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

Claire's story comes to an end, and Evelyn and Chris have a decision to make.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

         PRESENT DAY

         “Wait.” Evelyn interrupted. “You were having this conversation in the apartment with catatonic Josey and the child’s corpse?”

         Claire nodded.

         “And you had another child in there with you?”

         Another nod.

         Evelyn couldn’t hold it back. “You’re a monster!”

         Claire nodded a final time. “I know.”

         Chris didn’t disagree with the statement but said “Finish it, Claire. Get it all out.”



         SEVEN YEARS PREVIOUS

         “I can’t!” Courtney’s head shook vigorously back and forth like a dog playing tug-o-war.

         “This will be your only chance, honey.” Claire pleaded. “You get to be free while still being a part of your baby’s life.”

         “But a child is dead!”

         “And there’s nothing we can do about that. But her death can make your life so much better. You just have to be strong.”

         “I can’t.” This time it came out a whisper.

         “Wait!” Rachel’s voice was gravel. She wiped the first tear from her cheek that Claire had ever seen. “This is going too fast. Let me think.”

         Claire tried to push the frustration down, but she didn’t have time to babysit both women. “Courtney didn’t put Cal’s name on the birth certificate. She left it blank. You go along with this now or you never see her again.”

         The gravel turned into a growl. “Don’t push me, Claire.”

         “It’s now or never. I know Cal. If he comes home and sees Leyla’s body, he won’t be able to go through with it. This must be already happening.”

         Neither of the other women moved. Rachel looked at Courtney with an odd look. There was something going on there that Claire didn’t understand.

         But she didn’t have time for that now. “Courtney, it’s time to move. This is the rest of your life we’re talking about.”

         “And your reputation.” Rachel’s face was red.

         No more waiting. They would fall in line, or they wouldn’t. Claire started barking orders.

         “Courtney, let Rachel take your baby and then get in your car and go home. Wait for me there.”

         “But Momma…” She looked from her mother to Rachel with fear in her eyes.

         Claire’s voice was calm and reassuring. “No ‘buts’ now, honey. You know that this is all for the best. Let Rachel have the baby.”

         Courtney held the child out to Rachel who looked as reticent to take her as Courtney was to give her up.

         Rachel looked down at the tiny person in her arms. “I’ll take good care of her. She’ll be raised right.” She looked over her shoulder to the bedroom in which Josey still lay.

         Claire took back over. “Now Rachel, you sit in there with Josey and Courtney’s… with… Leyla.” Courtney let out a sob, ran to the door, and was gone.

         Claire continued. If Josey wakes up, you have to be kind and quiet. Get her to trust you. Tell her that it was all a bad dream and that Leyla is fine.

         Rachel was looking down at the baby in her arms. “There is no way this will work. No mother wouldn’t know her own baby and this child weighs probably ten more pounds than Leyla. You’re nuts to even try it.”

         “Josey is schizophrenic, and she hasn’t been taking her meds. If everyone she trusts tells her that something is true, then we can make her believe it.”

         “She doesn’t trust me!”

         “But she trusts Cal. You keep him in line.”

         “I can do that.” There was a subtext there that Claire didn’t understand.

         “Cal will be here in a few hours. You two will have to take Josey to Skyline Hospital since we’ll be taking the deceased Leyla to Summit. We can’t allow anyone to tie the two cases together. But the most important thing is to keep telling her that this is Leyla and that any other memory she has was a hallucination.”

         “It won’t work.”

         “If you want out, I can call Courtney and cancel the whole thing. She and the baby will head off into the sunset, and you’ll never see your granddaughter again. You choose but do it now. We’re out of time.”

         Rachel looked at the baby in her arms. “Get out of here. I’ll hold up my end.”

         Claire went into the bedroom and carefully pried the tiny corpse from Josey’s rigid arms. The process took five minutes and, when it was over, Claire’s arm muscles were sore. Josey wasn’t blinking and Claire’s nursing training made her take the moment to find some eyedrops and get them into the younger woman’s eyes. She looked back at Rachel, who was standing in the doorway holding the ‘new’ Leyla who, remarkably, remained asleep. “Check Josey’s eyes and keep them lubricated. That will make it harder for the doctors to determine how long she’s been in this state. When you’re talking to the doctors, or anybody, leave my name completely out of it. I will be tied to the blue baby syndrome death. Give them nothing that links the two cases.”

