Chapter 3

Please wake up, please wake up. Shawn rubbed his tired eyes and prayed with every ounce of faith to wake up from this nightmare. He sat in the cold hospital waiting area, while his father tried to comfort his almost hysterical mother. Somehow, his father's presence made her tears greater. Perhaps, because this time she didn't have to be alone and heartbreakingly strong. Shawn buried his face in his hands.

Life could be so cruel. The sun seemed to shine on the Brady household for once in a long time. He finally had his mother back after so long and bizarre a separation, his parents' fairy-tale love grew stronger day by day, he'd found his place at Salem High with a group of devoted friends, and tonight, he'd finally kissed the girl of his dreams. He'd known her all his life, but discovered in sophomore year and admitted to himself junior year that he thought of her as more than just a childhood playmate and lifelong friend. In a cloud of youthful bliss, he'd had her in his arms and they'd shared their first kiss.

But, great fortune was the harbinger of impending doom. Like his parents and most Salemites, fate repeatedly drove this lesson home to an excruciating degree. His beloved baby brother fought for his tiny life, as surgeons battled with the consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Hours ago, the pediatric surgeon informed them that previously detected heart abnormalities disabled lung function, which potentially deprived the brain of vital oxygen. The gravity of effects depended on the time between discovery and efforts to reroute collapsed blood vessels. Once again, doctors cut open his brother's little chest. Once again, to cheat assured death.

Meanwhile, J.T.'s family held on to their prayers and each other for comfort.

Shawn lifted his eyes, when he heard a familiar husky voice.

"Oh, John," cried his mother, as she ran to her friend and hugged him. "J.T…" And she broke into tears again, while John closed his eyes in sympathy and agony.

Fighting his own tears, Shawn's father walked to his weeping wife and friend. "John, thanks for coming." Hope broke from John to hug his wife, Marlena, who pensively stood to the side. The two men hugged, each silently praying for his son's life.

Standing behind her mother, Belle watched, as the adults sought solace in the face of their greatest fear - a grievously ill child. She saw Shawn bury his face in his hands, silently weeping and praying. Fighting back her own tears, she crossed the room to sit beside him. What could be said and not sound uselessly trite? So, she laid a gentle arm around his back, then ran a soothing hand up and down.

Someone cleared his haggard throat.

"Oh, Doctor," exclaimed Hope, "J.T…"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Brady…"

His mother screamed in grief. Trembling, his father gathered her against him, while she wailed and wailed, as only a mother could, when a child died suddenly and tragically.

With his hands held desperately over his ears, Shawn squeezed his eyes to shut out the agonizing cries, as his own heart broke. My little brother, he grieved. The walls seemed to close around him and his chest ached from the pressure.

Belle wrapped her arms around him, "Oh, Shawn. I'm so sorry…"

Sobbing, he shoved at her hands and stepped abruptly away from her. His eyes, flooded with tears, blindly looked here and there, as if the world were frighteningly unfamiliar and too much to bear. How could it be? How could it be?

He turned and ran away from the wails and tears. Someone called out his name. With hot tears still falling, he slammed his shoulder painfully to the door of the stairwell and raced to escape from the overwhelming grief and guilt.

"Hello?" yawned Philip.

"Philip? Have you seen Shawn?" cried a panic-stricken voice.

"Who is this?" he asked, barely conscious, "Belle?"

"Philip, I need to know, if you've seen Shawn. Something terrible happened tonight and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Belle." He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to slap himself awake. "What happened to Shawn?"

"What, Nancy?" grumbled a sleepy Chloe.

"Honey, wake up. It's urgent," said her mother, as she shook her daughter's shoulder.

"Oh, God. Can't it wait 'til morning?" Chloe tried to pull the blanket over her head.

"It's Belle on the phone. Something about Shawn disappearing," explained a nervous Nancy.

"What?!" Chloe reared from bed and snatched the phone out of her mother's hand.

"Son, it's 5 o'clock in the morning. Just where the hell do you think you're going?" demanded his father.

