Heartbeat
***Chris and David's apartment***
It's 3:30 in the morning. Chris' phone rings. It's Bridgit.
"Aunt Chris? It's time".
Chris jumps up and quickly throws on some yoga pants and a long sleeved shirt, and her Nike's. She quickly woke David, and told him she was heading to Bridgit's and she would call him later.
She headed out the door quickly and ran to the parking garage and got in her car and drove to Bridgit's.
***Bridgit's apartment***
Chris pulled up in front of Bridgit's building and threw on her hazards. She ran in and told the doorman what was happening. She raced to the elevator, and hit the button for the 5th floor, where Bridgit and Lisa lived.
She knocked on Bridgit's door, and found Lisa on the other side.
"Hi honey! How is she?"
"She's nervous. Her water broke but she can't feel the baby move".
"Well, let's get her to the hospital and get her checked out".
She went into Bridgit's room, where she was trying to put on her shoes. Lisa had Bridgit's bag, and the baby's bag, and a car seat, along with another duffle bag to bring things home in.
Chris got Bridgit to the door, and they all waited while a contraction passed. Bridgit was having a hard time walking with the contractions.
They got on the elevator and got to the lobby. The doorman came with a wheelchair, and helped her to the car. They raced to the hospital.
***At the hospital***
Bridgit got checked in at 4:45 a.m. She was taken back shortly after, and admitted. She asked Lisa to call their parents and tell them what was happening. She herself sent a text to the baby's father, but she got no response. Later, when she tried to call him, the number had been disconnected.
The nurse came in and helped Bridgit get into a gown. She helped her get back into bed and they checked her.
"You are 4 cm dilated! Things are going to start happening…".
Chris could tell she was nervous.
"I haven't felt the baby move since around 8 last night. Is that normal?"
"It's not uncommon. You are at the very end, and your baby might not have enough room to move. We will do an ultrasound in a few moments, so try to relax".
Bridgit nodded. Chris came over and was holding her hand. Lisa went to get her ice chips and some coffee for her and Chris.
***About 30 minutes later***
The doctor came in and examined Bridgit. He had the nurse hook up the ultrasound monitor, and they started the ultrasound.
The baby showed right up, and the nurse tried to stimulate the baby with the wand. Bridgit asked them to print the pictures, and they did.
She was staring at the nurse's face, and was hoping to see any kind of emotion, but she didn't. The nurse called the doctor over, and then he turned to Bridgit.
"Your baby is fine. She is just out of room. But she is so squeezed in there, I think we need to speed some things up so she can get out of there as soon as possible."
Bridgit nodded.
The nurse started an IV for her, and they started a Pitocin drip. She asked for an epidural, so they called for an emergency one.
Within 20 minutes, she was numb from the waist down, and waiting very impatiently for her daughter to be born.
***2 hours later***
It was now 8:50. Bridgit was 9 cm dilated, and the doctor was getting her staff ready. About 30 minutes later, she checked Bridgit again, and told her it was go time.
Chris and Lisa put on the gowns and the masks and came over to help hold Bridgit's legs.
After about 30 minutes of pushing, with a 2 minute break in between, the head was out. One more push and she was born!
They told her it was a girl, and then cut the cord. The doctor handed her to the nurse, who brought her to Bridgit so she could see her, before they took her and cleaned her up, and measured her and weighed her. Bridgit was crying, and the nurses were cleaning up all the blood and preparing to take her to recovery.
The doctor patted Bridgit's leg. "You did great, honey. I will see you soon".
The nurses got her cleaned up, and got her in a new bed. She didn't require any stitches, so that was a relief.
They wrapped the baby up, and gave her to Bridgit, and let her sit up at an angle to hold her. Chris and Lisa were able to take off their masks and gowns then, and Chris just stared at the baby.
"She's precious, Bridgit. Does she have a name?"
"There is one I have been thinking of, but I am not sure yet".
Chris went and got her phone, and called David.
He said he would be there soon with a surprise.
Lisa called Brian and Ann, and they announced they were going to be flying out on the next flight.
They took Bridgit and the baby to their room then, and Chris and Lisa grabbed everything and followed.
