The Lost

*Meanwhile elsewhere*

I have been trying to move in this trashcan for who knows how long and I have gotten nowhere. I am cold, tired, and want to go home. But where even is home? I am there hearing the crashing of thunder, raining hitting the lid of the trashcan, and an occasional vehicle going by.

I am so sleepy. I feel like I could sleep right now. Even though my body feels sore and tight right now. I just want to-

Suddenly I feel a jolt around me and I feel the trashcan get lifted from the ground. Someone is here!

"H-hey! Hello! I am stuck in the trashcan! Let me out please" I cry

But even though I screamed it, whoever is lifting me is not opening the can to help me. Are they ignoring me!?

*Meanwhile outside the trashcan*

A Rodin man with blue eyes has a neon vest and a yellow rain jacket with headphones listening to some music and is carrying it over to the garbage truck nearby. As he gets there he opens the trashcan lid and hoists it over the back of the truck and grabs the bottom dumping everything until a caiman child falls out of the can with the trash into the truck.

"What the fuck?!" he yells startled by the sight.

He staggers back a bit dropping the can on the street.

*Coda's view*

I fall into a combination of various black bags of trash some hard and some pointed, in which I turn my head to the man. I breathe in the various horrible smells and I pull myself out holding my breath and run away from him.

I start sprinting but my legs feel so weak and cramped from being crushed by a trashbag for who knows how long.

"W-wait! come back here!" the garbage man yells

But Coda doesn't hear it due to the rain, traffic, and thunderstorms still. As he runs down the sidewalk, though clumsily. He gets fairly fair from the trashman.

Coda breathes heavily and begins feeling very cold once again as he is exposed to the rain once more.

Coda holds himself close and begins to sniffle. not sure if she is crying or has a runny nose at this point due to the rain.

Coda walks up the stairs under an apartment and just sits under it for a while shivering alone. Looking out to the water trickling off of the gutters of another apartment building.

What am I going to do...I am cold hungry, lost, and tired...

I don't think I can do this anymore. My eye begins getting heavy at that moment and I start swaying and bit and fall on that pavement face forward blacking out.

*Meanwhile elsewhere*

*ring ring ring*

Zikah is on the phone calling in National Child Care Association and the police about the situation. She has a paper of written notes about it so she could remember and sits in a chair in the security room.

*Bleep*

"Hello yes, this is Zikah from the West District Orphanage. I have a missing child who had been missing for what might be 16 hours since last night. He is a caiman boy of age 9, primary colors being black and red, feathers of red, yellow eyes."

*Phone murmurs*

"Yes, he has been missing for was we can assume to be 16 hours. He vanished last night and we had only just found out."

*Murmurs*

"Yes, I know this would be a major hit to the orphanage but we will get to that later, a child is missing. I would assume that would be more important."

*Murmurs*

Ariel is sitting waiting to be updated on what is going on and believes she needs to leave and look for Coda herself.

"Alright, I will begin the process for my side, thank you, Philip"

Zikah places the phone back and sighs heavily.

"So this likely will put the orphanage in danger since a child going missing is a major setback for us, and the NCCA and CPS will likely get involved. If this child is not found and the orphanage will be held likely responsible, which we are, and will likely fire most of the employees or close us down and transfer them elsewhere."

"Well, then-then let's go out and find my son," Ariel says walking out with her purse already in hand and walking out of the room."

Jacob then speaks up, "She single?" he asks Zikah

Zikah turns only her head and snarls at him. Then walks out closing the door behind her.

Zikah follows Ariel out to the front office and stops her for a moment.

"What?" Ariel asks readying her umbrella

"The police will be doing the searching along with NCCA and CPS departments. You can go home and relax now."

"no, if he is going to be my son, then I will treat him like one. I am doing my own search for him. And standing here talking about me going home does not help. Thank you for your concern." Ariel says while opening her umbrella and walking out to her car.

*sigh*

"Well, I guess she likely will be a good mother."

The man at the front desk stands up, which gets Zikah's attention, and then asks her a question.

"Is she single?" he asks

"Shut up..." Zikah says walking back

*Minutes later elsewhere*

*Weeewooooweeewooo*

My vision starts hurting and I have a beam of blinding light that is causing me to open them slowly. I feel cold and sore all over. I begin hearing the sounds of sirens which might've been the thing to wake me up. But I am not sure how long.

As I open my eyes I see a ceiling that has a row of lights on the side of the corners of this cramped room. My eyes focus and I lean forward a bit seeing a blurry figure of a person with dark skin, a white-looking short sleeve shirt, and black pants. I then glance to my right and see someone with a lighter skin tone who is wearing the same clothes.

I start getting stressed out and my heart begins to race. I begin panting and then two figures turn their bodies to me. One gets up reaching over behind her opening a compartment.

