Homeless

We exited the bedroom and sat down facing each other.

"Tomorrow morning, I want all the details of your firing and subsequent homelessness. Also, if you know the names of the nurses that you say were concerned because these Social Service rejections were happening so often, I'd like to have them. What time do you and Emma get up?"

"Around seven. I feed her and change her diaper."

"Why don't I come around seven-thirty? We can order in room service and get started."

"Sure. Would you mind staying to watch Emma long enough for me to have a shower?"

"Okay."

I got out my phone and started organizing resources. I wasn't sure what Julie liked to eat, so I called down and ordered a selection of appetizers and light dishes. She could graze when she was hungry. The food arrived a few minutes later.

Julie was in the shower for a good half hour. She came walking out in a bathrobe, running a brush through the knots in her towelled hair.

My breath hitched. I'd been so busy with getting her and Emma set up today that I'd paid little attention to her looks. She was gorgeous. Even with her hair wet and hanging loosely down the side of her face, she was a stunner. Those emerald eyes of hers captivated me. In any other circumstances, I would have been interested in asking her out.

It occurred to me that I was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, seeing my expression.

"Just thinking," was my lame answer. Just then, my phone rang. Thank God, saved by the bell.

"Beth, glad you called. How is he?" I noticed Julie stiffen up at the mention of a woman's name.

It seemed Dan was still drug-addled; otherwise, he was showing some small improvements.

"When are you going to visit him tomorrow? I could use some help. I want you to meet someone. Can you come by the Western around eight tomorrow? No, come at seven-thirty, you can have breakfast with us. Make sure Dan knows you're meeting me at a hotel. I'm sure he'll appreciate the good news!" Beth was the former head of our transcription department before Dan poached her. I had a feeling I'd need her organizational skills tomorrow.

Beth laughed. "You're mean. Kicking my poor husband when he's down. I'll be there. And who's us?"

"You'll find out," I said goodbye and hung up.

Julie had been listening to the call intently. "Your girlfriend coming to meet us?"

"No, I'm not in a relationship. Beth is Dan's wife. That's why I was visiting the hospital today. He's my work partner, and they're my best friends. He has an infection so they hospitalized him. I want you two to meet, you'll like her. But I should get going now and let you get some sleep."

"Alright, thank you for everything, Royce."

"You're welcome."

She headed for the bedroom while I headed for the door where I'd left my shoes and sat in a chair to put them back on. Stopping and listening, I thought I heard something. There it was again. It sounded like someone crying. I walked back, listening intently. Sure enough, someone in the bedroom was sobbing.

"Julie?" I pushed the partially closed door open.

She was sobbing on the bed.

I sat down beside her. "What's wrong, how can I help?"

"Just hold me, please. It's been so long since someone cared about me. This morning I was in the depths of despair, distraught and heartbroken that nobody gave a damn. Emma and I could have died out on that cold sidewalk, and people would have just stepped over us. I was crying because I thought I should head right back into the hospital and give Emma up for adoption. I couldn't care for her. And out of nowhere, my White Knight stepped up and look what you've done without asking for anything from me. I'm sad, I'm happy, I don't know whether to cry, laugh or scream. I've gone from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the mountain emotionally in a few hours. It doesn't help that my hormones are still out of whack from the pregnancy. I want to beg you to never leave us, and yet that's not fair to you. I need to get back on my feet to look after Emma."

I slid up behind her and wrapped her in my arms. Leaning in and kissing the back of her head, I whispered, "Julie, no matter what, I'll be at your side until this is all resolved and you and Emma are safe and secure. I don't care how much it costs, or the time it takes. I'm here."

That brought a fresh round of tears. I rubbed her back while holding her until her sobs gradually died down. Regular breathing told me she'd gone to sleep. I wasn't sure if I should stay or go? I finally pulled a blanket up over us and fell into a deep sleep.

It was dark, and Emma was fussing. Julie got her before I woke up. She turned on the bedside lamp and propped herself with pillows against the headboard. Opening her robe, she directed a nipple to Emma's hungry lips. Emma was soon busy nursing and, from the smell of it, vacating her bowels. I couldn't resist watching her feed. While I had lots of experience in taking care of kids, I had never witnessed the intimate act of breastfeeding them. I took Emma after and cleaned her up before settling her in her crib. Julie had gone back to sleep already.

