SHAWN

Shawn couldn't think straight. He was lost between his mental confusion and incredulity. Had he really heard the words he'd longed for that week, which was the worst of his life?

He shook his head to order his thoughts. No, he wasn't dreaming, Brian was there in his room, and with the nice smile that Shawn hadn't seen for days shining on his face.

-What did he say? - Shawn asked, fearing he'd dreamed his friend's words. He didn't trust his senses very much at the time, numb to the sleep and emotional exhaustion he had been subjected to in the last few days.

- They found her, Shawn. Finally, you'll get your Rosely back. Brian shook his friend's hand with affection.

. How did they find her? - he hadn't dreamed. Rosaly had been found, and her heart leapt with joy.

- The police have been watching her apartment constantly, hoping that Caio or anyone related to her kidnapping would show up. And incredible as it may seem, one of his goons suddenly appeared and entered her apartment in search of Rosely's passport. It seems that Caio wants to take her back to Brazil, and sent this man there after the document, from which he needs to get a new one, falsifying all the information from the old one.

- Bastard! - Shawn screamed in anger.

- Luckily the police managed to arrest this man, and he told where Caio took Rosely. Now they're coming up with a plan to get her, even down there talking to your father about it.

- I'm going along, I need to find her.-  Shawn said, getting out of bed in a jump.

- What do you mean you're going along? Are you out of your mind,Shawn? It's dangerous. Brian was looking worried at his friend. He was agitated and not thinking straight.

- I don't care. I need to be there. I failed her once and I won't fail her again. - Shawn headed for the bedroom door, came down the stairs almost running, followed by Brian.

- Where's daddy? - Shawn asked his mom who was sitting in the room with Aaliyah and Lexy.

- In the office with the police. From the looks of it, Brian already told you. - Karen looked at Shawn's friend with a frown. - Didn't I tell you to let him rest, that we'd talk to him later?

- I'm sorry,Karen,but I couldn't keep it a secret,after all these days of seeing Shawn's suffering. I thought he deserved to know soon.- Brian responded by holding Karen's gaze steady.

Brian had never seen Shawn as devastated as he was that week. He had walked onto the stage of every show as if he were facing a battlefield. Shawn had done everything that was expected of him with his usual professionalism. Brian knew how perfectionist his friend was, and even at his worst he hadn't let the quality of his work drop. The only thing was that Shawn had done everything mechanically, like a robot programmed to perform his daily tasks. Brian wondered how painful it must have been for Shawn to sing all those songs while his soul bled, smile when his heart cried, lift his head when he felt too defeated to go on, but he had overcome himself and made it to the end without anyone noticing his misfortune, and for all that, Brian admired him even more. If that was happening to him, Brian didn't know if he would have the same structure to endure the tormenting hours of waiting.

It was true, that in a few moments he had seen Shawn give in to despair when they were alone in the hotel room. He had cried in silence for hours on end, looking at the photos of Rosaly he had on his cell phone. It was painful to see him so devastated and unable to do anything to help the only friend who had always been with him, supporting him when he felt abandoned by his father and alone. It was not uncommon for Shawn to take him to sleep in his home, treating him like a brother, lending him his own family when his didn't seem to care about his well-being. Shawn was the brother life had given him, they might not have the same blood running through their veins, but their spirits were united by a bond of friendship that would never be destroyed by anything. For that friend, Brian would give his life if he had to, and for this reason, he decided that if Shawn wanted to go get Rosaly, he would go with him.

-Mom, don't be mad at Brian, you know we never hid anything from each other.

- I know. Karen said. She knew the strong friendship that existed between the two boys, and she mentally thanked them for it. If Brian hadn't been there, she didn't know if Shawn would have put up with all those stressful days. Besides, Brian had a heart of gold and she loved him like he was her own son.

- Mama, I know the police came to talk to Daddy about Rosely's rescue, and I want to let them know I'm coming along.

- Are you crazy? I won't let you do something crazy like that. Karen was staring terrified at her son.

- I'm sorry, Mum, but I've made up my mind, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.

