Fushun, China, Liaoning Province--
The day was hotter than most, and Sunny was feeling exhausted from the day at the hospital. July in Fushun was as hot and humid as a vacation spent in the deep pits of hell.
Sunny worked as a nurse at the local hospital. It was a demanding job considering all the responsibilities the doctors left to the nurses. She always felt like collapsing from working day-in-day-out, she practically lived in the hospital. She loved her job though, she worked with the nursery, tending to the newborns and infants that came through their doors. She especially liked caring for the abandoned infants, babies that were found or given up by their mothers. She felt they needed extra love and care and felt a bright joy when they were adopted.
The day had been longer than most, but she was glad to finally be going home in 30 minutes. Working a 12-hour shift was pretty hard on someone's body when you do it 5 days a week. Sunny was just finishing her routine check-up on the incubators under her watch when her pager went off loudly. She was to report to the emergency doors for an incoming ambulance carrying an infant in critical condition. She was suddenly very tense as she quickly made her way to the emergency entrance.
When she finally arrived, there were already a group of people by the doors, she stood among the group of doctors and nurse aids who anxiously waited for the vehicle.
"Do we know anything about the infant?" Sunny asked Doctor Lin, her friend who monitored the newborns and dealt with any complications with babies.
"Something about a fire, just that the child was found with severe burns along her back. She will need to be examined and cleaned up immediately." Doctor Lin says in a grave voice. Sunny took a quick breath, it was always hard when infants were brought in to the hospital in critical condition. Most don't survive the first three days, infants were vulnerable to a lot of viruses and infections and the younger the age, the less likely their chances to survive. From what Lin said, the state of the child would be rough.
You can always hear it before it comes, blaring loudly through the night until you see the bright red and blue lights flashing in the dark as it speeds towards the hospital staff. There is a flurry of movement as the truck comes to a stop and the EMTs jump out of the back with the small carrier holding the infant gently. It makes no sound, unmoving but alive curled and wrapped in a blanket. The staff quickly make their way inside the hospital and take the child into one of the operating rooms.
No one understands the extent of the infant's wounds until the doctor lifts the baby from the carrier and removes the blanket. Along the back of the child is a severe burn that covers the infant's back almost entirely. The doctors are quick to clean away the blood and dead skin, cleaning the skin to prevent infection.
"Sunny, go into the post-op area and prepare an incubator for the infant to be transferred to." Doctor Lin orders.
Sunny leaves and quickly makes her way to the post-op nursery to prepare an incubator for the child. She is so worried about the poor child, what must have happened for it to sustain such severe burns. Sunny waited anxiously, needing to know what happened to the baby.
In such a harsh condition, and being so young, it would be a miracle if the child lived. It was way past her time to go home, but Sunny couldn't bear to leave without hearing news on the child. It was another hour before anyone came out of the operating room, as soon as Dr. Lin emerged from the operating room, Sunny went to her, "How is the child?" She sighed heavily and looked at Sunny's worried face, "Weak, but stable for now. The burns she has are bad, very very bad. I'm not confident she will live, but at least she has a chance now." Sunny's eyes watered she was so happy. "Thank you so much Doctor, I'm not sure why but I needed to know how she was." Doctor Lin tipped her brow and smiled to Sunny, "The girl is in the nursery now so let's hope she makes it through the night. I've got to run a couple more rounds, so take care and get some rest Sunny." With that, Doctor Lin was already making her way down the hall to attend to another patient.
Sunny practically ran to the nursery which received some looks from the other nurses through the hall. She quickly calmed her breath before she walked in and went to the incubator in the back corner of the room. Inside lay the child, clean bandages wrapped around her back and shoulders. She was asleep, her vitals steady.
This was the first time Sunny was able to get a good look at the girl. Doctor Lin had approximated her age to be about three months old based on her weight and stage of growth. She had black hair starting to come in, her skin a beautiful light tan. She was beautiful, Sunny didn't understand why she was so attached to the infant. She worked with babies all day, but none had her this captivated. She stayed like that for a bit longer, leaning over the small incubator, watching the infant breath slowly.
The girl would be put up for adoption, but because of her scars, unlikely to be adopted. She would probably be taken to the orphanage if she isn't taken in before she is well again. Sunny felt a sudden sadness swell within herself as she thought about how the scars would affect her future.
One month later, the girl had healed almost completely, but her skin was still raw. Pink marks, evidence of her terrible encounter with death, were visible all along her back. Sunny looked after the baby up until she was healed, changing her bandages, cleaning her body, and loving her dearly. Four other babies had since been brought in, abandoned, and three of them found new homes.
The girl with her scars failed to be adopted because no one could see past her physical imperfections, no one could see what a beautiful little girl she was. This fact was known well throughout the hospital, the child who no one would take, and the fact made Sunny so sad. She would adopt the child if she had the chance, but Sunny was already a month past rent and living off street side noodle shops for her meals. She couldn't bring the girl up in that. All Sunny could do was make sure the baby knew she was loved by someone. Soon the child was well enough to not need bandages on her burns so she was to be taken to the Fushun Social Welfare Institute, the orphanage where most of the babies the hospital received and weren't adopted, were sent. She would grow up there until a family could see past her scars and find it in themselves to love her.
Sunny knew one of the older women who worked at the orphanage and knew the child would be cared for and loved, but no child can receive enough love in an orphanage full of children who need love. She could only hope and pray the child found a home quickly.
- - - - - - - -
For the next two years, Sunny made visits to the orphanage in her time away from work to check up on the girl. The child grew fast, first crawling, then walking with the older orphans. The girl was named Zhāng Líng because they said she was lucky. Sunny brought her toys and sweets when she could afford it, and the girl knew Sunny was a kind person. One day, Sunny visited the child and talked to her friend Mido, an older woman who had worked at the orphanage for the past 30 years.
"How is the child? Her wounds look better and she seems to be happy here. I am so glad you were able to love her here among all the other orphans." Sunny said.
"Yes, the children all grow so quickly, the girl has yet to be adopted, but soon she will be taken abroad to live with a family in America. They have the money and resources to give her the help she needs." Mido said.
"Abroad? Mido, you can't! Please, soon someone will come, they will come and see what a beautiful girl she is, but if she goes abroad, I may never see her again." Sunny knew it was selfish of her, but she felt such a connection to the girl. She would be heartbroken if she had to watch her go away and forget about her.
"Sunny, you know no one will see past her scars. No one will want her here. She has already been here two years, and yet not one couple has taken more than one look at her before saying no. America is the only place she will be loved properly. A nice family will come to pick her up in one month. This is her best chance at life." Mido said with a sad look in her eyes.
"Yes, but I can't leave her. She has grown on me, I wish I could have been the one to adopt her." Sunny began to cry silently, knowing in one month, she would never see her again. If only circumstances were different.
"If fate has a plan for the child to meet you again, then you will see her again. Your bond is close, I believe the fates are sending her away for a reason. They know best, so pray you may see her one day again. She will grow up happy there." Mido was sad too, but she knew the fates had a plan and Sunny must be a part of it somehow.
The child would soon leave them, so they could only pray she lived a life of ease in America with her new family. Loved for who she is. And not judged by her scars.
YOU ARE READING
Falling Through Lost Time
FantasíaJune thinks she's just an average high school girl, that is until she isn't. She has friends, family troubles, and her own personal secrets. She was adopted as an infant by the Bennet family from China, but none of them could have expected how much...
