THE SEARCH

The Brad Paisley song she kept as ringtone started playing. It was a bright morning, the rising sun illuminating the dull sky. She had just left her apartment hoping to catch the morning bus. Halting in her brisk steps, she dug deep into her stuffed purse, looking at the caller ID.

"Nolly?"

"Morning Pam."

"Morning my dear. Everything alright?"

"Yeah. It's Wiggle. I think he's taken ill. He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday."

"Too bad."

"I want to take him to the vet's. Could you fill in for me for like…an hour?" she asked with uncertainty.

"Sure. An hour alright? Don't exceed."

"Yes Pam. I won't be late. Thanks a lot!" her voice laced with gratitude.

The day was less busy, and Pam was thankful for it. The nursery was spacious, it could take up to twenty newborns. Taking charge of twenty newly born babies alone would have been a non-starter. Interestingly however, she did not give it a thought when she was granting Nolly's permission. The younger woman sounded too desperate for her to deny.

Thankfully, there was only one baby in the nursery.

After cleaning up and feeding the baby, she aligned the empty cribs and drew the curtains up to allow light in the room. The rays of the rising sun through the glass window, gave the room a bright look. Watching the baby sleep soundly for a short while, she left the nursery, closing the door behind her.

               ✴✴✴✴✴

Pamela Sanders, affectionately called Pam was a diligent worker who took her work seriously. A midwife for twelve years, she knew her job and did it with grace. Her love for babies made her become a midwife, but her sense of diligence made her a better one.
She loved her job, if the giggles she made when she was attending to a baby were anything to go by.

She finished with some paper work within ten minutes after she left the nursery, before she realized she left her file board on a table in the nursery. Arranging the papers in her hand while walking, she headed off to the nursery, from the nurses' station.

Pam entered the nursery, and found the file board lying on the far end of the table. Doubling her steps to the end, she stretched her hand almost picking up the board until it struck her.

The crib was empty.

Midwife Pamela Sanders stood frozen in the nursery as she stared at the empty crib. Ten minutes had passed since she discovered it empty. Ten minutes, and still no sign of baby.

Alarmed and distraught, she had searched the room, moved from crib to crib, looked under trollies and the table, and searched every nook and cranny of the nursery but there was no sign of the baby.
She even thought herself mad, because surely, a day old baby cannot climb out of a crib. Could he?

"This is not good", she mused.

A cold shiver ran down her spine. Her mind was running in circles and her imagination took a wild turn. Clearly, she had not heard anyone come in. Pam willed herself to not think of the unthinkable, but there was no helping it.

The baby was gone.

The weight of the situation sank in, making her go weak in the knee. The baby who was in her care had disappeared.
To where? How? And when?

Tears pooled in her eyes, blurring her vision.
She fought the urge to succumb to the cold tiled floor in tears. She had a missing baby to account for. Baby Anna Martins, she recalled from his name tag. Sooner or later, she would have to break the news.

She shuddered at the thought.

A recent missing baby scandal in a hospital down south had been messy. With the lawsuit filed by the parents, the media exaggerating facts and the general public spewing anger, she did not need to be told what her fate would be.

She was in trouble. A very big one.

She took a last glance at the empty crib, her heart thumping in fear of the obvious.

               ✴✴✴✴✴

"Looking for someone?" a somewhat familiar voice asked behind her.

She turned just in time to see Dr. Martins grinning and craddling a sleeping Baby Anna Martins in his arms.

"Sorry, i took him out for a while."

Then it registered. Dr. Martins and Baby Martins.

Dr. Andrew Martins, an obstetrician in his late thirties was a regular face on the block. He was mostly in the obs theatre conducting caeasarian sections, but he visited the maternity wards for rounds. Pam knew he would have access to the nursery as well.

"You were writing and I wanted to hold him so bad", Dr. Andy Martins added.

"Anna gave birth last night", he continued, sensing Pam was in shock still.

Pam was not sure which surprised her more. Finding the baby missing or seeing him in Dr. Martins's arms.

With a sigh of relief, she muttered - "I was scared to death", still looking disquieted.

Thanks for reading

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