The Veil: Reimagined

Chapter # 22

"Is it I or there is some funky smell in the air?" Satoru asked, fanning his nose to get the odor from the air.

"No, it's not you, I can smell it too."

"Smells like shit,"

(Name) whacked him over the head at the use of cuss words in the proximity of a child, "mind your language and yes, it does smell like poop."

"She is only like half a year old, she can't understand a damn word."

"Satoru..." (Name) raised a hand to slap him again but he dodged just in time, "if you uttered profanity one more time, I will---"

"Oh look, the baby is crying!" the calm girl was no longer calm but weeping. She was flailing her arms and legs around. 

(Name) immediately panicked, "What do I do!?"

"Pick her up?"

"How?! I don't know..."

"take a side and let me do this..." one of Satoru's arms goes under her legs and the other holding her head up, "shhh, I am right here..." He cooed the baby, bringing her close to him.

The baby did not stop crying, (Name) spoke, "maybe she is hungry?"

"Perhaps, can you bring me her feeder?"

"Of course," (Name) immediately fetched the feeder and gave it to him. Satoru stuffed her tiny mouth in hope that she'll stop her racket.

The baby spit out the milk, crying even more than before, "she isn't hungry, now what?"
Satoru laid the baby on her tummy, pulling back her diaper.

"Just as expected, she pooped."

"Well, change it!" (Name) made a disgusted face, she was not ready to change diapers.

"Alright," Satoru laid her back, he turned to (Name), "bring me wipes and a diaper." she nods and goes back to the desk.

"Here,"

"Thanks," Satoru starts the process. He pulled the dirty diaper off and folded it neatly while at the same time holding the baby up so it will not ruin the white sheets. He wiped the residual with wipes. (Name) gagged at the scene. He throws the wipes and dirty diapers in the bin. After that, he laid the clean diaper under her and attached the sticky ends, and it was done, "there you go, look how happy she is!"

The baby was no longer wailing as there was no tomorrow, (Name) smiled, "it's unnerving to see how good you are at this."

"I am good at literally everything, including changing diapers." he boosts, puffing out his chest, "just ask anyone, they'll tell you how extraordinary I am."

"Shut up,"

"Do you wanna hold her?" He asked, glancing at her from the corner of his vision.

"What if I drop her?" (Name) fiddled with her fingers, not meeting his eyes.

"Trust me, you won't." He picked up the baby,  taking a couple of steps closer to (Name), "take her, one arm must hold her head up," Satoru led her arm in the correct posture.

(Name) gazed at the little human in her arms, she barely weigh anything. It felt like holding a pillow. The baby's flailing hands grasped her stray hair strands, "hey, leave my hair alone."

Satoru smiled at the sight, he was loving the dumbstruck look on (Name)'s face. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and she was looking at the baby as if she was a scientific experiment. He raised his hand, freeing her hair from Ame's solid steel grasp, and tucked it behind her ear; his fingers lingering there for a fraction of a time but not long enough.

"She is strong," (Name) commented, now her pointer finger was in her grasp, "are all the babies strong?"

"Perhaps."

"having kids is not as bad as I imagined."

"She is not yours..."

(Name) pouts, bringing the baby closer to herself, "don't care, right, Ame?"  the baby blabbered nonsense, "she agrees!"

"Whatever, here feed her the milk."

"Right, are you hungry, Ame?" the baby blabbered again, "I know you are," the baby starts calmly drinking milk.

(-------------------------------------)

Shoko comes back and finds the trio fast asleep, the baby on her bed and the two adults by each side of her bed.

"Hey, wake up," she whispered, she did not want to wake up the young girl, "Satoru, (Name), wake up!"

"What... What happened?" a very sleepy Satoru asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You fell asleep in the hospital wing, genius." she turned to (Name), "you wake up! It's a hospital wing, not a motel." Shoko violently shakes her awake.

"Oh, it's just you, Shoko." (Name) stretched on her seat, her back was sour because of her sleeping position, "you are back already?"

"It's six in the evening, I was out more than four hours. You two can leave, I can look after her now."

"Alright, goodbye, Shoko."

(---------------------------------)

(Name) soon after leaving the hospital wing decided to visit the officer in charge of the death or rather murder of Emila Kaof, the name of the woman they found dead in the alley along with Ame.

"Hello, Officer." the officer was a man with burgundy hair, quite tall and muscular. He was wearing his uniform. When he realized it was her, he smiled, "hello, miss. (Last Name)."

"I'm hoping you have some news regarding the whereabouts of the girl we found?"

"Not really, the dead woman's autopsy was submitted today. She was not at all related to the young girl and the autopsy shows it." He spoke, his voice holding an edge of seriousness, "She is not Japanese, came here a couple of years ago in search of a job. Her history in Japan is pretty clear, with no public offenses or anything of the sort. I suspect her death was caused by a robbery gone south, as her phone or wallet were not on her when found."

"Right, thanks for telling me this, Officer." she left the office without a second glance, it was time for her to do some digging on her own.