“We’ve got more to talk about that doesn’t need to be a part of
our conversation with Jody.” Adam held the elevator door
open. On the way down, he said, “Hey, I know! How ’bout a date
night tonight?”
“Yeah.” Sophie smiled. “I like that idea. Kate’s busy tonight
meeting up with some old friends. Let’s do it.”
They got back to their house, where Sophie showered,
changed her clothes, and put on some makeup. She almost felt
like her old self. Together they drove to Mezza Luna for dinner.
Adam took a sip of his beer. “I hope you’re not mad about the
things I said to Jody. I’m just trying to figure out how to handle all
this stress. And all these huge changes in my—I mean, our lives.”
Sophie lifted her wineglass to toast Adam. “Here’s to our new
life.” She gave him her best attempt at a smile, took a sip, and
looked in the direction from where she felt cold air was coming.
The restaurant door closed behind a man who walked over to the
bar. She nearly spat out her wine.
Adam turned to see what made her react like that. “Who’s
that?”
“That’s the chapel guy. At least that’s what I call him. I see
him sometimes in the hospital chapel.”
Adam looked at her. “And?”
“There’s something about him. I wonder what relative he
has in the hospital to bring him to the chapel that much.”
Sophie watched as the chapel guy joined a table of eight already
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JULIE HATCH
engaged in lively conversation. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”
“What?” asked Adam.
“Our pediatrician, Dr. Patel, is sitting at the same table.”
“What are you saying, Soph?”
“What’s the connection between Dr. Patel and the chapel
guy? And who are all those other people at the table?”
“They’re probably from the hospital.”
“Hmmm, I wonder.” Sophie twirled her wineglass between
her fingers.
“Anyhow, back to what we were talking about—answers.”
Adam pulled Sophie’s attention back. “Your premature delivery
didn’t just happen for no reason, but according to your medical
records, it did.”
They talked through dinner. The conversation wandered
from the mystery of her delivery to how the school basketball
team was doing without Adam coaching, then ended up on what
to plant in their garden come spring. By dessert, they were back
to talking about Danny.
They paid the bill and put on their coats to leave. On the
way to the door, Sophie walked past the table of eight and smiled
hello to Dr. Patel. He returned her smile and offered a wave before
turning back to his conversation with the woman beside him.
When they stepped outside, the wind was blowing, and
sleet pelted their faces like little shards of glass. They hurried to
Adam’s car.
Adam stopped short a few steps from his car. “What the hell
is this?” Two of his tires were slashed. He walked around his car,
then looked up and down the street.
“Who would do this?” asked Sophie.
“I don’t know,” answered Adam, yanking off his gloves to
dial his cell. He called a twenty-four-hour tow truck service, then
called a taxi.
When they pulled up to the front entrance of the hospital,
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THE VERY BEST OF CARE
Sophie said, “One of these nights, I’ll come home. I’m just not
ready to leave Danny for that long.”
They kissed a warm, lingering kiss goodnight.
“See you tomorrow.”
Sophie settled in for the night next to Danny. A small crowd of
doctors and nurses wheeled in an incubator. Earlier, Kim had
prepared a space in their pod for this new admission. A night
nurse and Dr. Sheldon waited in the pod, ready to accept the
baby for admission and to get the report on the baby. The obste
trician told them this was a thirty-two-week baby girl.
“Mom came into triage with premature rupture of mem
branes. She was group B strep positive, and even though we
started antibiotics, she still had some significant fetal decels. So
we gave mom a dose of steroids, then sectioned her. All good
now,” the satisfied obstetrician said.
“Nice job,” said Dr. Sheldon, patting the obstetrician on the
shoulder. Leaving the pod, he looked over in the direction of
Danny’s incubator space. He saw Sophie and gave her a wave.
“Good night,” called out Sophie as she closed the curtain
around her and Danny.
Barely five minutes into her sleep, Sophie was awakened by a
code alarm, alerting all doctors and nurses on the code team to
Pod B stat. She got up to see what was going on in the next pod
over, where a baby had been admitted earlier in the night. The
code was not for the baby. It was for the mother
