Page 24 of Fractured Reunion

“I can, but you know it takes time. And you don’t live in Wisconsin anymore, is that correct?” Eloise glanced at the tablet in her hand. “I don’t know that any judge will approve a foster mother from out of state.”

“I grew up in this area and can move back easily enough,” she said. “That’s not important. Finding a proper guardian for Joey is all that matters.”

“Yes, of course. That’s what we want too,” Eloise hastened to reassure her.

Maggie sighed and knew she couldn’t keep crucial information from this woman. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t find out sooner or later anyway. “You should know that police officer Thomas came by earlier with a man by the name of Oliver Chism. It’s possible he’s Joey’s father.”

“Oh, I see.” Eloise’s glance was sympathetic. “That changes things.”

“Only if a DNA test proves he’s Joey’s father and if he is deemed fit to care for a young child,” Maggie said. “Getting those results back will likely take time, which is why I would still like to begin the process of being a temporary foster parent for Joey.”

“Hmm.” Eloise didn’t look convinced.

“I have been at his side, holding and caring for him since the accident.” She tried not to sound as desperate as she felt. “He trusts me and has been leaning on me for support. Don’t make him start over with someone new. Not yet. Not until we know for sure Mr. Chism is his actual father and capable of caring for him.”

Eloise sighed and nodded. “There’s no reason you can’t start the process by filling out the paperwork online.” She handed Maggie the tablet. “You can use this. I have the site bookmarked for you. However, you have to understand that today is Saturday. No one will even look at this application until Monday. And even then…” She shrugged. “You know how government stuff works. Nothing moves at warp speed. You’ll have to make some phone calls if you want this to be treated as a priority.”

“I understand. Thank you.” She clutched the tablet to her chest. “I’ll get this back to you as soon as possible.”

“I’m here until three o’clock this afternoon.” Eloise offered a gentle smile. “I hope this works out for you.”

“Me too.” And wasn’t that the understatement of the year? She turned to head back into Joey’s room. Then she settled on the bed next to the little boy to begin filling out the government form. She shouldn’t have been surprised that the entire process took well over an hour to complete.

And even then, she went back through the form to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.

She pressed submit, then let out a soundless sigh. The first step had been completed.

All she could do now was wait.

And pray.

CHAPTER SEVEN

After checking in on Grace, who was doing very well post-op from her procedure and settled in the pediatric ICU, Aaron decided he couldn’t put off speaking with Dale Fullerton any longer. As much as he detested the need to address his colleague, patient care had to be a priority.

Maggie had once accused him of avoiding conflict, and she was probably right about that. He preferred to get along with people, ignoring the drama.

But he couldn’t ignore this. Not when there might be a time when Aaron wasn’t in the city to take care of an emergency if Dale decided he didn’t feel like answering his pager or his phone.

He headed to his office and took the time to make himself another cup of coffee with the single-cup machine. Then he settled into the leather chair behind his desk and reached for the landline phone. He paged Fullerton through the normal process, as if he was one of the residents up on the floor. He’d thought Fullerton might recognize his office number and answer anyway, but he didn’t. Gritting his teeth, he called the surgeon directly, knowing his name and number would flash on Fullerton’s cell phone screen.

Fullerton didn’t answer, letting the call go through to voicemail. Maybe he’d done that on purpose because of his failure to respond to the earlier page. After all, Fullerton had to make it look as if his phone was off or not working properly.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, Aaron’s cell phone rang. Seeing Fullerton’s name, he didn’t bother with niceties. “Where have you been?” he demanded. He hadn’t intended to start off this way, but his anger and frustration boiled over. “I had to take a six-month-old baby to the OR because you didn’t answer your pages.”

“I—I’m sorry. My phone was on silent.” Fullerton sounded concerned. “I had no idea that a baby was in trouble.”

“And what’s wrong with your pager? Dead battery?” He didn’t hide the snark in his tone. “Give me a break. This is not the first time you haven’t responded to calls on a weekend, and I’m fed up with others having to cover your lapse. This time, I’m taking formal disciplinary action against you.”

“What? You can’t do that! Just because I missed a few pages!” Now Fullerton sounded angry.

“Watch me. I took a little girl to surgery because you didn’t answer your phone or your pager.” He enunciated each word carefully as if explaining this to a dimwit. “That’s dereliction of duty. You should have been here doing your job. But you weren’t. Be in my office first thing Monday morning. I’ll arrange for a meeting with the chief of staff.”

“Now wait a minute!” There was a note of panic in Fullerton’s tone. “There’s no need to go off the deep end just because I accidentally put my phone on silent?—”

“It’s too late for excuses,” he interrupted. Maybe he was tired and stressed over the situation with Maggie and Joey, not to mention having to come in early, but he was not budging on this. “You’re relieved of duty until further notice. I’ll cover your call for the rest of the weekend since I’ve been here since three in the morning anyway.”

There was a long moment of silence as if the reality of the situation was finally sinking into Dale Fullerton’s tiny brain. Dale’s voice was subdued when he spoke again. “I’ll be happy to cover your next weekend on call in exchange for you working this weekend.”

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