A sequel to Lost in Finn Island, starring Pearl, Chloe, Jason, and Michael. Follow their adventure through happiness and sadness, drama and relief. A great feel and thrilling story.
“Hello, how can I help you today?” The guy at the receiving desk of the hospital asked.
“Hi. I'm here to see my daughter, Pearl Dales.” Ellerie said.
“Ah! Ms. Dales. We've been expecting you.” He picked up the phone on his desk and dialled a number.
Ellerie sat down while he spoke with the person on the other side of the line for a moment. Shortly after, a woman came to her with Pearl.
“Pearl!” Ellerie ran over and squeezed Pearl so hard that Pearl had to ask her to loosen up a bit. “I'm so glad you're ok! What happened?”
Pearl was in a wheelchair, and she had a bulge of what Ellerie assumed was bandages on her right thigh. Her right arm had a cast on it, which meant she wouldn't be able to write anything for a few weeks.
“The doctor says to avoid standing up freely as to not put any type of pressure on her stitches.” The nurse helped Pearl onto some crutches.
“Where's dad?” Pearl asked once she was on her crutches and realized her mother was here alone.
“Oh, sweetie. He wanted to come, he really did, but he needed to stay home for work.”
Pearl sighed, “The doctor said the bill is three thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
Pearl jerked in shock. “You do?”
“Yes, we paid it already. Your father is having to work double time but you're fine, so it doesn't matter.”
Pearl ambled as fast as she could to her mom and gave her a hug. She had thought she was screwed, but now, she realized that her parents' love for her exceeded whatever hindrance they might come across.
Pearl thought of telling her mom about the laboratory they had come across, but she decided to keep it secret. If she ever had a problem with it again, she might say something. She wanted to talk to Michael about it, since Chloe had told her that Michael had been working for Clade all along. She wanted to know what the whole thing was about, how it was possible, and how come he hadn't told them anything before.
Once Pearl and her mom were in the taxi and on their way to the dock, Pearl had the idea to call Michael. She assumed that he was back in the mainland, seeing that he didn't have anything else to do here. She texted him to see if he would respond and got an unexpected message.
'Hey Pearl, I still have Michael's phone with me.'
Pearl stared at the message for a moment, then realized that Chloe was on the other line. She texted back: 'Since you still have it, I'm assuming you didn't talk to him yet.'
'No.'
Pearl sighed. How was she going to get a hold of him now? Why were things going so wrong lately?
She felt her phone buzz, Chloe had forward her a video Clade had recently sent to Michael. It was the video of Michael and Chloe arguing when Michael spilled the beans about his job with Clade, filmed by Clade himself. Chloe told Pearl about what Michael had said would happen if anybody found out about this.
Pearl sat frozen for a long time and got home dazed by the action. Even her mom noticed. She lay in bed, holding her cast above her chest. She couldn't do anything active. Pearl texted Jason: Hey. Where are you now?
A few moments later he answered back, 'I'm working things out about the boat back home.'
'So you haven't left yet?' Pearl realized how dumb that question was.
'No.'
Pearl lay down her phone and pulled the covers up to her neck. She wanted to get some sleep before she had to deal with all of the drama that had gone down over the summer. She kept thinking about the laboratory they had found. She knew it was wrong to keep it a secret, but she knew that making it known would come with a lot more drama. She really wasn't looking forward to that. And what about Michael? Chloe said that Michael told her he would die if he told anyone, and now three other people knew.
She dozed off with her mind clogged with thoughts. Time ticked by slowly but surely. Her dad, Steven Dales, arrived relatively early in the evening, but Pearl was already asleep by that time. Evening became night, and night became day. It was 10:00 when Pearl woke up; and she would've slept for longer if it weren't for her mom.
“Pearl?” Ellerie whispered while creaking open the door. She pushed it all the way open with the cutting board in her hands. “Pearl wakes up.”
Pearl moaned. Ellerie rested her cutting board 'tray' on her chest and used her free arm to shake Pearl gently. Pearl flickered her eyes. They landed on the tray her mom was holding.
The tray had a classic breakfast on it: eggs on toast, milk, berries, and a muffin. “I brought up your breakfast since you couldn't come down very easily.”
Pearl smiled and pointed to the nightstand next to her bed. Her mom placed the food there. “Your father is home. I believe he wants to see you.”
She stepped out of the way to reveal Pearl's dad standing at the doorway. He came rushing towards her to see how she was doing. Pearl was feeling better after her sleep, so she could recall the events of the summer more vividly. She paused at the night they found out about the laboratory.
“What is it?” her mom asked.
Pearl sighed, “I— um… so something really weird happened.”
