Page 24 of Baby Blue
Back in his work area, Blue pulled out his phone, careful to watch for Turner. It rang twice and Anne said, “Hey!”
“Hi. She okay?”
“Yeah. She’s been good all day. You really shouldn’t worry.”
He breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “Thanks. Oh, and will it be okay for you to tell Polly that I’ll be a little longer getting home? I need to stop and get some stuff.” Blue had one credit card, and he figured if there was ever an emergency that called for using it, it was this one. He didn’t have the money to pay on it, but at least he could get a few things Indigo needed, and maybe a few groceries too.
“Sure. And I’ll call you on my break tonight. There are some things we need to talk about,” Anne said.
Oh, god. Wonder what I’ve fucked up this time?\ “I’ll get there as soon as I can. Thanks, Anne.”
“You’re welcome. Talk to you this evening.” With that, the phone went silent and Blue slipped it back into his pocket.
Things they needed to talk about. Those kinds of statements had always left him in a heap of trouble. He hoped this time would be an exception to that rule.
With the babyfed and settled, Blue set about putting away the few things he’d bought. He made himself a sandwich withthe lunch meat and bread he’d gotten on closeout past their expiration date and ate it while he folded clothes.
At almost nine his phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey. Everything okay?” Anne asked.
“Oh, yeah. She’s been napping and I’m finishing cleaning up the kitchen. So you said there were some things we needed to talk about?”
“Yes. First off, I left in time to go by a couple of thrift stores but I didn’t find a car seat. But I did remember that some of the fire stations do checks for people, making sure they’ve got their car seats put in correctly. Why don’t you call the fire department and ask them if they know of somewhere you could get a car seat?”
“Wow. Yeah, that’s a good idea! I’ll do that.” Blue picked up a piece of paper, an advertisement that came in the mail, and rooted around until he found something to write with. “Okay. I made myself a note.”
“Also, my kids’ doctor is a friend of mine. I talked to her tonight. She said you need to have Indigo checked out to make sure she’s okay.”
Blue sat for a minute, embarrassed and trying to find a way to say what he had to say. “Um, my job, I mean, I don’t have any insurance, and I don’t have, well, there’s really not?”
“Brent, I told her the situation. She knows. She said she has to do a number of services a year pro bono for her licensing, and she’ll be glad to see Indigo for no charge. Vaccinations and the like too. No problem,” Anne said.
“But Anne, I don’t like to take charity. I’m sorry, but I can’t?”
“You can and you will. You listen to me, BrentWallace. This little girl is your responsibility. You have to take care of her. It doesn’t matter if you have to beg, borrow, or steal. Oh, wait?don’t steal. That’s bad. But otherwise, begging and borrowing are allowed. This is your child. Swallow your prideand admit that you need help, and let people who want to help you do so. Please?”
Blue dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Everything inside him knew that Anne was right, and yet he hated it. He’d always taken care of himself. Having someone else he had to take care of and to grovel and scrape for was something he wasn’t prepared for, and yet it had to be done. “Fine. I’ll do it. Give me her information and I’ll call the office.” Then panic struck again. “I can’t take off work to take her to the doctor. Turner will fire me. He’s just looking for a reason.”
“You have to, Blue. This is important, and they won’t let me bring her because I’m not her parent. Please? Get this taken care of?”
“Okay, okay. I’ll call her.” Blue wrote down the information Anne gave him. When he was finished, he asked, “Anything else?”
“Yes. I need you to bring her to the hospital Wednesday evening about seven o’clock.”
Nowthatwas a curiosity. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Just bring her, okay? When you get here, ask for the fourth-floor nurses’ lounge. Someone will tell you how to get there.”
“But what?”
“You ask too many questions!” Anne said and began to laugh. “Just bring her, okay?”
Blue shrugged even though no one could see him. “Yeah, okay. Fine. You’re weird, know that?”
Anne laughed again. “Yeah, well, so are you! I’ll see you in the morning,” she said. “Night.”
“Night, Anne. Thanks.” Blue ended the call and sat there for a couple of minutes, just thinking. Why was he going to the hospital Wednesday night? Didn’t make any sense.
