Project 36218 Part 2

“They are in your office waiting for you. Listen, I know you’re wondering why I called you in on your day off for this, but this one really has us stumped. The island where he was found is nicknames Isla Acallar. It means Island of Silence. I have no clue how he got these injuries. They certainly don’t look like a regular fire gone badly, but there is nothing on that island to do this. In fact, no one goes there at all. We’re not even sure how he got there. Some of the locals say it’s cursed. Now, I know we’re medical professionals, but I saw the way some of the local doctors looked at him when we found out where he was rescues from. I need someone objective to help with this. We can’t help him unless we know what happened. We’re treating them as regular burns, but there’s something weird going on. I want to get to the bottom of it, and find his family while we’re at it.”
“I understand. Anything I can do to help this poor boy, I’m willing.” Her heart broke to see him lying there alone. Someone had to be missing him.
“If you’re ready, the family that found him is waiting for you.”
“Yeah, of course.” Beth wiped an unnoticed tear from the corner of her eye and made her way out of the now crowded exam room. The officers were still by the door, but were looking decidedly less interested. No one seemed to be coming after the boy, for better or worse.
She tucked her windblown chestnut hair into a light bun, hoping to look professional for family and less like she had tried to spend the morning cruising around the bay. Although they didn’t know the boy, they were sure to be upset about it.
The family was waiting in her office as Dr. Sharp had promised. She watched them for a moment as they surveyed the diplomas on her wall, the collection of delicate shells she had collected when she first got here, and all the photos she shot while sightseeing her first year in Costa Rica. Most people wondered about the lack of personal or family things, but she just didn’t have that many sentimental attachments. She felt calmer if her office reflected her new life, not the ghosts from her past.
“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting. You must be the Holland family. My name’s Dr. Sommers, and I’ll be treating the boy that you rescued.”
The woman looked at me with scared eyes. She was young, with blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. From the looks of her and her family, things like this didn’t happen every day. They looked like they were fresh from the country club, except for the obvious looks of worry and dismay on their faces and the dirt smudging their fashionable clothes.
“Is he going to be okay? I mean, I know he looks bad, but you can help him, right?” Beth had to give her credit. For someone who looked like she cared more about the latest gossip about who the pool boy was screwing that her own mother, she seemed genuinely concerned.
“We’re doing everything we can for him. You’re right, it does look bad, but we hope we can figure out what happened and keep him stable. I know you’ve been through a lot today, but is there anything you can tell me? Anything at all would be helpful at this point.”
“We almost didn’t see him,” Mr. Holland said. “We were circling around the islands looking for a good fishing spot. The charter guy said no one ever goes to close to that Isla Acallar, so we figured it would be a good place to start. We hadn’t even put our poles in when we saw him.” He didn’t look at all like a guy who would be out fishing. He looked more than an accountant whose wife dragged him on an exotic vacation to impress her friends at the next ladies poker night.
The wife spoke up again. “We just saw something piled up on the beach. I thought it was driftwood or something until Julie saw him move.” The teenage girl, who much is Julie, shuddered at the thought. Beth was sure it was tough going through something like that.
“We had the guide pull the boat closer to see, and that’s when we realized it was just a kid. The guide didn’t have anywhere to dock the boat, so he jumped overboard and swam to shore. He dragged him back to the boat on a life preserver. Look, we already told all of this to the police, so I’m really not sure how going over the details again is going to help. We would really just like to be on our way.” Finally, Beth thought. The caring side of her was too good to be true.
“I know this is an inconvenience,” Beth replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “But there could be details that weren’t important to the investigating that might have more significance to a doctor. Was he conscious at all when he was in the boat?” The woman had just enough decency to blush slightly.
“Not really. He tried to roll around, but we help him down with blankets. We didn’t want him to hurt himself. He was mumbling for a few minutes, something about being gone so long. That he never thought he was getting out. And something about just wanting to look. He just wanted to look at something. Then he got real still and stopped talking. I had to keep checking to make sure he was breathing. Then we got back to land and the ambulance met us there. That’s all I can think of.”
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Holland. Anyone else think of anything?” The husband and daughter shook their heads, looking down at their laps. Beth sighed. She didn’t know what she had been hoping for, but nothing at this case made any sense yet.
“Thank you again for your time, and I’m very sorry that you had to go through something like this on your vacation. Just so you know, you bringing him in probably saved his life.” The woman nodded, looking relieved that she was being dismissed. She got up to leave, her family trailing behind her. As they got to the door, the daughter stopped and turned back.
“You’ll find out what happened, right? And find his family? When he was trying to talk, he just looked so lost. I want someone to be missing him somewhere.”
“We will do our best, I can promise you that. Thank you.” She nodded, and scurried out the door after her family.
Beth put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. She hoped she was right. Someone had to be missing this boy. He must have family worried sick about him somewhere. She just hoped they found them before it was too late for them to say goodbye. The next few hours were critical. If he didn’t regain consciousness soon, there was an increasing chance that he never would.