Chapter Sixty Eight
"What do you mean you'll have us out of here in no time? We're tied up." Elenore wanted to know. "An' if daddy catches us doing stuffs we aren't supposed too he'll kills us!"
"Your daddy isn't as smart as he thinks he is," was all Josh said and Elenore could feel him squirming about behind her.
"What are you doing?"
"Anybody who is smart enough knows that in order to successfully tie up a kid," Josh began explaining, as he suddenly squirmed right on out of the rope and onto the floor. "You have to tie up their feet separately. Otherwise, they will just end up squirming right on out." He added, as he walked around in front of her. Elenore looked up at him in shock and he just smirked as he untied her and took her hand. He pulled her up from it and she looked at him skeptically.
"Josh I don'ts know about this…daddy was pretty serious…"
"It'll be okay…he's not here. As long as we're gone before he gets back he won't be able to hurt us."
"An' what do you plan to do? Walk back to Kevy?"
"Just come on," Josh replied, and he kept hold of her hand as he lead her toward the stairs. They walked up them to the door and he opened it up and brought her out of the basement. He went over to the phone and picked it up.
"Do you know his number?"
"No…" Elenore replied. She thought for a couple of minutes. "But I gots Elliot's card!" She added excitedly. She then pulled it from her pocket and he looked at her curiously.
"He gaves it to me an' told me to keep it. He said I could call him if I ever needed him!" Josh grabbed the card from her and looked at the number. He dialed it and then placed it to his ear. The phone rang a couple of times before he picked up.
"Hello? Detective Stabler speaking."
"Hey Elliot? It's Josh…"
"Josh?! Hey buddy how are you doing? Are you and Elenore okay? Where are you??" Detective Stabler spoke eagerly into the phone.
"What?! That's Josh?!" Josh suddenly heard Brian talking in the background.
"Is that Brian there?? Let me talk to him please?" Josh pleaded.
"Hey buddy are you okay?" Josh heard Brian's voice a few seconds later.
"No not really…Elenore and I are here by ourselves. Sean, that lady, and Trevor all left the house and they tied us up downstairs in the basement but I got me and Ellie out."
"We're on our way buddy, just hang in there. We're a few minutes away according to Ashley. Are you hurt? Did they hurt you at all?"
"He beated us up withs the belt a few times…an' he took Ellie's clothes off and hurted her an' he made me watch," Josh explained and he felt the tears beginning to build up in his eyes again.
"Oh god…" Brian spoke softly.
"What?? What's going on are they okay?" Josh heard Kevin's voice in the background suddenly. Brian repeated what Josh had told him to Kevin. Kevin was silent for a couple of minutes before answering. "I want to talk to Ellie." He demanded when he could find his words to speak.
"Well you can wait until we get inside the house, cause we're there." Detective Stabler replied, and Josh could suddenly hear a car pull up and they could see the car lights shining through the window curtains.
"Joshy quick! Hangs up they're back an' we're gonna gets into trouble!" Elenore spoke frantically.
"It's not them, Ellie, it's Detective Stabler!" Josh replied, not even minding anymore that she had called him 'Joshy'.
"ELLIOT?!?!" She shouted, and she suddenly made a mad dash toward the door causing Josh to drop the phone and run a long with her as they were still handcuffed. He is quite used to it by now though. When she had pulled the door open she ran outside just as Kevin was running toward the house, Brian right behind him.
"KEVY!!!!!!!!!!" She shrieked, and she ran toward his open arms.
"ELLIE!" When he got to her, he knelt down and she flew into his arms and flung her arms around his neck hugging him tightly, causing Josh to do the same and she began to sob hysterically. He wrapped his arms around both kids very carefully knowing that they're probably in a lot of pain and Brian dropped to his knees behind them and wrapped his arms around them also. Josh turned around so that he could wrap an arm around Brian and hug him too and he too broke down into sobs as Brian hugged him tight and kissed the top of his head.
"It's okay…shhh….you're safe now…both of you." Brian reassured, as he kept an arm wrapped around Elenore and he hugged both kids.
"They won't be if we don't get them away from here," Detective Stabler replied. Brian and Kevin looked at him to see him, Nick, Ashley, and the rest of the detectives standing there, Ashley wrapped in Nick's arms. It was a challenge getting her to come out of the car, as this house is very terrifying to her. Nick suddenly pulled the key from his pocket and he went and crouched down in front of the two kids who are wrapped in Brian and Kevin's arms.
"Hey guys….look what I found. I searched the entire playroom for this earlier."
"Wow, that's great Nick! I bet you two are excited to be free of each other," Kevin replied and he held their cuffed hands out to Nick. Nick un-handcuffed them allowing their hands to drop to their sides and all of the adults fully expected them to quickly scramble away from each other as quickly as possible but were surprised when Josh reached for Elenore's hand and held onto it tightly.
"Kevy I wants to go home," Elenore announced grumpily.