Chris and Lisa texted everyone and told them where they were. Chris called Mary Beth and told her that Bridgit had the baby and to tell Feldberg she wouldn't be in today. It was Wednesday, so It was going to be a slow day, most likely.
Bridgit let Chris hold the baby, and Chris sang "Happy Birthday" to her. It was hard without knowing her name, but she improvised the best she could.
Lisa held her next, and took lots of pictures. She sent a few to her parents. Chris' phone went off right then, and she saw that it was a text from David.
"Be right up with my surprise".
"Ok babe".
"Bridgit, David is on his way up, and he has a surprise."
"Yay! "
Just a few minutes later, the door opened. In walked David with a big bouquet of flowers, a couple balloons, and….Miranda!"
"Bridgit! " Miranda ran to her. They hugged and hugged, as it had been a few months since they had seen each other. David placed the flowers and balloons on the table next to Bridgit's bed, and then gave her a hug and kiss.
He came over and hugged Lisa, and then kissed Christine. They settled onto the couch. Lisa was still holding the baby.
She handed the baby to Chris, and Chris held her until Miranda came over.
"Honey, do you want to hold her?" Miranda nodded.
"Ok, sit down. Do you want a pillow?"
"I guess". They gave her a pillow to put in her lap and then Chris handed the baby to her. She held her for so long, and was talking to her and singing to her. Chris took several pictures.
She turned to David. "How did you do this?"
"I called Stephanie, and asked her if she could come meet her new cousin, and Stephanie agreed to let her skip school for the day to meet her. So I went and got her, and brought her here".
"Such a nice surprise".
The nurse came in to check the baby and help Bridgit feed her, so Miranda had to hand her to the nurse.
The nurse was very patient with Bridgit, and tried to get the baby to breastfeed, but she wouldn't latch on, so they finally gave her a bottle. The nurse handed her a piece of paper with the baby's information on it, and was reading it very intently.
"Her official weight is 5 lbs 12 ounces, 21 ½ inches long. She was born at 9:12 a.m."
Lisa took a picture of that for the baby's baby book.
Bridgit's phone went off, and she grabbed it. "Mom and Dad will be here at 3."
She thought a moment, and then said " I have officially decided on a name, but I want to wait until they are here to announce it".
Everyone agreed with that, and focused on the baby.
David went out and got everyone lunch, so they wouldn't have to eat the hospital food.
Miranda pulled her chair up right next to Bridgit's bed, and they were just chatting and staring at the baby.
Lisa and Chris were talking on the couch.
"How is the new apartment going?"
"I love it! I miss having Bridgit there, but she's right across the hall. I love having all the space to myself, and I loved being able to decorate it. It really sucks being an adult most of the time, but this time it was really fun".
"That's so great! How is your job going?"
"So fun! I am super busy, but I love it because it makes the time go by so fast, and I get tons done during the day, and I am learning so much too. I am not having to do much work at home at night, but there are nights when I can't wait to get back to work because I want to finish something so bad. I had thought that I would one day want to have my own line, but now I don't think I do. I think I want to be a buyer or something".
"You will be great at whatever you do, Lisa. You are so talented".
"Thanks, Aunt Chris. I am really enjoying fashion merchandising".
David came back with the food then, and they all ate. He had gone to Marco's, this little hole in the wall Italian restaurant that he and Chris used to date at years ago, the first time.
He waited to see if she would recognize where it came from. He had gotten her mussels marinara and pesto ravioli, and the sampler plate for everyone else, which had chicken parmesan, sausage ravioli, and fettucine alfredo, a big salad for everyone, and their world famous cheesy garlic bread. He handed everyone their plates, and Chris opened her container.
She stared at it, and then she looked back at him. "You didn't!".
He nodded.
"Marco's? THE Marco's?!"
"The one and only. I am so glad you remembered it too".
"We need to eat there more often, babe". She dug in to her mussels marinara, and moaned in delight.
They all ate their lunch, and let Bridgit snooze a little bit.
Brian texted Lisa that he and Ann actually landed at 2:15, so they would be there around 2:45. She was so excited.
Miranda was sitting next to Chris while she held the baby again, and looking over Chris' shoulder. She was so excited to have a new baby cousin.