- And I mean I'll go along. - Brian said, and Shawn looked surprised at his  friend. Brian had never been given to acts of heroism. As kids, it was Shawn who always got into a fight to defend him, and in adult life it wasn't uncommon for Shawn to get him out of a jam for messing with a committed girl. So Shawn thanked him with a nod, they never needed words to understand what the other meant, they understood each other by the look.

- You guys have got to be out of your minds. - Lexy said in a voice altered by surprise. That's police work, not two unprepared boys stuck in heroes.

- It's no use saying anything, Lexy. These two, when they get something in their heads, nobody can make them change their mind. Karen said. She knew the stubbornness of the two boys all her life, and she knew that telling them not to do something was the same as giving them permission to do it.

- Will you allow this nonsense, Karen? - Lexy asked with her hands at her waist and her eyebrows arched.

- Lexy, Brian and Shawn are two grown men. I can't forbid them from anything. Even if I don't agree with what they want to do, the only thing I have left is to pray that everything ends well.

Lexy didn't say anything else, she just shook her incredulous head. As much as she wanted Rosaly back, she couldn't agree to it, and I doubted Rosaly would, too, if she knew. It was too risky, and she didn't want to see anyone get hurt in that story.

Her courtship with Brian had just begun, and she'd never been happier, but now she was in danger of losing her boyfriend if something went wrong with that rescue operation. But she knew Karen was right. He and Shawn would play on that adventure without anyone's consent. Because they were like that, they were family and they protected who they loved.

At that moment, the door to Shawn's father's office opened, and he left with two investigators and a police officer. Shawn went up to them and said:

- I want to go with you to where Rosely is.

- That won't be possible,boy. This kind of operation is for the police only. It requires preparation and experience. We can't take a civilian with us. That's not part of our protocol. - Despite the detective's refusal, Shawn hasn't given up.

- I told you, I'm going with you, with or without permission. That's my girl there and I'm going after her anyway.

- Don't you realize this is a risky situation? We don't know what condition this girl is in, if we have to negotiate with her kidnapper. We can't worry about your safety either Mr. Mendes, right now all the care is too little.

- Shawn, listen to the cops, my son. They know what they're saying. You couldn't do anything to help. Shawn's father tried to convince him, but Shawn kept insisting.

- Daddy, Rosely's there. I need to do something. I can't bear the thought of spending another day in that agonizing wait. I have to be with her, I have to save her.- Shawn's father saw the obstinacy shine in his son's eyes, and realized he had already made up his mind and wouldn't give up. Shawn was a lot like him, and deep down he knew that if he were in his place he would do the same thing.

- Okay, okay. If you think that's the best thing to do, you have my blessing. All I ask is that you be careful, and don't get in the way of police work, trying to play the hero.

- Stay calm, Daddy. I don't intend to take any chances without necessity. Thank you for understanding. - and then he turned to one of the policemen and said:

- So, detective. When do we leave?

- Well, Mr. Mendes, you're really going to insist on this madness. - the officer sighed deeply and then answered. - We leave immediately, because we have no time to waste. I just want to say you're on your own, and we won't take responsibility for what might happen.

- That's all right. I'll just get the keys and the car document and come back.

Shawn hurried to his room, took the keys that were on top of the dresser, as well as his driver's license. He didn't bother to change, as time was short and he couldn't wait to have Rosaly in his arms again.

He returned to the room, said goodbye to his parents, to Aaliyah who was crying softly, and waited patiently for Brian to say goodbye to Lexy, who kissed him and said with tears in his eyes:

- Be careful, and please come back to me.

- Don't worry. I'll be back soon.- Brian responded by touching her face lovingly.

Then they went to the garage to get Shawn's car.

- Let me drive. Brian offered, because he realized that his friend was still very nervous. Shawn handed him the keys and sat on the hitchhiker's seat, and gave himself up to his thoughts.

Was Rosaly okay? How could that scumbag have been treating her all that time he was keeping her in captivity? If he'd touched a strand of her hair, Shawn swore he'd take him down with his bare hands. He just hoped Rosaly would be strong enough to resist little more.