         Driving home, Claire tried desperately not to think about the infant corpse in the trunk of her car. When Claire opened the door to the mobile home she shared with Courtney, her daughter turned expectantly. When she saw that her mother was carrying a black garbage bag, she fainted.

         Claire knelt as Courtney’s groggy voice whispered, “Momma, please don’t do this. It’s wrong.”

         “It’s already done, sweetheart, we can’t back out now.”

         Courtney began to cry, and Claire slowly made her way back to her feet. “That’s good. You stay there and cry all you want.”

         Reaching into the bag and feeling the cold, lifeless body sent a chill down Claire’s spine, and bile rose in her throat. She hadn’t vomited since her first year of nursing school and she held it back now while she placed the dead child into the crib. Now it was time for her performance to start.

         She stopped and let the magnitude of what was happening wash over her. The tears came easily. She made the call.

         “Hello?” A male voice answered.

         Now that the tears were streaming, she had to fight to keep her voice steady. “Dr. Williams, this is Claire Wilkins, lead nurse on third shift.”

         He heard the quiver in her voice. “Claire, what’s wrong?”

         “I need you to come over to my home. It’s my granddaughter, an infant. She’s… deceased.”

         “What happened?”

         “It appears to be blue baby.”

         “Have you called 911?”

         “I really want someone here that I trust first.” She didn’t trust him. He was the laziest doctor she had ever worked with, and she knew that he would let her do most of his job as he always did.

         He seemed annoyed by the request but relented. “I’ll be right over. What’s your address?”

         She gave it and they hung up. It would take him about thirty minutes to get there from Brentwood, where all the doctors lived, so she would call 911 in about twenty-five minutes. When she stepped out into the living room, Courtney was still lying on the floor and crying. That was good. It was very good.

         By the time the EMTs arrived, they found an MD onsite declaring it blue baby syndrome and pronouncing the child deceased. Courtney’s level of terror turned her crying to wailing. Claire couldn’t have scripted it better. The EMTs gave her a mild sedative.

         Since a doctor had already examined the child, there was nothing for them to do but transport the body. True to habit, at the hospital, the doctor let Claire fill everything in and just signed the death certificate. As soon as that was done, he left. He was probably late for a tee time.

         As far as the world knew, her granddaughter was dead.



         PRESENT DAY

         Claire looked ten years older than she had when she had started the story. But she finished it.

         “They did an evaluation on Josey and admitted her to a psychiatric care facility in West Nashville the next day.

         “At my direction, Cal and Rachel took the new Leyla during visitation each day and told her that Leyla was fine. By the third day, Josey was speaking and lucid enough for the insurance company to cease covering the stay. She was taken home and Cal and Rachel continued to tell her that the baby was Leyla. After a while, she quit fighting and accepted it. After that, it was just a matter of keeping her separated from her family until enough time had passed that the baby change wouldn’t be as noticeable.”

         Evelyn was no longer aghast. She was furious. “You falsified medical reports, gaslighted a schizophrenic, and enlisted the aid of others who relied on your experience as a nurse. After that, you used basic brainwashing tactics like some cult. I don’t see how Josey could possibly recover from what you’ve done.”

         Chris looked to Evelyn, who nodded toward the door. He then turned his attention to Claire. “Evelyn and I are going to step out on the porch for a minute. We’ll be right back.”

         As Chris and Evelyn headed toward the door, Brutus ushered them out with nonstop growling and yipping. Claire didn’t say a word. They closed the door behind them and stood outside.

         Chris looked back at the door. “What are you going to do?”

         “What she did violated every tenet of our profession, and I don’t know how many laws. I can’t imagine the damage she’s done to Josey. It’s inconceivable. I’m bringing our police escort into this.” She started walking toward the unmarked car where they waited.

         He spoke to her retreating back. “I’ll go back inside; we probably shouldn’t leave her alone.” When he stepped back in, the living room was empty.

         “Claire?”

         He heard Brutus’ yip from the bedroom and rushed into the room to find Claire sitting on her bed and holding a pistol. Chris stopped abruptly. “Claire, what are you doing?”

         She laid the gun down on the bed next to her and smiled sadly. “I forgot where I put the bullets.”