Page 4

“Okay, Doc, just say it,” I said as I walked into his office without warning.
“Listen here, Mr. Reid. You know very well that I can’t tell you anything about Ms. Chase. She’s a minor, she’s part of an ongoing criminal investigation, and to top it all off, you’re not related to her.”
I didn’t say anything and walked deeper into his office, counting down the seconds in my head until he broke down.
“Fine,” he said with a huff as he took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Can’t believe I’m putting my job on the line for a six-foot-tall lumberCart,” he said under his breath.
“If you think for even a second that anything said in this room—”
“Stop it,” I said, trying to hide how badly I wanted to know more about Amaya.
“Fine, since you insist. Let’s start with the fire. Our tests show that Amaya’s respiratory system is very weak. She passed out within minutes of breathing in smoke.”
I kept my eyes on my sweatpants while I thought about this new piece of information.
“What did the police say?”
“Well, we did some DNA tests on her, and just in case you were still wondering, the dead man was her father.” He stopped and handed me a file. While he talked, I looked through it.
“Patrick Chase, who was 39 years old, had lived in Portland his whole life. He got married a long time ago, and state records say her name was Siobhan Leary. She came from Norway and met Patrick right away. They got married five months later. Seven months later, Siobhan died giving birth to their baby girl. Since then, Patrick and the baby, Amaya, have been missing.”
I stopped reading and looked up at him. “There is no record of Amaya going to kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, or high school.”
She never went to class.
“Patrick probably kept Amaya locked up in that flat for her whole life, and from what we just heard, she might have been there alone for most of the time.”
I let out a sigh, which made the facade fall apart for a moment. If all of this is true, Amaya has been through a lot more than I could have imagined. I had to help her, but I didn’t know how. This is the worst case of neglect I’ve ever seen.
I asked, “What happens now?” I could see that he was in a lot of pain, and my eyebrows scrunched together. “What is it?”
He said, “They’re just going to throw her into a foster home as soon as she gets out.”
I said, “What?” in a deadpan way, giving him a chance to say something smarter than that. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. She’s only seventeen.”
“Exactly, she’s still a minor. So, I’m saying this off the record, but those bastards are going to leave her there.”
“But she’s going to turn eighteen in two weeks. What do they think will happen to her then?”
“Mr. Reid, I don’t know if this is news to you, but they don’t care,” he said, pausing for a moment as if he had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to it.
“This is probably the most immoral thing I’ve ever said, but my plan was to keep her in the hospital until she turned eighteen. I would have paid for all of her hospital bills, and then when she turned eighteen… I don’t know what I would have done, but I would have done everything I could to help her.”
I said, “You’re speaking in the past tense,” because I was surprised at how much he cared about Amaya.
“I was going to go through with my plan, but then you came along. Well, you never really left,” he said to himself at the end and then snorted a laugh. This guy was a real mess.
“How can I keep Amaya safe and out of the system?”
“First of all, you need to become a foster parent. More specifically, her foster parent. You take her in for the next two weeks and when she turns eighteen… well, I don’t think I need to narrate your inner ambitions.” The cocky smirk on his face made me angry, especially since I wanted to get those thoughts out of my head.
I wanted to help Amaya. I wanted to protect her in every way I could because she was too innocent for this world. Also, I was ten years older than Amaya. I should only feel like a brother protecting her.
“Watch it, Ramirez,” I said, not liking what he was saying.
He put his hand up in front of him and leaned back in his chair, smiling as if he knew everything.
“Anything you say, Mr. Reid.”
~ ~ ~
“I haven’t heard from you in forever, Carter. What have you gotten yourself into this time?” Gabriel’s cheeky voice filled the line, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at how cocky he was.
Gabriel Langston was the lawyer for my family. I last talked to him a few weeks after I graduated from high school. I took all of my money and flew to Portland.
I never thought I’d have to call someone from my past, but Amaya Chase was making me do the impossible.
“How quickly can you get up here, Gabriel? I need your help with something very important.”
“Wow, I haven’t heard from you in ten years and I can’t even say hello? To answer your question, I can be there by tonight.”
“Well, I’ve never been one for niceties, have I?” He didn’t say anything, and I actually felt… not good.
What was going on with me?
I looked back at Amaya, who was lying on her hospital bed so beautifully, and I felt guilty. I was a terrible person.
“Look, I’m sorry. I just really need your help. When you get here, I’ll explain everything.” My voice shocked me, so I can’t imagine what it did to him.
“Uh… yeah. I’ll take the company jet and be there in the morning.”
I heard soft whimpers from behind me before I could answer. I turned around and saw Amaya moving around in bed.
“I’ll see you soon, Gabriel. Have a safe flight.” I hung up the phone without waiting for a response and ran to Amaya’s side. She asked me to be here when she woke up, and I will keep my word.
She opened her eyes and let out a little giggle right away.
“Cartie, you stayed!” she said with a cheer and tried to move up. I carefully helped her sit up, then I sat down next to the bed.
I gave her some water, and she happily drank the whole glass.
“Did you do anything fun while I was sleeping, Cartie?” she asked as I put the glass back on the side table.
“Well, I talked to your doctor about some important things, and I also talked to my lawyer on the phone.”
“Oh, I know what a lawyer is! They are the people who talk in court, right?”
I forgot for a second that Amaya had never been to school and I didn’t know how much she knew. Just thinking about it made me feel so bad that I couldn’t help but reach out and touch her cheek.
“That’s right, babygirl. Where did you learn that?”
She said, “I learnt it from TV.”
“Hey pumpkin, you watched a lot of TV, huh?”
“Are you kidding me? I love TV! I watch it all the time,” she said, going on and on about her favourite shows and the characters in them.
I paid close attention because I loved how animated she got when she talked about things she cared about. I didn’t think it was possible, but her smile was brighter than ever and her eyes shone even more.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how no one would ever hurt her again.
“Carter!” When I opened the door, a happy squeal greeted me. It made my heart feel warm. “You missed out. Cole has been telling me stories that are so funny.”
I walked over to the girl who was talking too much and kissed her forehead softly. I couldn’t be more proud of how much more outspoken she had become in the last few days.
She really liked Dr. Ramirez, or Cole as she calls him, which was great for me because I’ve had to leave her a lot more than I would have liked to in the last few days.