Cam’s mother burst into tears, and pointed at the sheet of paper in my hands. “There’s your answer. Go there, you’ll find a match for Lee.”
“Jesus, Mora, you can’t keep doing this,” Ted hissed. “Don’t you think that boy’s going through enough?”
Ted began to pull Mora away and I kicked into action.
“Derek, will you take Hope home? I won’t be long.”
Derek nodded, took hold of Hope’s buggy, and headed towards the exit.
I was confused as fuck.
Mora sure as hell sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
And I needed to know.
Unfolding the sheet of paper, I stared at it, confused for a moment.
“What is this?” I called after her, but she was gone out of earshot.
“Mora?” I shouted, jogging after them, towards the other exit.
“Let it go, Kyle,” Ted warned, as he bundled Mora into his car. “Go back to Lee, sit with her and pray for her. Hold her in your arms. I don’t want my wife upset any further.”
I shook my head, ignoring Cam’s dad. I focused on her mother.
“What did you mean when you said, I’d find a match? Are you talking about Lee?” I demanded franticly.
Excitement bubbled to the surface of my heart.
“Is that it?” I asked. “Do you know someone who can help her?”
“Did you hear what I said?” Ted snapped, as he slammed Mora’s door closed, and rushed around to his side of the car.
“Go home,” he said, as he opened his own door. “You’re chasing a dead end. Tear up that piece of paper and go back to your life and forget this conversation ever happened. Nothing good will come from it.”
“What life?” I demanded, at wits fucking end.
I threw my hands in the air, gesturing wildly. “My entire world is slowly dying in that hospital bed.”
Leaning down, I put my hand on the window of the car. “Mora, if you know something, anything that can save Lee, please, please just tell me.”
Mr. Frey slammed his door shut, and started the car.
“Wait…” I shouted, slamming my fist on the window as the car pulled off slowly. “You buried your world, don’t make me bury mine.”
The car slowed, and the window rolled down.
“Go there,” Mora sobbed, pointing at the piece of paper in my hand. “Find that address, and you’ll find Delia Bennett.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand?”
“Lee’s mother,” Mora whispered. “She’s alive.”
*****
The smell was the first thing that hit me when I got home.
“Dude, where the hell have you been?” Derek demanded when I walked into the bedroom.
“Sorry,” I muttered, loosening the knot on my tie. “I got a cab to the hospital. I needed to check on Lee.”
“Any change?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“I gave Hope her night-time feed…I used the formula in the white tin, that’s the one she’s supposed to have, right?” Derek said.
I nodded, in amusement as I took in the carnage.
The floor was covered in wet wipes, clean diapers and stuffed animals.
Hope was kicking around on Lee’s bed, and Derek’s face and shirt was covered in baby powder, as he held a dirty-diaper away from his body.
“Thank god,” he said in relief. “I thought I’d poisoned her, but, nope, your daughter is just plain nasty,” he accused, throwing the diaper at me. “That’s her third number two, in an hour. She’s like a machine.”
Hope babbled contently, and I felt myself smile, for the first time in nine days.
I tossed the diaper back to Derek, who darted out of the room, holding it away from his body as if it was a bomb ready to detonate.
Shrugging off my black suit jacket and tie, I rolled up the sleeves of my white shirt, and walked over to the bed.
“Come here, baby girl,”
Hope gibbered, her tiny hands and feet splayed wildly.
“What did Uncle Derek do to you?” I crooned, as I adjusted her back to front diaper and redid the poppers on her onesie.
“You missed daddy, didn’t you, gorgeous?”
Dimming the light, I picked her up and rocked her gently in my arms, until her eyes began to flutter.
“Sleep tight, baby girl,” I whispered as I laid her in her crib, and tucked her up. “Daddy’s got a plan.”
I leaned down and kissed her tiny head of brown curls.
“Mommy’s gonna be home, real soon.”
*****
After settling Hope down for the night, I joined Derek on the couch.
“I need your help with something,” I said, popping the cap on a bottle of beer Derek had set out for me.