“I wasn't. It's always a tough call for me. Do I see them and still preserve my sanity by not playing the game with them, or do I stay away from them? It's easier not to see them, but sometimes I have to.”
He nodded, feeling drained just from listening to her, when one of the nurses came and told her there was a call for her. It was probably her mother, she assumed, wanting something. She was certainly not going to refer to their encounter in the kitchen. That much Page knew for sure. But it wasn't her mother, it was Brad, and he sounded frantic.
“Page …” He sounded breathless. “It's Andy.”
“Is he hurt?” Terror ran through her again. Everything seemed so dangerous these days, so lethal. It was as though she was constantly waiting for more bad news, or some disaster to befall someone she loved. “What is it?”
“He's gone.”
“What do you mean? Did you look in his room?” That was ridiculous. How could he be gone? He was probably asleep in his bed with Lizzie, and Brad hadn't seen him.
“Of course I looked in his room,” Brad shouted at her. “He's gone. He left a note.”
“What does it say?” Page glanced nervously at Trygve and held a hand out to him. He took it in his own and held it tightly.
“I don't know …it's hard to read …something about how he knows it's all his fault that we're fighting, and we're angry at him, and he wants us to be happy.” Brad sounded like he was crying. “I just called the police. You'd better come home. They said they'd be here in a few minutes. He must have heard us fighting. Oh God, Page, where do you think he is?”
“I have no idea,” she said, feeling helpless and panicky. “Did you look outside? Maybe he's hiding in the garden.”
“I looked everywhere before I called the police. He's nowhere around the house.”
“Does my mother know?” Not that she would be any help, and Brad sounded irritated when he answered.
“Yes. She said he probably went to a friend's house. At ten o'clock at night, at his age, that's not likely.”
“That sounds about right. Let me guess. And she and Alexis went to bed, and my mother told you it would probably all be fine in the morning.”
He laughed in spite of himself. “At least there are never any surprises.”
“Some things never change.”
“Could you please come home?”
“I'll be right there.” She hung up and looked at Trygve. “It's Andy. He ran away … he left a note about not wanting us to fight anymore, he thinks it's all his fault.” Her eyes filled with tears as she said the words, and he held her. “What if something really awful happens? Kids his age get kidnapped every day.” That was all she needed now. She couldn't have stood one more disaster.
“I'm sure the police will find him. Do you want me to come too?” But she shook her head.
“I don't think you should. There's nothing you can do, and it'll only complicate things.” He nodded in agreement and walked her quickly to her car. He kissed her before she left and squeezed her arm gently.
“It's going to be all right, Page. They'll find him.”
“God, I hope so.”
“Me too.” He waved and she drove away. It had been quite an evening.
The police were there when she got home, and they took all the information down, about who his friends were, when he went to school, what he was wearing. They went outside and looked everywhere with flashlights. Page gave them two pictures of him. And not surprisingly, her mother and Alexis never came out of their bedrooms. The secret of their game was never to face, or admit to, anything unpleasant. And they played it well. Despite the commotion in the house, and lights flashing outside, there was no sound whatsoever from their bedrooms.
The police drove around the neighborhood, they left and came back again to see if he'd turned up, and just as they drove away again, the phone rang. It was Trygve.
“He's here,” he said quietly to Page. “Bjorn was hiding him in his bedroom. I explained to him that that wasn't a good thing to do, and he said that Andy said he never wanted to go home again, he was too sad there.” Page's eyes filled with tears as she listened, and she signaled to Brad.
“He's at Trygve's.”
“Why there?” He looked surprised. The girls were friends, but there were no children Andy's age.
“He and Bjorn are friends. He went there because he was too sad here.” Andy's parents exchanged a long sad glance, and Page went back to talking to Trygve. “I'll come and get him now.” She was grateful that they had found him.
Trygve sighed at the end of the phone, he was relieved as well, and slightly embarrassed at what he had to tell her. “He says he doesn't want to come home.”
She looked startled by what he'd said. “Why not?”
“He says his father wishes that he was the one who was gone away and not Allie. He said he heard you two fighting about him tonight and his Dad was really angry.”
“He was angry at me, not Andy. He thought I had told him about Brad's girlfriend, but I hadn't.”