Story 1: Zac
What would you do to keep the child you always wanted…
The toddler, who looked to be about six months in age, lay swathed in the crisp white sheets draping the stainless steel morgue tray on which he had been placed. His bod, his small body was lifeless and still, the hint of color in the baby's pallid skin was a slight tinge of blue that was highlighted by the glare of overhead fluorescent lights.
Robert Blakely, Third Year Resident Medical Officer, looked down at the child lying on the clean sheets and gleaming steel tray for several moments, and then focused his attention on the medical chart he held. He swallowed nervously, and with a shaking hand tenderly pulled the sheet over the infant's head, with one last look at the small body he slid the tray back into the refrigeration unit and closed the door. Taking a few deep breaths Rob walked over to a desk, sat down and biting his lips flipped through the records. The boy had been brought to the emergency department of the Princess Alexandra Hospital by frantic parents who had found him unresponsive in his crib…SIDS. The emergency department staff had done all they could, but it had been too late, and now several hours later the toddler lay cold in a refrigeration unit waiting for the medical examiner to report final cause of death.
Rob paged through the chart, nervous eyes taking note of all the information he needed. What he was about to do was the most dangerous, not to mention despicable, act he'd ever done in his young life, and if caught it would destroy his medical career, his marriage, and land both himself and his wife Lauren in jail. A distant sound, the chime of an elevator, caused Rob's head to shoot up, pulse racing in panic as every ounce of attention was focused on the morgue doorway. After several minutes of nothing happening, he relaxed and reaching reached for a phone on the desk dialed an outside line.
"Hi, it's me," Rob said into the phone, his voice cracking slightly as he looked down at the medical chart before him. "I-I think I found what we need…it's as close a match as we can get…so it's time…make the call…I love you." Setting the receiver down on its cradle, Rob took several deep breaths to calm himself, and then chart in hand walked over a to a Xerox machine and started making copies.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Lauren Blakely asked for what must have been the millionth time as she paced the floor of the small two bedroom rental house she and Rob occupied. The place was quaint, tucked away in the quiet Brook Street neighborhood of South Brisbane; it also offered a convenient commute from Princess Alexandra Hospital if Rob needed to be home quickly. Though it was nearly midnight she and Rob had dimmed the whole house, only a few small lamps offered any illumination. Shaking her head Lauren stopped to look down at toddler sleeping angelically on the sofa, one of his fist curled tightly around a blanket. Biting her lip she turned her attention to her husband, "What if we get caught? What if this-this woman…do you even know who she is? What if she turns us in?"
"Honey," Rob, in the act of peeking out the heavy drapes that covered the front windows, sighed. "We've been over this before; it's been a month since you called her and we delivered the hospital records-"
"We didn't deliver the records Rob," Lauren clarified sharply. "We left them on a bench in Musgrave Park in the middle of the night."
"And yet no police or child services has shown up," Rob responded. "Lauren, we'll be fine…Zac will be fine…we have to do this."
"I know," Lauren closed her eyes with a sigh of defeat. "I'm just scared. We've waited so long for this, but sometimes I wonder if we're doing the right thing."
"We don't have much of a choice," Rob's spoke softly looking out the window once more, and then crossing the room to look down at the boy sleeping on the couch. "We can't turn Zac over or tell anyone; we don't know who his parents are, or where he came from. They could be drug dealers or criminals…he's a baby, not some stray puppy we found on the beach and brought home to live with us."
Lauren sank down on the sofa, eyes on the sleeping toddler. "I know, and if we told anyone they'd take him away, the police and human services would investigate, and we'd lose him." Never taking her eyes off the child she said, "I just want this to work, our parents, are friends, nobody knows we even have him." She turned looking into an empty corner. "And what if this woman wants more? What if this is some kind of blackmail scheme, it's costing everything we have…everything my grandparents left me."
"Honey, she will help us," Rob soothed. "It took us four months to find someone to do this, I know it will work." He followed his wife gaze to the corner of the living room, a space that until recently had been occupied by a centuries old Grandfather clock, a wedding gift from Lauren's grandparents. The clock had weathered over three months at sea when Laurens ancestors had emigrated from Wales during the Yilgarn Gold Rush of 1887, and now it was gone, sold off to an antique dealer from Sydney. "It has to work."
"What we're doing still bothers me Rob," Lauren's eyes were on the floor as she spoke. "Somewhere two parents are mourning the loss of their own son, and we're using their loss so ours-"
"Will have a life," Rob finished his voice barely rising above a whisper. "I know, but it's something we have to do."
Both Lauren and Rob froze as a soft knock sounded on the front door, their heads pivoting to stare at the digital display on the DVD player on the television stand; 12:00 AM, midnight.
"I'll…I'll get it," Rob spoke almost tonelessly as Lauren straightened on the sofa, one hand hovering protectively over the sleeping form of Zac. Walking to the door, Rob stopped straightened his shoulders, and opened it.
"Robert Blakely," A woman's voice, soft, British, and formal greeted from the darkness beyond the door.
"Um, yes," Rob answered nervously craning his neck to look around the dark figure that stood on the small front deck of the house.
"It's quite alright," The woman purred. "I'm alone and there no authorities here, you and your wife are quite safe."
"Ah…um…do come in," Rob invited casting a wide eyed glance at Lauren who had paled slightly, but not moved from the sofa.
