Chapter 6 - A New Face in the Ward
Two weeks had passed since Emma Kovács was pulled from the blue house on Ashbury Lane. The physical wounds were healing nicely; the severe dehydration had reversed, her skin had regained its healthy color, and the nasty infections on her legs had cleared up under Dr. Lauren Chen’s expert care.
However, the psychological scars ran much deeper. Emma barely spoke. She spent hours staring blankly out her hospital room window, clutching her one-eared stuffed rabbit so tightly that the cotton inside its limbs had bunched up. She refused to eat unless a nurse sat beside her and gently coaxed her, and she flinched every time a door slammed down the hospital corridor.
Dr. Chen stood at the nurse’s station, reviewing Emma’s psychological evaluation notes with a heavy heart.
“She’s medically cleared for discharge, Lauren,” head nurse Brenda said, adjusting her glasses. “Child Protective Services has been searching for kinship placement, but so far, zero extended family members have come forward. Paternal grandparents are deceased, and maternal relatives live out of state and refused to take custody.”
“So she’s heading straight into the foster care system?” Dr. Chen asked, her chest tightening. “After everything she’s been through? Dropping a traumatized six-year-old into a revolving door of temporary group homes is going to break her completely.”
“We don’t have much choice unless an emergency foster or adoptive home steps up,” Brenda sighed. “And special-needs trauma cases like Emma are a massive hurdle for the county.”
Just then, a commotion echoed from down the hallway. Footsteps approached the nurse’s station, accompanied by the deep, resonant voice of a man speaking with social services coordinator Marcus Vance.
“I’m telling you, Marcus, I received the emergency alert bulletin from the county child welfare office this morning. My background check is fully cleared, my home study was updated last month, and I am ready to take her in immediately.”
Dr. Chen turned around. Standing at the counter was a tall, broad-shouldered man in his late thirties. He wore a simple flannel shirt and jeans, but his face was lined with deep lines of compassion and determination. His eyes were a warm, expressive hazel.
Marcus Vance sighed, flipping through a clipboard. “Mr. Hayes, you’re a single foster parent who works long hours as a senior aircraft mechanic. Emma is an extreme trauma case. She needs specialized, round-the-clock emotional support.”
“I know what she needs,” the man replied firmly. “Because I was the paramedic who carried her out of that house on Ashbury Lane two weeks ago.”
Dr. Chen’s breath hitched. She stepped forward from the nurse’s station. “You’re Jordan Hayes?”
Jordan turned, offering a tired but genuine smile. “Yes, ma’am. I’ve been visiting her every single day on my lunch breaks and after my shifts. She recognizes me. Yesterday, she actually let me read her a chapter of Winnie the Pooh without pulling away.”
Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Jordan, fostering is a huge commitment. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
May you like
Jordan looked past the social worker toward Room 314, where Emma was sitting quietly on her bed, watching the world go by through the glass.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Jordan said quietly. “Nobody is going to leave that little girl alone in the dark ever again.”
