A couple of hours later,Bridget had curled into his side on the couches in the waiting room. A nurse had brought a couple pillows and blankets. Bridget had insisted she wouldn’t fall asleep, but the last twenty-four hours had caught up with her. Todd leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Unlike Bridget, he couldn’t get comfortable enough to collapse. It was worth it if it gave her a chance to rest. The stress of making the decision had worn her down.
His phone vibrated on the charger, and he reached over for it, trying not to disturb Bridget with the movement. Sydney? “What’s up?”
“I can’t get Bridget.”
“She’s finally asleep.”
“Good. But I think she needs to know that I think I found Eliza’s records.”
Todd rubbed his eyes. “How?”
“The judge’s refusal to give Dani the full records triggered a thought about how most adoptions happen. Sure, there are fully private placements, but many happen through an agency. But to find the right one, I went to Odette’s Facebook.”
“Wait. Caleb and I couldn’t find her on Facebook.”
“Guess I’m a better investigator. It took a bit of digging, but she posted regularly fourteen years ago. She posted aboutseveral fundraisers for their adoption journey. People didn’t think about online privacy then the same way we do now.”
“Interesting.”
“So, I called the agency and talked to someone. I explained the situation. She wouldn’t volunteer information, but she confirmed that Dani is not the birth mom.”
Todd felt for his friends. “That’ll be devastating for her.”
“It will.” Sydney let out a slow breath. “I’ve never seen her so intense and then so broken. She really wants to find her daughter. But Eliza isn’t her.”
“No information about her parents?”
“Not yet.” Sydney sighed. “However, when I explained how serious Eliza’s condition is, the director promised to look through the files and see if she could reach the birth parents. Because of the emergency nature of the situation, a temporary guardianship with them might be preferable to emergency foster care. Regardless, it’s a long shot.”
“Okay. That could be helpful.” He considered where to go next. “Did the Facebook page have any sort of tributes?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how many profiles become a place where people post memories after a person dies?”
“Oh, Nothing like that. About six months ago, she stopped posting. If she’s still on Facebook, she’s only looking at other people’s profiles.”
Another dead-end. “Thanks for the update. I’ll let Bridget know when she wakes up.”
“Let me know what?” Bridget pushed up and then stretched. She covered her mouth with her hand. “How long did I sleep?”
“Not long enough.”
“I bet I got more than you. Did you get any sleep?”
“I rested my eyes.” He set his phone down, then rubbed his jaw. “That was Sydney, and she confirmed that Dani is notEliza’s mom.” He filled Bridget in on how she went about doing it. “The director said she’d do some checking though.”
Bridget put her arms around him and held on. “This makes me so sad for Dani. I shouldn’t have raised her hopes.”
He could get used to her holding on, but didn’t understand why this was the moment she leaned in. “Why?”
“I knew it was a stretch to hope Dani was her mom. But if Dani was, then we could reunite Eliza with her birth parents, and I knew she’d be okay. Now she’s truly alone.” She sniffed. “We’re all she has right now.”
“And you’ve been doing a great job taking care of her.” He held on tight hoping he could infuse some of his strength into Bridget.
“It doesn’t feel like I’ve gotten any of this right today. I should have given permission for the surgery earlier, but I wanted to make sure I was her only option first.” She shuddered and nestled closer. “It’s sad to think I’m her best option.”
He stroked her hair and prayed for peace for Bridget. “We’ll keep doing our best. That’s all we can do.” He held her for a minute until he felt her relax. They had made a good team as they fought for Eliza all day, each in their own way. She filled that empty place as he sank into the moment and let himself experience the rightness of it. Then he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
