Page 21 of Make Me Fool You

“Go, go.” I shoo him out the door. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. But if you need anything you call me.”

“I absolutely will. And I’ll see you tonight.”

He leans over and his lips fuse to mine like he needs my kiss to keep breathing. Panting, he pulls away and stalks to the door. “Love ya, baby girl!”

After the door slams, I slump down. It feels like it takes all my energy to stay upright. I haven’t told James how much this hurts me every month. I want a child so badly and I know he does too. He’ll make a great father.

But not for us. Unless we go ahead and adopt. And I’m just not sure I’m ready to give up on us.

I grab my purse and sweater and duck out the door, locking it behind me and turning on the security system from my phone.

About noon, I’m getting ready to take my lunch break when a young boy is brought in by a social worker. He’s quiet and I see bruises and scratches all over him along with a wrist that he’s cradling to himself.

“Hey, buddy,” I say softly, anxious not to scare him. His green eyes are wide and frightened and I just want to hug him to me. Take away the shadows I see in his eyes.

But I push those thoughts down and carefully examine him, moving his arm gently until he gasps and pulls away.

I nod my head to the case worker that I’ve seen around. I close the door behind us in the hallway. “What’s his story?” I ask.

She sighs. “He was in a car accident with his parents. He’s eight years old. He was the only survivor.”

My heart twists in my chest. “That poor kid,” I breathe.

She nods. “Yeah. And he has no living relatives that we’ve been able to find. They’re still checking but it doesn’t look good.”

“So he goes into the system?” I can feel my heart jump. Foster care is not a perfect remedy and so much can go wrong.

“Yep.” I can tell she’s not that happy either. He’s such a tiny little thing.

The green eyes remind me of James and a lightbulb feels like it goes off in my head. “What if you could find a couple that wanted to adopt him…if he doesn’t have any family that wants him, I mean.”

Curious, her eyes dart to mine. “Well, then there’s classes and things they would have to do. And it might take a little while but as long as everything went well…” her voice trails off and I nod, thinking quickly.

“Let’s get him some x-rays and clean up those cuts and bruises. The nurse will be in in a minute and I’ll be back.”

She smiles and goes back in the room. “Hey, Cindy. I want you to take care of the boy in this room personally. He doesn’t have any family with him.”

The dark-haired nurse smiles. “You got it, Doc!”

As soon as I’ve made my notes and made arrangements for his care, I check his chart.

“Adrian Martinez.” I nod and pull my phone out of my pocket, taking a deep breath while I listen to the rings.

“Hello, baby girl. I was just thinking about you! Do you need something?” His warm voice makes my legs turn to mush. I sink into a chair at my desk and smile.

“Just you.”

“Well, you’ve got me. But you know that,” he chuckles.

Drawing in a shaky breath, I grip the phone tightly. “Actually, there’s something else I want to talk to you about. They brought in a little boy earlier. His name is Adrian. But the social worker brought him in. His parents were killed in a car accident.”

“Oh shit! Was he in the car too?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t get the call.”

“We might not have been the closest to call.”

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