Page 52 of Saving Veronica
“Are you Douglas Atwal?”
“I am. Who are you?”
“Patricia Foster-Wilson. I go by the name Patty.” When he still looked confused, she walked closer. “You were in a foster home in Colorado. The family was named Foster. I know, not very original, but hey, it was them. You disappeared and we looked everywhere for you. Mom and Dad are still looking for you, even after all these years. They adopted me, and they started the paperwork to adopt you, but you disappeared right in the middle of the proceedings. We thought you were kidnapped, and your caseworker wasn’t any help, he was such a bastard.”
“How old was I? I don’t remember any family with the last name Foster. You must have the wrong person.” Patch frowned at the woman in confusion. He had no recollection of what she was talking about.
“No, it’s you. I’m the one that gave you that scar.” She pointed to the scar in the center of his forehead at his hairline. He reached up and frowned when he felt it.
“Patch?” Finn asked in concern, because he didn’t see a scar on his forehead. “Were you ever in foster care in Colorado?”
“Yes, but my caseworker came to school and took me. Told me my foster family didn’t want me anymore. Didn’t even want me to go home that day to gather my things. He took me to another home. Then another one, then another one. That one moved here to Montana, bringing me with them. Two years later, they divorced and I went back into the system. That’s when I met you.” Patch looked at Finn. “I was twelve. Ten when I moved to Montana.”
“Patty?” Ronnie asked to get her attention. When the woman turned to her, she asked, “How old was Patch when you were in the same foster family?”
“Six,” Patty said. “He came to us when he was four, and disappeared when he was six. Mom and Dad were doing adoption proceedings for me when he arrived. Once my adoption was final, they started on his paperwork, but it never happened.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember,” Patch said. It wasn’t like he was being evasive he just didn’t remember.
“Maybe I’m wrong.” Patty sighed. “But you look just like Dougie Atwal that was my foster brother for two years. I don’t have any old pictures with me, but I have a picture of my parents. They used to be my foster parents, but as I said, they legally adopted me.” She pulled her phone and accessed the pictures. “This was taken about two years ago. I don’t want to bother you, but would you like to see them?”
“Sure, can’t hurt anything.” Patch shrugged as he wiped his hands on a napkin and took the phone. As soon as he saw the picture, he knew them immediately. “He was a lawyer and she was a schoolteacher. She taught me how to write my name.” He looked up at Patty in shock. “They wanted to adopt me?”
“Yes.” Patty bounced in her seat. “Wait until I tell them I found you.”
“They live in Montana?”
“Yes. Actually they live in Helena. Dad’s still a lawyer, and Mom’s still a schoolteacher.”
“Did they adopt anyone else?”
“No, they told me if they couldn’t have you, they didn’t want another little boy. They stopped being foster parents after you disappeared. I’ll have to get your information and give you theirs. Where are you now?”
“I’m a trauma doctor at Helena Mercy.”
“Really? Wow, such a small world.” Norm pulled up a chair and joined them as they talked about the past, and Ronnie looked at Finn and indicated they should leave them alone.
“I agree,” Finn whispered in her ear. “But how are we going to do this?”
“If you can bring my chair around the corner of the table to me, I can get on by myself.”
“Okay.” Finn stood and used his crutch to go over to the chair and followed her directions on how to operate it. He walked around and stood back and watched as she swung her leg around and stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m facing the wrong way. I need to face that way,” she said, as she pointed over her shoulder.
Finn saw what she wanted to do and walked over to her, bent down, picked her up and turned and set her in the seat.
“That works.” She grinned, and took a deep breath of his scent. She gave herself a mental slap, and when he stepped back, she reached down and picked up her leg by the bar and placed it in the groove on the side of the scooter. She reached for the small blanket to toss it over her leg, but Finn stopped her.
“May I?” He pointed to her leg.
“May you, what?”
“Look at it. I have pins on the inside, never seen them on the outside. I don’t know if I understand the concept.”
“Knock yourself out.” She watched as Finn actually got down on one knee and practically put his face on the hardware on her leg. “Stop.” She tried to cover her leg. “I need to shave.”
Finn grinned and waved that off, but he lifted his head, used both his crutch and her scooter to help him stand. He was surprised when Captain flapped his wings and landed on his shoulder. “What do I do?”
