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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ESCAPE (03/04/21)
We chose not to have children, but God has blessed us with a quiver-full.

It started the same as any other weekday – I rose early, ran three miles, came home, showered and got ready for work. I’m a family doctor and I always come in before the morning bustle so I can read patient files without interruptions.

Twenty minutes after I arrived at the office I heard the front door rattle. I ignored it, it was still over an hour before we opened, and 30 minutes before my staff arrived. I went back to my perusal of patients; I like to be prepared when I walk into my examination rooms.

Rattle, rattle. Someone was pounding at the door.
Help! Help me!

I was galvanised into action. Hoping against hope it was not some druggie looking for a quick hit, I took the precaution of carrying my mace. Pounding on the door, hanging onto a baby, was a young woman, actually as I drew closer I realised she was just a teenager.
“Help me! Please!”
As I opened the door I peered around her to ensure she wasn’t a decoy. I wouldn’t put it past a canny person to use a girl and baby to rush in and steal what drugs we had. Reassured that she was alone, I let her in.

“Close the door, quickly!” she pleaded. Without asking questions, I pulled her into my waiting room. I took in the dirty clothes, the unwashed hair, her thin, almost skeletal arms, and the pale skin, then turned my attention to the baby. He/she was quiet, straddling her hip, thumb firmly in its mouth, staring unsmilingly at me with large green eyes, set against olive skin. Unlike the woman, the baby had on clean clothes and was well-fed.

“Thank you,” she said as she sank back on the couch.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Let’s start with your name.”
“Nina, and this is my baby, Hudson.” She cradled her son and he leant back with a deep sigh of contentment.
“My boyfriend will kill me if he finds me,” Nina said flatly. In the same way I might say, ‘Today is Thursday,’ she said those nine words. I believed her.

“He stopped to get gas down the road and he forgot to lock the doors. He always locks them but we’d been fighting, maybe that’s why. He went in to pay for gas and there was a line so I decided to risk it. I pulled Hudson from his seat and ran. I pounded on several office doors but no one answered. He will come looking, please, help me.”

As she spoke I heard a man’s voice yelling, “Nina! Get out here now! You have MY son. I will kill you, you…” his voice faded as he ran past my practice. Nina ducked onto the floor, and Hudson started to wail. She covered his little mouth with her hand to muffle the sounds.

I dragged her by the hand into my office and called my husband who just happens to be a detective. Succinctly I explained the situation and he promised to be there, in an unmarked car, in five minutes. True to his word, Ben walked in through the back so he’d be unseen. He took in the scene – Nina huddled in a chair, Hudson now sleeping on her chest.

“I need to take you to the station and get a few details from you. But first, do you have people who care about you? Parents?”
“No. They kicked me out when I turned 17. I only have my boyfriend. I went from the frying pan to the fire. I was such a fool to fall for his promises. He beats me all the time and I have to get Hudson away from him. He can’t know where I am, he’ll kill us both.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Ben said. “Let’s go.”

Little did Nina and Hudson know, but God directed her steps. Nina became foster child #10, Hudson #11. He’s 15 now; and loves his nana and papa. We see him every day after school when he waits for Nina, my senior nurse, to finish out her day. It was a rough road, but Nina got her nursing degree, moved into her own home and attends church with us every Sunday, along with several of our other foster and adopted children.

We chose not to have children, but God has blessed us with a quiver-full.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Stephen Kimball
03/11/21
If this is non-fiction you have my vote this week. Very dramatic situation, well told. Still good if fiction, you would just lose the personal applause.
Marlene Custer 
03/12/21
A well-told story. What a blessing that a tragic story ended well.
Holly Westefeld
03/14/21
I, too, am hoping you will reveal whether this is nonfiction or fiction. A great read either way.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
03/18/21
You did a great job of introducing the conflict right away and pulling me in. This is way more common than most think and it's great to bring it to the surface. Congratulations on your EC. Happy Dance!