herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 42. Part I

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2027

Within a few days Josephine will blame Miss Lizz, even though it was not her fault. It was nobody's fault. Accidents happen all the time, and the majority of that time we try to find a guilty one so we can avoid them next time. It doesn't work like that.

This week's school theme is going to be traditional foods and Miss Lizz has asked her students to cook something with their families to share later in class with their classmates. It is Miss Lizz who has told each child what they have to bring, and Sofía is in charge of the famous and traditional English biscuits.

- You know. - Hero calls Jo's attention, while they are dressing up and getting ready for the day. - Most of the kiddos doesn't bring it home-cooking, they probably just buy it.

- Well, I want to believe that baking cookies is not that difficult. - She says with a smiley face. - After all, I was able to bake lamingtons. Besides... - Jo walks to him and surrounds his neck with her arms. - I want to spend some more time with Sof by myself. And... - She prolongs the letter "A" in a funny way. - I need something to distract me while you are gone. I'm too nervous about these next days.

The days have gone by so fast, and now they are only a couple hours from welcoming Jo's parents in Crosby. Stephen and Elizabeth are eager to meet their first grandchild, and the few FaceTime calls or the pictures that their daughter has sent them are not enough. In the same as Jo, they also want to start building a relationship with the little blonde girl. And she is not going to lie, but Josephine is kind of excited and nervous at the same time about it.

- I am also nervous, you know? - Still holding one another in each other's arms, they look in the eyes. - First time meeting my girlfriend's parents and all that. - Her eyes widen with his words, one word in specific because she is not used to hear it outloud. - But we are together in this, aren't we? 

- Yes, we are. - Jo answers right before Hero plants a kiss on her forehead. - Now, if you let me... those biscuits are not going to bake by themselves. - She smiles and makes her way out of the bedroom, while calling their little human. - Sofi!

Hero follows her downstairs, where Sofía is playing and waiting for Jo so they can start baking. He has to leave now to pick up Josephine's parents at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. They will land very soon and it takes at least forty minutes of car drive to get there.

Hero thinks that Jo will back up when she reads the instructions of the recipe. Despite this, he can't repress a silly smile when he sees both girls with their heads touching and focused on the tablet, trying to decipher the ingredient measurements. He takes his car keys, and looks at them one more time before closing the front door behind him. 

It's still extraordinary to Josephine every moment she spends with Sofía by herself. There haven't been many, just the times they wait for Hero to finish training soccer, when he is showering or doing anything else around the house. Even though she sometimes struggle to not feel as an outsider, she enjoys how they slowly find their rhythm and language.

The biscuits making starts out reasonably well. They look inside every cabinet until getting all the baking instruments and lay out on the counter the ingredients needed. There is no reason why two reasonably intelligent people aren't capable of elaborating a simple recipe: butter, sugar, flour... There is no reason why a reasonably smart adult isn't capable of turning on an electric oven and setting the correct temperature for the biscuits to bake. 

It is pretty likely that a six year old feels curiosity about how their artwork is progressing. So in the moment in which her mother is washing the dishes, Sofía opens the oven door and touches to check it even though the countless times they have repeated her that the oven is dangerous.

Josephine knows for sure that she hasn't heard anything more terrifying in her life than Sofía's shriek of pain.

The girl takes her hand out of the oven and protects it against her body, while she begins to call for her daddy between loud screams and cries. 

Tomorrow Josephine will have no idea of the instinct that came into play to remain calm and not break into tears on the floor next to Sofía. Yet, that's why precisely there are instincts and it is what makes Jo verify that her daughter's burn wound isn't the ones that can be heal at home.

Josephine's mother, Elizabeth, is a pediatrician and she would probably know what to do in this situation. However, she calls a taxi instead of her. In less than five minutes there is a taxi waiting on their door and, without any children car seat, they jump in. Jo gives the driver instructions to take them to the closest health center, whilst Sofía cries and calling Hero to appear. 

It only takes them ten minutes to get there, probably because the taxi driver skipped the speed limit due to the kid's cries and the anguish look of her mother. Jo picks up Sofía in her arms trying not to rub her wound and enters running the emergencies zone after quickly paying the taxi.

A nurse takes care of the situation in seconds and pulls out a litter. With an experienced glance he determines that the burn needs quick treatment due to the child's pain, but he doesn't observe excessive gravity. A young nurse takes Sofía to an emergency room cubicle to start the cures and Jo tries to follow them, but the previous nurse tells her to stay at the reception one moment.

- I need your daughter's data, Mrs. - An administrative from the hospital asks from behind a large desk.

Josephine tries to soothe her nerves and think clearly. She knows, of course, Sofía's birth date and also that she doesn't have any allergies. Nevertheless, she unknows her Social Security Number or her blood type, because it is not something that comes up normally in a conversation.

The administrative whispers to the nurse that according to the data of the hospital Information System, the mother of Sofía Jane Fiennes-Tiffin is on record as unknown. And, Josephine Langford, does not even appear as an authorized contact of the minor.