, his eyes met with his brother, Harry’s.  

 

“Hey, bro,” said Harry, his voice catching in his throat.   He was the only one who had not seen Brian, not spoken to him in over eighteen years.  

 

“Harry,” Brian whispered, smiling up at his brother.   Truthfully, the face was not familiar to him.   He wished he could remember his brother and parents from the time before he had been abducted, but he could not.   He hoped that one day, the memories would come back to him.   But for now, he just had to keep telling himself that these people were his real family, people that really cared about him, and although he didn’t remember them, he loved them with all his heart.

 

“Mr. Littrell?”

 

Brian looked up to see a young, pretty nurse standing at the foot of his bed.  

 

“It’s time to go, Mr. Littrell.   Are you ready?” she asked

 

Brian wanted to cry.   He wasn’t ready; he didn’t want to go.   But he knew he had to, for himself, and for his family.   He gave a slight nod, signaling to the nurse that he was ready.

 

“Okay,” the nurse said, giving him a confident smile.   She turned to his family and said, “There’s a waiting room just across the hall.   You can wait there during the surgery, and Dr. Lawson will be out to talk to you later.”

 

They nodded, and before leaving, each stepped up and hugged him lightly.   Taylor gently kissed his cheek.   And Jackie whispered, “I love you, Babyduck.”

 

Babyduck.   He knew he had never been called that by any of the Coopers, but it sounded familiar.   Had she always called him this nickname?   If so, was he remembering things that happened in his childhood, before his kidnapping?  

 

Thoughts muddled brain, which was groggy from the medication.  He closed his eyes briefly, trying to clear his head.   When he opened his eyes again, his family had disappeared, and the nurse, along with several other attendants, had surrounded his bed and prepared to wheel him to the operating room.  

 

“Here we go,” the nurse said, as they moved the gurney he lay on.   Exhausted, Brian closed his eyes and descended into darkness.

 

***

 

The next thing Brian was aware of was a steady beeping sound.   It rang constantly through his ears, ceasing to stop, forcing him to open his eyes.

 

When he did so, he found himself once again surrounded by his family.   His parents were there, along with Harry and Taylor.   He looked around quickly and found that he was in a different room than before.   Recovery, he realized.   The surgery’s all done.  And I’m alive.

 

“He’s awake,” Brian heard Taylor whisper.

 

“Brian,” Harold said, smiling down at his son.   “It’s all over.  Dr. Lawson said everything went fine.  You’re gonna be okay.”

 

Brian nodded slightly.   He wanted to stay awake longer, but he was exhausted.   His eyelids felt heavy, and he felt too weak to keep them open.   Letting his fatigue take over, he once again fell into the blackness of sleep.

 

***

 

Two days later

 

It was surprising how good a person could feel just two days after major surgery, but Brian did indeed feel good.   He was tired and weak still, but surprisingly, he felt better now than he had before the surgery.   Before then, he had had chest pains and shortness of breath often, which had been caused by the his enlarged heart.   Now that that had been fixed, Brian felt much healthier, more energized.

 

Dr. Lawson had told him he could go home the next day.   Not home as in back to the run-down house in Redridge, but home as in Lexington, Kentucky, where his real family lived.    They had already talked about their plan.   Brian was going to live with his parents and Taylor for at least two months, while he recuperated from the surgery.   His plans from there were up to him. 

 

Brian knew eventually he would want a place of his own.   The thought of getting out in the world, of being on his own and meeting people beyond the citizens of Redridge and occasional tourists that got lost and ended up there, excited him.   For as long as he could remember, he had been trapped in Redridge, in that house, isolated from the rest of the world.   But he was free from that prison now, safe in the knowledge that he had a loving family there for him.  

 

For Jackie, what had happened that week had been nothing short of a miracle.   She had gone all those years, believing that her second born son was dead, believing that she wouldn’t get to see him until she died herself and got to Heaven.   But she had been wrong.    And because of a strange twist of fate – a wrong turn and a rainstorm – her daughter had found him again. 

 

It seemed unbelievable, but it had happened.   She once again had a complete family, with two grown sons, and one almost grown daughter.   She had missed out on Brian’s childhood, but he was only twenty three and had many years left in his life.   And she wished to spend them all with him.   She wished to make up for those years of separation. 

 

Things seemed perfect now.  The pieces of the family had been put back together.   But there was one puzzle that still remained to be solved.   What had actually happened to Brian that day? 

 

They might never know.

 

 

The End

 

 

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