Second Opinion

by Alexander, Hannah

  “How many people are searching for her now?” he asked Lauren.

  “I’m not sure. Becky’s taking care of the calls.”

  “Tell Becky to call the police for an immediate neighborhood search around their house in case they haven’t already done that.”

  “Yes Dr. Sheldon.” She handed him the saline bottle. “His shoulder is probably going to start burning again before I get back.”

  He took it and urged Levi to lie back down.

  Levi stared at him with open accusation. “You’re calling the police on my mom.”

  Grant soaked the gauze with fluid and laid a hand on the child’s unhurt shoulder. “Not to arrest her. We want to make sure she’s safe. We want to take care of her.”

  Levi’s lips parted in alarm. “You think she’s sick?”

  Grant hesitated. No reason to worry the child yet. “We just want to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Why wouldn’t she be okay?” Levi’s voice rose with urgency. “She wasn’t sick, she was scared.”

  “Okay, Levi.” Grant used the soothing voice he once used with his own children when they were younger and something frightened them. “I’m trying to find out why she left you and Cody, because I don’t think she does that a lot, does she?”

  Levi studied Grant’s face in silence for a moment and then shook his head.

  Grant was relieved when Lauren stepped back into the room and resumed her place beside Levi, burn cream in hand.

  “Becky is calling the police now, Dr. Sheldon. She said the hospital social worker, Rose, should be here any time.”

  “But what if Mom’s home now?” Levi asked. “Can’t I go home?”

  Grant felt a familiar ache as he looked into the child’s frightened eyes. “If your mother arrives at home, someone will find her and send her here, Levi. Meanwhile, I want to keep you here long enough to make your shoulder stop burning.” He watched Lauren apply the cream. Levi barely flinched at her touch.

  “There you go,” she said with a note of soothing tenderness. “You’re so brave and strong. This is special medicine that makes the burn go away fast but if it doesn’t you need to let us know, okay?”

  Levi nodded. The child was more worried about his mother than he was about his own pain.

  “How long before Cody and I can go home?” The voice was more insistent this time.

  For a moment Grant didn’t answer. Then he sighed and sat down, once more eye to eye with Levi. “I’d love to be able to send you home, Levi, but you need a grown-up with—”

  “Mom will be home soon.” Levi’s eyes spilled fresh tears down his cheeks. “She’s never gone this long. She’s probably looking all over for us.”

  There it was again, the admission that Gina had done this kind of thing before. What would cause a responsible mother to leave her young children at home alone? Grant looked at Lauren and saw her watching Levi with a troubled gaze.

  “I know you’ve already answered a lot of questions for us, Levi, but would you answer some more for me?” Grant pulled some tissues from a box on the desk and handed them to Levi.

  The little boy studied Grant’s face carefully, took the tissues, and nodded.

  “You said something about your mother having bad dreams. Can you tell me anything about those dreams? Does she ever describe them to you?”

  Levi shook his head and reached up to dry the tears with his hands instead of the tissues. “She cries sometimes when she has them and she runs out of the house. Then later when she comes back she’s always sorry.”

  “How many times has this happened?”

  The child frowned. “It never happened before we came here to live.”

  “And you don’t have any family in this town?”

  Levi shook his head. “Mom and Cody are my family. Mom told us that’s all we need to be a family.”

  Grant squeezed Levi’s arm as his own heart squeezed inside his chest. Why did it have to be that way so many times? Divorce and death and illness were vicious enemies. He wondered how these children had lost their father.

  He turned to speak to Lauren but her eyes were closed and her face was very pale with a sheen of moisture across her forehead. She opened her eyes, caught him looking at her, and looked away quickly. She dabbed at her forehead with the back of her hand.

  She turned to the child. “Levi, would you like me to bring your brother in to see you?”

  “Yes!” Levi straightened and tried to sit up. Something in the doorway caught his attention a his mouth rounded in a big O. “Mom!”

  Lauren looked up and gasped. “Gina!”

