No Match but Family Found pt 2

Adele

"Hello, A. Thank you for the compliment and I'm feeling just fine today. I'm happy to see you are looking well after how our talk ended yesterday." Mrs. Lindon greeted me back as she pulled up the recording app on her phone again.

"If you remember everything we spoke of yesterday and the information you wrote down tells me you do we will go ahead and conclude what we know and what our next steps will be. How does that sound?" Mrs. Lindon inquired and I give a thumbs up in agreement with my left hand while still holding on to Dr. Tharani's hand with my right. 

Mrs. Lindon started recording and speaking upon seeing my agreement.

"Alright, today is March 17th, 2015; we are now continuing our interview from yesterday with Child A, Dr. James Tharani and government assigned case worker Heather Lindon present. Child A has provided us with basic information about herself. I will mention relevant information here and have documented everything else to be placed in her file." Mrs. Lindon sips from the cup she brought in again and reads from her notes.

"She does not remember her name so she will need to choose a new name. She identifies as 9 years old and that is within the age range we guessed. She does not remember her birthplace or family well enough for us to use in our search." Mrs. Lindon places her notebook to the side then pulls out a different folder than from before. She reads through the documents before handing the folder to Dr. Tharani. 

He takes his hand back and accepts the folder. He takes a brief look inside the folder before closing it. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath then nods to Mrs. Linden before turning his attention to me.

'Him acting like this does not make me nervous at all. Nope I'm a cool cucumber.' I don't even believe my own thought as Dr. Tharani appears to be gearing up to tell me something.

"For this next part, we thought that you might receive this news from me a bit better than from Mrs. Linden since you appear to feel more comfortable with me than her." Dr. Tharani paused to check in with me. I gave a thumbs up at their assessment. Glancing at Mrs. Linden, I gave her a tentative smile. She smiled kindly in return and I knew there were no hard feelings.

"Okay so after realizing you were experiencing memory loss, while running your blood tests we also ran your blood report through the global medical database to check for any family registry matches as a way to find your family." Dr. Tharani reaches out and takes my hand again with a troubled smile. 

"You, dear child are what we call a ghost. You are in no medical database in the world. You are not in any family registries nor have you been recorded as having ever been treated by a medical professional. Without even a birth record there is no way to determine where you were born. We have put out an alert through our medical and government affiliates in other countries but it will take time for them to see if anyone is looking for you."

'Wow. Just wow. I don't know how I should feel or what I should think. I may not be mom and dad's daughter? Then who am I? What will happen to me?' I question in my mind as I feel myself starting to panic.

I feel a hand reach out and grasp my other hand. I hear Mrs. Lindon softly instructing me. "Breathe, child. Breathe. You are not alone and we will find you a family to stay with while we continue the search for your family. You will be inducted into the government foster care system and placed with a family. I will personally make sure they will understand your situation and be able to support you. Between me and Dr. Tharani you have a lot of support to help you get through this. Dana would be here too but she went into labor this morning but I'm sure she will support you as much as she can too."

Hearing that Ms. Dana had gone into labor, shocked me out of my panic. "Is Ms. Dana okay? She didn't look like she should have been working when I saw her." I commented as I took a deep breath then another one.

"You wouldn't know this but Ms. Dana is actually my sister in law and she is doing well. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She was actually worried about you and asked me to tell you to please come visit her tomorrow if you feel up to it. She says she wants to lay eyes on you." Dr. Tharani informs me as he grins at the silliness of Ms. Dana. 

"Wow, small world. I would like to visit her tomorrow if that is okay." I settle back into my bed suddenly feeling very tired. 

"I'll make sure to let her know to expect a visit from her current favorite patient tomorrow then. We have discussed everything there is to discuss for now. So now us adults will take care of everything else from here. Take a nap and process all that information. Sweet dreams and think of what you would like your name to be." Dr. Tharani pats my head then goes to stand up but I don't release his hand. 

" Will you stay with me til I fall asleep? I don't think I've had someone do that for me in a long time." I mumble sleepily. Dr. Tharani sits back down and starts rubbing my head. A nurse comes in and Dr. Tharani gives me my medication then helps me settle back under the covers. I quickly fall right to sleep thinking of what I want my name to be.

James Tharani

I watched the child fall asleep holding my hand.

'I can't help feeling very protective of her. I know Heather is watching but I'm going to ignore her for now as I think about if what I want to do is a do able idea'

"I support you if you want your family to be her foster family. It will make everything easier on her mentally and emotionally since she is bonding with you so well." Heather announces to me softly so she doesn't wake the child. Seeing that she appears to be deeply asleep. I stand up and motion for Heather to join me in the hallway. She goes out first and I follow behind her dimming the lights then closing the door behind me. I find Heather sitting in a nearby lounge area when I turn around to look for her.

