Linnie sat at the edge of his seat as he and Darren sat in the waiting room of the ER, waiting for an update on the doctor. Linnie squirmed around nervously while Darren eyeballed him, unsure of what his father was so stressed out about. It wasn't like any of his biological children or grandchildren were in the hospital; it was just some strange kid Darren had decided to take pity on. Plus, Darren wasn't sure if the ER was even necessary. He believed that Julie had just passed out due to exhaustion and that Linnie was overreacting.
"What's the deal with you, Dad? What are you stressing out about over there?", Darren asked, noticing Linnie's worried glance staying still.
"I'm just worried for that baby. I really hope they find out what's wrong and can help her. I-I can't imagine what she must be going through right now. My heart just hearts for her.", Linnie said quietly, his eyes still glued to the door that led to all the hospital rooms.
"Oh come on.", Darren rolled his eyes, "I doubt she's in any serious condition. She probably just passed out from exhaustion or something. She'll probably be fine once they give her some sort of medicine."
"Well, I mean we don't know for sure, Darren. I mean, she could have a condition we don't know about, and if she's been stuck in the middle of an alleyway by herself, with very little to eat or drink, or no treatment, then I worry whatever condition she might have will progress", Linnie sighed, "I just don't understand it. How could you abandon such a sweet, beautiful child like that? I don't understand what's wrong with those parents of hers."
"Well, maybe they had their reasons. Maybe they don't have the money to take care of her or didn't plan on having her."
"Yes, but that doesn't excuse abandoning a child in the middle of downtown to fend for herself.", Linnie said, somewhat defensively, "They could have put her up for adoption, or leave her at the fire or police station. We have resources nowadays, so I honestly don't understand why they couldn't utilize those resources, instead of leaving the poor dear all alone, in the cold, and in an awful part of the neighborhood to make this worse."
"Well, what if she wasn't necessarily abandoned? What if maybe she got lost and something happened to her parents? I mean, is it possible they might have gotten shot since they were in the shady part of town?", Darren suggested, "I just don't get why someone would just be willing to throw their kids on the street out of the blue. It doesn't add up to me."
"Oh, I do supposed you have a point. We don't even know if Julie's parents are even alive anymore, but I'm really hopeful our visit to the police will at least give us some clues.", Linnie sighed, twiddling his thumbs, "I don't know. I just feel so awful."
"Why? You're not the one leaving your kids to rot."
"I meant I just feel awful for her. I can't imagine being in that same situation. She deserves a nice, warm place to call home, food in her belly, and a family that loves her with all their heart. I don't know Darren. I just hope she'll be ok soon."
Darren sighed, starting to feel some of the same sadness Linnie was feeling. Sure, he didn't know the child by any means, and he wasn't the best person when it came to empathy and love, but Darren found himself wishing quietly that the child would be ok and that the doctors would get her medicine and treatment as fast as they could. After waiting in silence for nearly another hour, the door finally opened, revealing a dark-skinned nurse with dark brown, curly hair, and pink eyes.
"You two can come in now. We're done testing her.", she said, looking up from her clipboard.
"How is she? Is she going to be ok? Ooh is she in any pain?", Linnie asked frantically, jumping up from his seat, the nurse putting a hand in front of him.
"Relax sir. She's ok. We just did some bloodwork and scans on her, and the doctor is currently reviewing the results. I figured you two might want to come in and talk.", she said calmly, before leading the two males down a long hallway. Turning to the right, the walls eventually progressed from a clean, white brick wall, to a white wall with children's paintings and rainbows decorated all over. They also passed a couple of bulletin boards that showcased some drawings children with cancer had made, and a few toys rooms placed randomly every few doors.
At last, they had finally reached Julie's room where she was sleeping in the middle of the bed, with an IV on her right side and few Jello cups on the nightstand on her left . Linnie breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the child was ok, before he and Darren took a seat in the chairs surrounding the bed. After telling them the doctor would be there soon, the nurse left to take care of some other patients, leaving Linnie and Darren alone with Julie, the two males studying her features. Linnie smiled softly at her arms, noticing some of the bandages taking care of her wounds.
"Oh thank goodness they caught that. I was really hoping they wouldn't overlook it."
"Dad, give them some credit. They know what they're doing. Just trust them.", Darren said swiftly, looking over at Julie's cyan hair and large nose, "Hmmmmm."
"What? What are you looking at Darren?"
"Nothing. It's just…I don't know. She kind of look…familiar somehow. I just can't put my wand on it.", Darren said, frowning and piercing his eyes. "Her hair in particular..kind of looks like Nora except straight….Uh, you don't think when she was around, Nora was sleeping around, do you?"
