"Hello?" I picked up my phone from its place on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. Up until this point I had gotten up around eight-thirty and decided to clean up a few things around the bedroom since I was always working and never had a lot of time at home. Although, the perks of not being here meant things didn't get too messy anyway.

"Hailey." A familiar voice chimed on the other end of the phone before they announced who was calling. "It's Eliza. How are you?"

"Hi, Eliza. I'm hanging in there. How are you?" Peering through my open door, I closed it slightly so my voice didn't carry down the hall towards Eva. I honestly didn't have anything planned today, so I figured I would let her sleep in as long as she needed to.

"Good. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I've been awake for a little while. I think Eva is still sleeping though. It's been kind of a long week for her." I explained, digging through the top drawer of my nightstand before finding a pen near the front. It took a little more digging before I found a notepad, just in case I needed to write some information down.

"That's what I gathered from the message you left. By the way, I'm sorry I didn't call you back after you called." She apologized, the keyboard keys clicking underneath her fingers, then quieted as she went on. "My phone decided to stop working after I left Chicago. I was able to finally get a new one and listen to your message. "What's going on?"

"That's okay. I get it." I told her, feeling no irritation towards the social worker at all. Technology was a beast sometimes and chose to work at the most inconvenient times when we needed them most. "Eva does pretty well when she's at home. There's been a few down moments but not like it is when she's at school. I think she's called me every day, almost or in tears. By the time I'm able to pick her up after work, she looks miserable. So I guess I'm trying to figure out if she needs more time to adjust or there's something more I should be concerned about."

"It sounds to me like you're doing everything you can for her, and it's understandable that you're worried. I find that every child is different and takes a different amount of time to adjust to their surroundings. You have to remember that everything is unknown to Eva. She's already made a connection to you, even if it doesn't feel like it. Now she's trying to do that same thing with new teachers, school staff and classmates. She's trying to find her place."

"What about her adoptive parents?" I changed the subject slightly as I quickly scribbled down my thoughts about what she told me on the first sheet of paper. "Has she talked to anyone about what happened?"

"I was able to attend the funeral with Eva and as far as I know, she didn't want to talk about what happened with anyone. Instead, she seemed content with playing in the backyard with the kids who came to the wake." My stomach sunk hearing that revelation, although it was good to hear she wasn't alone. "Like her trying to connect to people, it's going to take her a while before she'll want to talk about it."

"I'm glad to hear she was at least willing to go play with the other kids. We've talked a little about missing friends and her adoptive parents several times, but she hasn't expressed a lot of emotion about how she's feeling about everything."

"Listen to your gut. If you feel like in time Eva needs more help, most schools have a counselor or therapist assigned that can help her with any thoughts or feelings she may be experiencing. I can also send you a list of resources that also may be helpful. If you haven't already, you may also want to talk to her teacher. They may have some good insights or resources that could be helpful as well."

"That would be great, thank you. I did touch base with her teacher. I haven't been able to talk to her yet, so I'm glad I have talked to you so I can fill her in on what I know when I drop Eva off on Monday. I'll continue to try and talk to her about things when things come up."

"I wasn't ever worried you wouldn't see things through. I want you to know what resources you can turn to should you want to use them."

"I appreciate that," I told her gently, hearing Eva padding down the hall towards the bathroom before closing the door behind her. I now had limited time before she came looking for me. "Thank you for taking the time to call me back."

"That's why I'm here. If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know. I will try to get back to you a little quicker next time now that my phone is working a little better, and I look forward to visiting you both again soon."

"Actually, there might be one thing you can help me with," I stated after a moment of thinking about it before placing the notepad back on the top of my drawer. "I was wondering if there was any possible way I could get me the number of a few friends Eva was friends with back in Michigan?"

"I got the number of one of the ladies there that was at the wake. She wanted to make sure Eva got to you okay, so I can definitely ask around. See if she knows them. What are their names?"

"I only know their first names. Ellie and Hannah. I thought if I could get their numbers, maybe she could talk to them through Skype or some kind of video call. At least until she's able to make friends here in Chicago."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I will see what I can do and let you know."

"Perfect. Thank you."