More memories

Another sad memory I have happened just before Christmas last year. I was working the night shift at the hospital as the charge nurse. It was a quiet night and didn't have many kids in my charge. A young woman came in carrying a little boy. She walked over to me and my co-worker and handed the baby to me. She looked at us and said, "here you go, his name is Quentavius and I don't want him any more." Tracy and I looked at each other in disbelief. There were no tears from her, she didn't sound upset. She turned and walked away, and never looked back. That sweet little 18 month old boy just let me hold him and love on him. He didn't cry when his mom left. There was no attachment between the two. We went through his disgusting diaper bag his mom left on the counter. There was a bottle with clabbered milk. It's nipple was black with mold. There was a pair of jeans and a pair of sandals. Mind you it is December at the time, not quite the season for sandals. I made the call to DCFS, to come and pick him up. Because of the late hour and lack of resources, they told me it might be awhile before a social worker could come to get him. In the mean time, he was acting hungry. I sent Tracy down to dietary to find him some soup or something light. All she could find was some spaghetti-o's. I swear that little boy inhaled them. He just couldn't get enough. The poor thing was so malnourished that a few minutes later his little digestive system decided that was too much, too soon. I was able to pull a rocking chair up to the nurse station and hold him and rock him while I did some computer charting. He fell asleep in my arms. I was still holding him when the social worker arrived. As she pulled him out of my stiff arms he cried and continued to reach for me. It broke my heart that that little guy responded to me more in the 4 hours that I had him than he had when his mother had left him. I don't know what ever happened to him, but I do hope that he has a warm lap to sit on and a mother's arms to hold him tight.