"Please, my love, hold on tight. I'm coming," he prayed silently, wishing the breeze of that afternoon would carry his words to Rosaly, and she could be a comfort to him for his love, making sure he would soon be back home and in Shawn's life forever.

ROSALY

As Caio dragged her down the hall, Rosaly thought of only one way to escape. The hands that grabbed her wrist were not at all kind, leaving red marks on her delicate skin. She glanced at Caio's face, and saw the impenetrable mask of evil stamped on his face, and she knew by instinct that it wouldn't do her any good to beg or cry, he would never be moved by any emotional demonstration, as he had never been moved before. He had always hated this kind of behavior, and he didn't seem to have changed much after all this time they had been apart.

Caio couldn't have been serious about forcing her to have sex with him, Rosaly thought terrified. He had never done that before, although he was not a very affectionate man, Caio never imposed physical contact on her without her permission.

But what did she know about that man anyway? Everything she had known about Caio was a big lie, and the man she had once thought would be her husband was a big fraud, a liar and a manipulator. That man who had once treated her with violence and now tried to make her give in to his will was a complete stranger to her, and that frightened her more than anything he had ever done for Rosaly until then.

Caio pushed her into his room, locked the door and pulled her against his body. Rosaly felt as if she'd been bumped into a stone wall and her heart raced so fast that she thought she was going to faint from so much tension.

- What a good smell you have, much better than I remembered. - He glided his face through Rosaly's hair, and she had to repress the disgust that that gesture caused him: "Be still, don't react, don't let him see the fear in your eyes. ", she said to herself mentally, for any false step would only increase Caio's anger.

- I want to see if that little singer could teach you how to be sexier, because from what I remember very well, you didn't used to be much in bed. - Rosaly pretended not to hear him. She was used to this side of Caio, to trying to humiliate her, to hurting her dignity as a woman, so that she would believe that she would never be loved by anyone else, and that Caio was her only safe haven.

But Shawn had freed her from that feeling, he had shown her all that love could be. She no longer cared for Caio's words because they conveyed no truth. Rosaly knew who she was now, what it was like to be loved and cared for by someone real, and Caio would not destroy that trust she had in herself.

Caio glided his lips across her face, his heavy breathing reaching Rosaly's ears like a deafening noise. She closed her eyes and prayed that it would all be over soon, she wished her heart would stop beating so she wouldn't have to endure Caio's  touch to her skin. His lips were dangerously close to hers, but he didn't kiss her, his mouth met her neck as he pulled her waist toward his own body. Rosaly felt his excitement evident, and she despaired. He would possess her strength, and she could do nothing to stop him.  Then Caio  walked away from her and ordered with his authoritarian voice:

- Take off your clothes.

- No! - Rosaly said on a string of voice.

- Oh, you want to play, darling? Are you sure you want to play this game? Come on, I don't want to waste any time. Take off those clothes now! - Rosaly saw the anger deform his face, and so did his eyes that burned with the evident hatred inside them. Still, she created courage and spoke again:

- I will never undress for you.

- Ah, Rosaly, you are a very bad girl and girls but you must be punished.-His lips opened in a hateful smile, and Rosaly took a deep breath. He came towards her and she tried to escape by pushing his chest away, but he was too strong and didn't even move from where he was. Then he grabbed her by the arm, and started shaking her violently. Rosaly tried to escape, but she stepped on the wrong foot and slipped by hitting her head hard at the head of the bed. A terrible pain took hold of Rosaly, and she couldn't keep her eyes  open, within seconds the darkness enveloped her as if the pitch of the night suddenly took over her whole being. She saw Shawn's face in front of her, and heard his voice telling her in an appeal. "Baby, wait for me, I'm coming."

With those words ringing in her ears, Rosaly smiled, felt as if she were floating, and an incredible calm filled her heart with peace, then her body seemed to collapse and she felt as if she were swallowed up by an endless abyss until she lost consciousness.

