“Do you like children, Dr Lawrence?”
“Absolutely.” Nikki had considered going into pediatrics, but the excitement of the ER had lured her away.
“Do you have kids?”
“I’m not married, but when I am I intend to have several.”
Nikki lifted Emma’s dress and listened to her chest sounds. “Has she received her three-month inoculations?”
“Last week. Before we moved.”
She undid Emma’s diaper. “Let’s check out things down under,” she crooned, just as a faint musical tune came from Alice’s shoulder-bag.
Without a word, Alice dug out a cellphone and glanced at the display. “Sorry, I know it shouldn’t be on. Would you excuse me?” she asked, her gaze upon her daughter lying on the table rather than on Nikki.
“Sure.” Nikki continued her exam while the other woman slipped into the hall. “We aren’t going anywhere, are we?”
Emma opened her eyes and blinked, then she stared at Nikki with large, deep blue eyes that would probably turn as dark as her hair.
“Hi, sweet-pea,” Nikki crooned as she retaped the diaper. “Don’t worry. Your mama will be back in a few minutes. She just went outside.”
Emma started to fuss and Nikki immediately held her so that the infant’s head rested on her shoulder. Content with that position, Emma quieted and Nikki scribbled her notes with her free hand.
Two minutes stretched to three, then four. Then five. After ten minutes, Nikki stepped into the hallway.
It was empty.
Puzzled, Nikki walked up and down the corridor, peeking in every room along the way until she ended at the reception desk.
“Have you seen Mrs Martin?” she asked Lynette.
“Not since I left her with you. Maybe she’s in the restroom.”
“I checked on my way here. She isn’t in there.” Lynette frowned. “How odd.”
Galen suddenly appeared behind her. “What’s odd?” He noticed the bundle in Nikki’s arm. “Whose baby?”
“She’s my patient. Emma’s mother’s disappeared.”
He blinked. “People don’t just vanish. She has to be somewhere in the hospital.”
“We’ve looked.”
“Then look again.”
Nikki, with the help of Galen, Lynette, and their fifty-five-year-old receptionist, Jean, searched every nook and cranny in the minor emergency clinic. When that proved fruitless, they split up and expanded their territory to include the hospital’s main lobby and the ER.
Thirty minutes and several unanswered pages for Alice Martin later, they met again at Jean’s desk.
“It’s obvious what happened,” Galen stated matter-of-factly.
“What’s obvious?” Nikki asked, bouncing the infant who had started to fuss in earnest.
“Emma’s been abandoned.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“ABANDONED?” Nikki stared at Galen in horror. “I don’t believe it.”
“Deny it all you want, but Alice Martin is gone and you’re holding her baby.”
“You don’t understand,” she insisted. “I know it looks bad, but Mrs Martin doted on her daughter. She wouldn’t just walk away and leave her. Why, she told me all about her likes, dislikes, and even her routine.”
“Really.” He didn’t sound or look convinced as he raised an eyebrow. “I’d say she was passing along information so you’d know a little bit about young Emma. This woman definitely knew what she was doing.”
Nikki felt sick inside. “I thought she was a typical new mother who couldn’t stop talking about her baby. I didn’t realize…”
“I doubt if she intended for you to know what she had planned.”
“But how could she have received a phone call at the right moment?”
“She had an accomplice.”
She shook her head. “The timing was too perfect. If I’d been called away or had had a number of patients waiting ahead of her, the other individual wouldn’t have known that.”
“Unless he was close by and could watch what was going on. It could also have been a case of blind luck.”
Nikki didn’t like the idea of this entire scenario being orchestrated to such great lengths. Would a woman who had bought a pretty new dress for her infant’s photo leave her with a complete stranger? She didn’t think so.
“Mrs Martin didn’t fit the picture of a woman who’d abandon her baby. She was well dressed, spoke as if she was educated, and was concerned about Emma’s care.”
“You’re stereotyping.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s another option to consider. Little Miss Emma may have been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped?”
“Sure. The guilty party may be starting to feel the heat, so she decided to dump her evidence, i.e. abandon Emma where she’d be found.”
The thought was horrifying, but Nikki read the papers and listened to the television news. It happened.
“I know appearances can be deceiving,” she said slowly, “but I’d like to believe that Mrs Martin simply ran outside for a minute to deal with her phone call.”
“There isn’t any way to sugar-coat the facts, Nik. She left and didn’t take her baby with her.”
She frowned, and ignored his comment. “Maybe she got hit by a car or something. We should check the parking lot.”
“There have been enough people in and out that someone would have noticed if she were lying on the street,” he said wryly. “If she needed medical assistance, someone would have paged me on the double.”
She hated it when she couldn’t argue because he was right.
He glanced at his watch. “It’s been nearly an hour,” he pointed out. “We’ll have to notify the authorities.”
“No!” Emma began to cry in earnest and Nikki softened her tone. “No. Let’s give Mrs Martin more time. I’m sure she has a reasonable explanation for disappearing without a trace.”
“We lock the doors in thirty minutes,” Lynette reminded her.
Nikki turned to Galen. “Surely we don’t have to do anything for another half-hour.”