Jason hurriedly pulled on his socks and shoes, grabbed his jacket, and rushed out the house without a word. He sprinted to Mimi's house, where she waited on her front steps. They nodded to each other grimly and set out to meet their friends before the Brady Pub.

When she spotted Belle, Mimi ran to embrace her friend. "It's going to be alright, Belle. We'll find him. Don't worry."

Belle sobbed in her arms.

A luxury Volvo stopped by the curb. Philip and Chloe emerged to join their friends, while an SUV and several other cars parked behind them. Soon, the Brady, Horton, Kiriakis, Black, and Carver families formed an intimidating show of support in front of the Brady Pub.

"Ok," began Shawn's Uncle Roman, "I know it's procedure for my men to start their search after twenty-fours hours. But we all know Shawn D. pretty well and understand the circumstances." Hope choked on a sob, as her husband held her against him, as much to comfort her as himself. With the death of their infant son, the disappearance of their older son battered already broken hearts.

Roman continued, "First, Hope, Alice, Julie, Mom, we really need you at home," he said, plunging on before the mother and grandmothers could protest, "In case Shawn D. shows up there. Bo, you, Pop, Doug, and I'll take the boathouse and the wharf. John, Marlena, Brady, and Belle, you take Salem Park and the surrounding neighborhoods." Captain Brady finished assigning groups of four to different sectors of Salem.

Chloe held Philip's hand tightly, before he pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. We'll find him." He lifted her chin and managed a weak smile, tucking a curl behind her ear. "We found you. We'll find him."

She closed her eyes and thought about her friend. Shawn was always so strong, confident, and optimistic that she could only imagine what he must be feeling for him to run away. How much he must have loved his little brother and how unpredictable and unfair life could be. Even though she hadn't known the troubled boy, who had returned bitter and unhappy from the boarding school, Chloe knew all about running away from emotional pain. Now, she knew what it was to be the one left behind, frantic. She pulled away to brush at her tears and saw Jason with his arm around a shivering Mimi.

"I think, Chloe," began a teary Mimi, "We found something that we completely agree on. Shawn."

"Yeah," croaked Chloe, offering a hand in truce.

Mimi reached out and shook it.

"Hey, Belle," said Jason.

Belle and her family approached her band of friends.

Brady's eyes met Philip's, and they exchanged nods. They, too, would hold a momentary truce for the sake of their friend. Nonetheless, Philip's arm around Chloe tightened.

"Don't worry, Belle," assured Mimi, giving her friend a fierce hug. "Everything's going to be alright."

"Come on, guys," said Philip to Chloe, Jason, and Mimi, "We should start searching Salem Place." The determined teens climbed into Philip's car and waved to the Black family, as they climbed into their SUV, headed for the Park.

Nearing 7:00AM, the lethargic sunrise nonetheless was yet a half-hour away. So, Philip, Chloe, Jason, and Mimi climbed back into the car, after more than an hour of search in Salem Place, there was no sign of Shawn. Neither had anyone called on Phil's cell phone with any good news. The teens were silent, as Philip restarted the car and sluggishly began another sweep of the neighborhood.

Mimi's shoulders drooped, as the hours passed, but her eyes remained on alert, as they passed every street and alley. Although the cabin of the car was warming quickly, she drew her arms around herself, shivering. Jason reached out a long arm and gently drew her against him, rubbing her arm to soothe. Weary, she rested her head on his shoulder and unexpectedly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Chloe gripped Philip's free hand with both of her own. Where are you, Shawn? Please, God, be okay, she prayed along with her friends. She knew exactly what it was like to be alone on the streets and feel like your life was falling apart.

When the car paused before a traffic light, Philip closed his tired eyes for a moment. Chloe reached over to his cheek and gave him a grateful and encouraging kiss. He ran a loving thumb over her cheekbone, before resting his forehead on hers.

"Thanks, beautiful."

"I could drive for a little while."

"I'll be alright. We're supposed to meet back at sunrise, anyhow."

