6.
Once they got there Sara was waiting for them at the Emergency Room door. Dee briefly explained the situation while David waited with Lea on his lap. Sara signaled him to approach and took them to the exam room.
Rachel and Inês sat down in the waiting room.
Inside Sara tried to check Lea’s ears but as soon as she touched them for the first time the child screeched with pain and the crying started again. Sara asked David to hold Lea so she could take a good look at it. The baby was squirming and kicking and after a few moments David got up, put her in Dee’s arms and ran out the door.
Closing the door behind him and bumped his head on the wall a couple of times. Rachel and Inês watched him. He just stayed like that with his forehead against the wall. Rachel went to him.
Hesitantly she put her hand on his shoulder and asked:
“Are you okay?”
“No” – he shook his head – “I can’t even stand the crying and to hold her while she’s getting checked by a doctor. How can I even think about raising her? Who am I kidding?” - he said in a wobbly voice.
“That’s because you care about her” – Rachel smiled at him. He was so vulnerable. She liked him. Despite the toughness she had gotten when she first met him she could now see a very sensible man.
“I’ll never forgive myself for letting her go through this” – he said mostly to himself than to Rachel.
“You can’t blame yourself for something you didn’t know” – she comforted him – “once she was with you did the right thing. You can only focus on the future now.”
“Dee, I have to report this to the social services. This baby has clearly been neglected” – stated Sara.
“I know that Sara, but she was with her mom then. The father had no idea she even existed. She’s not at risk anymore” – Dee argued.
“Still it’s part of the protocol” – she defended.
“Who cares about protocol? Our job is to help people. Who’s going to benefit if they just come to take her away from her father now?”
“Procedures exist for a reason, you know that. I can’t just ignore them. What if something happens to her? How do we even know the father is telling us the truth?” – asked Sara – “Look, I know you have good intentions but you can’t trust everyone.”
“I can trust him, I know I can.”
Sara shook her head.
“What if she stayed with me? Could she go home then?” – begged Dee.
Sara looked at her touched – “You can’t rescue every kid.” “Well, I have to rescue this one. She’s family.”
Sara looked at her intrigued.
“David is Alexandre’s older brother” – she explained – “You never met him because he never spent a lot of time here. He lived with their mom and… He got himself in some troubles when he was younger, but he is a good guy. He turned his life around and I know he’ll take good care of her.”
“Chronic otitis media” – said Dee finally coming out of the exam room – “That’s what she has.”
“What does that mean?” - inquired David.
“It means that this was an old issue. She probably had ear infections before that were never fully cured and it became something more serious” – Sara clarified.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“They’ve performed an ear aspiration and are giving her some antibiotics and medicines for the pain” – Dee continued – “depending on how she reacts to them she might have to have some surgery.”
“She’ll be fine, right? I mean, it’s going to take a while, but she’ll be good?” – asked David preoccupied.
“Like I said she’ll have to complete the treatment, plus she is very weak so she’ll have to have to stay here for a few days for observation, but after that she should be able to go home.”
“They’re nothing taking her away?” – he was smiling for the first time.
“No. You’ll have to come for frequent consults and make sure you follow all the procedures they’ll teach you” – Dee looked at Sara – “No, they’re not taking her away.
“Oh thank you so much” – he hugged her so hard he almost hurt her – “thank you thank you! I knew I could count on you. I swear I won’t let you down.”
We went on and hugged Sara, Rachel and Inês who just couldn’t stop laughing with his joy, and pretty much every nurse or patient that was in the hallway.
Then, remembering something else, he came back.
“Will she get her hearing back?”
“They’re not sure” – Dee admitted – “it should get better but whether full hearing returns or not depends on the extent of the damage and on how she’ll heal in case of surgery.”
“Okay, one step at the time then” – he sigh with relief.
“You made the right choice today. I know it was a tough day but you hung on, I’m proud of you” – Dee praised him – “Well, honey, I have to drive Rachel to the airport will you be okay?”
“Was this your last day here?” – he asked Rachel – “I’m so sorry I ruined it” – he apologized.
“Don’t say that. It was a pleasure to meet you both” – she told David – “I can take a cab if you want to stay Dee.”
“No, it’s fine. There’s really not much I can do for Lea now.” “You could stay with David…”
“I can keep him company” – Inês offered herself – “and I’ll call you if we need anything.”
“Sounds good to me.”