"Hey." I shuffled towards Eva's bedroom where she was sitting on the floor playing with a few barbie dolls. "How long have you been awake?" She shrugged her shoulders as she made the barbie walk stiffly across the floor.
"You needed to sleep." She said it in a knowing way, which made me think she had heard the whole conversation at the hospital, even though we had lowered our voices quite a bit. "Hailey, how come you didn't tell Natalie your stomach was hurting?"
"I think my stomach hurts because I worry too much about the people I love." I tried my best to convey that statement included her. "And just like you're adjusting to being here with me, I'm also trying to adjust to being both a mom and a cop."
"Does that mean you still like being my mom?"
"I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world." I told her, which in return she smiled at me brightly as she scooted closer to me on the floor. "Do you still like living here in Chicago with me?"
"I do." Her voice wavered, shifting to an unmistakable sadness, and I couldn't even begin to imagine how this decision had changed her life as she left behind everything she had known to live with me. Even so, I knew that if I hadn't taken her, she might have still ended up in a different home besides mine. The thought of it made my stomach turn now that I realized my life would never be complete without her.
"It's okay to miss the life you once had."
Will l ever get to see my friends again?"
"Ellie and Hannah?" I thought back to the conversation Eliza and I had about tracking down her friends. Nothing had really come out of that yet, which reminded me I needed to ask her about it, as well as if we could get some things from her old house.
"Ellie, Hannah, and Paige. I want to see them all again."
"You may be able to see them one day." I smiled sadly, thinking about how that wasn't entirely true, and how I realized it was my job to tell her the hard truth. "I'll try to do everything I can to find them, but Eva, if we can't."
"You said we could go to the park some time to see if we could find Paige. Can we go today?"
"I said we could go some time, you're right. However, you just got out of the hospital and I don't think it's a good idea to go out today."
"Not even if we go and sit on the bench?" I had to admit that when she said that, I was tempted to say yes at first. Yet, something in the back of my mind stopped me from actually uttering the words she wanted to hear.
"Tell you what, if we have nothing else going on this weekend and you're feeling better, we will go to the park together and you can do more than just sit on a bench. Deal?" It took her a minute but I finally saw her switch from wanting to disagree to understanding that if she waited a little longer, she could have the freedom to go play.
"Okay. Can I have my medicine?"
"It's a few minutes early, but I think it should be okay if you take it. We still have to eat breakfast first." She was already pushing her barbies towards her bed with her feet before we both walked back into the kitchen. "What are you hungry for?"
"I don't know. What do we have?"
"Not a lot of choices. We have eggs and some bread, so we can make some toast. Probably shouldn't have anything too heavy like pancakes or waffles."
"But I like waffles." She scrambled up onto the stool she usually sat on while eating and placed her hands flat on the counter as she pushed herself up at an angle.
"It's just until we're sure your medication is doing its job," I assured her, pulling out a pan from the cabinet. "It's been a while since your stomach's really had a rest."
"Eggs sound good, I guess." Eva hesitated as she sat down flat on the stool."Hailey? Do you think the people you work with will like me?"
"I think they already do." I watched the expression on her face change as I cracked the egg over the bowl I had just gotten out. Her blue eyes brightened, her confusion fading as quickly as it had appeared.
"You told them about me?" She stated happily, putting her index finger to her lips as she considered the secrecy about her was fading. "What are they like?"
"My team? I did a few hours before I picked you up last night."
"What are they like?"
"Let's see." The eggs sizzled as I poured the eggs into the pan. "Voight is my boss. He's very protective and will do anything to help you if you really need it. Al is quiet but he's been a detective for a long time. Trudy works at the front desk. She is very caring and acts like a mother to everyone. Antonio has a funny sense of humor. Kim loves to talk to you and she's a good listener. Adam loves to joke with you. Kevin is like a gentle teddy bear. Jay will check up on you when he's worried."
"Like the other day?"
"Like the other day." I confirmed, stirring the eggs with the spatula so they didn't stick to the bottom of the pan."You'll probably see people coming over a lot, especially if it's a hard case we've been working on."
"Because you love each other?"
"We do. We may not be from the same families, but we're family."
"Will they care about me too?"
"I'm pretty sure they already love you for who you are." As I said that, it reminded me of the conversation I had with my boss, Arthur Carson. He told me I should look around and see how many people would be there to love and protect Eva if they were given a chance. That statement had evidently come true when Trudy hadn't skipped a beat about offering to help.
"How do you know that?" She wrinkled her nose up as if she didn't believe the words coming from my mouth. "They don't know me."
"They did for me. You just have to be willing to give them a chance." My phone buzzed in my back pocket as she slipped off the stool. I guessed it was her way of giving me privacy with whoever was calling me right she disappeared from the room.
"I'm going to get dressed."
"This is Hailey."
"Hailey, it's Eliza. How are you?" She sounded like she just had a long night. "I was just calling to give you an update on what I found on Eva's friends and to see how you were doing?"
"You found them?"
"I did. The lady I mentioned before at the funeral was able to get me in touch with Ellie and Hannah's parents. They wanted to talk to you first before the girls talked, but they sounded like they were pretty excited for them all to see each other again."
"I am too." Realizing I hadn't stirred the eggs for a few minutes, I gave them a good stir as I answered her earlier question. "When Eva was with you, did she ever mention her stomach hurting at all?"
"A few times. Nothing out of the ordinary. I feel like one complaint is that their stomach hurts, often because they're going through these big emotions while they're transitioning to foster care or back to their biological parents or a guardian. Did Eva mention her stomach was hurting?"
"She says it's been hurting longer than when she got here to Chicago." Observing that the eggs were almost finished, I shifted over to the other side of the room and pulled out two plates that I set on the counter. "I ended up taking her to the ER last night because it was hurting so much."
"Was her doctor able to come up with a diagnosis?"
"She has what's called abdominal migraines. Her doctor was able to get her on medication and that seems to be working to control any pain she's feeling. I'm hoping it will continue to work. I would really just like her to be a kid again."
"Me too." She said softly, keeping on the subject. "What about at school? Is she making any friends?"
"The last time I asked her, she said no one really asks her to play. We're working on her branching out but we haven't gotten there yet." Moving the pan off the oven, I moved into the living room upon hearing Eva starting to make her way out of her room. I talked to her teacher last night and she wants to talk about setting up a meeting with the school therapist in the next couple of days."
"Alright, well with everything going on, I think I'm going to wait until the end of the month before I drop in, as long as no issues arise that I would need to be here for. Do you have any other questions or concerns that I can help you with right now?"
"I think right now we're just taking things on step at a time." From behind me, I heard footsteps padding back into the kitchen. "If I have any questions or concerns, I'll make sure to give you a call."
"Got it. I'll go ahead and text you those phone numbers for Ellie and Hannah in a few minutes."
"Great, Thanks, Eliza."
"You're welcome. Bye, Hailey."