His Choice (The Selection)

Chalter Forty Four

Wrote by firerose11

§§§

"I still can't believe that we've accomplished so much in such a short time," I said, placing my hands on my hips and surveying the newly furnished waiting room of my clinic.

Karigan shoved a chair a little further to the left. "I know that you're a blessing, Em. After all, their former doctor left just before you arrived."

I smiled at her fondly. She had been such a help during the past two months, giving me an identity besides Ember Shields, helping me purchase the clinic and house, and refusing to press for more information than I was willing to give.

Even when the clinic had not been completely furnished, I had looked at children, knowing that some cases just couldn't wait until I was ready.

The residents, after we had gotten past the point that I looked so much like Ember Shields, had welcomed me into the family that they had created.

Again, that's where Karigan helped greatly. She had told others that I was her adult daughter, who had had too much of wandering and decided to settle down.

I had taken to the story well, feeling like she had always been the mother of my heart, and I started going by Emma, a name close enough to Ember that if someone slipped up, it wouldn't be a problem.

As soon as Lily had returned from her honeymoon, she had sent a note to Karigan full of her typical ranting. Despite the fact she couldn't come to visit quite yet, she vowed to come haunt me soon.

I had sent her back a note, telling her not to worry too much about me and to be happy, no matter how many miles we were separated.

Having enough of TV and watching the prince mope around, I refused to even turn on the one we had installed in the living room.

Instead, I learned of my father's election as governor through gossiping mothers and the newspaper. I hoped that he was finally satisfied.

As far as I was concerned at this part, Ember Carolyne Shields was dead, buried beneath the prince's rejection and Tanner's death. I was now only Emma, taking care of my new home's children and keeping to myself.

Karigan and I had just sat down at the table for dinner when a frantic pounding sounded on the door.

She made to stand up, but I motioned for her to return to her seat and answered the door myself.

"We're closed for the evening except for emergencies," I told the child standing on my doorstep.

He nodded his grimy head. "I know, but one of the kids I live with, we think she might be dying."

I bit my lip before turning back towards the kitchen. "Karigan, I'm going to go check on a kid really quick! Can you get an examination room ready in case I bring them back?"

"Sure!" She yelled back, and I grabbed my satchel from behind the desk.

"You'll have to show me where you live," I told the boy. "After all, I'm fairly new to this area, and I have no idea who you belong to."

He frowned. "I don't belong to anyone and neither do any of the other kids I live with."

On the way to where these kids lived, I pried the whole story out of him. Apparently, unknown to me, there was a group of orphans and abandoned children living on the outskirts of town, fending for themselves and the one I was going to check on was the "mother" of the little family.

Weaving my way through the ramshackle jumble of tents and cardboard, the boy lead me to where a girl of maybe six was lying in a heap of dirty blankets.

As I shooed the curious cluster of kids out and settled myself beside the girl, I started talking, first asking her about herself before getting into formalities.

§§§

"Appendicitis," I told Karigan quietly after we had settled the girl into a room. "We're going to have to get a good surgeon to remove the organ before it ruptures."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

I shook my head. "Anyone I knew from school wouldn't be fooled as easily as the people who have never met me. We'll have to choose someone local, and even then, I may have to disappear during the operation."

She frowned but headed off to see what information she could scrounge up. I went back to where the girl had managed to fall asleep.

Twila was her name, and she was the oldest of the children I had seen today. I wasn't sure what I thought of the arrangement, but she had reassured me several times that they were given odd jobs to get food and money.

Gently, I smoothed her blue-black hair away from her face, deciding that the first order after she had recovered sufficiently from surgery was to bathe her.

Why did I feel so strongly about this little abandoned girl?

After Karigan had returned from securing a surgeon, I asked her that question, and she looked thoughtful.

"You have a kind heart, Em, but I don't know whether this is it or if you are perhaps having maternal feelings because you gave up your chance at a family."

I could hear all that she wasn't saying too. I had had two chances at a family: one snatched from my hands and the other I had kicked to the curb.

Karigan had given up a lot when she had become my maid: her own chance at love, her family, her home. Even now, she was risking herself by hiding me from my parents.

"I'm going to adopt Twila if she'll allow me to," I suddenly blurted. "I may not be a wealthy governor's daughter anymore, but I have more than those poor kids."

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," she chuckled, a distant gleam coming to her eyes, "but I think this is a good idea. Just don't let it get too out of hand, okay, baby girl?"

I smiled at her.

"Of course not, Karigan. I'll stop at two or three. I promise."

She sighed and headed off to bed while I returned to Twila's side. I may not be married to a prince, a politician, or any other kind of man, but I would pour all the love I had left in me into this girl and any others I took in.

One chapter in my story had closed, but another one was soon to begin, one in which I was a mother and a doctor.

One where I was making the world better rather than sitting on a gilded seat surrounded by finery.