Never before had the young woman been allowed to see the family she'd left behind. All she wanted was to let them know she was safe and being well cared for. Today was going to be her first contact. She walked down the aisle of the near empty church...
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It was early evening and the staff canteen of Liverpool General Hospital was almost empty. Heidi, the red-haired nurse, looked through James's photograph album.
There was a doctor sitting a few tables away from Heidi, Jane. Jane had beautiful brown eyes and long brown hair mixed with some grey, and was in her late forties. Jane had been in and out of James's ward as she was assessing the sixteen year old boy, Gavin, for heart transplant surgery that she would be leading later that week.
Heidi had forgotten about the feather that had landed on Mr Clarence's bed, which, without thinking, she had placed within the pages of the photograph album just after he'd died. Now, as Heidi flicked through the album, she didn't notice the feather slip out, float in the air a little while, then land at Jane's feet. Jane, having caught sight of the feather's flight, picked it up.
The action of picking up the feather suddenly reminded Jane of her sister. There was something her sister had said to her years ago, about a feather, but now Jane just couldn't remember what it was. Jane walked over to the nurse.
"Yours I believe Heidi?" said Jane, presenting the feather.
"Oh, yes!" said Heidi, "I'd put it in this photo album. I tell you what Jane, finders keepers. You keep it."
"You're so kind!" said Jane, smiling. She put the feather in the pocket of her white overalls.
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"Your family?" said Jane, pointing at the album.
"Oh, someone on my ward, Mr Clarence, died last night. It was his. He asked me to make sure his son receives it."
Jane glanced at the album. One photo caught her attention. It was a photo of a little girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, sitting in a garden, and hugging an old-fashioned looking doll. Probably this Mr Clarence's daughter, Jane thought. The little girl looked somehow familiar to Jane. Where had she seen her before?
