Troubled Water – Chapter One – Duochanfan

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Troubled Water

Chapter One

December 1996 – Ottawa

Five-year-old Shane Hollander held his mother’s hand as they walked into the park. There was snow on the ground, and there were whispered words of a storm coming their way. There was a week until Christmas, and Shane had begged to go to the park. He wanted to go skating, but his mom and dad had said no. Since they weren’t going to the little cottage this time to spend Christmas. It’s what they normally did as soon as. But his dad hadn’t been able to get the time off.

“Okay, Shane,” Yuna said as she knelt, to be closer to Shane’s height, “You can play for a bit, but not for long, it’s really cold today, and we need to get things in, just in case the storm that’s coming is really as bad as they say it is,” she added, making sure Shane’s scarf was wrapped tight around him, and that the five year old still had his mittens on.

“Hai, Mama,” Shane nodded before darting off. He wanted to go on the slide and fall into the large amount of snow at the bottom. He climbed up the ladder and went through the tunnel, stopping when he saw another boy there. “Hi,” he said, tilting his head.

The other boy blinked slowly, as though he was just waking up. “Sorry,” he said as he began to try to scramble to get out of the way. “It cold,” he said, shivering as he exited the tunnel to the covered roof that led to the slide.

Shane came out of the tunnel and saw the other boy huddled tightly against the corner, as though it would protect him from the bitter cold. “Where, Mama?” he asked him, going over. There was a blue tinge to the boy’s lips. And while he was wearing a thick coat, he didn’t have a hat, scarf or mittens like Shane did. Shane frowned. Taking off his beanie, he put it on the other boy’s head. “You have to stay warm,” he said, sounding just like his mother.

“Don’t know,” the boy shrugged, “It was dark. She drove a long time,” he said, “Now it cold, and I wanna go bed. Sleepy,” he sniffled a little, still trying to make himself as small as he could.

“I Shane,” Shane said, “what your name?”

“Evan,” he replied, feeling more and more sleepy.

“Okay, Evan,” Shane nodded, “Come see my Mama, maybe she find your Mama,” he said, tugging Evan up and toward the slide.

“Want to sleep,” Evan yawned, “For bit,” he added, closing his eyes.

Shane frowned, “No, no sleep, can’t sleep here, have to be home,” he pouted a little, not liking that he wasn’t listening to him to go see his Mama. “Mama!” he yelled out, standing up and waiting for Yuna to reach him.

“Shane, what is it?” she asked, a small frown appearing on her face as she came to the small opening in the little climbing frame that Shane was on. “Oh,” she said, glancing around and seeing no other adult in the area. “Where’s his Mama?” she asked.

“Don’t know, said came when dark, and his Mama drove lots,” Shane said, “He sleepy, but need bed, but no Mama, so can’t go home.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding a few times to herself. “We’ll take him home with us, so he can sleep properly,” she said, seeing that her son was getting worked up.

“Mama, why did his Mama leave him here alone?” Shane asked as Yuna picked up Evan.

“I don’t know,” Yuna told him, “But we’ll take him home, and we have to get the police to come and make sure he is safe. Do you know his name?”

“He said Evan,” Shane answered as he looked torn between going down the netting or the slide.

“Go down the slide, Shane,” she said, a fond little smile on her face as she waited for him to do so.

Shane giggled as he landed in the snow and then hurried to his Mama’s side. Taking hold of her coat’s belt loop, he held on as she began to head to where she had parked. She pulled out her cellphone; it was large, but it worked well enough in Ottawa. She was glad she had topped up the credit on it as she called David’s office.

“Hello, David Hollander,” his voice came through, nice and strong, with only a slight crackle.

“David, it’s Yuna. I’m going to be heading to the hospital. Shane and I are fine, don’t worry. We found a child at the park. Along,” she said, as she glanced at Evan, who was sleeping against her. She could feel the slight shivers coming from him, and she was worried about the little boy. He looked about her son’s age and wondered again who could leave a child like that in this weather. It was only by luck and chance that Shane and Yuna had come to the park. Shane was getting a bit antsy being inside. She knew a few moments on the slide, and he would be fine again, enough for her to be able to run the errands that she needed.

“Right, I’ll meet you there, Ottawa Hospital,” he said, “We’ll get the hospital staff to call the police. It will be better coming from them than us,” he added.

“Alright,” she said, reaching her car. “I’ll see you there,” she added, “Love you.”

“Love you right back, Yuna,” David added as they ended the call.

