Disclaimer~ Don't sue me, Squaresoft- no profit, just amusement. Thank you so much to those who reviewed and thanks Harps for letting my ramble on about plot difficulties :)

Doctor Xiam opened the door without knocking- he finally had some good news for Heidi and there was no point in waiting any longer to tell her. He was surprised to see that the room was empty- perhaps she was going to visit Zell? Though he thought that Heidi should have been back by now. . . No matter, he would have the front desk page Heidi. The doctor traced his way downstairs to the Nurses Station. He informed the nurse stationed at the desk- one that he was familiar with, actually- of the situation and then decided to visit another patient while he was waiting. No sense in wasting time, after all. The announcement came on as he was walking towards room 33A. "Could the patient of room 26 level B would return to her room? I repeat, if the patient of room 26 level B could please return to her room..." Doctor Xiam smiled to himself. This place was very efficient. It suited him perfectly.

The Doctor had finished checking in with the patient of room 33A; Xiam was pleased with the progress that his patient seemed to be making in getting over his pneumonia. He should be perfectly healthy in a matter of days. Xiam was walking through the orange doors that contained the flight of stairs leading up to level B when a med student rushed up to him. The youth was obviously somewhat flustered, as he kept sighing and pulled at the corner of his white lab coat. "Doctor Xiam, sir? Um. . . well it seems that your patient- 26 B is, well, missing," he stuttered out. Doctor Xiam was appalled- what was going on here? What had happened to his neat and orderly day?

Across much space, and perhaps even time, Heidi was making her way across the Horizon Bridge. She realized what she was doing when she was almost halfway to FH. What had she done? She had just abandoned her baby- oh, Hyne, she was such a fool. The sun was low on the horizon and as the final rays of light started to die away, an air of finality was suddenly cast on the situation. She had an idea though. She would go the rest of the way to FH find Rodney somehow- although she had no idea how- and they could travel back to Esthar together to reclaim their baby. Together. It was perfect, it was brilliant. It would work. It had to.

The hospital had no record of any similar event happening. Ever. Which meant it was a judgement call on Doctor Xiam's part. The same med student that informed Xiam of the problem was the one that would carry out whatever Xiam decided. The only problem was the talkative nature of said med student. "Do you think we should try to contact the father, sir?" Xiam sighed, this would be rough. "No, he wasn't here for the birth- and besides, we have no way of knowing who the father is. . ." The student tried again. "We could try and do a DNA match-up?" Xiam was becoming impatient. "We don't even know where the father is from," he said, voice clipped. Xiam knew there was only one choice left to be made. "Where is the list of willing foster parents?"

The med student had been quick enough to run and get the list of volunteers to be foster parents. The Sorceress War had just recently drawn to a close- or so Esthar hoped- and the list was longer than would usually be expected. While many children had lost parents in the war, many parents had lost children also. It may not have been the most moral thing to do- give away a baby that would probably serve as a replacement for some lost child. Nevertheless, the boy couldn't stay at the hospital for his entire life.

There were two family names that had been waiting the longest for a child. There were the Kaminaks from Galbania and the Dinchts from Balamb. Galbania made Xiam a bit nervous, he had heard from other doctors that some Galbanians had taken to the practice of adopting children for the express purpose of having them serve in the Galbanian military later. Xiam wasn't necessarily sure that he wanted Esthar supplying Galbania's armed forces. Besides, Zell Kaminak was not the most attractive name. Zell Dincht was much better, although now that the doctor looked closely at the sheet, The Dinchts had agreed to nurture the child until he was 4 and then be willing to give the child to an orphanage. Well, it might not have been the best solution in the world, but it was the best of the current options. Maybe Zell would get lucky and Hyne would smile down upon this baby- it was all that could really be hoped for in the end.

Mrs. Dincht was humming a tune as she worked in the small kitchen; bustling about as usual, making a two-person meal preparation seem like the planning of a banquet. She was just beginning to remove a steaming pan of breaded fish from the oven when the phone on the wall rang shrilly, nearly causing her to drop the pan. She looked woefully at the meal as she slid it back into the oven- with luck the phone call wouldn't take long and no permanent damage would come to her dinner.

The phone rang again demanding an answer. Mrs. Dincht leaned over and picked up the receiver. "Dincht residence," she answered the phone. Her face slipped into a puzzled frown. "From where?" she asked. A pause, and then she spoke again, hesitantly. "Yes. . . My husband and I. . . a boy...?" her eyes widened, and her entire face glowed. "Of course- how soon? If we charter a boat...two days?" a smile crossed Mrs. Dincht's face and she hung up the phone. She was about to go running down to the docks to find her husband when the faint scent of something burning caught her attention. She altogether too quickly remembered dinner. Mrs. Dincht rushed over to the stove and threw open the door. The burnt remains of dinner were obviously uneatable, but for once she didn't care.