Finding a Hart Read online

  “Go ahead. He needs to stay in the incubator for now but you can touch him.”

  I nodded my head quickly and walked to the little guy’s bed, slowly reaching through the opening. He was wearing only a diaper and a tiny, cotton hat and had several monitors stuck to him. His eyes were closed as he sucked furiously on a green pacifier and his little fist immediately grasped my finger.

  “Who would do this to their baby?” I whispered as I shook my head. “You would think that nothing would surprise me anymore but here I am… still stunned.”

  Kara let out a long sigh. “With the Safe Haven laws, there really is no reason for newborn abandonment. At least they had the good sense to tie off his umbilical cord with some sort of hair tie and kept him from bleeding to death.”

  I ran my other hand up his soft little legs and admired the resilient little guy for a bit. There wasn’t a way to explain it but I felt a connection to that baby. I wanted him to be okay more than I wanted anything and I knew that I would dedicate my time to making sure someone loved him the way he deserved.

  I was lost in my own head until Kara’s hand touched my shoulder. I looked up at her and she gestured to the window.

  “Looks like some detectives are here.”

  I turned my attention to where she was pointing and recognized the faces peering in through the glass. I smiled at them before looking back at the baby.

  “I’ll be here tomorrow to see him,” I said to Kara as I stood and she just grinned.

  “Sounds good. I’ll be here. Have a good night, Stephanie.”

  I bid her goodnight and walked out of the NICU. I rounded the corner once I’d grabbed my things and the detectives greeted me immediately.

  “Hey, guys.” I offered both Kevin and Valerie a smile. “It’s been a week since I last saw you. Way too long.”

  Kevin chuckled as he shook his head. “No kidding. You looked fantastic. Hot date?”

  I nodded my head. “Troy and I went to dinner tonight.

  “And you found him after, huh?”

  “Thankfully. That was a pretty scary moment.” I turned to look through the window before glancing back at the detectives. “His little cry was so weak. I don’t know how much longer he would have lasted.”

  “Poor guy. We’re all lucky to have you, Steph.” Valerie flipped open her notebook with a smile. I spent twenty minutes going over how I found him and what the doctor had told me about the baby.

  Valerie closed her notebook and rubbed her eyes tiredly. The two of them were with the Family Investigations Bureau within the Phoenix Police Department. I saw some terrible stuff but I knew they saw way worse.

  “We’re pulling surveillance from the surrounding businesses to see what we can find. We’ll also take DNA to run through the database. Our biggest fear right now is whoever dumped the baby also did something to the mother.”

  “I hope not. Neither scenario is a good one.” We all sat in silence for a moment and it wasn’t until I pulled out my phone so I could order an Uber ride that I spoke again. “Let me know what you find out. I’ll be in tomorrow to check on the little man.”

  They both gave me swift hugs and I headed down the elevator to the loading zone. A car pulled up a few minutes later and I didn’t speak at all on the ride home. My thoughts were back at the hospital and with that little boy in the NICU. I had no idea how someone could just do that to a baby. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, and I was fuming by the time I walked through the front door to our house.

  “I didn’t think you’d be back tonight,” Alyssa said as I locked us in for the night. “I’m surprised Troy didn’t take you home to rip that dress off of you.”

  I offered her a tiny smile. “That was the plan until I found the newborn baby in the garbage.”

  “What?” Lyssa’s eyes went wide and I fell onto the couch while recapping my evening for her. By the time I was done, she looked pissed, too. “I can’t even believe that. What are your thoughts? Drugs?”

  “I hope not but what else would possess you to abandon your hours old baby in the garbage?” I sighed and ran a hand down my face. “Hopefully the doctor will know more of what we’re up against tomorrow.”

  Alyssa wrapped me in a tight hug. “You saved him, Steph. No matter what happens, you saved that little guy’s life. Good job.”