Yuna tucked the phone away into her bag and opened the car. She got Evan into the seat without the booster seat that Shane used, and buckled him in as best as she could before she reached for one of the warm blankets that David’s mother had made for them and tucked it around the little boy. “In you get Shane,” she said as she quickly picked him up and put him in his booster seat, and buckled him in. Covering him with a blanket as well.

“Thanks, Mama,” he said, a smile on his face.

Yuna kissed a rosy cheek and then closed the door. Hurrying to the driver’s side, she got in and turned up the heating in the car, hoping that would help warm the little boy up. She took a breath to calm herself down and began the drive to the Ottawa Hospital.

XxXxX

Yuna parked and quickly paid the fee. She went back to the car and got Shane out first before bundling Evan into the blanket and slamming the car door shut with a foot. “Okay, Shane,” she said, as she glanced down at her son, “I’m going to be walking a little fast,” she said, “But you stick by me, if you fall behind, call me and I’ll stop. I know it may seem odd, but we have to hurry to make sure Evan is okay,” she told him, trying to keep it simple for the five year old.

“Yes, Mama,” he nodded, and Yuna began to walk to the entrance of the ER. Shane was able to keep up with her, looking at the ground intently sometimes to make sure he was able to keep steady on his feet.

“Hello!” Yuna called out, seeing that the ER was only a third full. “I’m sorry, I found a child,” she said, “He said his name was Evan, but he’s fallen asleep. He was at a park, and said he’d been there since it was dark. He’s stopped shivering in the last half hour,” she added, as she stood at reception.

“Okay,” the receptionist nodded as she was quick to get a doctor’s attention and relay what she had learned.

The doctor walked over, “How long would you say he stopped shivering.

“Within the last half hour. He was still shivering when we got into the car. I covered him in a blanket and turned the heat up. Took a while for that to heat the car up enough to be warm,” she said as she held Evan tightly in her arms. “I-” she stopped as David walked into the ER. “David,” she sighed, relieved that he was there, so she wasn’t torn between the two boys. She needed to watch out for Evan at the moment, and Shane was an angel, most of the time, but she didn’t want him to feel left alone at all.

David picked up Shane and settled him on his hip, standing beside his wife. Shane looked over and reached for Evan, stroking his head, as the beanie had fallen off when Yuna had put him in the car.

“Right, bring him through,” the doctor said. “I’m Doctor Patel,” she finally said as she led the way to the back, where the cubicles were for the pediatric side of the ER. They could hear some of those waiting grumbling about their wait.

“Thank you, Dr Patel. If the police and social services could also be called at some point, that would be a good idea,” David said, smiling at the woman as he then turned to his wife as she placed Evan on the bed that Dr Patel had pointed to.

“I’ll have Nurse Angie do that,” she told them as she unwrapped Evan and began to examine him. Yuna kept tears at bay as she saw a little chest covered in bruises, old and new. He was thin, pale, and the black and yellow mismatched bruising was a horrendous sight to see. David reached out to her, pulling her close as Shane tilted his head curiously and watched.

“What they doing, Mama, Daddy?” he asked.

“They’re making sure he’s okay, son,” David answered him. “They have to make sure that his inside parts don’t hurt him.”

“Okay,” he nodded, as though it answered everything.

“Nothing broken that I can tell, but going to send him to X-ray just in case,” Dr Patel said, “I’m going to have a warm IV set up. His shivering is back, but it’s minute at the moment. We’re going to get him out of those clothes and into something soft and warm. We need to start warming him back; it doesn’t look like there are any signs of frostbite. I’m hoping nothing develops. He’s not going to be feeling great. I’m going to run a few more tests as Nurse Angie comes and gets him changed. I’ll also send word to the wards to get a private room set up for him.”

“Thank you,” Yuna said as she moved to the bed, running a hand over dirty blonde hair. The nurse that Dr Patel told them about walked over.

“Hi,” she smiled. She was older than Yuna, with graying hair and a dimpled smile. She went over and began to change Evan out of the wet clothes he’d been wearing. “The police and a social worker should be here soon,” she told them as she tucked warm blankets around, and someone else came over to start an IV.

“Thank you,” David nodded as he sat down on one of the two chairs in the cubicle. Shane settled on his lap, though he reached out for one of Evan’s hands. “Shane?”

“Want to lie with him, Daddy? He needs a friend, and he’s going to be my friend,” Shane said as he began to climb on the bed.

David smiled softly as he picked his son up, to lay him down next to Evan, “Be careful, okay.”

“I will,” Shane smiled at him and rolled over, hugging Evan as he whispered things to him.

Yuna moved to stand beside David as they watched their son talk to Evan, telling him about them both, and what life was like with his Mama and Daddy.

“He can be sweet,” David laughed lightly.

