Lost

Michelle my belle

                 

Chapter 3

"Nurse! Nurse!" Michelle screamed as she clutched the overheated baby.

One of the orphanage nurses came bursting out of the front door. She quickly grabbed the child and reentered the building. Michelle gathered the basket and a baby bag that sat next to it. She followed the nurse to the fourth floor where the orphanage hospital was stationed.

"Michelle, grab David. Hurry!"

Michelle dropped the items in her hands and ran down the hallway to David's office. He was sitting down at his desk typing papers. Without knocking, she opened his door.

"We have another one. He is running a fever and was out in the heat for far too long." Her voice caught on the last word and she choked back a sob.

David quickly stood from his desk and ran down the hall in the direction Michelle had just come from. He went into the small emergency room they had for such occasions. The nurse had already hooked the baby up to monitors. David checked his vitals making sure the baby was cooling down.

"What's his temperature?" David asked.

"It's just below 101 degrees F. It's fluctuating."

Michelle watched helplessly through the glass window at the little boy. Tears began to stream down her face. Often times, she wondered how she could still be so affected by this job. After a few years in the general social work network, Michelle moved into working with refugees and then finally working with orphans in China. Each job took a piece of her heart and with it she felt the light in her soul die. So many deaths, abuse, and limits to what she could do.

"It's down to 99!" declared the nurse. "98, 97!" His vitals straightened out and his heart returned to a normal beat. The nurse and doctor sighed in relief.

"Swaddle him up and keep his IV running. Keep me updated through the night." David said.

Seeing the boy was okay, Michelle collapsed into one of the chairs in the waiting room. Her skin was flush and her stomach rebelled against her. She wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or not. Suddenly she felt someone's presence enter her personal space. David sat next to her, slouched with his head against the wall.

"Scary huh?" He asked.

Michelle nodded, wiping away one more tear. "Do you ever get used to this?" she asked him. David gently nodded his head no. Together they sat in silence. One of the nurses brought them Styrofoam cups with green tea. They both thanked her politely.

"These children need you," David said between sips.

"What am I possibly doing for them? As I held that little boy in my hands I felt so helpless. All I could do was call for the nurse, not save his life like you."

"Don't say that." David said sternly. Even though his voice was hard, his eyes were soft and encouraged her. "You bring attention to this place and you've built a rapport with the community. That little boy was dropped off here because the mother trusted us. She could have easily dropped him in the dumpster."

Michelle nodded absentmindedly. She knew all about stories where mothers abandoned their babies to the elements of the weather.  Two years before when Michelle first began work at the orphanage in China she experienced her first death. A young girl had been dropped off during a cold snowy winter night. She had found her in an alleyway she walked by on her way to work. As hard as she tried, Michelle couldn't get to the young child to the hospital fast enough. The baby died in her arms.  David constantly reminded her that it wasn't her fault, but the memory was fresher than any event that ever happened in her life. That moment took the most of her heart and soul.  This night, even though it was summer, reminded her of that baby girl. She was afraid to hold another lifeless body.

Sighing a deep breath, Michelle leaned back in her chair the way David had.

"I just wish there was something more I could do," she half whispered.

David quietly agreed, "I know."

After a few more minutes of silence and sipping tea, a secretary came over to Michelle.

"Miss Donahue, you have a letter," she said while handing her a crème colored envelope with a blue and green crest.

Michelle opened it to reveal a letter with gold embossed letters. It was for her 10-year reunion. Her skin became flushed and her stomach raged. Now, Michelle knew she was going to be sick.