Thank you for all the amazing reviews on the last chapter! I read all of them and they honestly make me so happy! Hope you guys enjoy chapter 17!
ERIN
"Hi I'm here to see Joseph Scott," I say as I walk into the Department of Children and Family Services, the building in the heart of the Loop. "My name is Erin Lindsay, today's my first day."
"Of course," The smiley receptionist says as she types my name into the computer. "He's been expecting you, head right on into his office,"
"And where would that be?" I ask as my eyes flutter around the office.
"Oh I'm sorry, take a right here and it's the last door on the right," She tells me with a smile.
"Thank you," I take, following her directions and finding myself in front of an office, a plaque with the words "Joseph Scott, Director" stuck on the outside wall. I nervously knock.
"C'mon in," His voice booms from inside. I nervously step into his office, the small room flooded with light and take a seat on one of the chairs, upholstered in that itchy fabric that I've always despised. I let my oversized brown leather tote sink to the floor next to me, forcing myself to look this man right in the eyes.
"Good morning Mr. Scott," I say, unsure of how to address him.
"Just Joe is fine," He tells me, seemingly surprisingly informal to me.
"Okay," I say, still not comfortable in my surroundings.
"So something has come to my attention," He starts. My heart starts to pound, sentences that start that way almost never end well.
"Concerning?' I ask.
"It seems that there have been a few developments in your life since we hired you," He says, seeming almost more uncomfortable asking it than I will be when I have to answer.
"I assume this is in relation to my relationship with Jay Halstead?" I ask, filling in the blanks for him, my face turning the color of a radish.
"Yes," He says.
"Is it going to be a problem?" I ask, hoping and praying that I get the answer that I'm looking for.
"I'm not sure Erin, is it going to be a problem?" He asks. I have to take a deep breath.
"Do you know why I'm here?" I ask him.
"Because your transcript was stellar and you charmed us in your interview," He tells me.
"No," I say, my voice rising as I feel my blood begin to boil at the question and his more than lackluster response. "That's why you hired me. I am here because this is important work, getting these kids where they need to be, where they are loved and cherished, a place where they have a warm bed every night and someone telling them goodnight. That's important to me. So no, I will be letting my relationship get in the way of that."
"Okay then," He replies, surprised to say the least by what just came out of my mouth. "Then let's get you to work,"
"You called boss?" I hear as I turn around, being met with the presence of a woman, not much older than me in the doorway of his office, her curly hair falling below her shoulders and dressed in a conservative blue dress, a bubbly smile on her face.
"Ah yes, perfect timing," He says, his demeanor changing as he looks over to her. "Erin I want you to meet Olivia Davis, you're going to be shadowing her for the next couple days until you get into the swing of things,"
"Very nice to meet you Erin," She says coming over to me and holding out her hand, shaking mine with a rather firm grip, her smile remaining warm and inviting.
"You as well,," I say before looking back at Joe. "Are we done here?"
"Yes," He responds. "Olivia will take care of you for the rest of the morning,"
"Thank you," I reply, grabbing my bag from the floor and hurrying to follow Olivia out the door.
"So what was going on in there?" She asks, diving right into it, strangely reminding me a little bit of Kim, maybe with bits of Abby thrown in depending on what happens next. "I sensed a little bit of tension,"
"Oh that was nothing," I respond, brushing it off to hide my discomfort at the question. He has the right to ask those questions and they're more than valid, if I was hiring the newly public girlfriend of one of the most famous figures in the United States, I might be a little worried too. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. And I'm really hoping that Olivia isn't going to recognize me.
"You sure?" She asks.
"Yes I'm sure," I assure her, hoping that she'll drop it.
"Alright," She says, her voice trailing, a tell tale sign that she definitely doesn't believe me. "Well anyway, like you heard from Joe, you're going to be shadowing me for a couple days which means that you'll be setting up shop in my office, but I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak at yours first,"
"I get an office?" I say in surprise, I assumed that I'd be put into a cubicle or even like a shared space. But you won't hear my complaining.