  Chapter 5

  Surprised and relieved, Lauren rushed toward Gina. The poor woman, disheveled and flushed, limped into the room wearing white cut-off shorts and a tee shirt. Smudges of mascara below her eyes looked like bruises. Her short auburn hair fell across her freckled forehead in tangles. Her anguished focus centered on Levi and on the gauze that covered the wound on his shoulder.

  Levi sat up and reached his arms toward his mother. “You’re back! We were looking for you. Were you scared?”

  “Oh Levi,” she whispered, taking him carefully into her arms. “What happened? There was a note on the door at home telling me you were here. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but don’t touch my burned place,” he said.

  “I won’t. I see it. I’m so relieved you’re—” She drew back and leaned down to look at his shoulder. “How did it happen? How did you get burned?”

  “Soup. Nurse Lauren has been pouring water on it and putting this gunky stuff on it and telling me stories about a boy who killed a big mean giant with a slingshot. I could kill a big mean giant, too. Can I have a slingshot, Mom?”

  Gina pulled his head against her chest and pressed her lips to his hair, her eyes squeezed shut. Tears streamed in a sudden flood down her cheeks.

  “Dr. Sheldon was worried about you,” Levi continued, his bright voice muffled against her shirt. “I didn’t know where you were and people are looking for you. What happened?”

  She sniffed and straightened her shoulders as she gave Lauren and Dr. Sheldon a look of appeal. “How bad?”

  “He’s going to be fine,” Dr. Sheldon said. “He’s got a second-degree flash burn but it’s only on his shoulder, where you see the gauze. We’ve already cooled it down with saline and the burn dressing looks as if it will help a great deal.”

  She leaned back down to look her son in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Levi.”

  “Why are you crying? Did you get that dream again?”

  She blinked and darted a glance toward Dr. Sheldon. “I-I don’t remember a dream. I’m okay now. Where’s Cody?”

  “Cody’s fine, Gina,” Lauren assured her, noticing with dismay that the nausea she had experienced earlier was returning. What was wrong with her? “We were worried about you.”

  As Gina took a step backward she stumbled and cried out. Lauren looked down. At first it looked as if Gina had on canvas shoes that were tie-dyed a vivid red. A closer look revealed the splotchy brown-edged appearance of drying blood.

  Dr. Sheldon leaned forward and laid a hand on Gina’s shoulder. “Mrs. Drake, I’m Dr. Sheldon. I think I need to check you over and make sure—”

  She raised a hand and shrank from his touch. “I’ll be okay now that I have my boys.” She avoided eye contact.

  But Levi saw the shoes. “Mom, what did you get on your shoes?” He bent over the side of the bed and studied them closer.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I guess I stumbled on some rocks. I must have stained my shoes when I pulled them on.”

  “You don’t remember what happened?” Dr. Sheldon asked.

  “You ran away without your shoes this time!” Levi exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to do that.” He winced as if the burn had returned to his shoulder.

  Lauren drew his squirming body back down on the bed. “Levi, try not to move very much. Your mom’s safe now so you don’t have to worry about her. We’ll
let the police know she’s here so they can call off the search.”

  Gina caught her breath and looked up at Lauren, shock and fear streaking across her face. “The police?”

  “We were worried. We didn’t know what had happened to you.”

  “We needed to find you.” Dr. Sheldon hesitated. His gaze skimmed Levi’s face and then he looked once again into Gina’s eyes. “I cannot stress enough how important it is for us to examine you as soon as possible.”

  She shook her head. “I need to see Cody.”

  “But Mom, you’re bleeding,” Levi said.

  “I’ll take care of it when we get home.”

  “Levi.” Dr. Sheldon knelt again. “I need to take care of your mother’s feet in another exam room. That’ll be okay with you won’t it?”

  Levi’s copper-colored eyes, so much like his mother’s, studied Dr. Sheldon’s face soberly. “You’ll put medicine on them?”

  “Yes, I’ll take good care of her.” He straightened and reached for Gina’s shoulder to guide her out.

  She stiffened and pulled back. “Please, I need to be with my children.”

  “Later,” Dr. Sheldon said. “If not for you, then for the sake of Levi and Cody. Levi tells me you don’t have family nearby that we can call.”