  When I went to bed not too long after that, my face scrubbed free of make-up and the slinky red dress draped over my closet door, I couldn’t stop seeing that little baby in my mind. Kevin had mentioned something happening to the mother but my gut told me that the mother was the one who left him there.

  When I would imagine my future all of those years before, I always assumed I would be married and have children by the time I was twenty-five. It hadn’t happened for me, obviously, and I think that realization just made me angrier that someone would throw away that gift so lightly.

  It was a couple of hours before I finally fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Stephanie

  My body was so used to getting up at five in the morning that I blinked awake shortly before six without the help of my alarm. Since I didn’t have to work, I didn’t try to get up. I laid there for so long that I was somehow able to doze back off. I probably could have slept for hours but the buzzing on the nightstand woke me up.

  It was lighter in the room when I rolled over to grab my phone. I swiped my thumb across the screen and brought it to my ear.

  “This is Stephanie.”

  “Steph, it’s Robin. Were you still sleeping?”

  I wanted to answer with sarcasm but my brain wasn’t awake enough yet to formulate something witty. “Yeah. What’s up?”

  “I never even imagined that you’d sleep beyond six.” She chuckled slightly. “Go figure. Want me to let you go?”

  I rubbed my eyes while slowly forcing myself to a sitting position. When the blankets fell away from my shoulders, I shivered slightly. “No, it’s fine. I won’t be able to go back to sleep anyway.”

  “Okay. Well, this should be no surprise but I’m officially adding the baby from last night to your caseload. I figure you’re going to be working with the police closely anyway as the first responder so it makes sense.”

  “I agree.” I pulled a sweatshirt over my head and walked out into the living room. “I was going to request it be my case anyway.”

  “Okay, good.” Robin paused for a moment. “Depending on how much information they get throughout the week, the police department is tentatively scheduling a press conference on Friday regarding Baby Doe. I’m going to need you to go on camera.”

  “What?” I was suddenly wide awake and the panic in my voice had risen to a high pitched decibel. “Why?”

  “You found him so they’re going to want to hear from you. Besides, it might not even happen.”

  “I hate press conferences.”

  “I know. So you’ll do it?” I could hear the smile in Robin’s voice and didn’t like her in that moment.

  I started the coffee maker and sighed. “Fine. Email me the details.”

  “Thanks, Steph. Try to go back to sleep.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Have a good weekend.” I ended the call and dropped my phone to the counter. After grabbing a cup of coffee, I went into the living room and found Alyssa there, positioned in some yoga pose, and she smiled when she caught sight of me.

  “Hey, Steph. Join me in Virabhadrasana.”

  “That sounds like you’re offering me some sort of STD,” I told her as I plopped onto the couch. She grinned and shook her head.

  “You love when I speak Sanskrit to you. Besides, it’s a simple warrior’s pose that even the non-athletic Stephanie Gibson can do.”

  “I’m doing a pose right now.” I took up as much of the sofa as possible. “I call this one the couch potato.”

  Alyssa snorted and did some complicated bend. “I’m almost done.”

  She worked through her weird
yoga stuff for another ten minutes before turning off the TV and taking the only free spot on the couch. I had no idea how she was so awake when we had both gone to bed so late but that was typical Alyssa.

  “What are you doing today?”

  I sipped my coffee and shrugged. “I’ll need to go in and get an update on the baby and start my file on him. Otherwise, I have no idea.”

  “Good. You and me, new Pitch Perfect movie tonight. You need some fun.”

  I chuckled and nodded my head. “Sounds perfect.”

  We sat on the couch together for another few minutes before I stood to go shower. Once I was wearing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved blouse, and my sneakers, I waved to Alyssa and walked out to my car.

  I drove from our small house to the hospital where the baby was. I washed my hands and stepped inside the NICU, greeting Kara before walking right towards the little guy’s incubator. It was empty when I got there, though, and I shot her a frantic look.

  “Where is he?”

  She grinned and gestured towards an open bed near her. “He graduated from the full incubator as soon as his body temperature stabilized and he proved he could maintain it.”