"Yeah of course," She replies. "When we moved into the Thompson Building, we all got them. We deal with sensitive information sometimes so it's good to have a door you can close,"
"Sure," I say, still working my way through all my thoughts as she leads me down a hallway, the clicks of our heels perfectly matching up.
"So this is your home base," She says, pushing open the door to the little room that I'll be calling mine for however long I'm here. It's simple, a dark wooden desk jetting out from one wall, a grey swivel chair behind that and two blue armchairs sitting on the other side of the desk, a desktop computer sitting on the side of the desk closest to the wall. The colors are bright, the walls painted a light blue, like someone tried too hard to make it not seem like a sterile office, the pretty hue only interrupted by a section of filing cabinets along one of the walls, a small couch on the other. But it's working. It's bright and happy, light flooding through the small window, giving me an okay view of the city before me.
"Nice right?" She says, though I've kind of forgotten that she's lingering behind me. "I thought we'd have shitty government offices, but we have kids in here a lot so they try to make them at least a little bit happier."
"That's a nice thought," I respond, looking up to her taller frame with a smile.
"Yeah it is," She replies, a sadness hiding behind her voice. It's faint, but I see it. "Anyway," She says, quickly pulling herself back together, "The conference room is down that way and so is the break room."
"Great thanks," I say as I follow her quick pace back down the hall to her, trying my best not to lose my composure.
"Like Joe said, you'll be with me for the next couple of days, just getting into the groove of things, learning how we do things around here,"
"Alright," I reply, her words moving faster than her feet.
"And this is my office," She says, pushing the door into an office that looks very similar to mine, only a little more lived in. The pale yellow walls are lined with kids artwork, a few colored pens scattered around her desk calendar and a couple pictures along the desk.
"You got kids?" I ask, gesturing the the adorably messy drawings.
"Not yet," She says, "Working on it, those are just drawings from kids. They like to draw when they're in here, sometimes they want to leave it. I guess I've just made a habit of it,"
"Cute," I respond, awkwardly sitting down in the chair across from hers. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Not much, I'm doing a home visit later in the day but other than that, we've just got some paperwork, vetting foster parents applications,"
"Ah the grunt work," I say with a chuckle.
"A necessary evil," She tells me. "Worth it though,"
"Absolutely," I say, the level of tension melting away as she pulls a case file, tossing it open on her desk as the phone rings.
"Olivia Davis, Department of Children and Family Services," She answers professionally before the message is relayed on the other end. "Is the father involved?" I run my tongue along the tips of my teeth, wondering what kind of situation is going down on the other end of that call. "Okay, we'll be right there,"
"What's going on?" I ask, looking over at her with my brows furrowed.
"We've got a case," She says, grabbing her bag off the floor, not waiting for me to respond as I follow suit. "This day's about to get interesting,"
"Olivia Davis. DCFS," She says as we walk into the ER at Chicago Med, showing her government ID to the nurse up front.
"Great, we've been waiting for you," She says, leaping out of her swivel chair and leading us through the ED.
"What are we looking at?" Olivia asks as I keep myself as a shadow behind her.
"Baby, mom came in high on heroin and she was born a few hours ago. Baby's still in withdrawal," She says, as we walk into an elevator.
"Status on the mom?" Olivia asks.
"No mom," The nurse says, "She was brought in about an hour, couldn't be more than day old. Mom surrendered her in the ED to Dr. Choi, Safe Haven laws say we can't question it,"
"Where's the baby?" Olivia asks, tapping her heels on the linoleum floors of the elevator as we continue to rise.
"NICU," She responds as the doors open in front of us. "Kate's with her now. We have her on methadone, but she keeps seizing," I can't help but wince. I never asked Bunny because I knew that it wouldn't end well, but there is a very high chance that I was just like this little baby. I honestly don't know how she kept me in the house before I could help.
"Thank you Maggie," She says as we arrive at the doors of the NICU.
"You know the protocol?" Maggie asks, "I've got to get back to the ED?"
