January Challenge - "She vanished just as the year ended"

She vanished just as the year ended , Tom had numerous times, gone over and over he's version of events with the police, " I'm telling you , she just disappeared, one minute I was refilling my glass and the next she's gone " . The police decided they had heard enough for now ." We'll be in touch Mr hardy , if anything pops up , you'll be the first to be informed " . Tom sat there on the chair at the kitchen table with he's head in he's hands " how could I let this happen , I shouldn't have taken my eyes off her , just a couple of seconds is all I was pouring that stupid drink , god damn it " tom shouted angrily . He's sister Stephanie was there to support her brother Tom " it'll be ok Tom , trust me , something will pop up soon , she can't be gone that far " . Tom looked over at Steph in despair with tears streaming down he's face , " you don't know her like i do , she'll be well gone Stephanie , she hasn't been doing well lately, she had stopped taking her meds , and she promised me she was ok , she even looked happy today with me , oh god Steph, what will i do " . Stephanie trying to be comforting " did have any family near by at all , somebody she could have gone to or hooked up with to lay low " ? . " Her parents disowned her years ago and they moved back to the UK, she was an only child " . Tom looking up to the ceiling, trying to think of what to do . Stephanie had a taught " hey Tom , how long has she been on the Meds ? , why was she on them ? , sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to put the peices of this puzzle together". Tom reluctant to answer because he knew it would dig up some information he didn't want to venture into . " Ok , you really want to know , you better take a seat , this could take awhile . You see Back in 2018 we tried for a baby but were unsuccessful numerous times until this one time we hit the target so to speak, we were over the moon , well I was anyway, Jess didn't look excited but still smiled anyway, I suppose she had so many miscarriages up to that point , I suppose she was so nervous but too nervous to be excited if that makes sense , 5 months into the pregnancy she started bleeding a bit , some days a little and some days alot , we decided to go get it checked out , obviously Jess was defeated spiritually, thinking this is how it's supposed to be , the hospital said everything was fine , it's just Jess had a weak uteris and this was normal that everything should be ok . That was 5 months in , I remember sitting there on the chair thinking should I pray to god or just hope that everything will be ok , one month later , Jess was being kept in for longer in the hospital because the bleeding had increased, but still the baby was ok . I remember the last evening I went over to visit Jess , her specialist came into her room to bring her for a scan to see what was happening, the scan was all good , everything was fine , doctor even said she was happy . Next morning I get a call from Jess , she was crying, she was saying that the baby is gone " . Tom now huddled over barely getting the words out . Stephanie put her arms around Tom , " and what happened next , it's ok if don't feel like telling me Tom " , Tom looked up at Stephanie with a solemn look " it's ok I'll carry on , " so we spent the next two days with our baby , holding her in our arms , she was so small Stephanie , her tiny little hands and feet " , " so ye had a girl " " yes , we did, we called her grace , the next thing we knew we had to arrange a burial, I organised the priest and the grave yard etc etc , I didn't want Jess taking the the reigns , she had enough to deal with ". Tom looked at he's phone , " i just wish she would ring or text , " " have you tried ringing her " " yeah numerous times , going straight to voicemail" . " Well at least we know her phone is still on , does it have a tracker on it ? " . " You know what I think it does , I'll try that and see does it help " . Tom picked up he's phone to check the radar , he soon realised she must have deleted it from her phone ." No , no , no , no , god damn it , she deleted it , now I'm really concerned " . " Listen, I know this might sound crazy but , do you think she could have gone out of the country " . " Oh god dont say that Steph , . Tom stared at the floor shaking he's head , " maybe id be better off dead , like our baby girl grace ? " , " hey , hey , hey , don't be like that , your baby girl grace is looking after you Tom , I'm sure the beautiful grave ye made for her is stunning" . Tom looked at Stephanie, " Steph your a genius" . " Why , I didn't do anything" . Tom jumped up , " come on let's go , now " . Stephanie looking confused, " where are we going at this hour , it's 1 am for gods sake". " The grave yard , she will be there , I forgot that when Jess is feeling down she tends to go there for refuge, sometimes she spends hours there , one time , a whole day ". Tom and Steph jumped in the car and Tom drove like a demon all the way to the grave yard in the hope of finding Jessica there at graces graveside . Parked up outside, Tom jumped out of the car and ran all the way to the back of the graveyard with he's illuminated torch in hand , panting profusely he arrived at the graveside and straight away was saddened to not see Jess sitting there, he said a quick prayer for grace before slowly walking back to the car . " Are you ok Tom ? , was she not there , I can tell by the look on your face " . " No she was not there , I give up Stephanie, what more can I do . " Ok Tom lets get you home and tomorrow we will go out looking the streets and knock on doors if we have to " . Tom drove the long drive home , got out and put the key in the front door to go inside , he turned around to beckon Stephanie to join him ," would you like a drink before you go " ? . " It's ok Tom I've got the kettle on now " Tom froze on the spot , he was looking at Stephanie but the voice came from the house , he turned slowly to see Jessica standing there in the kitchen acting normal as if nothing happened and as if everything was perfectly normal. " Tom , you ok ? " asked Stephanie, she ran up to Tom and could see why Tom looked like he seen a ghost . " Jesus , Jessica we've been looking everywhere for you, Tom has been going out of he's mind with" , Tom stopped Stephanie in her tracks " it's ok I got it from here Steph , look thanks for today your are amazing, I'll touch base with you in the morning first thing " . Stephanie headed away reluctantly. Tom headed in also reluctantly, he very slowly approached Jessica, he didn't want to startle her , for fear of her running off again . " Hi Jessica love " putting he's hand on her shoulder , " what's wrong Jess , please talk to me , if I've learned anything today it's that I need to listen to your heart more , I'm hear now and I ain't got anywhere " , Jess looked at Tom with a look of tiredness, not physical tiredness but emotional tiredness " I'm exhausted Tom , I feel like I've been going through all this on my own , or I don't talk about it enough either " . " Where did you go ? " Asked Tom . " I went home " , Tom looked puzzled " home ! " , " yes , home , where I lived with my mom and dad, noone lives there anymore but I have a key " " why did you go there ?" . " I wanted to lie in my old bed and feel like a child again , that way I wouldn't have to suffer heartbreak, it's like an emotional time machine, that bed takes me back to when I was young , without a care in the world. The two stood there for the rest of the night holding eachother tightly until the sun rose that morning.