Here I Am. Send Me.-Chapter Thirty-Three

Claire's secret comes out, and it's unbelievable.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

         PRESENT DAY

         Evelyn gasped.

         The noise broke Claire from her revery and she looked at the younger woman. A small, sad frown crept across her face.

         “She had a cyanotic heart defect, blue baby syndrome. Normally, babies with that condition live twelve to eighteen months but Leyla’s heart just stopped working at nine weeks.” For several seconds, Claire’s eyes closed. Her next words seemed as if she forced them from her throat.

         “That was when we all went insane.”

         Evelyn looked over at Chris to see his brow furrowed in concentration. He didn’t seem to understand this any more than she did. Later, she had time to think, what was coming should have been obvious. But, at that moment, she was lost.

         “What are you talking about, Claire?”

         “I understand that you’re a certified medical professional and also work with law enforcement. If you feel obligated to turn me in to either the licensing board or the police, I will understand. I just can’t lie any longer.”



         SEVEN YEARS PREVIOUS

         Would it work? Claire had already punched 9-1-1 into her phone but had not yet hit ‘send’. Her mind was racing. What she was thinking was impossible. It had to be, didn’t it? It was unconscionable at every level. But it could work. Her adrenaline-fueled thoughts flew through problem after problem and attached a solution to each. She got to the end of the list. It could work.

         She deleted 9-1-1 from her phone and called Courtney.

         “Momma. Is everything okay?” Claire’s granddaughter’s screams were in the background.

         “I don’t know, baby… I mean ‘no’. I don’t know but I need to ask you something. If there was a way to give up your baby for adoption but stay a part of her life, would you take it?”

         Courtney’s voice was exhausted and the crying at the other end hit a crescendo. “Yes.”

         Claire had not expected that. She had needed to ask but had expected Courtney to do the same thing she had done for over a year and back out when it was time to make the final decision.

         “I need to make another phone call. I’ll call you back.” She hung up before Courtney could start asking questions.

         She called Cal and he answered immediately. “Is everything okay there?”

         Claire put on her calm, professional nursing tone. “No Cal. I’m afraid that it isn’t.”

         “What’s wrong?!”

         She had to hit this quick and hard to put him off balance. He couldn’t be allowed to think. “I’m afraid that your daughter has died.”

         “WHAT!” His voice went shrill like a small child. “That can’t be true. Everything was all right this morning. You must be wrong.”

         “I’m sorry, Cal, but I’m not wrong. We’ll have to wait for a doctor, but it looks like Blue Baby Syndrome. There’s no way that you or Josey could have stopped this.” She didn’t wait for a response but pressed ahead. “Cal, there’s something that needs action right now. Josey appears to have had a psychotic break.”

         Other than the couple of classes she had taken in nursing school, Claire knew almost nothing about psychiatry. She didn’t even know if ‘psychotic break’ was the correct term. It was something she had heard on television.

         “What do I need to do?”

         “How has Josey’s mental health been?”

         “Not good. The stress of having the baby has been tough she’s been… relapsing. But she’s going to start going to the doctor again.”

         “By relapsing, do you mean that she’s been having trouble differentiating reality from fantasy.”

         “Yeah, sometimes, it’s been getting pretty bad.”

         “Cal, the death of your baby caused her to disassociate. If we can convince her that Leyla is still alive, then we may be able to keep from losing Josey completely.” Everything coming out of her mouth was complete hogwash. She knew it but pressed forward.

         “How do we do that?”

         She hoped that he was not thinking straight. “I know where we can find another baby, another little girl.”

         “I don’t understand.”

         “If you raise this baby in Leyla’s place and we can convince Josey that Leyla never died, then we can keep Josey from having to be put in an institution for the rest of her life. It’s the only way.” The thought occurred to Claire to pray for Cal to buy into this, but her soul recoiled from such a prayer, and she pushed the idea down.

         Cal was sobbing. “Aunt Claire, I don’t know what to do.” He had not called her that in years.

         “I’m a nurse, Cal. I can get you through this with your family intact. You, Josey, and your daughter.”

