20. Proslo
20
PROSLO
“ S o, we’ll take the class virtually, and it starts the week after we get back home,” Betty said. “And since they’re half day classes, I can do my homework so I can start at Sickbay the week after.”
“Providing you’ve completed the homework satisfactorily, yes,” I smiled at her from across the table.
She quirked her lips in that lopsided smile I adored so much. “And we both know that between my smarts, Xero’s tutelage, and the help of my hubby who just happens to be the Fleet’s Chief Medic, I will know that stuff backwards and forwards in time and be able to pass a test on it in my sleep”
“That husband of yours sounds a pretty impressive fellow,” I teased.
“Oh, he is, trust me. And he’s a real animal in the sack too, rawr,” she joked back before taking a sip of her Red Dragon margarita.
“I’m sorry, sir,” a member of the hotel staff said to me. “But there’s a woman asking for you at the hotel desk and she says it’s quite urgent.”
We both immediately became serious. “Is it Aunt Lou?” she asked.
The man shook his head. “I don’t know who Aunt Lou is, ma’am, but this lady is from Social Services.”
“Do you think something happened to Aunt Lou after she flew home!”
“I’m certain Xeranos would have notified us directly, as she’s on the official family registry. Any hospital treating her would immediately find she is now Mylos and notify the Fleet.”
“Then what?”
I stood up. “I’d best go find out.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said, abandoning her drink.
I hoped I was right and that Aunt Lou was fine. Logically speaking, I knew I had to be. This had to be about something else. But what?
A harried looking woman in a skirt and what I recognized as a business style jacket hurried towards us as we entered the hotel lobby from the outside bar.
“Dr. Proslo! I know you’ve only just arrived here on Oahu for your honeymoon, but I’m afraid this is rather urgent and Dr. Morrissey at Queen’s asked me to reach out to the Mylos who told me you were here.”
Ah. It was a medical case then, for something the humans were unable to treat.
“Tell me what you need.”
She glazed over at Betty. “Is this your wife?”
“Yes, I’m Betty.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Perhaps you can help us even more than we’d hoped. I see you’re both scheduled to take the virtual foster parents’ introductory course.”
We glanced at each other.
“Yes, we are,” Betty replied.
“Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” she asked. ”Sorry, I’ve failed to introduce myself properly.” She lifted a lanyard to show us she was indeed a social worker working for the state of Hawaii. “My name is Keilani Ortiz and this is my official ID. Just call me Keilani please.”
“We were just at the bar having drinks, could we offer you a coffee there?” I suggested.
“That would be great, thanks. I have been on the go with this since eleven-thirty last night. I haven’t stopped to get coffee or anything.” She smiled ruefully. “I did manage to get a donut from the office when I went in to get the papers in case I could get your agreement to help us, though.”
“Coffee and lunch then,” Betty decided. “I could eat, how about you?’ she asked me.
“Most definitely.”
We ignored Keilani’s protest about not having time to eat.”
“If you faint from hunger, you’ll do no one any good,” I told her sternly, pulling out a chair for her.”
She grimaced halfheartedly. “Okay, if it’s doctor’s orders.”
“It most definitely is.”
I pulled a second chair out for my bride before seating myself, and a waiter came over immediately.
“Would you like me to refresh your drinks?”
“Yes, but make them virgins,” Betty replied and I nodded approvingly. We needed our heads as clear as possible for whatever this was about.
“And I’ll have a coffee. Just a regular old coffee.”
“One Kona Plantation Americano coming right up. Would you like cream and sugar with it?’
“Yes, please.”
When he returned with our drinks, we all quickly ordered our food. That done, Keilani cut right to the chase.
“Right, so the reason the hospital called me was because one of children in our care was rushed in with end stage heart failure. She’d be a candidate for a heart transplant if resources were available to ensure she made a full recovery, but without a stable home, that’s put her farther down the list than we’d like. She and her siblings went on TV four times in the past eighteen months, both locally and twice nationally, in hope someone would reach out to adopt them so we could see about getting things kickstarted if a heart became available.”
“But that didn’t happen,” Betty supplied.
“No, nor has there been a suitable heart. But I understand that your people might be able to repair or even regenerate her heart using nanotechnology and that it might be possible to get a long term foster for her and her siblings within the Fleet.”
The way she looked at us hopefully spoke volumes. She wished the child to recover, but she also hoped that we would be the parents she desperately sought for these young.
“I’d have to look at her records and assess her myself using our own equipment,” I told her softly. “That might not be possible, but if there is a way to save her, we will.”
“And will you foster her? Ideally with her siblings as I feel having them with her will keep her spirits up and aid in her recovery. Breaking apart siblings is the last resort, anyway, but sadly, we’ve had to with them. The younger two are in one home, she’s in another, and her older brother is in a group home as teens are hard to place.”
“There’s four of them?” Betty gasped.
Keilani silently pulled a photo from her briefcase. Four children of varying ages smiled hopefully at the camera, all dressed up.
“This is the picture taken for the adoption appeal.”
“Pros…” Betty turned beseeching eyes towards me.
“We haven’t gone through the introductory course,” I reminded them both.
“As long as you take it within the first thirty days, we’ll waive it as a prerequisite given the circumstances.” She tapped the photo. “That’s Akoni and he fits his name to a ‘t’. He’s fourteen and smaller than a lot of boys his age and is really into helping take care of his sisters and little brother. He loves animals and as you can see here in the caption, hopes that if adopted, he’ll get to have a dog or cat. The next eldest is Kaia, and she’s twelve. She likes to read, play with Barbies, and do puzzles. Her wish is to get to learn to ride a bike. The younger two are twins, and they are four. This sweet angel,” she pointed to the small male, “is Maui and the cutie next to him is Moana.” She gave a small laugh. “None of them are of native Hawaiian descent and they came to us permanently after their mother tested positive for drugs while pregnant with the twins and again during their delivery. The older two already had a worker as she’d been arrested at the airport previously while disorderly and under the influence, so the decision was made to take them in and unfortunately to sever her parental rights when she proved herself more interested in drugs and an itinerant lifestyle than looking after her children. It was especially critical as Kaia was discovered to have a bad heart after a series of fainting spells at school two years ago.”
I reached for Betty’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “When can I see the patient and meet the rest of our new family?”
Keilani stared at me. “That’s it? Just like that? I understand being willing to treat Kaia, but you’re sure about taking all four of them in as yours during her treatment and recovery.”
“No,” Betty replied, her voice firm. “For forever.”
“Once we sign, it’s done. They become Mylos,” I told her. “Foster children are placed and the adoption is immediate, by treaty.”
“Oh,” she replied faintly. “I knew that, but I thought given the situation, you both would want temporary so as to have time to think about it and see how it goes,” she grinned. “In which case, I need the second set of papers my supervisor insisted I bring. Let’s do this thing! We’ll get this signed, eat, and I’ll take you right over to the hospital. Um, I’ll call and have the other children brought to the hospital so you can bring them back with you.”
“No, bring them here,” Betty replied.
Our server came with our food and we paused the conversation until he left.
“Proslo needs to take her up to examine her. I’ll stay here and get to know the children and keep them entertained so they don’t worry too much about what’s happening. Once Proslo lets me know what the next step is, we’ll decide where to go from there.”
Keilani nodded, passing over a pen and a sheaf of papers to me. I read them as I ate, signing once done, then handed them back to her after Betty signed the page accepting custody. It was official. Kaia was going to receive treatment only the Mylos could provide and as a bonus, we’d just become parents to four beautiful young.