I start getting hot and feeling like my chest is going to come out of my chest and then a hand touches my left one. I turn my head with a snap and look at her with fear and insecurity.

"Shhh, calm down your safe. The wheeled stretcher you are on has a built-in heater and your temperature is rising. Now please, tell me what you can see" she says putting her hand up which is fuzzy.

I can make out a single finger she is pointing.

"I...I see your finger" I say a bit nervous, "but I can barely see it. To blurry or fuzzy"

"Alright then, you exhausted. Please just lay back and warm up. She says giving me a new layer of warm dry towels over me. I begin snuggling myself in them like a cacoon and warm up.

*15 minutes later*

The vehicle we are in slows down and we began doing slow turns I uncover my head a bit. I then start hearing clamping and clicks and the stretcher I am on.

My eyes cleared up so I see both the people that were inside the small space. A dark-skinned woman and a light-skinned man. They both have the insignia of a hospital I have seen the last time I was there. Is this the same hospital?

I then feel the entire stretcher move and two of the paramedics get out and begin moving me out.

"w-why am I hear?" I ask

"You were called in the unconscious, shivering, wet." the man on the right responds and he moves towards the automatic sliding door and puts a card up to have them open themselves.

The dark-skinned woman then takes me and pushes the stretcher towards the door. We begin going by various people wearing blue, and some wearing white coats. I already forgot how many turns I have taken in this hospital.

*8 minutes later*

They take me into a room that is too kid friendly for my liking...Guessing this is the kids' area of the hospital? Then move my right next to a larger gurney.

The lights skinned man moves over to my left and the dark-skinned woman moves over to some electronics and begins messing with them. I don't understand a single thing she is doing.

As I am looking at her turning dials and pressing buttons, a pale hand appears in the side of my vision and I snap my neck to my left instantly startling him.

"Sorry, but I need you to shimmy yourself over to the gurney. Don't worry, it will be more comfortable."

I look at the gurney and do as he says moving over to the left side of the stretcher onto the gurney and feeling how warm it is instantly. Does this thing have a heater too?!

I start snuggling myself into the sheets instantly trying to get warm. The light-skinned man then walks over to the dark-skinned woman and asks her a question.

"Do I need to get a specialist for the kid?" he asks

"No, I should be able to do it myself. Go ahead and get some change of clothes for him," she responds not changing her eyes in direction.

"Alright then."

The man left the room and closes the door behind him. She then takes out what looks to be a black band and connected it to a black flexible tube to a ball at the end.

"Can you give me your arm?" she asks

"U-uhm, why?" I ask hesitantly

"I need to check your blood pressure. Don't worry it won't hurt too much. Or at all really."

I extend my right arm over to her and she wraps the black band and tightens it and begins squeezing. As it gets tighter I start feeling a bit nervous and start mouth breathing.

She takes notice of it and gets out this weird thing and puts two plugs in her ear and the long flat circular object on my arm.

"Please stay still," she asks

As I am attempting to stay still I start noticing my body feels a bit shaky and feel my face go hot a bit.

*10 seconds later*

"Hmm..." she says

She then takes a clipboard and writes some stuff down.

*10 minutes later*

She has been doing some tests such as balancing, making me look at some paper at a distance covering my eyes, and also using some weird triangle hammer on my knees. I don't know how she made my leg kick out.

She moves over to a counter and pulls out what I think is a white plastic which is fatter on the end she is holding but narrows down and thins out at the end.

"Please put this in your mouth while I take the wrap off your arm"

I open my mouth and she places it under my tongue and I hold it there. She then undoes the wrap with a loud ripping noise and hangs it behind me. At that moment the same light-skinned woman walks back in with a dark reddish-colored stack in her hands.

"I think I got the right size from my estimate," she says

"Thank you. Also honey I can take the thermometer from your mouth now."

She takes her right hand and pulls it out and looks at the digits I noticed on the side with the other woman.

"I will go get a specialist," the light-skinned woman says

"Alright. Honey go ahead into the bathroom right over there and get changed for us please," she says gesturing behind her where a sliding door is.

I get up and take the clothes from her and walk over to the bathroom and begin removing my still cold but soaked clothing. As I unfold the dark reddish stack they look baggy and too loose for me to wear. But the lady asked me to.

*6 minutes*

As I fold my last amount of clothes I start pulling on my baggy loose clothes and feel too weird now. I walk out with my original clothes folded and see the dark-skinned woman speaking with a taller male beastman with grey fur wearing a white coat that I would see an evil scientist wear from the shows when they ran.

"Alright thank you, Hana," the man says

She walks out of the room and the beastman turns a bit looking at the clipboard and notices me standing with the wet folded clothes in my arms.