Page 49 of From the Embers

“Then you’ll have to cross that bridge when you get to it. It’s her time to mourn the loss of her family, and if she’s asking for you then it means she’s formed some kind of bond with you. It may help her recovery.”

“You’re right,” he says. “I’m just not that great with kids.”

“I’m sure you’re a fast learner.”

We find her ward and then Denver knocks on the door. A nurse is sitting with a little girl in the bed. She’s all bandaged up and has multiple cuts and bruises all over her. Plus, her arm and leg are in a cast. She’s sitting upright, watching television.

“Hello, Hope,” Denver says as the girl turns to look at him. Her eyes light up.

“Denver!”

The nurse smiles kindly, letting us come in as she takes her leave.

He waves the Hello Kitty at her. “I thought Duckie could do with a friend.”

She beams up at him and truly, my heart could break right there. “How did you know where I was?”

“A little birdy told me.”

“Duckie?”

He smiles and I melt at how sweet he’s being, perched on the side of her bed.

She looks up at me. “Who are you?”

I wave lamely. “Hey, I’m Adelaide, but you can call me Adi. I’m a friend of Denver’s.”

Denver’s eyes are on me as he clarifies. “Adi is my girlfriend, and when I told her about you, she couldn’t wait to meet you.”

Her eyes brighten. “Really?”

I do. “Yep. I brought some cookies, too. I heard chocolate chips were your favorite.”

She nods, tears brimming in her eyes. “Mommy used to make them.”

I swallow, seeing the trauma relived in her eyes. I don’t even know what to say, so I just go with my gut. “You’re a very brave little girl, Hope. She’d be proud of you.”

This poor kid is gonna need so much therapy.

“In Heaven?” she says, looking at Denver. “With my brother and sister, and Grandma, too?”

Denver takes her hand and squeezes it. “That’s right, sweet pea, in Heaven. You know they all love you very much.”

She nods, tears leaking from her eyes. “But I can’t see them, not for a really long time.”

Great, this is nice and traumatic for her.

“You know, if you want, we could come and see you, when you get settled in your new place.”

Denver told me as far as he knows she has no other family. No cousins, or aunts or uncles. What will become of her? This poor, sweet little girl without a family. Pain grips me as I watch on as she asks Denver to read her a story.

Jeez, and here I was thinking I had problems because my curling iron wasn’t working this morning. It really puts things into perspective when you take your head out of your ass.

“It’s difficult,” Jenny, the nurse, says to me when I step away. “She keeps asking for them, and from what we can gather there is no next of kin.”

“What will happen to her?” I ask.

Jenny frowns. “She’ll enter the emergency foster system and find a suitable placement to begin with.”