Chapter 7 - THE BOY WHO WAS NEVER HOMELESSThey returned to the hospital before dawn.
Eli did not speak.
He sat in the back seat of James's car and stared out the window.
For the first time, James realized something.
He knew almost nothing about the boy.
He had assumed Eli was homeless.
The records said he had slept in shelters.
But now James wondered whether that was the entire truth.
When they arrived, Dr. Vell went directly to the hospital archives.
James went to the social worker.
“Find everything on Elijah Moore.”
The social worker hesitated.
“We already did.”
“Everything.”
She opened the file.
Then frowned.
“What?”
“There is a gap.”
“What kind?”
“His records begin when he was eight.”
“What about before that?”
“Nothing.”
James stared.
“Nothing?”
“No birth hospital.”
“No pediatric records.”
“No school enrollment before age eight.”
“That is impossible.”
The social worker looked at him.
“Unless someone removed them.”
James felt cold.
He went to find Eli.
The boy was sitting beside Oliver's room.
James sat beside him.
“Eli.”
The boy looked up.
“Is Oliver okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
James was silent.
Then asked:
“Where were you born?”
Eli frowned.
“I don't know.”
“Your mother never told you?”
“She said a hospital.”
“Which one?”
“I don't remember.”
“Where did you live before Lily died?”
Eli looked away.
“Different places.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
James watched him.
The boy was not lying.
He genuinely did not know.
Dr. Vell arrived.
“We found something.”
James stood.
“What?”
The doctor handed him a document.
A birth record.
The name had been changed.
But the date matched Eli's age.
The hospital was not local.
It was the Cross Institute.
James stared.
Eli was born there.
Dr. Vell looked at him.
“Your mother may have been one of their patients.”
Eli shook his head.
“My mom cleaned houses.”
“Maybe.”
“But she knew that place.”
Eli suddenly stood.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“The room.”
James looked at him.
“What room?”
Eli touched his neck.
“The room where they put me.”
Dr. Vell froze.
“You were there?”
Eli nodded.
“I was little.”
“How old?”
“Four.”
“What happened?”
Eli's face became pale.
“They made me lie down.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Cross.”
“Why?”
Eli looked toward Oliver's room.
“He said I had to give something to my sister.”
James felt his blood run cold.
“What?”
May you like
Eli whispered:
“My memory.”
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