"I-I…", Linnie stammered, unsure of what to say at the start, "I-If she did, I never did catch her. You don't think?"
"I mean, it's possible, especially if that bitch just left her in the alleyway.", Darren shrugged, no longer surprised by Nora's antics, "And look at that nose! She has the same nose and me, and you and Nora had always said that the nose came from her side of the family."
"Well yes, I supposed that's true.", Linnie said quietly, now invested in Julie's features himself, "I'm not sure though. There are other cyan colored fairies around, and that nose isn't incredibly uncommon. What if maybe it's just a coincidence that she looks like her?"
"Could be, but I still think it's weird how she also has the exact same colored eyes are you..wait.", Darren said, now looking at his father with slight disgust, "No…you didn't!"
"What?", Linnie asked confused at first, before jumping straight into defenses, "Wait, are you seriously accusing me of leaving her all alone in the alleyway? Are you kidding me Darren?"
"Well I mean, why else are you getting so defensive.", Darren smirked, forcing Linnie to resist the urge to slap him. After struggling for a few seconds, Linnie finally put his hand down and took a deep breath.
"How dare you. I can't believe you would say such a thing. I'll tell you what, young man.", Linnie said, trying to hold his anger back in, "If I was having another child, don't you think you and your siblings would know about it? Did you forget out pregnancy works? We don't exactly stay thin for the entire time, you know. If that child was mine, then I would have had to give birth to her! How dare you accuse me of doing something so disgusting to a poor baby!"
"Well, I'm just saying it's suspicious that the child looks like you and Nora!"
Before Linnie could retaliate, Dr. Honeycomb had knocked on the door, and flew inside, smiling politely at Linnie and Darren before taking a seat where the computer desk way, typing in some of the paperwork on his clipboard.
"Alright so, I'm assuming you are this little girl's family?", he asked, looking up from his monitor. Linnie shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid not. We found this poor dear in the middle of an alleyway and saw that she had nothing to eat or drink, and was practically freezing.", Linnie said, "Is she going to be alright?"
"Well, with enough tender loving care, she will be. I have her bloodwork and scans here, and luckily, she doesn't have anything we can't fix. For starters, she's very malnourished and dehydrated, so we're going to keep her in for a few days to make sure she gets back to where she needs to be, giving her the proper vitamins she needs, and figure out a diet plan or eating schedule for her until she's back to normal weight. According to my charts, she's a few inches shorter than the average 5,000 year old and is about 15 pounds lighter than the national average weight for her age.", Dr. Honeycomb explained, "She's also got a case of hypothermia, so she'll need to be kept under warm blankets and surfaces until she recovers.
"Is there any other conditions she might have? Any diseases?"
"Other than what I had just explained, no. This just seems like a case of neglect and abandonment to me, but don't worry. Like I said, we'll keep her in here over the next few days in case she does develop something serious. In the meantime, I suggest you folks head home. Seems like you two have had a long way. The receptionist will call you when she's ready to pick up. Uh, does this little girl have any family that we can contact?"
"No, we plan on going to the police station once we get her to feel better.", Linnie said quietly. Dr. Honeycomb smiled at him kindly.
"Well, I hope you can find her family soon. In the meantime, why don't you two head home? You look awfully tired."
Nodding softly, Linnie and Darren left the hospital room to allow Julie to get some sleep, leaving the hospital and poofing back towards the apartment. Feeling the all too familiar tension in the air suddly, Darren grabbed Linnie's shoulder before he headed towards his room.
"Uh, you know for all that it's worth, maybe we should get a DNA test before we decide who's kid it is, you know? I mean..now that I think about it, it could be a coincidence like you said."
"Nice try Darren.", Linnie shrugged off gently, still hurt by Darren's words at the hospital, "I just, I can't believe you would think so low of my, you would believe I would do something like that to an innocent little girl."
"Hey, in my defense, I didn't SAY you did for sure! It was just a speculation.", Darren said, raising his hands up, "You know what, maybe you need to grow up and stop being so fucking sensitive all the time. I swear, you take every damn thing personally."
"Darren, enough! Please! Just-", Linnie said softly, "Look, if we don't find this child's parents, then yes, I'll consider a DNA test or try to locate where she came from, but right now, I just can't take anymore of your disrespect."
"How am I being disrespectful? I'm literally just telling you how I feel."
"There are ways of doing that without the gaslighting. You know what, maybe you're just as stressed I am right now. Maybe we should get some rest.", Linnie said, no longer wanting to argue with him, "I'm going to bed Darren. If the hospital calls, let me know please. I love you, Darren. Goodnight."