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“Basically. Why?”
“Because I think you should still honor them,” Krista stated.
His eyes widened. “Why the hell would I do that? The baby is not mine!”
She remained calm. “I know that, but look at this.” Krista handed him a copy of the birth certificate.
“What am I looking for?” he asked.
“Only one parent is listed. Her. The other is blank,” she replied.
“Got you. She’s a single parent. My mother was too. At least for a good part of the time. What does this have to do with me?” he asked again.
“The baby needs someone, Connor. This could be your chance to step in and be a father.”
Connor burst out laughing. “They obviously slipped you something if you think for one minute I’m going to claim to be this kids father.”
“Read this.” Krista handed him a medical report. She waited as his eyes scanned the paper. There were a lot of medical terms which he probably didn’t understand, so she broke it down for him in very simple terms. “Connor, she is dying. Maybe a few months, that’s all. There is nothing they can do. The tumor is too large and fast growing.” He sat there quietly holding the paper and she continued. “She has no one. No emergency contact listed either. The physician said no one came to see her. She is…alone. Just her and the baby.”
Connor sat there and she swore she could hear his heart beating between his breaths. She knew what he was feeling. It was like a punch in the gut, and a twist of a knife. They had come here to distance themselves from a situation. “Connor, we can’t just walk away. Not again.”
He didn’t look at her when he responded. “I can’t put my name down as the father. Trust me, in the long run it’d do more harm than good. But you’re right, we need to do something. What that is, I have no idea.”
“Connor, we need a plan. I know this is going to sound crazy…”
“Can’t be more crazy than you asking me to claim the kid as mine,” he blurted.
True.“What do you think about us getting a hotel for the night? Maybe we can come up with a solid plan by the morning,” she suggested.
“I thought you needed to get back to Montpelier?” he asked.
“The only patient I would have just moved to Boston. Do you think the Hendersons will mind you being away another day?” she asked.
“No. And if they do, then they can find someone else. They do have a penthouse apartment here that they use whenever in New York. I’ll call Shaun and give him an update and ask if I can use it. And before you flip out on me, I’m not going to give him any of her medical status. Just going to tell him it’s taking longer than anticipated,” Connor stated.
She took the paperwork from Connor and read it all again while he made his phone call. Her heart was breaking. Krista couldn’t picture being a woman alone, with a new baby, and knowing she…she’d never see her baby grow up.
Krista felt helpless. There was nothing she could do. If she couldn’t help her physically, then she’d need to do something else. She leaned back against the seat and looked out the passenger window. She was staring, yet seeing nothing. The only picture she had was the look on the woman’s face as she had been looking down at her new baby.
A tear rolled down her cheek and she raised her right shoulder to wipe it off. She didn’t want Connor to see her breaking. Everyone thought she was a rock, and right now, she was going to need to be one. Not for her, but for….my patient.