About 30 minutes later, Brian and Ann walked in the door.
"Hi everyone. Grandpa is here!"
A round of hugs and handshakes ensued, and then he came over to see his new Granddaughter. Bridgit was holding her.
"Ok, well since you are all here, it's time I told you what her name is, and more importantly how I got to it".
"I wanted her to have a special name, but not too unusual or too common. So I have been pouring over baby books, and writing baby names down all the time. And then one night I had a dream, and when I woke up, all I could remember was the names in the dream. And those names are the ones I keep coming back to, each time I think about it. Both parts of her name are special, because the people she Is named for are very special. I decided early on her middle name would be Elizabeth, after Grandma, even though I didn't ever get to meet her. Plus, mom's middle name is Elizabeth, so that carries on the tradition too. But I am spelling it with an s, not a z, so it's Elisabeth, and that way it has my sister's name in it. Her first name took the longest, and was the hardest, but I think it's extra special. I want to name her Charlotte, and call her Charlie, after grandpa. Aunt Chris, I wanted to name her after you, but I figured you were so close to Charlie, that this way, I kind of did".
"Bridgit, Charlie would have loved that you named her after him. And my middle name is Elizabeth, so she has my name too".
"Yay! Then I named her after my 3 favorite people, and 2 that I didn't know but I am sure I would have loved".
Everyone was so happy that Bridgit named her daughter Charlie. She handed the baby to her dad so he could hold her, and he was holding her and talking to her and telling her how beautiful she was, when all of a sudden he just stopped.
"What's that smell?"
"Everyone sniffed".
"I have smelled that before…. It was the cigar tobacco that Dad used! Vanilla, with a hint of peach and almond".
"Yes, that's it. Now where is it coming from?"
They looked all around, but couldn't find the source.
Chris finally looked up, and just said "Hey Pop".
"How ya doing, Dad?" Brian looked up as well. Ann wiped a tear away, and came and sat next to her husband.
David put his arm around Chris. It was a very surreal moment, and she was very eager to let it pass.
David left to take Miranda home, and Chris stayed so she could still chat with her brother.
Ann was chatting with Bridgit and holding her granddaughter.
"What do you want Charlie to call you guys?"
"Well your dad wants to be Grandpa. I want to be Honey, or Gigi."
"You want to be plain old Grandpa? I would have thought you would pick something different, like Poppy or something".
"Dad was known as Pop when the girls were little. I guess I could be Poppy. That's another way to honor him".
Bridgit grabbed her dad's hand and smiled.
Chris looked at her watch, and saw that it was almost 5.
The nurse came in to give Bridgit her dinner- salad, steak, and a baked potato. They tried one more time to get Charlie to nurse, but she wasn't having it. So they gave her a bottle of formula.
Around 5:30, the nurse came back and checked on Bridgit once more. She offered to take Charlie to the nursery, so that Bridgit could get some sleep.
Chris, Lisa, Brian and Ann all left then, so Bridgit could sleep. They all said they would come back in the morning.
Chris headed home, and Brian and Ann went with Lisa to see her new apartment.
***Chris and David's apartment***
Chris got home, and saw that David wasn't home yet, so she started dinner for them.
She sautéed some shrimp, and then boiled some noodles. She added some onions to the shrimp, and some butter, and garlic. She popped some bread into the oven, and made some fresh pesto, and had mixed it all together when David got home.
"Hi babe!" She kissed him, and then resumed setting the table. "Dinner is almost ready, just waiting on the bread".
"Great. Can't wait".
He started getting their drinks ready, and then helped her plate the shrimp pesto. She got the bread out of the oven, and the leftover salad from the previous night out of the fridge. They ate dinner, and then settled in to watch a movie.
Chris climbed into bed around 9:30, and David followed her about an hour later.
She had no idea what was yet to come….
***the next morning***
Chris' phone rang at 5 a.m. It was Bridgit.
"Aunt Chris, I need you. Charlie needs you. Please hurry".
"Ok Bridgie, I will be right there".
She got up, quickly showered, and got dressed for work, and then headed to the hospital. She went to Bridgit's room, and found her sobbing, in the bed.
