March 20th, 1968
The phones incessant ringing coming from the kitchen woke Patrick out of a sound sleep. He turned over in bed, switching on the lamp to stare at the boxy alarm clock on the night stand, it was two in the morning. Another glance to his left showed his wife Karen, still asleep so he slipped out of bed and trudged downstairs to answer the noisy beast. When he answered with a groggy "Hello?" the voice of one of the night nurses at the university hospital answered back with one simple statement "Your sisters here."
That was all Patrick needed to get him moving. He got dressed downstairs, snatching the station wagon keys from the ceramic dish on the credenza before slipping out into the dead of night. He was the only car on the street as he made the short ten-minute drive to The University of Pennsylvania Hospital which also currently doubled as his place of employment where he was continuing the long path to becoming a doctor. He had two years left in his residency, but he had already established good connections with the staff here. They respected him, treated him like an equal instead of putting him through the awful hazing rituals new med students often endured. Patrick had a way to connect with patients and nurses making everyone feel as if he had been on staff here for years. He pulled into his usual parking space near the ER doors and quietly entered the building. He was remarkably calm for someone so young, twenty-five years on this earth and the majority of them spent dealing with an alcoholic father had aged him severely.
When Constance was born, he was nine years old and from day one, protected her from the violence their father inflicted daily. That violence had reached her only once, and it was the day nine months or so ago when she declared she was going to have a baby, she was only sixteen. His parents sent her away to a special girls' school where she could have the baby and no one in town here would know of their shame. But Constance came back two months ago to live with friends having left the school in frustration over being forced to hide away. Patrick promised his sister he would be there for her when she had the baby and now that moment had come. He checked in with the head nurse at the desk up in Obstetrics who kindly showed him the way to Constance's room. Despite being just a medical student, the staff adored him so much, they offered him a private room for her when they heard of his plight a few months back. He did not have the heart to tell Karen of the issue, knowing she so desperately wanted children but they had struggled to conceive for the last three years of their marriage, something the doctors said was not either of their faults, it just happens sometimes. Now with Constance so close to becoming a mom out of wedlock, he began to fantasize about buying baby clothes, and toys, setting up a crib, and the look on Karen's face if they had a tiny bundle of joy to love. His daydreams went out the window when he entered the private hospital room and saw his sister lying in bed looking somewhat relaxed but tensing up in obvious pain.
"About time," his sister snapped at him.
"We were asleep," Patrick reminded her of the late hour.
"We?" Constance emphasized, "she's not with you is she?" I told you I don't need her snide remarks while I'm doing this."
She looked down at her body in disgust, referring to Karen and all the over reacting her sister in law would spout if given the chance to witness this birth.
"She's at home," Patrick assured her, moving to be closer to the bed "how far are the contractions?"
Constance shrugged and said, "Every few minutes I guess, that stupid nurse said she would come back but she won't, they all hate me here, they only check on me because they love you."
She eyed her brother with a mixture of annoyance but a flicker of pride because she knew what he had gone through to get this far in his life. After that, she let out a cry of pain and Patrick knew she had been hiding the pain from him to maintain her "tough" attitude she had carried for so long. He yelled for the nurse and doctor on call who quickly descended on the room and ushered him out, so they could work with Constance. He paced outside the room, cringing every time he heard her cry out in pain, which was not often, to his surprise. It took less than an hour before the lead nurse was calling for him.
"She did great," the nurse informed him "one of the fastest labors we've seen here."
"Boy or girl?" he asked now.
"Sweet little girl," the nurse revealed as she led him back into the room.
Constance was sitting up in bed looking exhausted but cradling the infant somewhat loosely in her arms.
"Never again," she scoffed of the birthing process.
Patrick didn't know how to respond to that, he just stared at the baby wrapped up in blankets, completely at ease with the world around her. He began to fantasize again about the room set aside in their home for a child if and when it came along. Yet here there was a child right in front of him, his niece for that matter, someone he could still bond with and so could Karen.
"You got all the stuff ready?" Constance asked him now.
"What?" he stammered, confused by her statement.
"You know, the crib, some toys, food and stuff," Constance said.
"But-"Patrick stammered, realizing what was happening "Karen doesn't know, she's not ready, I've got school."
"You have to take her," Constance begged now "mom and dad will make me give her up to some awful orphanage or some weird family they know, come on, she has to go to a good home and I can't keep her at school."