“Other than find a baby bottle?” he asked dryly.
She smiled down at the baby, who was frowning. “That should be first on our agenda, shouldn’t it, sweet-pea?” She glanced up at Galen. “I’m sure I saw a diaper bag in the exam room. Let’s look in there.”
Nikki hurried back to the Bambi room, conscious of Galen keeping pace. To her relief, the oversized bag rested on the floor in the corner. She hadn’t noticed it before, but in light of what had happened, the bag was much larger than most and still bulged at the seams.
“Check it, will you?” she asked, as she jostled Emma to divert her attention from her hungry tummy. “Surely you’ll find her formula.”
Galen hoisted the bag onto the table and began unzipping pouches. “You’re in luck,” he said as he pulled a bottle out of a special insulated section designed to hold an ice pack.
Nikki grabbed it and headed for their lounge, hoping they had some means to warm the bottle. If not, a trip to the cafeteria would be in order. “OK, sweet-pea. You’ll get to eat. Just give me a minute.”
Not expert on the daily care and feeding of a baby, Nikki gratefully accepted Lynette’s help. Before long, Emma was happily slurping away her dinner in Nikki’s arms while Nikki brushed away the big tears clinging to her eyelashes.
“Goodness gracious,” she crooned. “Do you always eat this fast? You don’t want to have a tummyache when your mama comes to get you.”
“She won’t be coming back.”
Nikki glanced up as Galen spoke from the doorway, his tone flat. He walked into the room, carrying a sheaf of papers and looking quite grim as he towered over her.
“Are you sure?” Nikki asked. “How do you know?”
“Because of these.” He waved the pages under her nose.
“Well? What are they?”
“They’re documents granting temporary custody to you.”
&n
bsp; Nikki’s jaw dropped at his announcement. “Let me see,” she demanded, certain he was wrong and needing more proof.
He handed her the top page and she quickly scanned the legal jargon, only to discover that Galen hadn’t been wrong. Her name appeared as Emma’s interim guardian.
“Oh…my…gosh.” Stunned, she didn’t know what else to say. The situation was too strange to be believed and, even with her name in print, she wasn’t completely convinced.
She shifted her gaze to Galen. “There has to be a mistake. I can’t possibly look after a baby…”
He appeared as baffled as she felt. “You’re Nicole Marie Lawrence, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
“An Alice M. Martin has granted temporary custody of Emma A. Martin to you as of today.”
“But why would she do that? I never met her before.”
“It doesn’t matter. According to this document, which is signed by an attorney and notarized, you have custody of Emma until Alice returns or for the next three months, whichever occurs first.”
Custody! For three months! “And then what?”
“It isn’t spelled out. I presume Mrs Martin will come back for her by then or she’ll make other arrangements. If not, Emma will end up in foster-care.”
Foster-care. Of all words spoken, those were the two that penetrated her haze of disbelief and forced her to stop thinking about her own inadequacies for her unexpected responsibilities. If Nikki were caught in a situation where she had to choose between an impersonal Social Services bureaucracy who might or might not return her baby and a doctor who was theoretically capable of caring for an infant’s needs and who most likely wouldn’t fight her for custody, there wasn’t any doubt which alternative she’d pick.
But this wasn’t her alternative and being caught up in Alice’s made this entire situation seem like a weird dream.
Another thought came to her. “But, Galen, I’m only going to be in Hope for two months. If Alice doesn’t come for her by then…”
“Then I guess you’ll take Emma with you. Unless, of course, you decide not to keep her in the first place.” He raised one eyebrow.
She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what to do.” Eyeing him closely, she added, “You seem rather calm about all this.”
“Believe me, I’m just as surprised as you are,” he said wryly, “even if it isn’t obvious.”
He sank beside her on the lumpy sofa and shuffled the other papers. “This lady was certainly thorough. She covered all her bases and gave you a copy of her birth certificate, medical records, and her attorney’s address and phone number in case of an emergency.”
“Maybe he can explain what’s going on.”
“Maybe.” He pulled out a thick, sealed manila envelope. “And maybe this will hold all the answers to your questions.”
She eyed her name written on the front in feminine script. Slowly, she accepted the envelope.
“I’ll take her so you can read your letter.” He held out his arms and began handling little Emma like a pro as he patted her back until she let loose a burp that was bigger than she was.
While Galen murmured to the baby, Nikki carefully unsealed the glued flap and drew out a sheet of rose-patterned stationery.
Dear Dr Lawrence,
By now, you’ve realized what a huge duty I’ve thrust upon you. I apologize for dragging you into my desperate situation and sharing so few facts, but know that I would never have left Emma with anyone if my circumstances weren’t dire. After watching you this past week…
Nikki stopped reading. Mrs Martin had watched her? How? When? She continued.
After watching you this past week and deciding what to do, I realized that you are my only hope and the best answer for Emma’s continued well-being and safety. I wish I could give you more details, but I can’t yet. I will explain everything when I see you again.
I certainly hope so, Nikki thought.