"Bridgit, what's wrong?"
"Charlie's gone".
Chris wasn't understanding. So she went to get the nurse.
The nurse came in and explained to Chris that Bridgit had sent Charlie to the nursery just after 5:30. They recorded feeding her at 8:30, and again midnight. Hospital policy dictates that they don't wake to feed between midnight and 6 a.m., so the baby only gets fed if they wake up during those times. Bridgit had woken up at 3:45, and felt ok to go visit her daughter, so she asked the nurse to wheel her to Bridgit's room. That's when they realized that she wasn't in the nursery. They officially declared her missing at 4:45 a.m., and as soon as they told Bridgit, she called Chris.
"Please find her Aunt Chris. Please, you are the best cop there is, and you have to help me find my child". Bridgit was sobbing so hard.
"I will Bridgie, I promise".
She looked at her watch and saw that it was too early to call Feldberg. She texted him instead. "My niece had her baby yesterday, and she has now gone missing. I am formally requesting to be put on the case".
She sent a text to Mary Beth to meet her at the hospital. Then she started investigating this. She called for the head of security to come to Bridgit's room. After she asked them to give her a copy of the video from the nursery, she went to interview the nurses there.
They all gave her the same answer. They had come on shift after Charlie went missing. The nurses that had worked overnight had gone home.
Lauren, the last nurse interviewed told Chris something the other nurses had not divulged. "Well I usually relieve Grace and Michelle, but Michelle was the only one here. She told me that Grace got sick and went home around 3:20 or so, and that she had been by herself in their quad. The other nurses hadn't noticed that Grace went home. I got here and I had signed in, and I was just about to go record the names of the babies in the nursery in our log, like we always do at the beginning. That's when security came in and declared one baby to be missing. But it wasn't immediately noticeable, because the entire incubator was gone, there wasn't an empty incubator. So it appeared as if there wasn't a spot for the incubator, if that makes sense".
Chris wrote all of this down, and then went back to Bridgit's room. Feldberg texted that she was officially on the case and sent his condolences.
Mary Beth arrived around 7:45.
***Bridgit's room***
The head of security brought a laptop to Chris with the video on it. It clearly showed the nurse that everyone identified as Grace Campbell leaving the nursery with an incubator.
Mary Beth headed to speak to the CEO of the hospital., and get access to Grace Campbell's employee file. Chris was watching the video to try and see if they could see her leaving the hospital.
Just then, one of the security guards came in and told them some news.
"We just found the incubator in a room on the very top floor, in a wing that hasn't been used. No sign of the baby. Her baby bracelet was in there, along with a couple of blankets. Looks like one blanket is missing."
Chris took the bracelet from him, and put it in an evidence bag. She made a note to ask the CEO if they could print Bridgit another one for Charlie's baby book.
The nurse had given Bridgit a sedative, so she was sleeping.
"Thank you." Chris stepped away from the security guard, and pulled out her phone. She called Brian.
"Brian, hey, it's Chris. Bridgit called me this morning, and asked me to come to the hospital. Charlie is missing. Bridgit was given a sedative so she is sleeping. Mary Beth and I are investigating the case. I was just letting you know so you wouldn't be surprised if you still came up here".
"Thanks Chris, please call us the minute you know anything".
Mary Beth came back then. "Chris, bad news. According to Mrs. Paula Winters, the CEO- there isn't anyone employed here named Grace Campbell". They think that she might have changed her name in the system, to avoid detection. So it's going to take a few hours because they have to screen all the employees and figure out who is missing. They are going to call us as soon as they figure it out."
"Ok. We need a plan".
She turned to the head of security, and told him to keep searching the hospital and the videos and to call her if anything turned up. She then called Brian and asked him to come to the hospital. "I think it might help Bridgit if you and Ann are here when she wakes up".
They agreed, and promised to meet her there. She called the CEO and asked her to come to Bridgit's room, and when she got there, she asked her to please focus on the nurses who have been working in the nursery the last few months, and to speak with Lauren, since she usually relieves this woman. She also asked her to please print Charlie another bracelet, exactly like the first one, so that Bridgit could put it in her baby book. The CEO agreed, and took her phone number so that she could call her the exact minute she knew something.