  “No family.” Adamant. Firm.

  “Friends then?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “We’ve only been in Missouri a few months.” Her attention switched from Dr. Sheldon to Lauren and she must have detected something in Lauren’s expression that disturbed her. “Why? What’s going on? Why do you want to bring—” Her eyes filled with sudden panic. “Cody. Where’s Cody? Is there something—”

  “Cody’s safe in one of the other rooms with your neighbor.” Lauren placed an arm around her shoulders.

  Gina pulled away. “I want to see him. Please.”

  “You don’t want him to see your feet like this,” Lauren said gently. “It could scare him. Why don’t we bring him in here with Levi so they can be together, then we’ll bring you back in here as soon as you’re treated, okay? Your feet don’t look good right now.” She raised her eyebrows in a question to Dr. Sheldon.

  He nodded. “I’ll have Mrs. Walker bring Cody in here and we’ll let him know his mother’s safe.”

  Lauren got a wheelchair from the front of the ER and pushed it into the room.

  “I don’t need that,” Gina said. “I can walk—”

  Lauren took Gina’s arm in a firm grip. “You can ride more easily and prevent further damage.”

  Gina looked again at her son, then relented and allowed Lauren to wheel her out.

  Gina was a couple of inches shorter than Lauren’s 5’5”, with muscular arms and legs that didn’t appear to get a lot of sun. In spite of her obvious physical strength and her facade of self-sufficiency, she seemed frightened and vulnerable at the moment. It wasn’t a side of Gina that Lauren had ever seen before.

  Whenever Gina came into the emergency room to treat a patient, she was friendly, with a good bedside manner and a quick wit. According to the patients, she also had a tender touch.

  “Something else is going on,” Gina said as Lauren wheeled her close to the bed. “What?”

  Before Lauren could answer, Dr. Sheldon joined them and closed the door behind him. “Gina, I’m sorry.” He pulled a stool over and sat down, hesitated, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know that as a physician, if I even suspect the possibility of child abuse I’m mandated to report it, just as you are in your position as a respiratory therapist.”

  Gina’s mouth flew open. She caught her breath. Her face lost all color and she grasped the arms of the wheelchair. “Child abuse!” She looked from him to Lauren with open pain. “You reported me for—”

  “We know better than that now,” Lauren assured her.

  Dr. Sheldon reached across to help Gina out of the wheelchair. “As soon as someone from the Division of Family Services arrives, I’ll inform them of the change in circumstances.”

  “They can’t take Levi and Cody.” The panic in her voice chilled Lauren.

  “No, Gina.” Dr. Sheldon’s voice was gentle and patient. “They’re coming to make sure the children are okay. When we called them, no one knew where you were.”

  Gina covered her face with her hands and moaned. “This can’t be happening.”

  Lauren knelt in front of the younger woman and grasped her by the shoulders. “That’s why we need to give you a physical and neurological exam. We have to prove you’re physically and mentally capable of caring for them yourself so that no questions arise. Look at it as a professional. It only makes sense.”

  Dr. Sheldon stood up and pushed the stool out of the way. “Let us help you onto the bed so we can examine and treat you.” He reached for her elbow. She jerked away.

  “Please, Gina.” Lauren kept her voice soft and unthreatening.

  Gina’s full lips formed a straight line and she narrowed her smudged eyes. “You said Agnes Walker brought them in. She has letters for permission to treat. Why couldn’t you just leave it at that?”

  “Because she saw you racing out of the house about forty-five minutes before she heard your sons screaming.” Dr. Sheldon’s voice was not accusatory. “They were alone in the house all that time and she didn’t know it. Even though you obviously didn’t leave them intentionally, Gina, they were still alone long enough to be injured. Now you’ve told me that you don’t remember how you injured your feet. For your children’s sake and your own we need to find out what’s going on here. I’ll treat your injuries, do a neurologic exam, and take blood and urine tests.”

  “But you’re still going to turn me over to DFS?”

