Online Mystery

Forgotten Baby

April 1995

"Well done, Phil! Another successful surgery under your belt." Dr. Gregor slapped Phil on the back, a huge grin across his aging face.

"Yes, Dr. Roberts. Our side of the hospital is lucky to have your expertise." Helen, one of the surgery nurses praised, batting her eyes at the skilled Doctor.

Phil wanted nothing to do with the flirtatious nurse. He turned toward Dr. Gregor, "I can thank my mentor, Melvin here, for my advanced skills."

"I feel the student has superseded the teacher in this case." Dr. Melvin Gregor spoke loud enough for the operating room to hear his praise. Together they left the surgery room. Melvin felt it was time to pass along his knowledge as his time in the hospital is coming to a close. "One day, Phil, I hope you will have the opportunity to mentor an aspiring Doctor. One that brings you pride to call your student. Keep your eyes open. Lead by example. Be firm but gentle in how you shape or mold their skills. For in so doing, your legacy, and mine by default, will continue on."

"Why does it sound like you are saying goodbye?" Phil's face pinched together in dissatisfaction. He didn't want his biggest cheerleader, his sounding board, his mentor and friend to retire.

"I have fought the good fight. And now I lay me down to rest."

"Are you ill, Mel?"

Melvin chuckled and shook his head, "No. It's just time. I am leaving this hospital in good hands. Be the rock that the others need. And call me anytime you need to bounce ideas around. I may be retiring, but my brain is still functioning."

Phil nodded with a sad smile. "You will be greatly missed, Mel."

Just then, Nurse Green scurried toward the two doctor's, a crying baby in her arms. "Doctor Gregor, Doctor Robert. I found this baby left outside by the trash can at the employee's entrance. What should I do?"  Nurse Green has such a strong accent, dropping her L's and R's, that Phil has to pay close attention when she is speaking. 

Dr. Gregor made a motion toward Nurse Green for Phil to take the lead on this. He was essentially handing over the reigns of the hospital politics to Dr. Roberts.

"Is the child hurt, Nurse Green?" Phil asked, concern for the child's well being.

"Not that I can see." She answered.

"Then take the baby to the nursery, ascertain vitals, feed them and I will contact social services. We will find the baby's parents or place them into foster care by this time tomorrow."

"Sir, I believe that whoever left this baby, must have known about the Academy. Why else would they have picked our door? Not the other side of the hospital. This side."

Phil sighed and nodded. "Get the baby to the nursery. I will see what I can find."

Nurse Green scuttled her feet at a fast pace, shushing the baby as she left. Melvin spoke softly, "If you don't find the babies mother, you might want to look at having the Green's foster to adopt. You know they haven't been able to conceive. Mae came to me for some options, but Tadashi is too proud and refuses to consider medical intervention. Mae is a good woman. She deserves to be a mom."

"If she is right, and the unknown parents know of the Academy, we should keep the baby in the family. Maybe the parents can be found and given the council or help they need."

"I just got some new AOL CD-ROM discs to use the internet. I left one on your desk this morning. See what you can find. And if you need me, I am just a phone call away."

Using the Internet to find information is such a new concept to Phil. He sat at his state of the art Power Macintosh 5200/75 LC, using the 75 MHz PowerPC 603 processor. He slid the disc into the CD-ROM drive and downloaded the software. When he connected to the Internet through the phone line, he heard the tell tale sign it was working. 'Beeeeeee-ooooooooo-eeeeeeeee'

"What in the world?" Phil exclaimed to the empty room. Never before has he seen this...this...website? Phil was looking at a picture of himself, but it wasn't himself, not himself right now anyway. The Phil he was looking at in the picture was balding, for God sakes! This Phil also had crows feet at his eyes. And who are those boys in the picture with him? He has never seen them before. What kind of prank is this?

Phil looked around on the screen and saw the word 'Facebook' written at the top of the page. Under the picture he was in was a description. It said, 'My prodigy excels again! Way to go, Sean!' There were 387 likes with a blue thumbs up. It made Phil smile. Even if this is a prank, it was an enjoyable one.

As Phil moved the mouse over the picture, so he could print it out, it disappeared. The AOL icon was displayed on his screen and a female computerized voice sounded through the speakers, "You've got mail".

Phil searched well into the late hours of the night for any information of a missing baby, but to no avail. The next day he found Tadashi Green and asked him if he and Mae would be willing to foster the forgotten baby, until all measures to find the parents were exhausted. Tadashi agreed without showing emotion. When Phil went by the nursery, Mae was cradling the forgotten baby close to her heart and singing in Japanese. Her facial features said it all, 'you are not forgotten, and I will never leave you."