"Yes, go do your job," She responds with a nod.
"You know her?" I ask as I follow her through a set of sliding doors, met with a room lined with sinks.
"Yeah," Olivia responds. "We get called down here a lot, more than I'd like,"
"Oh," I say, feeling absolutely idiotic. Of course. "So what's the protocol she was talking about?"
"Handwashing," She says, dropping her tote on a set of chairs as I do the same, before drenching her hands in a mountain of foaming soap.
"Oh okay," I say, discarding my blazer on top of my bag and rolling up my sleeves, following suit.
"30 seconds, warm water, up to your elbows," She instructs me as I nod.
"Okay," I say, doing just as she says as does, craning my neck to try to spot the baby through the sea of incubators in the NICU.
"That's her," She says as she points to what I can only describe as a baby spaceship closest to us. I don't know how she knows, but she doesn't say anything else, so I don't either, quickly finishing the handwash and following her example. We both slip into sheer pink gowns, looking like something straight out of Grey's Anatomy before entering.
"Hey Kate," Olivia says taking a seat next to her. "How's she doing?"
"Pretty good considering, she hasn't seized since we called you, but she's still going to be in withdrawal for some time. We've got her sedated now,"
"Do we have a name for her yet?" She asks as I watch the little girl in the incubator. That's what hits me, she's so little and she is so alone.
"No, we've been calling her Baby Gaffney, mom didn't give us one,"
"Gaffney?" I ask Olivia confused.
"It's protocol that Safe Haven babies get names to do with where they were left, this is Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, so any babies without a last name that are dropped here get Gaffney on all their papers,"
"And how does she get a first name and a middle name?" I ask.
"That's up to us," She tells me. "And today, that's up to you,"
"What?" I ask, the shock written all over my face. There's so much in a name, she'll carry it for the rest of her life and for some reason they trust me with that.
"Caroline," I say suddenly. I have no idea where it came from, I've never thought about it before, I've never thought about any baby name before. It just came out. "Caroline Louise,"
"Okay then," Olivia says, looking up at me with a smile. "Welcome to the world Caroline Louise Gaffney,"
"This one's all you Erin," I hear as I look up from my computer in my office, a pile of completed paperwork from the Caroline Gaffney case sitting upon my desk. She got discharged from the hospital yesterday and Olivia got her placed with a great family in Wilmette, two perfect parents with a dog, a brick house with a front porch. Amelia and Joe, they seem like really good people and they're going to give her a great life, one where being given up at a hospital at two days old seems a million miles away.
It's been a few days since I've started and slowly, but surely I've gotten into the swing of things, learning quickly as I go.
"What?" I ask, looking up at Olivia.
"Just got a call from Med, they've got a five year old little boy, Tate Millner. He's one of ours, foster dad just broke his wrist," She tells
"Crap okay," I say, grabbing my bag off the floor, a million things coursing through my mind. My flight's in a few hours, but I guess I'll just have to push it. He needs help, so help is on the way.
"What's up babe?" Jay answers as I call him on the way over to the hospital.
"I just wanted to call and let you know, I just got a case so I don't think I'm going to make my flight," I tell him as I weave through Chicago traffic.
"That's okay, the gala's not until tomorrow night. I can change your ticket to fly out on the red eye tonight, or would an early flight tomorrow be better?"
"Red eye please," I say, grateful for his openness with the situation. "You are amazing,"
"I know," He says with I'm sure a smirk on his face. "You'll make it up to me tomorrow,"
"Oh I'm sure," I say with a smile. "I'll call you when I wrap up here okay?"
"Alright, I love you,"
"I love you too," I tell him quickly before ending the call. I hastily drive the rest of the way to Med, calming parking my car in the lot and rushing into the ER, nervous to take on my first case. The doors slide open, hitting me in the face with a more than welcome blast of air conditioning. I approach the front desk, the same nurse I recognize as Maggie sitting behind it.
"Erin Lindsay, DCFS," I say, holding up my badge in the exact same manner that Olivia did a few days ago.
