Let me in - 24. Chapter 24

They ended up at the hospital by 2pm. They still hadn’t heard from Second Hayley, and had been unable to find Elder Darren.

“I just have to check on the children, then we can go home,” Louis chatted cheerfully as they headed for his temporary office. Cade had insisted on accompanying him, he said to see what Louis did at the hospital, but Louis knew his mate just wanted to keep an eye on how he was being treated. Cade was still annoyed that Louis hadn’t told him about the idiots that had given him grief.

He grabbed his notes and then led Cade towards the children’s ward. They were greeted by a hoard of kids running to hug Louis. They were all talking—both out loud and silently—a mile a minute, except Sherry, who had just latched onto his leg and didn’t seem likely to let go any time soon. She was also staring at Cade, making Cade frown and then look to Louis with a perplexed expression.

Louis bent down and within a few seconds the little girl was smiling at him and nodding. Louis looked at Cade and grinned. “Sherry, says you’re handsome and she wonders if she can have a cuddle.”

Louis chuckled silently as Cade blushed, but crouched down holding his arms out. Sherry grinned and ran to him. She locked her arms round his neck and almost pulled Cade off balance until he stood picking her up and securing her to his side.

“You should be honored. Sherry doesn’t normally take to strangers but she said you feel safe and she can sense a connection between you and me. That’s her talent. She can sense emotions better than anyone and can tell when people have a connection such as partners, family, or just lovers—which has caused a few embarrassing problems, apparently one of the attending doctors is having an affair with one of the nurses. But she only told me so his secret is safe, for now.”

Cade was looking at Sherry in awe. “Can I speak to her? Why doesn’t she speak?”

Louis shook his head sadly. “She pointed out a few things to people who didn’t like what she said. After being bullied by her classmates she clammed up. But she can hear you just fine and if she trusts you enough, she’ll speak to you the same way I do.”

Cade nodded and turned back to Sherry. “So little one, you like cuddles do you?” He couldn’t think of anything else to say at that moment. He was angry that this sweet little girl had been bullied just because of what she sensed.

“Yes, I love cuddles,” came her sweet high voice in his mind.

Cade grinned at her, glad she seemed to trust him enough to talk. “How old are you?”

“I’m ten.”

“Ten? That means you’re a big girl,” Cade gasped, causing Sherry to giggle.

“You do know she won’t speak to you, don’t you?” a nurse said as she entered the ward. “She doesn’t speak to anyone.” Then she frowned. “How did you know she’s ten?”

“She told me herself. Just because she won’t speak out loud to anyone, doesn’t mean she won’t or can’t speak to some people, somehow.” Cade was a bit annoyed at the nurses tone, it had sounded like an accusation.

Cade remembered something his mother had spoken about once. “Maybe she has selective mutism. It means she’ll speak but only to people she trusts and I am honored to be counted among that group.” He turned back to Sherry. “Hey sweetheart. Why do you speak to me and my mate but no one else?” Louis had given him a good idea what the answer would be but he wanted to hear her answer.

“When I talk people tell me what I’m saying is wrong. Dr. Lou said I can tell him whatever I want and he won’t tell anyone. I know he’s connected to you, so I know you won’t tell anyone either.”

Cade thought this over and saw the logic in what she was saying. Why say anything if she was going to get shot down all the time?

“Hey, love. She’s the orphan Jeff was talking about, isn’t she?” Cade asked Louis, receiving a nod.

After thinking a bit Cade turned to the nurse. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

“Yes I read the papers. You’re the soon to be new senior elder of the council.” The nurse replied frowning at his sudden question.

“Close, I am the new senior elder of the council.” He turned to Louis. “What’s this little one’s health like? Can she go outside?”

Louis looked up from some notes he was taking. “Her physical health is fine. Until Jeff mentioned her being an orphan I didn’t even know why she was being kept in. But I assume they have nowhere else for her to stay.”

Cade grinned. “Good, does that mean it would be okay to take her outside for a while? There’s a duck pond in the hospital grounds and I think it would be better than her being cooped up here.”

Louis smiled. “Why don’t you ask her if she wants to go? If she agrees you can swing by the kitchen for bread to feed the ducks and I’ll meet you there when I’ve finished these notes.”

After confirming Sherry would love to go outside, and then pulling rank with the nurse to get her out the way, Cade carried Sherry out into the late afternoon sunshine.