         “But she won’t be my daughter!”

         “Yes, she will. She’s your daughter. You got Courtney pregnant.”

         The phone filled with his deep, gasping breaths. Then, “I don’t believe you.” And he hung up.

         It was over. Claire looked at her phone and sat back on her haunches. She reached over and checked Josey’s pulse which was still in tachycardia. She then placed the back of her hand against the girl’s forehead. It was clammy. She was alive. If Cal was not going along, then she had to call 9-1-1.

         Her phone rang. She answered it. “Cal?”

         “Is what you just said true?”

         “Yes. Courtney never left town, and she had the baby down in Alabama. It’s a little girl, and she’s yours.”

          “Why didn’t Courtney tell me?”

         “She wouldn’t tell me. I thought you might know.”

         The long silence on the other end spoke volumes. He knew something. “And Courtney agrees with this?”

         “I think she does.”

         “And it’s the only way to keep Josey out of a hospital?”

         “In my opinion, yes.” What was another lie among hundreds?

         “What do we do next?”

         After she talked Cal through the next steps, he told her that he would drive through the night and be home by dawn.

         Claire called Rachel who answered angry. “What are you calling me so late for? Not all of us work the night shift!”

         “Rachel, I’m at Cal and Josey’s place. You need to come over here right now.” Claire didn’t let her argue but hung up and called Courtney telling her to bring the baby and the birth certificate.

         Rachel arrived within minutes, and Claire met her at the door.

         “I need to show you something. Follow me.”

         Rachel didn’t budge. “Why are you here? Did that loony that married my Cal call you before she called me?”

         “No. Cal called me. Come on.”

         Rachel stepped into the apartment and followed Claire into the bedroom. She saw her daughter-in-law and grandchild on the floor. “What’s happening?”

         “Rachel, your grandbaby is dead.”

         “You’re lying.” But Rachel didn’t kneel to check for herself. “She killed my grandbaby?”

         “No. Your granddaughter died of Blue Baby Syndrome. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. Josey apparently found the baby and went into catatonic shock.” The made-up television phrases were coming fast and furious now.

         “Is the ambulance on the way?”

         “Not yet. I haven’t called them. We need to talk first.”

         They heard a sound in the front room. “Momma?” It was Courtney.

         Claire looked at Rachel. “She doesn’t need to see this.”

         They stepped out into the front room to find Courtney holding a baby.

         “What’s going on?” Rachel said. “Whose baby is that?”

         Claire stepped off the cliff. “That’s your granddaughter. The baby that Cal had with my Courtney.”

         “Momma!” Courtney looked aghast and the baby, that had been asleep against her mother’s chest, squalled.

         Rachel stood for a moment, calculating. She said nothing for several seconds as her mind put all the pieces together. Then she spun with a high right hook, planting her fist squarely into Claire’s jaw, sending her to the ground.

         Rachel spun toward Courtney. “Did you tell Cal about this?”

         “No.”

         “Why not?”

         “I think you know.”

         This answer stopped Rachel short. “Did you tell anybody about anything?”

         “No.”

         Claire groggily sat up, using one hand as a prop and the other holding her head. “Is that out of your system?”

         “I’m not sure. It depends on what other surprises you have in store.”

         It would have been better if Courtney had arrived before Rachel to give them time to compare notes. Hopefully, Courtney could catch up. “Courtney’s tired of hiding out and she’s thinking of leaving town, for good, this time. And she’s going to take the baby with her.”

         Courtney looked dumbstruck but Rachel understood immediately. “Unless?”

         “Unless she can get her old life back.”

         Rachel again thought through what she had just heard and came to the correct conclusion. “You’re crazy.”

         “I can make it work.”

         “Momma, what are you talking about?”

         “Josey’s baby is dead.”

         “What?! No!” Courtney’s eyes began to tear up.

         “Sweetie.” Claire’s voice was calm. “The rest of the night is going to be very hard. We don’t have time to go all emotional.”

         “Momma, is there a dead baby in the next room?”

         “Yes. And it’s going to get worse.