"I know," she said, feeling her heart swell at his strength and loyalty to his friend. "Let me know, when you want me to drive, ok, Philip?"

He kissed her again, before turning his attention back to the road, while his hand held hers.

From the backseat, Jason's eyes drooped as well but hadn't missed the somehow comforting affection between Phil and the girlfriend. Mimi mumbled in her sleep and slowly slid to rest her head on his lap. Barely awake now, Jason smoothed back her mussed hair, before drifting off himself.

Brady fell into a light snore beside Belle. In the front passenger seat, her mother had fallen asleep, as well. But Belle with bloodshot eyes scanned the streets with stubborn determination. Shawn was out there, somewhere, and he needed her. Oh, Shawn, please be okay, she silently pleaded.

Life could turn on a dime. One moment, she was looking into those adorable chocolate brown eyes and feeling his kiss for the first magical time. The next, the world had collapsed from under their feet. His beloved baby brother died on the operating table, and Shawn D. in despair bolted out of the hospital in tears. Now, his loved ones scoured Salem, unable to withstand the possibility of another tragedy.

Blinking her dried out eyes, she finally closed them for a second and remembered an angry and hurt boy, who returned from boarding school. She'd spotted him on the wharf, after he'd taken his father's motorcycle to prove to everyone that he was strong and didn't need anyone. In truth, he still mourned his family, which had been ripped apart again and again because of forces beyond their control. Beyond Shawn's control. Being exiled to a remote boarding school was yet another event beyond his control and equaled punishment for making his mother, Hope, go away again. She'd left them because of something he'd done, and his father, Bo, blamed him and sent him away to a place with no one he knew or loved.

So, Shawn D. had come back to Salem bitter and angry at the world. He so badly needed a friend, a kind soul to believe in him again. And one night, Belle found him tinkering with his father's bike on the wharf. She'd been dreaming about a childish crush then, but somehow felt drawn to a young tortured soul in a tough leather jacket. When she approached him, he'd barked like a leery puppy, who'd been kicked one too many times. But she'd matched him insult for insult. Then, they'd gotten arrested together, when a policeman caught them riding a motorcycle, which his father had unknowingly reported as stolen.

Things changed for Shawn the instant his mother returned. Somehow, he'd rested all his self-worth on the idolized image of his mother, and when she returned, professing how much she loved him and his father and how proud she was of him, all was right with the world. The inapproachable tough boy transformed into a grinning charmer, who was always ready to make a joke or lend a hand. And gradually, without Belle even knowing it, she'd fallen for him and everything he'd lived through.

Now, life had dealt Shawn D. another paralyzing blow. He'd taken J.T. on as his personal responsibility from infancy until adulthood. He'd made all these plans for his little brother, regardless of J.T.'s potential disabilities, to live with Shawn's future family and help care for his future children. He was a big brother now and promised that J.T. would never doubt that he was loved.

Belle eyes flickered open. But J.T. had died, and knowing Shawn, he blamed himself, because J.T. had been under his care, when wicked fate struck. We have to find him, thought Belle. We just have to.

The sun crept torpidly up beyond the horizon, as the search parties all met back in front of the Brady Pub with gloomy faces. They'd sifted Salem with a fine-tooth comb and had not found Shawn. Bo Brady broke down, while his brother Roman and father Shawn, Sr. tried to console him.

Victor Kiriakis arrived in his limo, after receiving disappointing word from his own elite search team, which he had hired to find his lost grandson. He had never shared an openly affectionate relationship with his biological son Bo, but where there was blood, there was loyalty for a Kiriakis. So, he simply stood by his limo, offering his silent support.

"Dad!"

Victor turned to see his youngest and most beloved son, running to embrace him. He held onto Philip, the light of his life. "Son." When his son only held on longer, Victor sighed, "I know, son. I know."

Shawn D.'s Uncle Roman suggested that everyone return home and get some rest. Meanwhile, the Salem PD would be urged by its captains to begin the official search for Shawn Douglas Brady.