Alara

Ch.15 Three Days

I slept hard the night I went back to our room. It was a very dreamless sleep that I didn't stir from until Ezra woke me up.

He was clearly worried about me. I guess crying in his arms would do that.

But I was determined to bounce back. "I'm going to be okay. I just... I think I had to take that first defeat to make sure I would be able to deal with these next few months." I told him.

He looked unconvinced but as always he supported me. It was all he could do...

I actually had thirty minutes before my shift started so I went straight to the main building where the baby was.

He was in the nursery that was filled to the brim with other crying babies. Most of them were in the same predicament that he was, it broke my heart.

I went to the back of the room where he was. He had to share a little bed with another newborn because there wasn't enough space. But he was wide awake and quietly sucking on his hand.

I looked at the little placard and it showed the baby girls name but not his. In the place it said N/A.

I picked him up out of the little bed and cuddled him close. I suspected it was the first one he had in the hours that he had been born. My heart cried knowing that he was all alone. It wasn't fair...

I walked up to the head nurse in charge. She smiled seeing me. "This little one is alive because of you."

I blushed, I really wasn't the best at taking compliments. "What will happen to him now?" I asked.

She sighed sadly. "He will stay in the orphanage once he is released. Then... I do not know."

I felt a tug of desperation, I needed to fix this. I needed to make sure this little boy was going to be okay before I left.

"I would like to take care of him. I understand you are already overwhelmed but I can hold him during my breaks just so he gets some type of stimulation." I asked her.

"I have a better idea."

Ten minutes later I was walking down the pathways with the little boy strapped to my chest. He was clearly enjoying hearing my heartbeat and the motion because he had fallen asleep within minutes.

The head nurse suggested I take him for a few hours and allow him to rest against my chest. I was a little nervous at first but when she wrapped me up in a softy stretchy cloth with him I felt so fuzzy and happy.

I would need to remind myself to not get attached. Ezra would definitely not go for adopting a baby. We just got married.

But I was going to make sure by the time we left that he had parents.

I breezed through my appointments with ease. I almost forgot the little guy was there until he moved a little. He was so quiet and content that we didn't mind each other.

When he needed to be fed someone was always volunteering. He was the star of the show.

During lunchtime Ezra came to see me for a few minutes.

"I heard you stole a baby." He said as he sat down in the desk chair that sat in my 'assessment room'.

I smiled and changed the little guy's diaper. I'd taken to calling him little guy. I didn't know if I should name him, and I couldn't think of any that suited him.

"He needs someone to bond with. Those poor little babies lay in their cribs all day with no type of nurturing. And it's no ones fault, there are just too many of them."