ANISHA'S POV
I woke up early after a very long night's rest. It really felt good to sleep in a house, on a bed, after having a warm meal and a long, relaxing shower. I checked around the house to see that Evangelista was not yet back, and I did not worry much about her. I just figured since she was a young girl, she could have gone out with her boyfriend or gone partying.
I started to prepare some nice hot food for Liam, who was still enjoying his sleep. There was a good stock of food in the house, with mainly vegetables and fruits. There were also a number of tinned foods and other snacks. When I saw a pumpkin I smiled happily. What could be better than mashed pumpkin; the food that Liam loved the most. Ma'am Larissa used to prepare it a lot.
Once the pumpkin was done, I ran the bath and prepared to give Liam a nice warm bath before his meal. When I went to check on him, he was still fast asleep.
"Are you not hungry? It's time to wake up and eat. You can nap later. You also need to play today. With the way you have been cramped up in a car, I am sure you have even forgotten how to stand on your own", I said as I threw the blanket off the baby.
To my utter horror; the child was drenched in sweat, and he lay motionless, as if there was no life in him. I quickly touched his forehead, and his temperature was extremely high.
"Liam! Liam!" I called out. I lifted him up and he had no strength in him. His limbs just hung low, with no movement at all from him. I shook him and looked at his face, and saw that his eyes were half-open, and they were pure white.
I panicked so bad that I almost fainted; but I knew that for the sake of Liam, I had to hold myself together. Cursing myself for letting the car go, I ran outside with the baby in my hands. The dog barked at me, but the barks meant nothing to me at that moment, compared to saving Liam's life. Calling for an ambulance was my only option.
"I need an ambulance! The child is dying, please hurry! 17 Meyrick Drive!...." I cried out to the person who answered my call.
At that time I wished if only Evangelista was around. The burden was becoming too heavy for me. If only I had someone familiar with the place, and someone just to hold my hand and strengthen me, I felt life would have been a bit easier.
The ambulance arrived to find me holding the almost dying baby in my arms. The only reason I believed he was still alive was because of his scorching hot temperature, otherwise he made no movement at all, and not even a tiny sound. The ambulance was parked just outside the house. I jumped in and continued to pray as I looked at Liam who looked lifeless in my arms.
"Which hospital?", the lady asked me with no hint of care at all.
"The nearest!", I responded, my heart breaking. I knew fully well that if Liam's parents were with him at that moment, they would have taken him to the best hospital there ever was. But I needed to do what I needed to do for the child to survive.
At the hospital, Liam was wheeled up to the pediatric ward, while I followed closely behind. Some staff started to attend to him already, while one took down my details.
"How old is she?" the nurse asked
She? Oh yah by the way…I dressed the child in a dress. How could I forget? "She turns ten months tomorrow", I responded truthfully.
"Did she get all her monthly vaccinations?" she asked again.
"Yes, "I responded.
"May I see her baby vaccination record card?"
"I forgot it at home in the hurry to come here." I answered with a straight face.
"What's her name?" the nurse continued to ask.
Name, name again! What was that name again; the one that I told Evangelista…."Layla"
"And you're her mother, I assume?" she said.
"Yes", I nodded. "Will she be fine?" I asked.
"We will do our best to make sure that she is fine."
I stood aside as the hospital staff hurried around to attend to baby Liam. A drip was instantly attached to his little hand, and he was immediately injected. It was after a long while that it seemed like things were finally settling and beginning to get under control, but Liam was not yet awake.
Everyone else soon left the room except for one nurse. There were now three people in the room; Liam, the nurse and myself. She opened the window wide and said "she is feeling too hot. We need to lower that temperature. Remove her clothes."
I slowly unbuttoned the little dress that Liam was wearing, and I removed the socks. I also undid the colourful scrunches.
He was now lying on his back, with his diaper on. Suddenly his stomach growled so loud that both the nurse and I were startled. He must have been having stomach problems, but by looking at him, the little one did not seem to be in too much pain; or maybe he was just too weak to express it. He just winced a bit and slightly opened him eyes. Once his eyes were opened, he cried in a low, weak voice.
"Liam!! You're awake!" I rushed to hug and kiss him. I felt tears of joy filling my eyes.
"Liam?" the nurse asked me with a frown.
Oh my! I made a mistake of calling his real name? Forcing myself to stay as calm as I could, I laughed and said "her name is Layla. At home when we are playing we call her Liam."
The nurse looked at me from head to toe with a frown, and then said, "I will help you to change her diaper. Let us change her diaper now." Her voice was somehow demanding, as if she highly suspected me of foul play. Of course she would; after I mistakenly called the child Liam.
"Oh no, you really don't have to. Let me change it." I said as I pushed her slightly aside, and stood between her and Liam, blocking the nurse from seeing Liam.
She moved aside and said "since you don't have any changing clothes, let me go get you some wipes and a diaper. We do have a few from the donations that we receive".
"Oh thank you very much," I responded.
I was really hoping that the nurse would start moving, yet she remained rooted to her spot. I started to touch the diaper, pretending as if I was going to remove it, yet I did not.
"You may step aside. Her diaper change is always a complete mess, you won't want to see and smell it", I chuckled.
She laughed and replied "I have seen worse things than baby poo. Please go ahead and remove the diaper. It's ok."
"Ok", I said. "Can I have the baby wipes first", I asked.
"OK", she said, and left the room.
I opened one side of Liam's diaper just and just then, the nurse came back.
"I forgot to take…" she was saying, then she immediately stopped and looked at me and the child. Quickly I covered the child and turned to look at the nurse. Our eyes met and we remained looking at each other. I could see doubt mixed with fear in her eyes. I saw her trying to search my eyes to see who I was. I thought I saw her trying to match me to the events of the missing baby and the runaway child minder. And although I was drowning in fear myself, I maintained a straight face as I looked directly into her eyes.
"Is this baby a boy or a girl?" she broke the silence. Her eyes were fixed on the diaper that I kept holding in place so that by no chance would it open.
"The child a girl", I replied firmly.
"I will get the diapers and baby wipes", she walked away.
I knew it. My mind told me. My heart told me. Every fiber of my body was telling me. I knew that she was going to report that I was a suspect in the kidnapping of the la Martina baby. Yes; she was going to tell them that the child in the hospital at that very moment; the child who came in as a sick little girl, was actually a boy, and was most probably the missing la Martina baby. Well, pity for that nurse, she should have just used an alarm or a bell or anything faster. Walking out of the room and expecting me to wait for her was not very wise. I had no plans of staying one second longer in that hospital.
How could I have waited for them to take me to prison? Who would have believed me even if I explained my innocence? Where was Eden anyway, to help me out of the mess? As things were, I was one of the murder suspects, also wanted for "kidnapping" Liam. The thought of going to jail scared the daylights out of me. Who was going to stand up for me? Valentina was my only relative, so to say. Ms Meyerson was too unwell to get involved in all this mess. Even if Valentina and myself combined our lifetime's savings, surely it was not enough to hire a lawyer for just an hour. All my hope now lay in Eden; but then I had to save myself at that moment. The nurse had her doubts, so what was going to happen to me if she called someone in on me?
While these thoughts were running up and down my mind, my hands were busy. The moment the nurse left the room, I re-fastened the diaper and lifted Liam. I took one clean bed sheet and covered him. I closed the drip, unhooked it from the place where it was hanging, and stuffing it into a pillowcase, I picked my small bag and rushed out as fast as I could. I was so fast that I did all this in less than a minute. Using the staircase which was on my right, I avoided the elevator, and I ran down the stairs like I had never run before.