'Renata. Karen's grandmother was named Renata. It means `born again.'' Evelyn Fletcher raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
VII
Karen awoke to the sound of a baby screaming. The short, high-pitched shrieks cut through her sleep like meat cleavers.
'What's wrong?' she cried, sitting up in the hospital bed, looking around in the darkness. She had been awakened sev-eral times that day for breast-feeding, but the baby's cries then were nothing like these.
She looked through the window in the wall at her right. The sliding tray that allowed Renata to be reached either by her mother on this side or the nurses on the other lay open to the nursing area. Renata was gone.
'What's going on!' she shouted through the glass.
'Nothing,' one of the nurses said casually. 'Just taking a few drops of blood for tests. We give her a little heel stick, that's all.'
Renata screamed as if she were being murdered. Karen pressed up against the glass, flattening her face in an effort to see what they were doing to her child. They stood somewhere out of view. The cries continued. Karen's entire body reacted to the sound. It was as if each scream were fashioned to activate ev-ery primordial mother instinct lying hidden in her soul. She wanted to smash the glass and seize her child from the mon-sters in white.
One of the torturers-an over-thirty frump with a bored ex-pression-deposited the frantic, kicking infant into the drawer, gently sliding it over to Karen's side of the wall.
'All done. Feeding time.'
Karen hated the nurses already.
She scooped up her daughter, held her up to her right breast, and offered her nipple to the terrorized baby.
Renata sought out the proffered meal and sucked heartily. An occasional residual whimper escaped past the areola.
Karen waited until Renata had calmed down to examine her tiny feet. They were both still purple from hospital- form ink. A small, round Band-Aid adhered to the bottom of the left heel. She hugged the baby tenderly, cooing to it and whispering soft, loving mother sounds.
When Renata finished eating and fell into a satisfied sleep, Karen willfully ignored the rules. She did not restore the baby to the drawer in the wall but kept her bundled against her breast, sleeping protectively with her.
'
'Just a little ear infection, that's all.'
Dr. Fletcher peered through the otoscope into Renata's tiny right ear. 'When you look inside, the eardrum should look silvery and sort of reflective. If it looks red or swollen, that's a good sign that some antibiotics are in order.'
'Is it serious?' Karen held the baby tightly. Renata watched the proceedings, blue eyes staring in an unfocused gaze of incomprehension.
'We just have to pick the right antibiotic.' She made a few notes on the chart, then picked up Renata's left foot. She stroked a fingernail down the center of the sole, watched the toes flex, and made another note. She smiled.
'Other than that, everything else seems to be in order.' She put a finger into Renata's hand. The small, stubby fingers re-flexively grasped the digit. 'She's got a good strong grip.' Karen smiled and hugged the baby even tighter. Renata gurgled, her mouth curling into a toothless smile as her arms and legs flailed about merrily.
Dr. Fletcher patted Renata's head, stroking the thin cover-ing of light blond hair. Renata's face became confused, reddened. She fidgeted, then began to cry.
'Uh-oh,' Evelyn said. 'Changing time.'
Karen smiled. 'That's one thing I regret about this place.' She shifted over to the far side of the bed, lowering Renata into the drawer and closing it. 'I don't get to diaper her until I get home.' Fletcher smiled. 'Enjoy the opportunity.'
