Where is the Baby? Read Free Page B

the nurse said, starting to dial. ‘Wouldn’t let her touch one of my kids either.’
    Mollified somewhat but still in a temper he knew was unreasonable, Brian went back to the curtained-off cubicle. The young candy striper he’d asked to babysit while he was gone was staring disconsolately at the child on the gurney who sat, still wrapped in the beach towel he’d grabbed at the Kmart, grinding grimy fists into her eyes. For some reason the blackened soles of her little feet touched him terribly, almost as much as her greenish teeth that had obviously never encountered a toothbrush, and her dark, depthless eyes.
    â€˜You can go now,’ he told the teenager. ‘Thanks a lot.’
    The girl at last lifted her eyes from the child, and said softly, ‘You’re welcome,’ then hurried away, visibly relieved to be going.
    â€˜You okay, honey?’ Brian asked.
    â€˜I’m sleepy, Mister Brian. Where’s the baby?’
    â€˜Someone’s coming to take pictures of you, and then the nurses will give you a bath before you see the doctor. After that, you’ll be able to have a good, long sleep.’
    â€˜But where’s the baby?’
    â€˜They’re taking care of her. I think she’ll be going home soon with her parents.’
    â€˜She wanted her mama. She cried for her all the time.’
    â€˜I’m sure she did.’
    A pause, and then, ‘What’s a bath, Mister Brian?’ she asked apprehensively.
    Jesus!
Brian thought. ‘You’ll get washed up nice and clean. The nurses will probably find something for you to wear, too, instead of that T-shirt.’ She was naked under the stained oversized shirt, and she reeked. Obviously it had been a very long time since anyone had taken real care of her. Dirt circled her neck, was crusted in the bends of her arms and legs. She was filthy from top to bottom. The visual evidence of how neglected she was revived his anger, made his teeth clench.
    She yawned hugely, her whole body shuddering with it. ‘Please, can I see the baby?’ she asked, looking past him at the doorway. ‘She liked me,’ she said almost inaudibly. ‘She letted me hold her.’
    â€˜I’ll find out about that soon as I can. Meanwhile, you go ahead and rest until the photographer gets here. I can see you’re very sleepy.’
    â€˜I won’t get in trouble? Toadman gets mad if I go asleep when he didn’t say I could.’
    â€˜You won’t get in trouble. Just lie down. Go on now.’ He reached for the cotton blanket on the shelf and unfolded it as she curled up on her side on the gurney. Covering her, he couldn’t resist running a hand over her greasy chopped-off hair, noticing as he did that the roots were fair. The bastards had not only hacked off her hair, they’d been dying it dark – maybe to keep her from being recognized.
    She lay gazing at him so intently that he found it unnerving. He gave her a smile he hoped was encouraging, and whispered, ‘It’s okay, honey. Sleep.’
    â€˜Okay, Mister Brian.’ But her gaze remained on him.
    â€˜Sleep,’ he whispered. ‘It’s okay. Just close your eyes.’
    At last, as her eyes fluttered closed, he sat down on the one chair in the cubicle and breathed slowly and deeply, reluctant – as the candy striper had been, but no doubt for entirely different reasons – to take his eyes off her. Having given his promise to keep her safe, he had the arbitrary idea that if he looked away, even for a moment, she’d be back in harm’s way. So he sat and watched her tuck her small soiled hands under her cheek and almost instantly fall asleep. He watched, promising himself he’d go check on the baby’s status once the photographer arrived.
    Stricken by her deplorable condition but filled with admiration for her ingenuity, he told himself that if her family couldn’t be found, he’d