"C'mon back," Maggie says, getting up and leading me towards a closed curtain, leading me inside.
"Hi Tate," I say, trying to put on my warmest smile as I see the green cast on his arm and the bruises on his tiny body. "My name is Erin, I'm with the Department of Children and Family Services, do you know what that means?"
"Where's Alexis?" He asks after taking a quick look at me, asking about his old caseworker.
"She's helping another little girl," I tell him, not sure if that's even close to the truth. "But I'm here and I am going to go everything I can for you,"
"You are?" He says, looking up at me to reveal two big green eyes filled with pools of tears. He traumatized, with good reason. I knew that he would be, but it's those eyes, filled with horror, broken into a million pieces that cracks my soul.
"Yes," I say, taking a seat next to him. "I'm here for you."
"Have we gotten any closer?" I say quietly to Olivia, my door propped open with Tate sitting inside, curled up under a blanket and fighting sleep.
"I've called like eight different families," She tells me, "None of them can take him."
"We just have to keep trying," I tell her.
"Don't you have a flight?" She asks me, peering over at the wall on the clock behind me.
"I pushed it," I tell her, "This is too important,"
"Good," She tells me. "I'll find something, just make him feel okay,"
"On it," I tell her, swiftly making my way back into the office. "How you doing bud?" He doesn't say anything, his tiny body still wrapped in knit blue blanket that I snagged from Olivia's office.
"I'm okay," He says with a yawn.
"Do you want to take a nap?" I ask, softening my voice as I talk to him.
"No," He tells me rapidly and with more force that I've ever heard from a kid his age.
"Hon, you're sleepy," I tell him as his eyelids continue to droop.
"I can't," He tells me, his speech.
"Why not Tate?" I ask him, for the first time attempting to break into the realm of therapy. I've never done this before, I'm more than terrified to screw it up. I mean I named the only kid I've ever dealt with on this job, but she also couldn't talk. Caroline was easy.
"Because when I sleep, he comes to get me," He tells me, his voice shaking. "And then he hurts me."
I have to keep myself from simply letting the tears flow, my heart breaking all over again.
"Tate," I say reaching out for his hand as he flinches, pulling back. "He is far away from you, no one is going to hurt you, not again."
"You promise?" He asks, looking up at me with wide eyes, echoing his earlier statements.
"Yes Tate," I assure him, tears starting to brim my eyes. "You are safe, c'mon, let's get some sleep,"
I gesture him over to the couch, watching as he curls under that blanket. I sink to the floor, sliding back against the wall and just sit next to him, watching and looking on as I hear his breathing deepen and small snores begin to leave his body. He's safe.
"Erin?" Olivia says as she knocks on my partially opened door. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Yeah sure," I say, taking a final glance at Tate to make sure he's still sound asleep on the couch in my office.
"Anything?" I ask as I close the door behind me. I don't want him to have to hear any of this.
"Kind of," She says. "Nicole and Steve Matthews, they've got a thirteen year old daughter and they've fostered like five different kids from us. They're awesome, really, really good people."
"What's the but?" I ask, knowing that her tone is not all optimistic.
"They're on vacation, they get back Sunday night." She tells me.
"So what do we do with him until then?" I ask her, crossing my arms in front of me and remaining conscious to keep my voice down.
"I don't know," She says. "We keep looking,"
"Where?" I ask. "We've called so many families,"
"I don't know what to tell you Erin, this is the part of the job that sucks." She tells me. "But we don't give up,"
"What if I take him?" I offer impulsively.
"What?" She asks, looking at me shellshocked.
"We've all been vetted by DCFS and he needs a place to go, besides it'll only be a couple days."
"Aren't you flying out tonight?" She asks. Shoot. I forgot about that.
"Yes," I tell her with a deep sigh, "But I don't need to be, I'll cancel my flight and call my boyfriend. It's fine."
"Are you sure?" She asks. I have to take a beat, think for a second. But there's no questions, I have to do this.
"Yes,"
Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 17!
Please review!
xoxo,
Addie :)