  I moved towards the hospital bassinet and stared down at the tiny figure. He had a pink and blue striped hat on, a white shirt, and a diaper. His little eyes were closed and his mouth was pursed into the perfect ‘O’ shape as he slept.

  “He looks good,” I said quietly as I stared down at him.

  “Definitely. He’s a sweet little guy, too.” I felt Kara approach where I was standing. “Dr. Struthers will be in soon to go over his chart.”

  I reached a finger out and gently touched his cheek. He was perfect. A perfect little guy that wasn’t wanted by whoever had left him. “Okay.”

  “Why don’t you pick him up, Stephanie?” Kara asked and I turned my head to look at her questioningly. She just smiled. “He is starved for human affection and he’s not getting as much as he needs. Hold him. Cuddle him. He should be ready to eat soon.”

  I hesitated before reaching in to do just that, bringing him to my chest so his cheek was against the bare skin above my shirt. Kara directed me to a rocking chair that was next to his bed, helping me so I didn’t disrupt his monitors, and she draped a blanket over him once I was a settled.

  “Have you been here all night?” I asked as I glanced up from the baby to look at her. She shook her head.

  “I left right after you did last night and just got here about fifteen minutes ago.”

  I rocked him for a few minutes and watched the others in the NICU. Kara and another nurse floated between beds and incubators, helping parents and adjusting babies. The room was quiet, with only the sounds of machines and murmurs of voices being heard throughout.

  After I’d been rocking the baby for about thirty minutes, two doctors walked in and one smiled at me before walking over to where I sat.

  “Ms. Gibson. How are you?”

  “Hi, Dr. Struthers. I’m good. How are you?”

  He nodded and picked up a chart before pulling a rolling stool over to sit with me. “I’m great, thanks for asking. I figured you’d want an update on Baby Boy Doe, right?”

  “Yeah,” I replied, frowning at the name he’d been given. “I need to start preparing a foster family for him so if you could give me a timeframe, too, that’d be great.”

  Dr. Struthers flipped through the chart before setting it down. “Well, we’re still running some tests to ensure we aren’t missing anything from his initial intake last night. Thankfully, his toxicology report came back clean.”

  Interesting. I was starting to doubt my theory that he’d been left by his mother. “Really? Because of the abandonment, I’d just assumed the mother had been a user.”

  “So did we,” Dr. Struthers replied with a nod. “But no traces of drugs in his system at all. He has a really poor suck reflex and we need to correct that so he can eat. We’re probably looking at another week as long as he can avoid a feeding tube. Baby Boy should be ready to go after that.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked up at the doctor. “Can’t we call him something else?”

  Dr. Struthers laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “He’ll need a name but we figured that you guys would handle that officially. What do you propose?”

  “A strong name.” Kara chimed in. “He deserves one to match his personality. Like Bruce.”

  “Bruce?” I said, wrinkling my nose. “Like Bruce Wayne?”

  “Bruce Banner. The Hulk.” She let out a small laugh and both the doctor and I joined in.

  “I don’t know about Bruce.” Dr. Struthers stared at the baby for a moment. “What about Thor?”

  “Thor?” I gave the doctor a look of mock horror. “No way. What about Christopher?”

  “Oh, Chris,” Kara said excitedly. “Like Chris Evans… Captain America.”

  I nodded. “Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Chris Hemsworth.” I looked at the doctor. “That gives him a little bit of Thor, too.”

  Everyone chuckled and Dr. Struthers bobbed his head in agreement. “Chris he is.”

  “Hi, Chris,” I whispered to the tiny infant on my chest. “You look like a Chris.”

  “Well, good news for Chris… His lab work didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary, either. Other than being a bit early and the obvious hypothermia, he’s in great health.”