I first stop by a water station and get a cup of water then join her on the couch. "I really wish you would stop reading my mind like that, Heather. It never gets less creepy. Also yes I'm thinking about talking to Naomi and Callum about inviting her into our family. I feel connected to her too and I think they will feel the same." I confessed warily to her then I drink from my cup.

"I will start getting the paperwork in place should you give the green light then. It will really make my caseload lighter if you will put a rush on getting things in place so I can get things pushed through" 

This crazy old woman implored as if everything was already a done deal and my family will be okay with me bringing a random child home.

"Yes, yes I will get right on that. I live to make your life easier." I playfully conceded. 

"I knew your mother raised you right, James. Such a good boy. But really it will make everything easier especially if we think about the part of the police investigation that we didn't discuss with the child." Heather asserted as she reminded me of the darker side of this whole situation.

What we hadn't told the child was that Pete was also an alleged human trafficker but the police could never make the accusations stick.

'That poor child was kidnapped from her home and brought to an unfamiliar country. We don't even know where or to who he was taking her to. He might have even been intending to take her to another country since they were on the forest highway.'  

The gods must have been looking out for her but it appears their intervention came with a cost. The price to be paid appears to be her memories and some injuries.

"I'll be keeping a look out and you do the same. Let me know if we can move forward with putting her in your care as soon as possible. I'll be in touch." Heather kissed my head then briskly walk down the hallway to the elevator. 

Being my mom's friend, I've known her my whole life. She has always had a 6th sense for where kids should be placed. If she thinks my family is the best place I better check on the child one more time before heading to my office to call Naomi.

'She is going to be so excited to finally have a girl in the house with her that I will probably have to tell her not to visit the hospital til the day of the child's release. Callum will be excited just like his mom. So yep both of them will have to stay away. Don't want to scare the child before we can get her home. That sounded very creepy. Very creepy indeed.'

James Tharani

I watched the child fall asleep holding my hand.

'I can't help feeling very protective of her. I know Heather is watching but I'm going to ignore her for now as I think about if what I want to do is a do able idea'

"I support you if you want your family to be her foster family. It will make everything easier on her mentally and emotionally since she is bonding with you so well." Heather announces to me softly so she doesn't wake the child. Seeing that she appears to be deeply asleep. I stand up and motion for Heather to join me in the hallway. She goes out first and I follow behind her dimming the lights then closing the door behind me. I find Heather sitting in a nearby lounge area when I turn around to look for her.

I first stop by a water station and get a cup of water then join her on the couch. "I really wish you would stop reading my mind like that, Heather. It never gets less creepy. Also yes I'm thinking about talking to Naomi and Callum about inviting her into our family. I feel connected to her too and I think they will feel the same." I confessed warily to her then I drink from my cup.

"I will start getting the paperwork in place should you give the green light then. It will really make my caseload lighter if you will put a rush on getting things in place so I can get things pushed through" 

This crazy old woman implored as if everything was already a done deal and my family will be okay with me bringing a random child home.

"Yes, yes I will get right on that. I live to make your life easier." I playfully conceded. 

"I knew your mother raised you right, James. Such a good boy. But really it will make everything easier especially if we think about the part of the police investigation that we didn't discuss with the child." Heather asserted as she reminded me of the darker side of this whole situation.

What we hadn't told the child was that Pete was also an alleged human trafficker but the police could never make the accusations stick.

'That poor child was kidnapped from her home and brought to an unfamiliar country. We don't even know where or to who he was taking her to. He might have even been intending to take her to another country since they were on the forest highway.'  

The gods must have been looking out for her but it appears their intervention came with a cost. The price to be paid appears to be her memories and some injuries.

"I'll be keeping a look out and you do the same. Let me know if we can move forward with putting her in your care as soon as possible. I'll be in touch." Heather kissed my head then briskly walk down the hallway to the elevator. 

Being my mom's friend, I've known her my whole life. She has always had a 6th sense for where kids should be placed. If she thinks my family is the best place I better check on the child one more time before heading to my office to call Naomi.

'She is going to be so excited to finally have a girl in the house with her that I will probably have to tell her not to visit the hospital til the day of the child's release. Callum will be excited just like his mom. So yep both of them will have to stay away. Don't want to scare the child before we can get her home. That sounded very creepy. Very creepy indeed.'