“Yes, when things are going his way,” Yuna nodded in agreement.

“Hello,” came the voice of a middle-aged man as he walked over. Beside him was another woman, this one a little younger.

“Hello, and you both are?” Yuna asked, moving to stand in front of the bed, to make sure that the two people couldn’t get near it without going through her first.

“I’m a social worker. Mathew Leden,” he said, pulling out his ID and letting Yuna take it and examine it. “I work mostly in the hospital here, just in case.”

Yuna nodded, handing it back after letting David get a good look at it.

“I’m Sgt Anita Feena,” she said, “I’m a cop,” she added, handing over her ID.

“Nice to meet you both,” David said as he finished looking at the ID and handing it back.

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” she added, “I heard that a young child was found abandoned?”

“Yes,” Yuna said as she relayed to them both what happened. “And then we’re here,” she finished as she moved aside so Evan could be seen.

“Your son?” Feena asked as she gestured to Shane.

“Yes, he’s made a friend as far as he’s concerned. He said he should sleep in a proper bed, not outside.”

“Smart lad,” Mathew said, “At the moment he’s going to be in hospital overnight. We might be able to get him placed temporarily for a day or two, but it’s going to be hard to find a place that will be able to deal with any medical needs he might have, thanks to his exposure to the cold,” he began, going through his paperwork.

Yuna and David shared a look. Before Shane had been born, before they had even found out they were expecting, both of them were told that their chance of having a baby naturally was almost zero. That it wasn’t going to happen for them. Both of them wanted children, wanted a couple of children. But nothing had worked for them in that regard. So they had started the process to be able to adopt and even foster children in Ottawa. They had taken one foster child in before Yuna had found out she was pregnant. It had been heartbreaking when the child was able to go back to their family, even if they had been happy for them. Shane made his presence known a couple of months later. A miracle that neither of them had thought would happen. They had kept up to date with their foster qualifications and paperwork. The idea to foster children again when Shane was a bit older.

“We’re both registered foster parents. We haven’t had a child since before Shane was born, but we did keep a child-friendly room and home ready for one, just in case,” David said, giving over his name, and anything that Mathew would need to be able to see if that was true.

“And if that is the case, are you willing to take in Evan while a search is made for his parents?” Mathew asked them.

Yuna nodded, “We are, we just need to get a few things in for him, to make sure he’s got appropriate clothing that fit, and a few other essentials for him,” she said, already making alist in her mind of what Evan would need.

Mathew nodded, “If I can confirm what you’ve told me, I’ll start the paperwork for you to be able to take him home and foster him. It will also give you rights to be able to visit and one of you to remain with him over night int he hispital.”

“Thank you,” Yuna said as Feena looked at her.

“Mrs Hollander, thank you for the information that you were able to provide so far. I just want to ask you, did you see any signs, recent signs of people in the park?”

“No, it was just Shane and me. It didn’t look like anyone had dared to even venture to it in this weather, not that I can blame them. It’s bitterly cold, and we have that storm heading our way as well. The snow wasn’t disturbed at all. We did have a large flurry this morning it stopped not long before I left the house. So it would have covered tracks and such by then. Especially if it was dark when he was left there.”

Feena asked a few more questions as Mathew did the same with David. All the while, Shane was talking with Evan, telling him all about the boring grown-up talk that was going on around him.

XxXxX

Two hours later, Matthew walked back to them to talk. Evan was now on the wards in a private room of one of the children’s wards. To let him sleep and rest up. He had worked briefly when they had moved him; he had clung to Shane, eyeing the two adults around him with a slight distrust. Yuna and David knew that it wasn’t anything on them. Evan must have learned to distrust adults around him some time ago.

“So, you have approval, and a judge has given you both temporary custody of Evan Doe,” Matthew said as he handed them a printed document. “This is what you need to fill in and give back, and then I’ll hand you the stamped paperwork. Evan will then be in your care. We’ll try to do a home inspection as soon as it’s possible to arrange. It might take until just before Christmas day,” he warned. “We’re a little backlogged with a few things,” he said with a heavy sigh.

Yuna and David nodded, “That’s fine, I have flexible work, and am now off until the New Year,” Yuna said as she went over the document and then began to sign when she was done. David was doing the same moments later beside her.

“And that’s all there is to it, you both now have temporary custody of Evan Doe,” he said, making sure that everything was official and that it would be put into the system for them.

They shook hands before Matthew headed out, reminding them that they could call him should they need anyhting and that a social worker would be assigned the case later that day and would come and stop by to see them. Yuna and David shared a hug as they watched the two boys sleeping peacefully on the bed.