  I let out a long sigh before a wide grin stretched across my lips. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”

  “You and me both,” Dr. Struthers agreed as he stood from the stool. “I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

  I didn’t put the baby down for quite a while. I fed him, although he only ate very little, I changed his diapers, and I cuddled him as much as possible. I knew that there was a crucial time for babies to bond with their parents and Chris was missing out on that. It wasn’t until I realized that I’d been at the hospital for more than five hours that I finally put him down.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow, buddy,” I whispered before leaning down to press my lips to his forehead. I straightened up and sighed at Kara. “Cuddle him for me later, will you?”

  She laughed and nodded quickly. “Of course. Will you be in tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, sometime before lunch. I’ll even bring coffee.” I waved to her and forced myself to leave the NICU before I attempted to pick up the baby again.

  I spent the rest of my day getting my domestic chores done. I grocery shopped, cleaned up our kitchen, my bathroom, and the living room, and got all of my laundry done. Alyssa had been gone for most of the afternoon but reappeared shortly after seven.

  “How’s the baby?”

  I smiled just thinking about the little guy. “He’s going to be okay. We named him Chris.”

  My best friend listened dutifully during the drive to the theater and I told her all about him. She shook her head when I was done.

  “People seriously suck.”

  Some really did. My job meant I saw the worst of people but it also meant I saw the best. I needed to focus on that sometimes.

  The movie was hilarious. We gorged ourselves on popcorn, nachos, and candy while laughing like cackling hyenas. The two of us spent the whole drive home comparing our favorite lines and I was eternally grateful to my friend for making me leave the house to do something fun. I had no idea what I would do without Alyssa in my life.

  I headed to the hospital Sunday morning after a detour through the Java Express drive-thru and rode up the elevator with the cup carrier in my hands. I stopped to wash my hands and set the coffee on the counter as I walked into the NICU. Kara’s head turned and she immediately grinned at me.

  “Hey. You really did bring coffee.”

  I grinned and nodded my head. “I even brought extras if someone else wants one.”

  “You’re amazing,” she said as she picked up a cup and brought it to her nose. “This is magical.”

  I couldn�
�t help laughing as I moved towards the little bed that held Chris. He was fast asleep with his little fists resting on either side of his head. He was wearing a shirt and a diaper but his fuzzy, blonde hair was uncovered and I ran my fingertips through it. I wanted to hold him but I didn’t want to disturb his sleep.

  “Any luck on finding his relatives?” Kara asked as she took a stool next to another incubator and adjusted something on the monitor. I shook my head as a baby cried behind me. When I gestured to her, Kara just nodded. I pulled the little girl in my arms and pushed her pacifier into her mouth.

  “No one has reported a newborn missing but a press conference should be held Friday. Hopefully we’ll get some good leads from that. What’s her name?”

  “That’s Jewel.” She just shrugged her shoulders when I furrowed my brow. “I didn’t name her. She was born yesterday.”

  I smiled at the baby girl, whose dark blue eyes were wide open as she sucked the pacifier furiously. “She’s cute.”

  I held onto the baby while I chatted with Kara and got to know her a little better. She was a year younger than me and had been a nurse for about three years. Her older sister had set her up with a bunch of different online dating accounts and kept sending her out on blind dates. So far Kara had done three and each one had been worse than the last.

  “I’m serious, Stephanie. He didn’t take his eyes off my boobs once.”

  We both laughed and I shook my head as I put Jewel, who was now asleep, in her bed. “Well, maybe sometime we can go out and see if we can find you someone that you can preapprove in advance.”

  “That’d be fun,” she replied with a smile, her honey brown eyes sparkling. Kara was gorgeous. She was a little shorter than me, maybe by about four inches, and her petite frame seemed to have curves in the best places. Her long, light brown hair had golden streaks throughout it and was tied back into a ponytail that bounced when she laughed.

  When Chris woke up with a tiny cry, I immediately scooped him out of his bed and cuddled him to my chest. Kara gave me a bottle and I tried to get him to eat for over an hour before he just ended up falling back to sleep without taking any of it. When Dr. Struthers came in, he sighed and shook his head.