Chapter Nine
Danny and Mary quietly walked through the old Spanish style hospital. Danny leaned in and quietly whispered to Mary, "You know this hospital was ran by nuns from 1947 till '72? Also, the government sold it to the Catholic church for $1."
Mary just looked at him, softly, "How do you know this stuff?"
Danny shrugged softly, "Internet."
Mary rolled her eyes as they walked into the Women's Care facility of the hospital. It didn't take long for the duo to spot Ed and Delinda, both seated in the hard plastic hospital chairs. Walking over to them, Danny placed a hand on the older man's shoulder, and Ed's head whipped up.
"Danny... What are you doing here?"
Danny smiled quietly down to his mentor. "Mary and I thought maybe you two needed some support."
Ed smiled softly as he stood up and hugged his protégée. "Thanks, kid."
Mary smiled softly at Delinda as she sat down next to her and took her hand. "How long as she been in?"
Ed sighed deeply as he sat back down next to his daughter and glanced up at the clock, "Little over an hour."
Mary and Danny nodded quietly and the quad fell into a comfortable silence, broken only by the occasional one line conversations.
Deep down, Ed was grateful for Danny and Mary deciding to come.
"I'm bored."
Sam smiled at the little girl across from her as she sat at her desk, "You've got a lot of coloring books and crayons, why don't you color me a pretty picture."
Jasmine made a face. "I've been coloring all day."
The girl had a point. Sam quietly sighed and looked at her watch and then back at her little charge. "Okay... How about you give me a little more time and then I'll take you to lunch, okay?"
"How much more?"
Samantha chewed her bottom lip a little. "Half an hour?"
The little girl nodded and sighed dramatically as she flopped back down on Sam's couch. As she got back to work, Sam was interrupted yet again.
"Samantha Jane?"
Sam glanced up and spotted Luis Sanchez standing in her doorway. Glancing at Jasmine, who was busy coloring, Sam smiled at Luis. "Hey there, Luis. Just give me a sec, okay?"
Luis nodded as Sam went over and knelt before Jasmine. "Hey, Jas, I need to go and meet with this man, we will be right outside the door, okay?"
Jasmine nodded and smiled and Sam stood up and walked over to Luis. The two walked outside and Sam closed the door a little. Sighing softly she looked at Luis, "Thanks for not coming last night."
Luis shrugged a shoulder as he leaned against the wall. "I knew if I did than Ed would want to deal with me, and I make it a point never to have to deal with him."
Sam laughed quietly and nodded, "Yeah, he can be a little intimidating, can't he?"
Luis' brows arched, "A little? Christ, the man gives me nightmares."
Sam laughed again. "Yeah."
Luis waited a moment before speaking again. "We haven't been able to contact the Clines, Sam."
Samantha Jane sighed softly as she ran a hand over her forehead. "You know, Jasmine told me that they do this to her a lot. They go places and then leave her and come back a few days later. It infuriates me, Luis. Some people just don't realize how lucky they have it."
Luis nodded quietly as he gazed through the window into Sam's office, softly, "I know. But, Sam, I gotta take her."
The woman looked at him as if a third eye had just appeared on his forehead. "Take her? Take her where?"
"She's gotta go into foster care."
Sam just looked at him, stunned, "No. Luis, she can stay here with me. I've got more than enough room."
Luis sighed as he put his hands on his hips, "Sam, you may have the room in your hotel room, but there's no room in your life for a kid. You work sixteen hours a day, six days a week. She's gotta be in school, there's doctor's appointments, dental appointments... What if she wakes up in the middle of the night sicker than a dog?"
"Oh well, gee, Luis, let me think here... I just leave her in bed?"
The police officer glared at Sam. "Sarcasm isn't needed, Sam. I'm just trying to point out the obvious to you."
"Luis, if she gets sick in the middle of the night, I'll take her to the hospital. I have medical insurance, and I can get her on my coverage if need be. She needs to be in school? Than fine, I'll put in for some time off and enroll her someplace. She needs to see the doctor or dentist? Fine, I'll take her. I'll even move out of the hotel and get my own apartment so she'll have her own room. I know that it's going to sound odd to you, Luis, but I've actually grown attached to this child. She trusts me. I don't want to see that trust shattered by you snatching her up and putting her in some foster home while you hunt down her parents who abandoned her."
Luis looked at her, softly, "Are you absolutely 100% sure that you can make the necessary adjustments in your life to care for this child, Samantha?"
Sam looked at him, quietly, "Positive."
The man nodded, "Okay then. Congratulations, you've just had the easiest introduction into motherhood I've ever known. I will contact social services and see if they can overlook the fact that you haven't had any foster parenting classes and maybe once things calm down, I will find out the specifics and you can take them."
Samantha Jane smiled softly at him and kissed his cheek, "Never let anybody say that you aren't a good man, Luis."
