The next morning, Dr. Sheldon pulled up a chair next to
Sophie, who was sitting by Danny’s incubator. Kate was chat
ting with Kim, admiring her earrings—authentic eagle feathers
from Arizona.
Sophie’s internal antennae were buzzing. “What are you
doing, Dr. Sheldon?” she said in a loud whisper.
Dr. Sheldon sat quietly and looked at Sophie. “I can imag
ine what you must be thinking, after sneaking into my office last
night and seeing what you saw.”
“I saw a baby with his diaper off, a probe, and a waft of smoke.
What am I supposed to think?”
“What do you think I was doing?”
“A circumcision, I guess, but how should I know? I’ve never
seen one done.”
“All the babies brought into my office are there to get cir
cumcised because their parents requested it.”
“Then why did Dr. Wagner threaten me not to tell anyone?”
“He’s protecting me.” Dr. Sheldon took off his glasses and
cleaned them with his tie. “We’re half brothers. Did you know
that? Yeah, of course you did. Rihanna would have told you.” He
put his glasses back on, still smudged. “We’ve been hired by HHI,
a health insurance company, to help boys and men who are sick
with certain illnesses. We’re working on how to eradicate these
diseases.” He offered a disarming smile. “Doesn’t that sound like
worthy work?”
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THE VERY BEST OF CARE
Sophie searched his face, then answered, “Yeah, I guess.”
“Dr. Wagner is a brilliant doctor,” continued Dr. Sheldon,
“and he has some good ideas for this insurance company. I assure
you, we are doing nothing to harm the babies. You saw that one.
Was he crying? Was he in distress?”
“No. But it just felt weird. And why in the middle of the
night?”
“Because I need the office space during the day for my regu
lar work. Night is the only time we have.” Then he smiled and
added, “And, Sophie, Dr. Wagner’s bark is worse than his bite.
Usually.”
He rose to leave. “Hey, I need to go find my lovely Isabelle
and her mother.” He patted her hand. “Thanks, Sophie.”
“Thanks for what?”
“For being such a good friend to Rihanna. Any friend of
Rihanna’s is a friend of mine.”
He pushed his glasses up and walked out of the pod.
Sophie sought out the hospital chapel, anxious for a place to
sit quietly by herself. The chapel was an oasis in the middle
of the busy hospital. It was a nondenominational sanctuary.
Stained-glass windows were all that suggested it was a chapel.
She considered it a place for anyone to sit and pray or meditate,
or just be alone. Twenty minutes was all she needed to reset and
reboot, to prepare herself for whatever she would have to face
tomorrow.
Her mother had taught her to trust three things in life: her
sister, Kate; the church; and the doctors who took care of her
mother during those years of abuse with her deranged father.
Their threesome—Kate, Sophie, and their mother—was quite
the force when her father got out of hand. It was when he stopped
taking his medications, combined with drinking, that he became
unpredictable. Her mother, ever the protector of Sophie and
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JULIE HATCH
Kate, bore the brunt of her father’s violence. But when he took
his meds and didn’t drink, their family was happy. Those were
the good days. As Sophie got older, though, they were fewer and
farther between. The doctors helped her mother through those
times when she needed medical attention. But her broken arm
was the final straw. The cops came and took her father away. He
fought hard against them, but his punches never landed—he was
too drunk. He shrieked and ranted like a lunatic. That was the
last time Sophie ever saw her father.
Now she was a parent, and it was her responsibility to protect
her child. No matter what
