Chapter 3 - Memories (2)

Mike Foster was arrested with Abduction and was also charged with having illegal businesses. The Fosters started to go down hill last year. Mike blamed Malcolm, Even though Malcolm had nothing to do with it.

Due to this hatred, he kidnapped Colm. It was only by luck that April got dragged in. He confessed to his crimes, to get a lower sentence and told them about the whereabouts of April.

Unfortunately, it was one of the big drug traffickers in Asia. It would be a tough job to locate a little girl.

The Smiths did their best to locate April. They owe her too much for saving their son. Even without that reason, they will still help their friends. They would never abandon them in times of needs.

Malcolm was the guiltiest of them four. He felt that it was all his fault for trusting that cruel man. He had never thought that Mike caused the driver's accident, just so he could kidnap the kids.

Another 3 months had passed and still no sign of April. Even the CIA had help locating the little girl. It was made news all over the US, Europe and Asia. They all suspected that April would've been in Asia by now. But where?

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Time went fast and It had been a year since April was kidnapped. The Police gave up their investigation. They thought that she was long dead. The FBI and CIA didn't prioritize her case anymore, after all it had been so long. No little kid can survive such torture. Even though they didn't prioritize her, they still kept a look out on anything about the asian drug traffickers.

Only Malcolm and Ted didn't stop their search. Malcolm almost exhausted all his money for April alone. Ted was appreciative of his buddy's help, but he too was getting tired.

His wife always cried herself to sleep, she lost so much weight. Annie didn't eat well nor slept well. Ted often caught her wife visiting their daughter's room or was daydreaming. At some point, he decided to let Annie go back to her parents. Just to help her get her strength back. Since he was busy with the search, he didn't have enough time to take care of her.

Often, Malcolm and Ted would be out of country. Any tiny news was big news to them. They didn't lost hope unless they found her body.

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One morning, A big drug raid happened in Bangkok. Ted was in the Smith Mansion when Malcolm received a call. Jenny was there as well.

The US Embassy in Hongkong called Malcolm and informed him that they had some news. A big drug raid that happened in Bangkok didn't only contained drugs. There were childrens as well. It was deemed to be one of the hideouts of the child traffickers in Asia.

One of the children that the Bangkok Police Department have in custody, seems to match April Lewis' description. They weren't sure yet about the details, but they recommended them to come over and check it personally.

Malcolm got the phone on speaker when he first heard about the possibility. Ted had to know the specifics himself.

Hearing this slight possibility, He stood up. He wanted to rushed straight away to hongkong. When the phonecall was done, Malcolm called his pilot to prepare his plane right away. Jenny understood what to do instantly and told Ted that she will take care of Annie while he was gone. Annie came back to the Lewis' Mansion after 3 months of staying at her parents house.

Ted didn't wanna bring Annie, her state wasn't all stable yet. Everytime they had a news, she always gets dissappointed.

It was already night when they left the US.

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When they arrived in Bangkok, they were directed to go straight to the hospital. There, the children were diagnosed and treated. Most of them had drugs inside their bodies.

One of the Bangkok Police showed them the room of the girl that they believed looked like April Lewis. At the door, Ted was nervous. If he did find his little girl, what then? What will be the effects on her future? He didn't know that his body started shaking. Malcolm was behind him, he patted his buddy's back to show support. Ted took a deep breath and entered the room.

Rows of hospital bed was inside the room, no more than 6. All were occupied with Children at the age of 6-15. At the very end, lays a young girl with black hair. She was currently awake and was staring at the ceiling.

When Ted saw the girl, he knew right then and there. The search was over. They had finally found his daughter after a year. Ted instantly rushed to her bedside and cried April name. He wanted to hold his daughter, afraid that it was only a dream.

The young girl screamed on top of her lungs. She pushed Ted as he tried to hugged her. Her eyes were red, she cried and cried. She didn't want to be touched. April didn't recognize her father and Ted was devastated. The Hospital staff got alerted and dashed towards their room. They hold April down forcefully and injected her a sleeping drug.

Seeing the poor state of her only daughter, made Ted and Malcolm feel very terrible. Ted clenched his fist so hard, his tears was falling down his face. Even Malcolm couldn't help it, his face was red because of anger and guilt. But he knew that he can't leave his friend, Ted needed the support.

"If only it was me.. If only I can take away her pain..

She must have suffered a lot.. My poor little daughter.."

Ted murmured while watching April drifting off to sleep. The doctor invited the two to speak with them. Since it was already confirmed, the doctor wanted to tell them about her condition.

"She is traumatized. As you can see, she don't even recognized you as her own father. I'm sorry to tell you this Mr. Lewis, but she had been r.a.p.ed, drugged and had a miscarriage. We are now trying to get the drugs out of her system, but she may have withdrawals. We believed that she was on drugs for a very long time. Same as the other kids that they have found. It may take a long time for her to get through this, but she needs your moral support. If you want her to get well, she'll need to undergo a lot of therapies."

This is was the doctor had told Ted and Malcolm. Ted couldn't believed what he had heard. He almost lost it there. How could someone do this to a 11 year old child? How? What was he supposed to tell his wife? That he had found their daughter but was r.a.p.ed, got a miscarriage and now mentally ill? Ted couldn't imagine his wife's reaction. Even his wife wasn't mentally stable because of this crisis.

Malcolm looked at the ceiling and sighed. What have I done? No matter what, he can never be able to fix this. April had sacrificed a lot for his son. They could never repay this debt in this lifetime.