“I’m concerned about a traumatic brain injury. Something that is putting pressure on her brain and prohibiting her from waking up. We can’t see anything when we look at her eyes, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something in another part of her brain.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“It doesn’t have to be, but if we don’t check and there is a problem, it could cause long-term issues. That’s what I want to avoid. If the scan comes back clean, then we can check that off the list of possibilities and move to the next.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s what we often have to do when a patient presents without a medical history.”
“You’re the ultimate detective.”
“In some ways.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Your signature authorizing the test as a representative of the state.”
“I’ll confirm I can do that with my boss.”
“Do it quickly because if there is bleeding or something else occurring in her brain, I don’t want to continue delaying identifying that.”
When he put it like that, the pressure landed on her shoulders like a weight. She placed the call and got reluctant permission to only approve the MRI.
“You have to call before anything else is allowed.”
“Understood.” She hung up and looked at the doctor. “Where do I sign?”
As she watched a tech prep Jane Doe for transport, Bridget hoped she’d made the right choice. She didn’t have a real choice when the girl remained still. Bridget wished Todd would return. He’d been gone all morning, and she felt the walls of the small hospital room closing in. Other than signing a paper, she hadn’t done anything all day. However, she wouldn’t abandon Jane. The girl needed someone to fight for her, and Bridget would be that person, no matter how long or uncomfortable the process.
As the tech wheeled the bed down the hallway, Bridget pulled out her phone and called Todd. When he picked up, she felt her shoulders relax at the sound of his voice.
“Everything good?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” She made herself stop. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a nag.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please tell me you’ve learned something.”
“Yeah, we did. Sorry, we’ve been chasing down leads, or I would have called sooner.”
She didn’t bother to point out that he hadn’t called her. “What do you have?”
“I think your Jane Doe’s name is Eliza Brandenberg.”
Her stomach dropped. “Any relation to Bill and Odette Brandenberg?”
“Those are her parents.”
“Were her parents.” She wanted to slap her forehead.
“What do you mean?” His tone had sharpened as if she had his full attention.
“I’m pretty sure they were the couple killed in a car accident outside Omaha about a week ago.”
“A few days ago?” His voice was louder, probably than he realized. She had to pull the phone away from her ear.
“Yeah. I’d have to double-check, but I don’t remember anything in the articles about them having a daughter. Just something about a son who had died in the last year.”
“Wow. That’s the family.”
“How do you know?” She could barely keep up as he told her about finding the backpack and then talking to a school principal. “You did all of that this morning?”
