Leave?
Stay?
How could she find the family for medical decisions when she had zero information?
She was stumped and couldn’t imagine feeling less prepared for the questions that confronted her. There had to be a guide for situations like this, but she didn’t know where to find it, and, frankly, didn’t have it in her, even if she knew where it was.
Barely a minute passed after she hit send before her phone vibrated with an incoming call.
“What have you done, Ellis?”
“Nothing. I’m at the ER with a Jane Doe.”What do I dowas her unspoken question.
“And you were the lucky person on call?” Leticia Graves sighed. “Silly question. No one has any idea who the girl is?”
“No.”
“And the officer who brought her in?”
“Detective Westmont.”
“Okay, he’s one of the good ones. He still there?”
“Yes. Hasn’t left line of sight of the room.”
“Good.” There was a tapping sound as if Leticia drummed on a surface. “Stay with her tonight and in the morning, we’ll work through missing child reports and get the media involved. If we haven’t had anyone reach out to us, then the media is our best way to spread the word quickly that we have an unidentified minor who needs her family.”
“Okay.” Maybe she could give Dani a heads-up now. “Do you want me to reach out to an acquaintance at Channel 13 now?”
“No, it can wait until the morning when we have a better idea what we’re dealing with. The evening news is behind us anyway. Nothing they can do now.”
“Other than get it on their social accounts.”
“And then we spend all night weeding through those rather than seeing what we know first. Better to wait. Give ourselves a chance to go through reports from the last couple weeks.”
Bridget glanced at the girl who still lay unmoving on the bed. As thin as she was, she might have been in trouble for longer than the last couple hours, but she didn’t have a better plan to offer Leticia. “All right. I’ll come in first thing tomorrow.”
“No, hang tight until I say differently. We’ll need to keep someone with her until she wakes. Those first impressions may be telling in important ways.”
After Leticia ended the call, Bridget stepped back into the hall. She waved Detective Westmont over. “Could you stay in the room for a minute?”
“Sure, but where are you going?”
“To my car. Looks like I get to stay all night, so I need to grab my bag. Then I can at least start looking through reports while I wait, since I doubt I’ll sleep much tonight.”
“Makes sense.” He sank onto the squeaky plastic-covered recliner in the corner of the room. “I won’t go anywhere.”
“Thanks.” Twenty minutes later she returned with her backpack and two cups of bad vending machine coffee. “It’s black and hot, that’s about all I can say that’s positive.”
“Appreciate it.” His stomach grumbled, and she dug around in her bag until she pulled out a Larabar.
“This should help.” She handed the bar to him.
He took it with a small smile. “Thanks. This one of those healthy treats?”
“Something like that. If you don’t want it…” She waved her fingers in front of his face.
“No, I’m good.” He ripped it open before she could snag it and then took a bite. His eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe that something that looked so unappetizing could taste good. “Thanks.”