How long she remained disagreed, Rosaly would not know. When she regained consciousness, her head was still throbbing and Rosaly couldn't focus on what was in front of her. It took a few seconds for her to get up off the ground where she had fallen before. She walked slowly to the door and realized it was unlocked, so she went out into the hallway and didn't see any of Caio's goons who used to stand there, watching every door and window of the house.

Rosaly continued walking slowly going from room to room, having the painful silence that surrounded her as company. Suddenly she saw that the door to the room had been left open as if someone had left so quickly that she had forgotten to close it. Rosaly looked out the window and saw that Caio's car was no longer parked where he used to leave it, just as she didn't see a living soul there.

At that moment, Rosaly realized that there was no one else in the house, not even her ex-fiancé was around. She had been left behind like a dead weight, a useless bundle, she was completely and terribly alone.

SHAWN AND ROSALY

Brian drove for endless hours as Shawn's anxiety peaked. He couldn't stop still, every mile he drove was an inner battle with himself, and his heart seemed to beat disconnected leaving him breathless.

Shawn went back to his seat again, switching positions, which earned him a glance of Brian's disapproval:

- You want to stop right there, Shawn! You're making me nervous.

- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You know when I'm worried about something, I can't stop moving.

- Then control your impulses. I can't drive like this. -Brian complained.

-  Do you want me to drive? - Shawn asked.

- No way. You run too fast, and on top of that you're nervous. That's a lousy combination.

- Okay. I'll try not to bother you so much. - Shawn said sitting very upright on the hitchhiker's seat and grabbing the sides hard.

His thoughts went through his head at lightning speed. He was trying to order them,but everything was blending into him driving him crazy. He couldn't stand so much anguish anymore, he had to find Rosaly soon, or his heart couldn't stand the wait anymore.

He tried to concentrate on the landscape outside, but all he could register in his troubled head were the miles that were still to come.

Brian followed the policemen in front of him, who were driving too slow for Shawn. They had to arrive soon because they didn't know what would happen when they were there, but the police didn't seem too worried about it. Shawn moved again in his seat and Brian looked ugly at him again, and Shawn apologized with a dull smile and refocused on the road they were driving in his car.

The cops made a turn and Brian followed them. They were in the middle of nowhere, because there was no house or tree on the road. They went a little further and then arrived at a place where a house was discreetly hidden in the middle of a group of trees that seemed to be the only ones in that place.

Shawn saw the policemen parking in the back of the house and looked interrogatively at Brian:

- I wonder if it's here. - Before his friend could answer his question, they saw more vehicles arriving, and the house was surrounded by a gang of men in Vancouver police uniform.

- Does that answer your question? Brian told his friend.

Meanwhile inside the house, Rosaly was feeling desperate. Caio had left her there in the middle of nowhere, and she couldn't come home, nor call to ask someone to pick her up, because she had lost her cell phone days ago, and in the house there was no phone in sight.

What would she do? she thought for a few seconds, and thought that the best solution would be to leave that house and look for help, because it would be useless to stay there alone and lost. She walked to the door to the front of the house. Her steps were slow, for she felt weak and discouraged, but she tried with all her strength to find the courage to continue and finally win her freedom after days of confinement.

She walked down the steps at the front of the house and wondered what time it was? She vaguely remembered what had happened after dinner, her almost corporal fight with Caio, the fall that had made her bang her head and lose her senses. She didn't know how long she had been out of it, but by the way, she'd spent the whole night like that, and half the morning too. And Caio had abandoned her in those conditions, without worrying about her well-being. But why had he left and given up taking her with him? Had anything serious happened that  that made him run away from there?

Rosaly pushed those thoughts away. She had to concentrate on getting out of there, and find a way to get home.

She had only taken two steps when she heard someone shouting her name, and she suddenly stood there.

Could it not be, would she be dreaming? Had she been confined to that place for so many days, so longing to hear that voice, that in her momentary madness she reached Rosaly by the breeze of the soft wind that blew? Then she heard the voice calling out to her again in that hoarse timbre she loved so much, turned slowly, and there was Shawn as beautiful as the day she'd traveled toward him. Tears rolled down his cheeks as Shawn approached, with an expression of relief that moved her. And then he smiled through the tears that wet his blue shirt, and to Rosaly that was the vision of paradise. He was there to save her to take her home with him.