My only stipulation is that you must swear to complete secrecy about Emma’s identity and how she arrived in your care. If you cannot do so for whatever reasons, please speak with my attorney, Howard Finch, immediately. I can’t emphasize the importance of keeping this information and these circumstances confidential.
Look after the treasure I’ve given you, Nikki.
It gave Nikki an eerie feeling to read her nickname. While it wasn’t any secret that she answered to “Nikki”, only Galen knew her well enough to use it.
Assure her every day of my love and tell her that I will see her soon.
Please contact my lawyer if, for any reason, there is an emergency. Otherwise I’ll see you in three months, if not before.
Rest assured that I will return for the love of my life unless it is physically impossible. If that unfortunate situation should occur, Mr Finch will pass along my final instructions.
Sincerely,
Alice M. Martin
P.S. Use the money for whatever Emma needs while in your care.
Nikki peeked in the large envelope and saw a smaller one lying in the bottom. She left it for now and focused instead on the letterhead of Finch, Finch, and Brown, attorneys-at-law. His letter was a repeat of Alice’s and included both his office and unlisted private phone numbers.
She stared at the pages, hardly able to believe their contents, but she had no choice. Alice’s plan, such as it was, was loosely outlined, which, along with the lawyer’s letter, proved that this hadn’t been a spur-of-the-moment decision. The question was, could she take on this responsibility?
“Well?” Galen demanded, impatient for Nikki’s response and easily able to see how stunned she was by these events.
“Alice assures me that she loves her daughter and will return for her.”
“Did she say why she left her?”
Nikki shook her head. “Do you want me to take her now?”
“Nah,” he said. Emma was sleeping in the crook of his arm, so he didn’t want to jostle her awake. Truthfully, he rather enjoyed holding a baby that wasn’t screaming blue murder because it was in pain or scared of the strange man poking and prodding it. “What did she say?”
“Just that she had to do this. Something about Emma’s safety. Read it for yourself.”
Galen took the page and scanned the handwriting. “Do you think she’s telling the truth, or just playing on your sympathies?”
“Then you don’t think I should get involved?”
“Part of me wants to warn you that you could be setting yourself up for something ugly.”
“In other words, if Mrs Martin is hiding from the law…”
“Precisely. On the other hand…” he gazed at the infant snuggled against his chest, one tiny hand clutching his lab coat in a tight-fisted grip “…the situation could be just as she’s described. That she’s desperate and you were part of her temporary solution.”
He hesitated. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m completely overwhelmed.”
“You can always call the attorney and decline.”
Her gaze met his. “Do you think I should?”
Galen ran his free hand through his hair. “I’m tempted to say yes, but I suspect you won’t agree.”
“You’re right. I can’t. Emma isn’t a package we can just pass around, waiting for someone to accept it.”
He drew a bracing breath, hoping that Nikki understood what she was getting herself into. “Are you sure? How are you going to take care of her?”
“The same way every other mother does.”
“You don’t have any paraphernalia,” he pointed out. “Babies require a lot of equipment.”
“That’s not a problem. Alice mentioned that she’d enclosed money.” She dug out the smaller envelope and gasped as she opened it. “Ohmigosh.”
“What?”
“There’s five thousand dollars in here.”
He whistled softly. “You definitely need to talk to this lady’s attorney. For your protection, we also shou
ld take these papers to an attorney friend of mine for his opinion.”
“You don’t think they’re legal?”
“I don’t know, but are you willing to risk it if they aren’t? According to this…” he held up the letter “…Finch’s firm is in Oklahoma City, which is a long cry from Hope. For all we know, he could have gotten his law degree off the Internet and is operating out of his basement.”
“Can people do that?” she asked, sounding curious. “Get law degrees off the Internet?”
“I don’t know, but for the right price I’m sure you can get any sort of degree you want. The point is, we don’t know anything about this guy and this is too important to make any assumptions.”
“Don’t worry. I’m convinced.”
“But we’ve gotten off the subject of how you intend to take care of her. You can’t bring her to work with you.”
“I’ll make day-care arrangements.”
“Overnight? I hate to disappoint you, but from the complaints I’ve heard from the younger ER staff, it can take weeks to find someone who has an opening, especially for an infant.”
“I didn’t say it would be easy, Galen.”
He tried again. “What about sleepless nights and all that? Caring for her alone means you’ll be the only one who will get up in the middle of the night for her.”
“I’ve lost sleep before,” she countered. “And Alice assured me that Emma rarely wakes up at night.”
He ached to know how this would interfere with his own plans for Nikki, but instantly decided that this could be a blessing in disguise. Nikki would need help and he intended to supply it.
“As long as you’re going into this with your eyes wide open…” he said.
“I am, provided the legal issues check out.”
He rose. “Then, if you’ll take her, I’ll try and catch Matt at his office.” He handed over the baby, noticing how natural Nikki looked with an infant in her arms. The idea of giving Nikki his baby made his body respond to the point he was grateful to be wearing a scrub suit and lab coat. If he didn’t break through her insecurities soon, he was going to go crazy with frustration. Patience might be a virtue, but it was one that he didn’t have where Nikki was concerned.
The Baby Rescue Page 6