at Vivian.
“Mike, please take my baby away from her.”
Mike nodded to the nurse.
“Keep the baby with Elena. I will handle the visitor.”
Vivian straightened her cardigan.
“This is being made much larger than it needs to be.”
Mike pointed toward the tray table.
“Those papers stay here. No one removes them.”
Vivian’s hand moved toward the blue folder.
“Those are family documents.”
“They are now part of the incident record,” Mike said.
She stopped with her fingers above the folder.
I looked at the papers spread beneath it. The first page had my name printed near the top. Beneath it was language about relinquishment, followed by signature lines that Vivian had treated as though my pen could simply rearrange who Leo belonged to.
“These are the papers you wanted me to sign.”
Vivian looked at me.
“They would make the arrangement clear.”
“They do not transfer my
parental rights.”
She said nothing.
Mike picked up the folder by its edge.
“I need these preserved exactly as they are.”
Vivian stepped toward him.
“You cannot take family papers.”
“I can preserve documents connected to a hospital incident.”
He placed the folder into a clear sleeve the nurse brought from the supply cabinet.
The room had become smaller without anyone moving the furniture.
I looked at the empty bassinet and then at Leo.
“Where is Karen?”
Vivian folded her arms.
“She is downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked her to be.”
“To do what?”
Vivian looked toward the hallway.
“To be available.”
“Available for what?”
She did not answer that one either.
Mike touched the radio clipped to his belt.
“I am going to have someone speak with Karen.”
Vivian shook her head.
“She is upset enough already.”
“Then we should ask her what she was told.”
Vivian’s face tightened.
“She knows what she needs to know.”
That sentence stayed with me.
The nurse checked Leo’s blanket and adjusted the corner near his chin.
“Your son is settled,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Leo made a soft sound, and I looked down at him.
For one second, his tiny mouth opened and closed as if he were trying to complain about the whole afternoon.
I almost laughed.
The nurse smiled.
“He has an opinion.”
“That makes two of us.”
Mike opened the door.
“Vivian, you need to come with me.”
Vivian looked at Leo again.
“I only wanted what was best for him.”
“Then let his mother hold him.”
She picked up her purse.
“I will speak with Daniel.”
“That is your choice,” Mike said. “Leaving the room is mine.”
Vivian walked into the hallway.
I heard her ask where Karen was.
No one answered her.
A few minutes later, Mike