"We're going," Kevin replied gently and he scooped her up into his arms as he stood and Brian did the same with Josh, though they didn't let go of each other's hands. Brian and Kevin walked side by side toward Detective Munch's car, following Ashley and Nick When they all squeezed into that one car and drove back to the Orphanage while Detectives Stabler and Benson stayed behind to wait on Sean to come back. When they got to the Orphanage they walked in the lobby and Kevin spoke.
"Okay, well I'm gonna go give Ellie a bath," he announced. He started to walk away from Brian but Elenore only held on tighter to Josh's hand, causing him to have to go back.
"Joshy comes with!"
"Honey Josh can't come with you to have a bath."
"I AM NOTS GONNA LEAVE JOSHY!!!!!!!!"
"Honey.…please. Don't do this."
"I am not gonna leave Ellie either!" Josh insisted, though in a more protective tone. "I goes where Ellie goes." Kevin sighed and then looked to his cousin not knowing what to do. He doesn't believe that they're even having this argument. Just this afternoon they would've been happy to be separated from each other.
"You two should take them up to the hospital wing anyway to have them checked." Detective Tutuola suddenly spoke up.
"He's right Kev…" Brian replied. "Lets go have them checked out first."
"Kay," Kevin replied softly and he and Brian carried the two children off to the hospital wing. They spent the next couple of hours having the two checked out. It took a couple of hours because both Josh and Elenore threw tantrums when they had to go into separate rooms and be checked by two different doctors. Josh got Doctor Johnson, and Elenore had the same doctor who checked Dakota the other night. When they had finally finished they took them back to Kevin's room where they would be giving them both a bath. They're both kids and kids take baths together all the time. As soon as they had finished giving them a bath, Kevin helped Elenore get dressed and Brian went to Josh's room and got his clothes and he brought them back into Kevin's room and handed them to Josh so he could get himself dressed.
"Where is Chance? I want him." Josh announced, when he saw Elenore sit down on the floor and scoop Lil Rok into her arms and cuddle him close giving him kisses.
"Kota has him downstairs in the playroom a long with Lily and Abbie. We'll go down and see him if you want to."
"Ellie comes with," Josh insisted. Brian nodded.
"Yes, Ellie will come with us. That is if Kevin wants her to."
"Yeah sure…I bet she's dying to see Kota…why don't you take her for me?" Kevin asked, a far away look in his eyes that Brian suddenly noticed.
"Everything okay Cuz?"
"Yeah…fine. I just want to clean a little bit up here. Will you tell D to come up please?"
"Sure…" Brian replied, suddenly becoming concerned for his cousin and he scooped Josh and Elenore up into his arms and took them out of the room and down to the playroom. When they got down there they walked inside and everybody looked at them.
"ELLIE!!!!!!!" Dakota shrieked.
"KOTA!!!!!!!!" Brian set the anxious five year old's feet onto the ground and she took off running toward Dakota who was running to her, both girl's arms are wide open. When they reached each other, Elenore flew into her arms and hugged her tightly and Dakota returned her hug.
"I missed you so much Ellie, I was so worried!"
"I missed you more," Elenore insisted playfully, and she smiled at Dakota. Dakota giggled.
"Nuh uh"
"Yes huh."
"Nuh uuuh"
"Yes huh"
"Why don't you two just admit that you missed each other just the same?" Josh asked, coming up beside them.
"JOSHY!!!" Dakota exclaimed, and she let go of Elenore and threw her arms around him instead, hugging him very tightly. Josh was very taken aback at first, though he gladly accepted her hug and he narrowed his eyes at Elenore who he noticed was trying her very hardest to stifle her giggles.
"We aren't the only ones who need to admit some things…." she replied. Dakota pulled back from Josh slightly and looked at Elenore confused.
"What are you taking bouts' Ellie?" Elenore opened her mouth to answer when Josh suddenly cut her off.
"Nothing! She's talking about nothing." Dakota eyed the two for a moment, then she let go and ran off to fetch Lily who she heard whining. Josh looked at Elenore with a scowl and Elenore just smiled sweetly at him.
"I like you finally…do you really want to start an argument and ruin it?"
"Oh lighten up Joshy…I was just teasing you. We may gets a long but it doesn't mean I can'ts tease you - it's what I do." Josh rolled his eyes, but then took her hand and he brought her over to Dakota, Spencer, and Josh. Elenore spotted Spencer and she threw her arms around him for a hug next and she hugged him tightly.
~*~*~*~*~
"So those two are really getting a long now, huh?" Riley asked, watching Josh and Elenore with amusement. She had heard the whole story from Nick and Ashley when they had come back into the playroom earlier.
"It seems like it….they've been inseparable even when we un-handcuffed them," Brian replied. "Howie, Kevin wanted me to ask you to go upstairs to his and Ellie's room. I think something is wrong with him…he wants to talk to you." Howie raised his eyebrow.
"Okay…" he replied, suddenly becoming concerned and he left the playroom to go talk to Kevin. Brian turned and looked at Riley. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him and he brushed his lips softly against hers, before resting his forehead against hers and gazing into her eyes.