The woman on the doorstep glided into the room, the movement fluid and unhurried, her face was lined and wrinkled with age, thick grey hair done up in a matronly style was held in place by a silver Victorian hair comb, the cameo centerpiece of the comb gleamed of polished ivory in the low light. The hair and the comb perfectly matched the archaic black Victorian dress, boots, and shawl the woman wore. Unlike the rest of her somber garb the woman lips and manicured fingernails were a bright, and almost garish, lacquered red. Eyes, hollow and of an indistinct color in the dim light focused on the sleeping form of Zac for a moment, then turned to observe Rob and Lauren. "Robert and Lauren Blakely I presume," The woman repeated.
"Yes," Rob squeaked with a nervous swallow.
"I believe I have what you require," The woman produced a manila folder from nowhere, held it out and then withdrew it. "First, my payment?"
"Oh…um yeah," Rob spoke hastily and with a glance at Lauren, whose pale face and wide eyes stared at the stranger, he exited into the small kitchen adjacent to the living room and returned moments later, a plain paper bag clutched in both hands. Holding the bag out to the stranger he said, "This is it, everything we have, all our life savings…it's all here- in cash."
"Excellent," The woman replied and with a languid movement plucked the sack from Rob with one hand and held the envelope out with the other. "And I believe you will find everything is in order."
Hand shaking, Rob took the manila envelope and cast a look at Lauren, before turning back to the stranger. "That's it? This is it? It's all done now? You-you don't want anything else?"
"No, everything is complete," The woman replied, her crimson lips turning upward in a smile. "It's all done; as far as the Government of Australia and the rest of the world are concerned Zac Blakely officially exists; he has a birthdate, a birth record, and everything is in order for his life to begin." She looked the Blakely's over with a friendly smile. "As of tonight Robert and Lauren, you are officially Zacs adopted parents."
"And…and we won't get caught?" Lauren spoke for the first time in several moments, her posture relaxing slightly. "This won't…um…get reported?"
"No, never," The woman answered. "I've done this….many times, for many years. Everything is done in strictest of confidence."
Squinting at the documents in the dim light Rob questioned, "So you've done this before…I mean of course you've done this before but-." He exchanged a look of embarrassment with Lauren and stammered, "But I mean we found Zac abandoned on a beach so this has got to be weird for you…" He trailed off lamely and closed his mouth with a sigh.
"Actually it's not," The woman smiled.
"What?" Lauren blurted and then recovered, avoiding the strange woman's dark eyes. "I-I…sorry."
"No need to apologize," The woman said her friendly demeanor unbroken. "Recently I arranged the adoption of another child found under similar circumstances; he was discovered on a beach near Sydney…a boy, close to the same age as Zac. Unlike your son-" She paused for the fraction of a heartbeat, eyes flicking to the Zacs chubby baby legs. "The child in question has special needs. However I found a family that understands the boy's requirements, and a price…quite different from yours."
"Oh," Rob spoke softly. "I'm really sorry for the parents…I mean Zac is healthy and normal."
"Yes, quite so," Once more the woman's eyes skimmed over Zacs legs. "One could say it's almost magical."
Shivering slightly Lauren spoke softly, "It makes me wonder what kind of mothers would be willing to just abandon children like that."
"What sort of mothers indeed," The stranger murmured. "Probably the type best avoided."
"Ah…so," Lauren cleared her throat. "You ah…only do this sort of thing for…ah children."
"My, my," The woman purred her dark eyes flicking to Rob and then to Lauren. "What inquisitive people you are, I find this rather refreshing after all these years; I can see your son will be raised quite properly." Looking the Blakely's over again, the woman said, "To answer your question, no…I actually performed the same service for an adult once, years ago, she's a high school teacher now. It was quite a challenge finder her…an identity that fit."
"Well…um…," Rob cleared his throat, an alarmed look at look at Lauren. "It's getting late and-"
"Yes, it is," The strange woman said. "I'll be on my way." She took step back into darkness beyond the door.
"So this is it," Rob asked looking down at the manila envelope his hands. "Just making sure we're all sorted, you have your money and we don't have anything to worry about."
"No," The voice drifted in from the doorway. "Everything is set and everything is proper." The dark outline of the figure on the stoop spoke, her tone serious, "However a word of advice."
"Yes," Rob answered his voice nervous as he looked at Lauren.
"I hear that Gold Coast will be in need of quality doctors," The woman spoke. "And the schools are excellent. Consider that after your residency is complete."
"We-we were thinking about Perth actually," Lauren said, her voice quavering as she looked at Rob. "Most of my family lives there."
"Oh, believe me," The woman answered, her form nothing more than a silhouette on the front landing. "Raising your son on Gold Coast is probably the best, the air…the water…are much healthier." The outline of her head tilted slightly to regard Zac's sleeping form on the sofa. "And when he's grown, who knows what kind of tales he'll have to tell."
"Huh?" Rob asked, confused looking over at Lauren, she only looked back, her expression equally confused.
"A word of advice though," The woman's voice issued from the dark, the sound of it distance as if she was moving farther away. "Forget this night ever happened; push it into the deepest recess of your mind. As far the world is concerned Zac Blakely is your son, and never let anyone, no matter who they are, or where they come from convince you otherwise. If so you risk losing a son forever."
"What do you mean by that?" Lauren asked, voice alarmed, body tensing as she stared into the darkened doorway. "Rob?"
Rob took a step forward. "She's gone," He announced, brow furrowed as Lauren crossed the room, both of them looking out the open door into the darkness of the small yard. "What now? What do you think she meant by that?" He asked looking over at his wife.
"I don't know, but we follow her advice," Lauren whispered. "We forget this night happened, and never talk about it, and hope we never have to tell Zac or anyone else what we did in order to bring him into our family. He's our son now."
With only a nod, Rob closed the door and locked it.