Wednesday's Child
by Sun
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child must work for a living,
But the child that's born on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise and good and gay.
- Mother Goose
"We're glad you came." The doctor ushered the two men down the hall. The older, more portly of the two men nodded benevolently at him.
"Of course. Where's the girl?"
"She's in here." The doctor signaled to a uniformed security guard who buzzed the three men into the security wing of the hospital. "We had to put her in a padded cell. We thought she was going to hurt herself or one of the staff," he explained in an almost apology.
The younger, more handsome of the two men, who had been silent until that point, made a noise that might have been a laugh. "She's four years old, doctor." His voice carried an Irish accent.
The doctor looked back at him. "This girl is no ordinary four year old." He opened a viewing window in the door in front of them and peered in. "Good Lord," he exclaimed. The men pushed him out of the way and looked inside.
A small girl was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. The padding on the walls looked as though giant talons had ripped through it and the stuffing was flying about the room in a blizzard of white.
"Let me inside," the younger man demanded.
The doctor looked at him as though he was crazy. "I can't, she could hurt you."
"I'm a doctor. I've had training to deal with this sort of thing," he insisted.
Sighing, the doctor relented, "If you're sure."
He nodded. "You told her about her parents?"
"That's what started all this. You should see what she did to the curtain area of the ER." The doctor unlocked the door. "I have to lock it behind you. Knock when you want to leave."
He nodded and stepped into the storm of stuffing. Through the whiteness, he could only make out her red hair. "Magdalena!" he called her name, hoping to distract her.
Faintly, he heard her answer. "Make it stop."
He fell to his knees next to her. "Magdalena. I can't help you until you stop this." He could see she was clutching something tightly in one hand. "What have you got? May I see it?"
Reluctantly, she let go of the object. He looked at it and realized they were her military id tags. When she let go, the blizzard lessened to some degree.
"Magdalena," he began.
"Maggie. Only the doctors at daddy's work call me Magdalena," she interrupted.
"Okay, Maggie. I want you to do exactly what I say. Take a nice deep breath. Think about your very favorite thing in the whole world."
"Sesame Street," she told him.
He grinned. "All right. You're watching Sesame Street. Having a good time and you feel very safe. Safe and happy," as he spoke, the bits of stuffing dropped to the ground.
"That's much better, don't you think?" he said when all the stuffing was on the ground. Maggie opened her eyes and nodded. "Now that that's over, proper introductions are in order. My name is Nick." He looked her over. She was a little bit of a girl with vibrant green eyes and red hair that hung in an unruly ponytail down her back. There was a thick white bandage around her head. A heavy cast was on her arm and was supported by a sling. "Whenever you start to see things like that happen, I want you to close your eyes and think of Sesame Street. Okay Maggie?"
"Okay."
"Now, we are going to go into the hallway and meet a friend of mine. Then we can go home."
"Home?" she asked in a hopeful four-year-old voice. "I can't go to my home. Mommy and Daddy are gone."
"I'm going to take you to a new home." He knocked on the door. It opened and Nick stepped out, Maggie clinging to his hand.
"Sir, this is Maggie." He pulled the child in front of him.
"Hi, Maggie. My name is Charlie. It's very nice to meet you."
She waved shyly. "Hi."
Charlie looked at the doctor. "We can take her then?"
He nodded. "She's all yours. Best of luck."
Nick picked up Maggie. "Ready to go home, love?"
She nodded. "You talk funny."
"It's 'cause I'm from Ireland."
"Where's that?"
"Across the ocean, on an island near England."
"Oh, I know where that is. Mommy and Daddy used to argue about moving there. She showed me on a map." Maggie's forehead wrinkled. "Are we going to Ireland?"
Charlie and Nick laughed. "No Princess. We're going to San Diego."
"I've been there!" Maggie was suddenly excited. "Mommy took me to the zoo there."
"If you're a good girl, I might get Charlie to let me take you there. Okay?" Maggie nodded and let Nick buckle her into the back seat of a large station wagon. He got into the driver's seat and started the car. "Anything else we need Charlie?"
The older man shook his head. "Let's get Magdalena home."