“Margaret?” Mrs. Duncan’s voice startled me, and I almost dropped the newborn.
“I’ll be with you in just a minute, Mrs. Duncan.” I kept my back to her as I grabbed another blanket and covered him, then placed his tiny wrapped body in the nearby sink, praying he wouldn’t make a sound. I located another bracelet and wrote the name Carmichael on it before slipping it over his foot. Carmichael was my mother’s maiden name, and also the last name of another patient who’d come in three days earlier and had been released.
I turned around and went back to Mrs. Duncan.
“I didn’t make too much of a mess, did I?” she asked with her eyes still closed. She was very groggy from the medication.
“No, Mrs. Duncan. You didn’t make a mess at all. I need to grab some more supplies, though, and I’ll be right back. Okay?” I told her.
“Okay, and Margaret?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you again.”
I quickly gathered the baby into my arms again and eased out of the room, leaving Mrs. Duncan asleep. A slight wave of relief came over my nervous body when I entered the corridor and saw that it was completely empty. Even slipping past the nurses station to get to the nursery was easier than I anticipated. The charge nurse was so busy on the phone that she didn’t even look up at me.
When I got to the door of the nursery, I silently prayed that the plan that I’d come up with would work.
“Well, who is this?” Naomi asked when I walked in holding the baby.
“Baby Carmichael,” I said, trying to sound casual.
“Carmichael? I thought she was discharged yesterday.”
“Um, she’s back for observation. High BP, so we just need for him to stay in here for a couple of hours, that’s all.”
“Oh, okay.” Naomi shrugged as if it was no big deal, then pulled one of the empty bassinets over to me.
I gently laid the tiny boy inside, and he opened his eyes and stared at me. My heart melted, and I placed my pinky finger into his tiny hand. He was absolutely perfect.
Margaret
55
26 years earlier
Sneaking a baby into the nursery at the hospital was one thing. Sneaking a baby out of the hospital was a whole other obstacle I had to face. I knew I would only have a few hours to figure out how to make that happen. I also needed to come up with an explanation for my family about how I suddenly had a newborn. During my one-hour lunch break, I went to the department store closest to the hospital and grabbed a car seat and a few necessities—bottles, diapers, pacifiers, and newborn clothing, among other things.
When I got back to work, the charge nurse told me that the Duncans had been asking about me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as my heart pounded.
“I’m not sure, but I told them I’d send you in as soon as you got back.”
A million scenarios ran through my mind as I slowly returned to Mrs. Duncan’s hospital room. I tapped lightly on the door and prayed she was asleep or didn’t want to be disturbed.
“Come in,” she called out.
“Hey, Mrs. Duncan,” I said with fake cheerfulness. “I heard you’ve been asking for me. I was at lunch. Is everything okay?” The room was full of family members. Balloons, stuffed animals, and flowers were everywhere. Three boys and a girl surrounded the bed where Mrs. Duncan sat up, looking radiant. Mr. Duncan sat in a chair near the bed, and another man and woman were there also.
“Everything is fine, Margaret. We just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done. I told my sister-in-law Nee Nee here that you were by far the best labor and delivery nurse I’ve had, and as you see, I’ve had quite a few,” Mrs. Duncan told me.
“That’s so sweet, and your family is beautiful. How are you feeling?” I asked as I checked her vitals and IV.
“I feel so much better. That extra sedative dose had me pretty much out of it, but I’m fine now.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” A slight wave of relief came over me, and I relaxed a little. “Well, everything looks good right now. How are the little ones?”
“As you can see, they’re doing great too.” Mr. Duncan nodded toward the babies, who were in the arms of happy family members.
“Daddy, I wanna hold my sister,” a little girl sitting in Mr. Duncan’s lap announced.
“You will, London. I promise,” he told her, then said, “London has been the only girl for so long. She’s excited to finally have a sister.”
“Me too,” one of the boys said.
“Yes, you too, Orlando.” Mrs. Duncan hugged the little boy, who was sitting by her side.
“Well, I’ll go ahead and leave you all to enjoy your family time,” I said. “My shift is almost over, and I’m off this weekend. But I wish you all the best.”
“Aw, well, thank you again, Margaret. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” Mrs. Duncan said.
“You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing my job, really.”
“At least let me give you a little token to show our appreciation.” Mr. Duncan went to reach into his pocket.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t take that. It’s against hospital regulations. And like I said, I was just doing my job.” As I looked around at the family, I wondered if I had done the right thing. Clearly, they not only had plenty of money, but they had plenty of love, too. They were decent people. But I was decent too. And although I probably didn’t have as much money as they did, I had plenty of love to give the tiny baby boy