The officer blushed a little, "And you are one hell of a lady, Samantha. Not many people would do this."
It was Sam's turn to blush a little now as she shrugged a shoulder, "Yeah well... I have my reasons for wanting to do it."
Luis smiled softly and nodded. "Okay then, I'll be in touch. I'm going to have someone from children's services call you in a day or so and let you know what you need to do. The person who calls you will be Jasmine's case worker. She's going into foster care, but you'll be her foster mother. Nevada state will provide you with a monthly stipend to help you care for the child and she will be insured by Medicaid, so you won't have to worry about getting her on your insurance policy. Should you decide, at a later date, to adopt Jasmine, than the state will still pay for all of her medical coverage until she reaches the age of 18."
Sam nodded as she processed everything, "Sounds good to me. Thanks for letting me do this, Luis."
"Well thank you for doing it, Sam. We are in dire need for good foster homes. Most of the families who have committed to doing foster care only like to take babies."
Samantha nodded again. "Okay, well, I'm going to let you get going now. I kind of want to get in there and check on her and make sure she's okay."
Luis smiled and nodded, "I'll be in touch."
That said, Luis walked down the hall and out of sight and Sam walked back into her office, feeling like a large load had been lifted from her shoulders.
"What the hell is taking them so damn long?? How long does it take to go in, stick a needle in some tissue, get out and stitch up?"
Delinda sighed as she watched her father rant and rave. "Dad, please, you are just going to get your blood pressure high."
"You don't think that my blood pressure is skyrocketing right now, Delinda? I'm about to go through the roof here."
Danny stood up and walked over to Ed, softly, "Ed, why don't we take a short walk? Maybe some fresh air will do you good."
"Can your crap, Danny, okay? You have absolutely no idea what I'm going through right now. I have socks that have lasted me longer than your longest relationship lasted."
Danny flinched, his voice was quiet, "Ed, I never once assumed that I knew what you were going through."
Ed sighed as he walked over and sat down, shaking his head. As he opened his mouth to speak, a doctor came over, "Mr. Deline?"
Ed and Delinda shot to their feet and Ed made his way over, "Yes?"
"I'm Dr. James Higgens, I operated on your wife."
Delinda blinked, softly, "I thought Dr. Meadows was doing mom's operation?"
Dr. Higgens nodded, "She was. She even got in and got scrubbed up, but she was called out by an important matter so I did it."
"Doc, how's my wife?"
Dr. Higgens glanced over Ed's shoulder and saw Mary and Danny, eagerly waiting to hear the news themselves. He looked back at Ed and Delinda, softly, "Maybe we should go into my office and talk."
Mary closed her eyes and sighed and Danny wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Without speaking, Ed reached for his daughter's hand and they followed the doctor into his office.
Once they reached his office, Ed and Delinda sat down and Dr. Higgens looked at them, his voice was quiet, almost soothing. "The operation itself went fine. I was able to go into Jillian's left breast and successfully get a tissue sample around the mass. I sent the tissue to the lab and put a rush on it and we got the results back."
Ed spoke softly, his throat was dry, "What were they?"
Dr. Higgens sighed deeply, "It's cancer. And it's in both breasts."
Delinda gasped as she brought a hand to her mouth, tears falling. Struggling to keep his composure, Ed whispered, "How big?"
The doctor glanced away, he hated being the bearer of bad news, whispering softly, "I had to take both breasts, Mr. Deline. I'm sorry."
Ed closed his eyes as a tear fell. Nodding, he sighed and rose to his feet. Walking over to the large floor to ceiling windows, he looked out them, speaking softly, "Did you get it all?"
The doctor nodded quietly, "I believe we did, yes. She'll have to come back in in a few weeks for follow up tests."
Delinda swallowed hard, "Where's my mom now? Does she know?"
Dr. Higgens looked at the youngest Deline. "Your mother's in recovery. She hasn't woken up yet, when she does, we'll tell her."
"No." Ed turned and looked at the doctor. "I'll tell her myself. What room is she in?"
The doctor shook his head, "You can't see her yet, Mr. Deline, I'm sorry. She'll be out of recovering in two hours."
Ed walked over and looked at the doctor. In a voice that dared the doctor to stop him, Ed repeated himself, "What room is she in?"
Dr. Higgens rose to his feet, "Do you think you can intimidate me into telling you, Ed?"
The older man shrugged, "That's all up to you, whether or not you allow yourself to be intimidated. But let me tell you now, that I am a six degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I was in the CIA. I know how to kill a man with my bare hands in thirty-two different ways. All I want to know is..." he paused for effect and to give him a shadow of a smile, "Where the hell is my wife?"
The doctor looked at him, quietly, "Room 1301."
Ed smiled softly and nodded, "Thank you."
That said, Ed went over and took his daughter's hand and lead her out. The moment they were alone, Ed took his daughter in his arms as she sobbed.