"I'm sorry I've been so snappy today…"
"Its okay baby, you had a reason for it. I know you love Josh very much." Brian nodded.
"I do…" He thought for a couple of minutes.
"Do you know where Brooke is? I want to talk to her."
"In her office taking care of a few things."
"Kay," Brian replied. "Keep an eye on the kids for me will you?"
"Yup," Riley replied, nodding her head and he turned and walked out of the playroom to go to Brooke's office. When he got there he knocked on her door, before peeking in. She looked up at him and smiled a little.
"Hey Bri…I hear you got Josh back. Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, sort of…but I want to talk to you," Brian replied, and he walked into her office and shut her door. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah sure, what's on your mind?" Brooke asked concerned. Brian was silent for a couple of minutes before answering and Brooke can tell he is thinking things over in his mind real hard - whatever those things are and this caused her to set her pen down, sit back in her chair, and look at him patiently.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile upstairs, when Howie had walked into Kevin and Elenore's room he spotted Kevin going around and tidying up Elenore's toys and stuff and he noticed that Kevin's eyes are a little puffy. He knows he's been crying all day since Elenore had gone missing but he can't help but notice some fresh tears rolling down the older man's cheeks and this made him even more concerned. He should be happy. He should be grateful that he has Elenore back. He should be downstairs holding her in his arms and socializing with everybody else. But instead he is hiding away in his room looking as if he could break down at any given moment. He doesn't look like the Kevin he used to know. The Kevin who had himself put together very well. The Kevin everybody else looked up to and went to when they needed putting back together again - kinda like the old fairy tale, Humpty Dumpty except this time, Kevin is the Humpty Dumpty.
"What's wrong Kev? Brian said you need me?" Howie asked gently. Kevin looked at Howie and then back at the Raphael doll in his hand, and he went to go put it in the toy box he had bought specially for Elenore.
"Yeah…I wanted to tell you that I've changed my mind."
"Changed your mind about what?"
"About adopting Ellie..." Howie stood there in shock for a few minutes, trying to grasp what his best friend is saying. Maybe he had heard him wrong. He had to of. He can't not adopt Elenore! She needs him and he needs her.
"Kev….you can't be serious."
"Oh yes I can. Ask the fans, they'll tell you I am mighty good at that." Kevin replied, shrugging his shoulders and he went about cleaning up the rest of Elenore's toys. Howie went over and gently took hold of the older man's arm and he brought him over to the bed and sat him down, before sitting next to him.
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
"I've never been anymore serious, D. I've changed my mind. I'm not adopting Ellie…"
"Do you mind explaining to me what made you decide this? I know its just because you're upset - it's after effects of the fear you've had all day long of losing her. You love that little girl with every ounce of your heart. So I know you don't mean it."
"She deserves better D…" Kevin explained, tears rolling down his cheek.
"That is not true! There isn't anyone in this world who loves her the way you do. You were meant to have her and you know it!"
"Why should I adopt her D? Why should I adopt her when I can't even protect her?"
"Is that what this is all about? You're still blaming yourself over the kidnapping?" Kevin shrugged his shoulders.
"Well it was my fault wasn't it? Like Brian had said? It was my turn to be watching them. I promised to protect her Howie! She deemed me her protector long before she even knew me! Well some protector I turned out to be huh? She was kidnapped right under my nose and I didn't even know it!"
"It wasn't entirely your fault Kevin! We were all at fault in the situation! We all should've been watching them better."
"Well we can't afford to make anymore mistakes like that. She needs someone who really will protect her no matter what. And obviously, that's not me."
"So what are you planning to do? Just up and leave her? Just like that? Do you have any idea how heartbroken she will be?"
"She'll get over it…she'll find someone so much better real soon and they will love her so much she will forget all about me."
"You're obviously very delirious if that's what you think." Howie replied, slowly becoming impatient with him. "You of all people know that you're the only person she wants. You're her Kevy. The one person she clings to, the one person she needs the most - her everything. If you leave her you might as well rip her heart out of her chest right now."
"She'll find someone else to cling to…I've made up my mind, D." Kevin replied, and with that he got up and picked up several packed bags that Howie didn't see before.
"Kevin stop…really think about what you're doing before you make the biggest mistake ever!"
"There's nothing more to think about. I've already done a great amount of thinking."
"Obviously not enough!" Howie replied angrily. Kevin ignored him and he walked out of the room.
"Shit…" Howie mumbled, and he pulled out his cell phone and immediately dialed Nick's number.
"Hello?" Nick asked when he picked up the phone.
"Nick get out into the lobby QUICK! Kevin is about to make the stupidest mistake ever!"
"What? What are you talking about D?"
"He's not in his right mind at all Nick. He's going to leave Ellie! He's on his way down there with packed bags now. Get everybody out in the lobby now and DON'T let him leave! It's time for a Backstreet intervention." Howie explained, and with that he hung up his phone and hurried up after Kevin.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
