Days in the hospital could either be exceptionally good or terrible. Today had been the latter for Darcy. She knew it was always a bad idea to get attached to patients in the ICU, but Mr. Farber had been a grumpy, sarcastic old man – his personality matched Darcy’s almost to a T. She always tried to sneak him extra dinner, even though he complained every day about how terrible the food was. He was battling an aggressive form of lung cancer, and while he’d been in high spirits the previous day, he’d succumbed to his illness just hours before her shift was to start. It was the hospital life, and it wasn’t the first death she’d experienced... but it was quite possibly the hardest. Her coworkers had taken pity on her – none of them had really cared for Mr. Farber the way Darcy had – so they convinced her to go home early, which she appreciated and did.
Walking into her small apartment, she noticed the light on her phone flashing, indicating a new message. She assumed it was her mother or sister, who couldn’t ever keep track of her schedule. She pressed the button and opened the fridge, examining the contents as she listened to the message. ”Hi, this message is for Darcy Redmond. Darcy, it’s Pamela calling from the Department of Children and Families. I’m calling because there’s been a sudden change in your case file and I need to speak with you as soon as possible. You can reach me at my direct line, 860-445-2826. Please call me as soon as you can. Thank you.”
Darcy froze, hearing the unfamiliar voice from the very familiar government office echo through her kitchen. She stared at the phone, uncomprehendingly, the message replaying in a jumbled form through her mind. She stumbled for the phone, playing the message through once more, shakily jotting down the number on a crumbled Wal-Mart receipt. Still, she didn’t call. She stood, staring at the number and running all the possibilities through her mind, why the Department of Children and Families would be calling her nearly four years since putting her daughter up for adoption.
She’s sick. She needs a transplant, or blood. I didn’t sign a freakin’ line. She’s not really theirs. Wouldn’t they have found that by now? Maybe Irv fucked up somewhere. Maybe they need money. I don’t have freakin’ money. What the hell...
Darcy finally decided that she wasn’t going to get anywhere unless she called. She absolutely didn’t want to make the phone call, but trying to calm herself down when she was nearly convinced her biological daughter was dying was next to impossible. She tapped out the number and impatiently waited through the rings, her stomach flip-flopping with every second that ticked by.
As it turned out, Pamela was not very helpful in calming Darcy’s nerves. She wouldn’t tell her anything over the phone, except that it was urgent for Darcy – and hopefully, the father – to come in and meet with her as soon as possible. Darcy tried to get Pamela to tell her whatever she could, but all Pamela would tell her was the little girl – Sunny, as her adoptive parents had named her – was not dead or dying. Still, it didn’t give much in the way of relief – and the fact that Darcy had to try to contact Irv made it more nerve-racking. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked to him – it had definitely been more than a couple years. She’d tried to keep in touch with him – he was the only link to Sunny she had – but after while, she started to realize that talking about Sunny wasn’t easy for him, so she simply stopped calling and texting him. It had made things a bit easier on her as well, without Sunny being front and centre in her mind, but it was a time like this when she wished they’d kept the lines of communication open.
After hanging up with Pamela, Darcy scrolled through her contacts, relieved that she’d never bothered to get a new phone when hers started to become seriously outdated. Irv’s name – irv papi chulo, as she’d entered it so many years ago – was still in her phone. She didn’t know if it was still his number, but there was only one way to find out.
heyy... it’s darcy. uhm... idk if this is still ur number, buttt.... if it is, can u call me? please?