  “We aren’t going to ‘turn you over’ to anybody.” He leaned closer and made eye contact. “What we’ll do is ask them to back you up with support and advice while we try to find out what’s wrong with you.”

  “Those people don’t want to help me.” The tension in her voice emphasized every word. “They want to take my kids away from me. I know what they’ll do.”

  “No, Gina,” Lauren said gently. “I know our staff social worker. Rose will do all she can to help your family through this crisis.” She placed an arm around Gina’s shoulders once more.

  Gina’s face puckered and she covered it with her hands. “Maybe this is all a nightmare. I should never have come to Missouri.”

  Finally, Gina allowed Lauren and Dr. Sheldon to help her onto the exam bed. Lauren removed the blood-soaked canvas shoes and placed them in a biohazard bag.

  “Those people can claim I’m mentally incompetent,” Gina said.

  “They won’t,” Lauren said.

  “But what if they do?” She had her eyes closed and she rested her head on the pillow, tears running unchecked down the sides of her face and into her hair, darkening it to deep burgundy. “And what if they’re right?”

  “What makes you think that?” Lauren asked.

  Gina shook her head.

  Lauren helped Gina turn over onto her stomach and set to work cleaning the blood from her feet as Dr. Sheldon pulled on some sterile gloves and checked for injuries. He found two deep cuts, one with a sliver of glass about the size of half a toothpick in the left instep. No wonder she’d been limping when she came in. Lauren was amazed she could even walk.

  Dr. Sheldon requested a suture tray. “Gina, I’m going to try to remove this glass gently but if it hurts too much let me know and I’ll numb you up first. You’ll need sutures anyway.”

  Gina nodded wordlessly. He retrieved the fragment and gently explored both cuts for more glass. She didn’t flinch. There was no active bleeding at this point but it looked as if Dr. Sheldon would be doing several sutures in both feet.

  “I don’t think there’s any more glass but we need x-rays to make sure.” He removed his gloves. “You’re going to be sore for a few days. Lauren, irrigate the wounds while I’m gone. We’ll get urine after I sew her up. I’ll finish
examining her later.” He walked to the door and opened it. “I’ll give Becky orders.”

  Dr. Sheldon was gone for several seconds before Gina gave a heavy sigh. “The social worker really might find me to be incompetent. I think I’m losing my mind.”

  ***

  Archer was talking quietly with Cecile Piedmont, one of his favorite church members, and calming her son Calvin, when Dr. Sheldon returned to the exam room. The man smiled at Cecile and stepped over to check her vital signs.

  “I notice the family hasn’t descended on you yet.” Dr. Sheldon said.

  “Only for lack of time,” Cecile grumbled. “Most of them live out of state but Calvin and Archer assure me they’re on their way.” Her expression cleared. She leaned closer to Dr. Sheldon. “We couldn’t help overhearing that poor woman and her little boy next door,” she said quietly. “Is everything going to be okay?”

  “I sure hope so.” There was a firm quality in his gentle voice. He obviously honored patient confidentiality. He made a notation on the chart.

  “So when do I get to go home?” Cecile asked. “I’m ready now.”

  Dr. Sheldon chuckled. “Why don’t you take the rest while you can get it? From what I hear, when your family arrives you’ll probably cook up a meal for the whole gang.”

  “I need to keep active.” Cecile said it without a glance at her concerned son.

  “Mom, the tests haven’t even come back yet,” Calvin said gently. There was a special tenderness in his gaze. Archer knew he was more worried than he allowed his mother to see.

  “It won’t be long now,” Dr. Sheldon said. “You do remember what I said, don’t you? I may want to keep you overnight, so don’t get your hopes too high before we know for sure. Now, do you mind if I borrow your pastor for a few minutes? He’s suddenly popular.”

  “That’s fine,” the lady assured him. “He’s heard all my latest stories, anyway, and I think we’re pretty much prayed out.”

  Dr. Sheldon motioned for Archer to follow him. “I’ve got another job for you if you’re game.”

  Archer stood up from his bedside seat and followed the man out the door. “I didn’t realize what busy people you ER docs are on Friday nights.”