Stolen Four Minutes

Dressed in black dress pants, a stunning vivid red top, and black flat shoes. “Excuse me, Miz Brayborn. My name is Mia Paisley Littleton. May I speak to you for a moment?” she softly asked. “Sure you can. Please call me Vett. How can I help you?” I asked, extending my hand and admiring her red blouse. Embracing my hand warmly, Mia answered, “It’s about my identical twin sister Tia Barrels; everyone calls her Teasy. She needs help, and I was hoping you would help me help her.” “I’ll try. What does she need help with?” I was thinking she had a quick question I could answer, then Dimma and I would be on our way to my office. “Vett, it is going to take some time to explain. May I sit down and explain it to you?” “How long do you think it will take?” I asked. “About thirty minutes. You’re my last hope. My sister and I have not received the answer we were hoping for from the investigators we’ve hired. Please let me tell you my sister’s story to see if you can help us.” Mia’s eyes had teared up. I immediately became concerned for her. I looked at Dimma to read her face. She knew what I was about ask. “Vett, we can talk tomorrow,” Dimma spoke before I asked the question. Though Mia looked non-threatening, I was uncomfortable meeting with her alone. Additionally, the restaurant was closing at 9:00 pm; we needed to be out of the way of the clean-up crew. The clean-up crew was on my mind as well. I was their employer and always made sure they were in a safe environment. I decided to take Mia to my office and to ask Dimma to join us. “Mia, this is my best friend Dimma Kirkland. Is it ok for Dimma to listen to what you have to say? Dimma will you stay?” Both nodded yes. “It’s nice to meet you, Mia,” Dimma expressed, extending her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Mia replied, gently shaking Dimma’s hand. “Mia, we should talk in my office because my clean-up crew is ready to begin cleaning.” The three of us walked the short hallway to my office. After we were all seated at my small round table and the exchanging of a few pleasantries, Mia began. “Teasy and I are fifty-two years old and will be fifty-three at the end of next week on the 28th of January. We both are in good physical health. Teasy was in a car accident on New Year’s Eve night. She was driving by herself on Route 29 and was hit head-on by another car full of revelers when she accidentally swerved into the other car’s lane. The only person that sustained any long term damage is Teasy. The four people in the other car are fine with no known physical damage from the accident. Teasy is in a coma and has been since the night of the accident. The doctors don’t know why she is still in a coma. They say there is no reason for her to be that way. She did hit her head on the steering wheel, but according to the doctors, it was not hard enough to induce a long-term coma such as what she is experiencing. There is no swelling or bleeding in her brain. She has not had a stroke. She is not a diabetic; therefore, she has not had a diabetic shock. No oxygen deprivation is going on. The doctors just don’t know why she is still in a coma.” “Has she ever been in a coma before,” I asked warily. “No. Never.” “So, her doctors have been baffled about her condition since New Year’s Eve? That’s nineteen days ago. Seems like a long time to not know what is going on with her.” “I know it is. They’re still baffled, but I know what the problem is. She has surrendered her will to live. She has given up her spirit. She slowly began surrendering it years ago, and now she has completely surrendered it.” “Why would she completely surrender it?” Dimma asked. Mia’s bottom lip quivered, she began shaking and twisting her hands together, and her eyes pooled with tears. She softly voiced, “Because she can’t face one more day alive or one more birthday or one more Christmas without her daughter and only child.” “Where is her daughter?” I softly probed, putting my hand on Mia’s twisting hands to comfort her. Dimma took the box of tissues from the top of my file cabinet and sat it on the table in front of Mia. “We don’t know. Her five-year-old daughter was snatched on December 5, 1975 between 12:25 pm and 12:29 pm. She has never been found.”