Alternate Ending-4

After a few words were exchanged and they were gone, Adam made his way further in. He reached the side of my bed and brushed my hair away from my face and planting a kiss on my forehead, just the way Mom had done before. "Mom and Dad said you have answers about Landon?" I cut right to the chase, the curiosity burning at me. He nodded and said, "So, here's the deal: I became a cop about four years ago; went through the academy and everything. I did pretty good in it too, but that's beside the point. Rumor around the station I got assigned to was centered on booking some guy named Dean Landon. Of course, the moment that hit my ears, I demanded to be put on the case. Since I had a little bit of inside information on the guy, they accepted me almost immediately. But, about one year ago, we lost his trail. It went completely cold. I remember I was so furious. The man who killed my wife just fell off the face of the earth." Adam shook his head, his hands gripping the edge of my bed. "Once the picture of you came through my email, we pulled together a team as fast as we could. I strapped myself with a gun and we surrounded a perimeter ten miles out just in case. I went in there prepared." Smiling at me, Adam continued, "That's why I said you could trust me. I was going to get you out of there, Gabrielle. One way or another, I wouldn't let anything happen to you back there. You can trust me." I nodded, understanding. Still, a little remark managed to slip past my lips. "Hard to trust someone you've never met, though ..." Almost immediately, I regretted the words. I didn't mean for them to come out and when I looked at Adam, guilt clawed at me. I couldn't even look him in the eye and I turned my face toward my hands, suddenly very interested in my nail polish. "Gabrielle ... " he started, pulling a chair up to the side of the bed and sitting down, taking one of my hands In both of his. "I am ... so sorry that I wasn't around for you. If I could go back ... " He took a deep breath before continuing, "If I could go back, I would never have taken that money. Yeah, life would have been hard; we would have struggled. But we would have been a family." I looked back at him, nodding my head. "You know, I used to blame you. And I'm still a little mad ... " I smiled before adding, "But I understand. I guess the important thing is you're here now, right? I mean, you're going to see me from now on, right?" I asked, hoping that the answer would be yes. Even though I didn't have my biological father throughout my life, it would still be cool to get to know him. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life not knowing who he is, too. At that point, my chance had finally come for me to get to know more about my father. Smiling, he ruffled my hair, almost like he would have done if I were a child. "I plan on sticking around, Gab. I've got 17 years worth of memories to catch up on," he replied. The smile stuck on my face long after Adam left the room and Mom, Dad and Eddie came back in. I grinned and opened my arms wide as Eddie practically flew onto the bed, throwing his arms around my body and making me wince. I didn't tell him that, though, and waved off my parents attempts to tear him from my arms. It took me forever to calm Eddie down. Apparently, the days during my disappearance, the poor boy turned into a sobbing mess. In a way, it didn't surprise me. Eddie and I have a very healthy relationship and most of the time, I was his best friend. Being the smartest kid in his grade put him in the open season for teasing, so when he had a bad day at school or put together some cool little gadget, instead of telling the kids at school, he turned to me. So when I fell off the face of the planet for a couple days, Eddie took it rather hard. "I promise, kid, I'll be packed up and ready to go tomorrow when you guys come to pick me up, okay? I'm safe now." He nodded furiously and promised that he would pick out a special outfit for me tomorrow and bring it so I could feel awesome once released from the hospital. After hugging all three family members and bidding them goodbye, I settled down into my bed. My parents had brought me a book and my iPod, so when I realized that sleeping may not be an option, I had a back-up plan. I read my book for about twenty minutes before the days events caught up with me and I was hit with a wave of exhaustion. My real dad is a cop, Oliver's identity finally became revealed and the guy who kidnapped me is behind bars, I thought. With a small smile, I yawned and shook my head, setting my book down on the small table and flicking off the light before popping in my earbuds and turning on some soft music. "What a week ... " * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When I woke up the next day, I kept my eyes closed for a little longer than necassary. I just didn't want to face the rest of the world yet. Of course, leaving the hospital would be a dream and I needed ot be awake for that, but at the same time ... It felt nice that I could just block everything out and get lost in my own thoughts; no distractions. But ... I wouldn't mind one distraction. Where the heck was Keegan yesterday? After everything and he didn't even come to see me, which really irritated me. Maybe I wanted a hug or just to talk or just to have someone whose relationship with differed from Shelby or Evan or Shane. So maybe I felt a little bitter. So what? Huffing out, I slowly rolled over onto my back and stretched, wincing at the slight pain. "Oh, what am I gonna do?"