Then, just as Chris had a minute to think, Brian and Ann got there. She filled them in, and then promised to keep them updated. She and Mary Beth left, and headed to the office.
She filled Mary Beth in while they drove.
***In the car***
"So she named her Charlotte Elisabeth. Elisabeth is after me, my mom, and Ann, but it has Lisa's name in it also. And Charlotte is just so that she can call him Charlie, after my dad. It's very special. And not 5 minutes after she told us the origin of her name, we smelled the same tobacco that Pop used, but nobody could figure out where it came from".
"That's lovely, Christine. Charlie would have loved that".
"I think so too".
"So how did Bridgit tell you about Charlie being missing?"
"She called me at 5 a.m., crying, and asking me to come to the hospital. So I got ready for work, and then headed there. The nurse told me that they don't feed the babies between 12 and 6 unless they wake up, or are taking medicine and need formula for it. So the last record they have of Charlie being fed was at midnight. Bridgit woke up around 3:30, and asked the nurse to bring her to her room, and that's when they couldn't find her".
"Oh how horrible."
"Yeah, and when I got there, she was sobbing so hard, her monitors were all going off. So they gave her a sedative to help her rest."
They pulled up to their building and went inside to get busy.
***Chris and Mary Beth's office***
Chris walked into her office. She signed in, and quickly filled her water bottle. She and Mary Beth had used separate offices for a time, but they were basically back to using the same office now. Mary Beth's official desk was in an alcove down the hall, but she worked pretty frequently at a table in Chris' office.
They got out their computers, and went to work. Mary Beth had taken the pictures of all the nurses in the nursery from their employment files. She was going to scan them into the computer to see if there was a match to anyone with a criminal record. It was entirely possible that this Grace person was using a fake name on her application, and then with her colleagues as well. She set about scanning those pictures while Chris started the case paperwork.
The CEO administrator called around 11:45 to report that the head of security had been questioning Michelle Watkins, the other nurse on duty with Grace Campbell. She finally admitted that Grace had stolen the baby, and that she had covered for her. Chris asked them to hold her and sent uniforms to pick her up and arrest her. She wanted to question her personally. They still didn't have a clear name on who Grace Campbell really was, but they were getting closer. There were 12 nurses who worked the nursery, and 6 of them were on duty, so that helped. Of the remaining 6, 3 had answered the phone and promised to come in to verify their identity, and the other 3 hadn't answered. That wasn't uncommon, especially if they worked overnights and slept during the day, as most nurses who did so turned their phones off so they wouldn't be disturbed.
Chris begged her to keep her updated, and texted Brian with the update. They responded that Bridgit was still sleeping, and they would tell her when she woke up.
Chris and Mary Beth went to lunch then, and a uniform took over scanning the pictures into the computer for her.
They chose a nice Mexican place, that was known for its wonderful food, but even better fast service.
Chris wasn't as talkative as she usually is, but she was still somewhat talkative.
Just as they were about to pay the bill, she got a phone call.
"Lieutenant Keeler".
"Lieutenant, we have a match on the photos. I compared it to the images you printed from the video, and I believe we found our kidnapper. If I am right, her name is Gretchen Matthews, and she has a rap sheet fairly long. Previously convicted for small things like petty theft and public intoxication, but her big one is out of New Jersey. She kidnapped her niece about 3 years ago, and served 4 months in jail for it".
"Hang tight, we are on our way. See if you can find an address or last known place of residence for her".
They quickly paid for their meal and then rushed back to the office.
***Chris' office***
Chris and Mary Beth walked in, and started reading the file that Officer Stevens had prepared. Right there on top, was her last known address.
Chris and Mary Beth headed to the address, hoping to find Grace squirreled away inside with Charlie.
***Grace Campbell's apartment***
They pulled up to her apartment building, and realized that the apartment they were looking for was on the 2nd floor. Mary Beth got the landlord outside and he pointed out which one it was. Mary Beth climbed up the fire escape, and looked in the window, so she could tell Chris how many entrances there were.
"Chris….it's empty. Place is cleaned out completely".
Chris looked at her in shock. "They're gone…"
To be continued…..