Shawn took her in his arms not believing she was real. His heart hurt to see her face so pale, looking a fragility he couldn't remember. She had some bruises all over her body that suggested she had been physically assaulted, and her brown eyes darkened with rage. He had always been a person who was adept at dialogue, and had never appreciated resolving any issues using his fists. He hated violence, and so he had always run away from confrontations that could end in physical aggression, but at that moment Shawn hated Caio Vieira with all his might, and would have punched his cynical face until he saw it bleed if he was around.

Suddenly, he heard Rosaly's soft voice murmuring his name, he loosened his embrace, and looked at the beautiful face that he, in his most desperate moments, thought he would never see again. He touched her face lovingly and said:

- I am here, my love. No one else will harm you, I swear on my life.

Rosaly gave him a weak smile, giving him back the gesture of affection, and said:

- You came to save me. - and everything turned, it got dark and she fainted.

- No, Rosely! - Shawn screamed in despair when he saw her faint in his arms. He picked her up in his lap and took her to the car.

Brian, please help me," he said, feeling the growing panic threaten to consume him.

Brian opened the passenger seat door and seeing Shawn's despair he asked:

- What happened?

- I don't know, she fainted. We need to get her to the hospital.

- We need to get her to the hospital. I'll let the cops know. Brian quickly found one of the cops who came with them and explained what happened. The cop nodded and Brian ran back to the car.

- Come on, soon Brian. We don't have time to waste. He heard Shawn say it nervously.

Shawn sat in the passenger seat with Rosaly. He put her head on his lap, and held her cold, lifeless hand between his.

She was so deadly pale that she scared him, and he started talking to her softly.

-Please, Rosely. Open your eyes. Talk to me, baby. I'm here, don't leave me alone.

Shawn's voice was too sore, and Brian looked at his friend who looked devastated, and he said;

- Relax, Shawn. She'll be fine. Shawn raised his head and his eyes were tortured when he looked at Brian:

- What if she's not gonna be okay? It's if she... his voice failed and his eyes flared.- I can't live without her, I can't and I don't want to live without her.

- Shawn, stop torturing yourself. I'm gonna call your mother and have her wait for us at the hospital, okay? - Shawn just nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't talk anymore without crying.

They arrived at the hospital and were greeted by a team that was already waiting for them. They put Rosaly on a gurney, and they took her to the exam room. Shawn wanted to go with her, but the doctor wouldn't let him.

- There's nothing you can do for her now. Please wait here.

Shawn stayed in the hallway with Brian, waiting for someone to come and tell him what was going on. His mother, his father, Aaliyah, and Lexy arrived moments later, and they tried to comfort him in every way they could, but nothing cheered him up. All he wanted was to be with Rosaly, kiss her until she opened her eyes and smiled at him in that wonderful way she knew well.

It was hours of waiting in the hallway until the doctor came to talk to them and explain Rosaly's real state.

- She's suffering from severe malnutrition, dehydration and emotional exhaustion.

-  Will She  be fine? - Shawn asked anxiously.

- We'll have to see how she reacts in the next few hours.

- Can I see her?

- Yes, but only for a few minutes, because she needs to rest.

Shawn walked into the room, and saw Rosaly lying in her hospital bed, looking so small and fragile. They had swapped her clothes for a hospital sweater and bandaged her bruised forehead.

He got closer to her, and he saw that she was still very pale and disoriented, his heart squeezed so tightly that Shawn missed his breath.

Then he sat on an armchair beside Rosaly's bed, holding her tiny hand that had touched him so lovingly in the moments of love, but now they were inert and unresponsive to his touch.

- Please, love. Come back to me," he said quietly, praying with all his strength that his love would be strong enough to bring her back to life and into his arms.

Hello, guys. I hope you like this part and tell me your opinion. Sorry for any mistakes. Kisses