She lifted the baby up to him which he clumsily held, rocking gently, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and heartbreak. Yes, Karen longed for children, but they were both working so hard towards their goals. Karen had the rest of the school year as a teacher to finish out, her class was full and busy and a baby would prevent her from working the job she loved. But when would they have another chance like this?
Rain had begun to fall during the three hours Patrick spent in the hospital. It tapped quietly on the windows of the room, but he was still worried it would wake the sleeping infant he had been holding since Constance had given her to him then promptly fallen asleep. He sat in the wooden rocking chair in the corner with only the tiny lamp light on so as not to disturb the little girl. As he sat rocking with her, he got lost in thoughts, each one more confusing than the last. What would Karen say if he just showed up tonight with their niece? What if he convinced Constance to come and live with them and raise the baby together like some odd threesome couple? People would certainly spread gossip at that arrangement. Only once did it occur to him to tell the truth; that his sister was only sixteen with a child and needed some help caring for the baby. It was none of the neighbor's business. Bravery was not Patrick's strong suit however, and a new, more complicated plan formulated in his mind. One that allowed him and Karen to have the best of their careers, this child and one where Constance would not be punished for her alleged sin, but rather, revered in her choice.
"It's raining, Patrick," Constance scolded her brother as they drove in the early morning hours down side streets and back alleys leading away from the hospital.
Patrick used the windshield wipers to clear the glass as a silent acknowledgement of the rain but said nothing as he drove, his eyes bloodshot and aching with exhaustion.
Constance had slept for just a short hour before the nurses woke her up to take care of paper work and to get her up and walking. Then, at her insistence, the nurses brought her release forms. Since the baby was healthy and had already been monitored, they could not stop the threesome from leaving. Besides, in order to make the plan work, they had to act before sunrise.
"Have you thought of a name?" the nurse asked as Patrick helped Constance put on her sweater.
"Not yet," she lied, anything to get moving quicker.
"She'll need one before we can release you," the nurse said, waving the pen and paperwork in front of them.
Constance snatched the forms, scribbled something eligible on the paper, signed it, dated it and handed it back to the nurse in haste.
"Julie Elisabeth, that's pretty," the nurse remarked "fathers last name?"
"Uh, he's not in the picture right now," Constance lied "just put down mine, Finlay."
The nurse scribbled on the forms again, then let them be on their way. Patrick guided his sister and niece through the quiet hospital corridors and back out to the car where the rain had left a coating of dew and condensation on the windshield. Now, as they drove through the quiet streets of Philly, the rain had begun to let up despite Constance's insistence that it wasn't.
"We can't let her stay out in the rain," she pleaded as Patrick pulled the car to a stop in front of the stone building just a few blocks from the hospital. He stared up at the cross, hoping whatever God was up there would forgive them for this.
"What if no one is there?" Constance asked worriedly.
"Someone is always there," Patrick assured her "I've been doing checkups here for the nuns and the kids during my rotation, the drop off is around back, just tuck her in with the blankets and ring the bell, they don't ask questions and they don't wait for explanations, you can leave as soon as the light over the door turns on, that's how you know someone's coming."
Constance stared at her brother with red eyes, hating herself in this moment. Her body still felt out of sorts from labor and her heart was filled with too many emotions. But her head was clear, she had to let go, for the sake of her family, her life and this child currently wrapped in blankets in her arms.
"I'll be right back then," she said but she didn't move from the passenger seat.
"I'll do it if you want," Patrick offered, holding his hands out for the baby which Constance handed him, her eyes filling with tears now as she turned away from them both to try and hide them.
Patrick carefully maneuvered the door to the station wagon open, stepping out into the mild spring air. The rain had stopped completely but the scent of if lingered in the air as he proceeded to walk up the pathway to the convent attached to the church he had frequented for months. When he reached the small porch with the basket and sign, he lowered Julie into the basket. She let out a tiny cry as if she knew what was happening. Patrick stared at the child, those nursery fantasies coming back to him, with Karen by his side, carrying a teddy bear and other baby toys, dancing around the room to music with the little girl in their arms. A gust of wind shook those daydreams right out of his head as he straightened up, sighed and rang the bell attached to the wall of the convent, waiting until the tiny yellow light blinked on before backing away into the darkness.
This will be my interpretation of the life and events of Julie Finlay that led her to Seattle then to Vegas as well as the reasoning behind how she became a target of The Gig Harbor Killer and the search for her biological mother and answers about her life and childhood. Multiple chapters to come.