Sophie and Rihanna waited to cross First Avenue. Sophie
grabbed Rihanna’s hand, and they stepped into the street
when there was a break in traffic, behind a city cab and in front
of the M4 bus before it pulled away from the curb. They jogged
safely across to the other side.
Rihanna pointed to the steel door on the street level of the
family planning clinic. Sophie tried it, expecting it to be locked.
Surprisingly, it opened. They stepped in, allowing their eyes a
minute to adjust to the dimly lit entry. They took the flight of
stairs down one level and through another heavy metal door that
led into a tunnel. The narrow tunnel with old, cracked concrete
floors sloped downward. The walls were lined with metal venti
lation ducts. It smelled dank and musty.
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Sophie whispered.
“Why are you whispering? Nobody’s here,” whispered back
Rihanna. They giggled nervously. “Yes, I’m sure. He told me to
come visit him, and I’m sure he said this was the place.”
At the end of the tunnel, they came to a glass-door entrance.
Etched on the outside of it in large letters was The Foundling,
and in smaller letters, WMI.
They tried the door. It was locked. Rihanna banged on it, the
noise echoing loudly through the tunnel. Sheldon appeared at
the door, surprised, then happy to see the two women.
“Hey, you made it!” He kissed Rihanna.
“Does this have anything to do with those baby boys and your
285
THE VERY BEST OF CARE
insurance company project?” Sophie looked around his shoulder,
suspicious.
Sheldon burst out laughing. “No, no, no.”
The two women waited for an explanation.
“This has nothing to do with HHI,” he said, still laughing.
“This is totally different. What’s happening down here is going
to change the world of neonatology. Mitch and I nicknamed it
the New NICU, but as you can see on the door, the real name is
the Foundling.”
He held the door open for them. “I’m glad you decided to
venture down here. Not the most inviting of places, but it works.”
“‘Not inviting’ is an understatement. I feel like the morgue
might be right around the corner,” Sophie half joked, moving
closer to Rihanna.
“Quite the contrary,” an amused Sheldon answered.
“What is this Foundling place?” asked Sophie.
“Remember that day in the cafeteria when you saw me argu
ing with Mitch? I accidentally left behind some torn-up napkins
with writing on them—important writing. Some of my best
ideas get written on napkins.” He chuckled. “When I went back
to retrieve them, they were gone. I figured you and Adam had
picked them up.”
Sophie and Rihanna were following Sheldon as they listened.
Sheldon walked over to a wall and turned up a bank of light
switches. The room was the length of a city block. The light
ing was low. Soft music played in surround-sound style. Under
the music, Sophie heard the deep lulling rhythm of a heartbeat.
Small cameras facing different directions lined the corners and
walls of the massive room.
“Welcome to the future NICU.” Sheldon smiled.
Sophie saw large barrel-shaped containers positioned through
out the room. There were twelve of these tubs. Each one stood
about five feet high and two to three feet across. Heavy curtains
286
JULIE HATCH
separated them. Next to each one was a large machine that
hummed at a low volume, wrapped in insulation so that its sound
was muffled. It reminded Sophie of the ECMO machine that
kept the NICU babies alive. There were no alarms, no beeping
of monitors.
Sophie grabbed hold of Rihanna’s hand. They walked
together up to one of the tubs. Looking over the top of it, they
could see it was filled with a viscous fluid. With a gasp, they both
drew back. Submerged in the liquid was a baby.