Emma lay there, her blue eyes were flicking back and forth like new babies do, when her eyes suddenly found my face. I put my hand in the crib and used my finger to tickle the palm of her hand. Her fingers clenched around mine, and that seemed to settle her. She closed her eyes and was soon asleep. That little blue-eyed bundle was getting to my heart.

I tried removing my finger, but she had it clutched tightly. I finally lay on the edge of the bed, my arm hanging in the crib. And that's how Julie found us the next morning. Emma had rolled toward my hand and now had my finger wrapped with two hands. Her face was cuddled against it, her mouth busy drooling all over.

I considered that a badge of honour. My years of experience had taught me that you mean nothing to a baby until it's puked, spit-up, drooled or delivered a green-shit diaper for you to change. Only then do you truly belong to it's tribe.

Julie was giggling and busy snapping pics with my phone of Emma clutching me.

"Sorry, you left this on the kitchen table. It rang and said Beth, so I answered it. She's on her way up. I ordered breakfast too. I hope you don't mind, but I had to get a picture of Emma and her pet finger."

I extracted my finger from that blue-eyed finger-napper, made a whole lot easier by the plentiful lubrication she'd left all over it.

Beth was on her way up. Oh God! What a way to get caught. A sleepy, rumpled mess in a hotel bed with a strange woman and baby. I was certain she and Dan would never let me live this one down.

A quick shower later, unshaven, using my popular fingers in lieu of a hairbrush and toothbrush, I exited the bathroom. Emma was lying quietly in her crib, awake now. Picking her up and stroking her back, I carried her out and found Julie and Beth sitting at the table talking.

Beth's mouth just about hit the floor at the sight of me. She jumped up and enveloped Emma and me in a hug. "Ohh, what you did yesterday, Royce. I could marry you right now! Maybe you could teach that Neanderthal of mine some tricks."

"Don't encourage him, Beth. He's bad enough," I heard from a tinny voice on the table. I realized they'd been Facetiming with Dan in the hospital. He was looking a lot better.

Great, Ièd been doubled down on getting busted. Still...!

"Eat your heart out, buddy. I got Beth here in the hotel like I said I would. Did you want to watch..., or should I shut you off and leave you wondering?"

His mouthing 'asshole' at me had us all laughing.

Emma started fussing, so I handed her over to Julie, who started to loosen her robe. I jumped up and grabbed a blanket to drape over her shoulder so she could have some privacy. No way was I letting Dan see those gorgeous boobs.

I looked up to a frozen tableau. The three of them were staring at me, Beth's questioning eyebrow making darn good progress in an attempt to crawl up and over her forehead.

"I'm thinking next summer," Beth said.

Julie nodded, "I think you're right."

"June's a nice month!"

"It is," Julie agreed.

Instinctively, I knew exactly what they were talking about. I dropped into my chair and thumped my head against the table. I swore I heard a whisper of air rustling through feathers, my bachelorhood winging its way straight out the window. Or maybe it was just the chuckling of Beth and Dan while Julie bit her lip trying to hold her amusement in. Emma would have my back, though. I just knew that! After all, we were slobbery finger buddies!

With Emma fed, Julie handed her back to me to burp while they served breakfast. I ate one-handed after she had a good belch. Somehow, her tiny fingers hooked into the space between the buttons on my shirt, curling in and grasping the material tightly. She contentedly belched again and settled down to sleep. Beth and Julie ate while curious eyes flitted from Emma sleeping to watching me and back again.

Julie shared her tale of woe. When it was finished, I sat back and shook my head.

The shocking part of her story was she'd formerly worked for one of our competitors. The father, Kurt, was somebody I considered among the sleaziest lawyers in town. He was an ambulance chaser. You know, the kind you see his picture on TV, buses and transit. He probably produced half the income of the Law Firm he belonged to. He'd seduced her with sweet words and then, when she got pregnant, turfed her out of her job and onto the streets without a qualm, claiming she'd violated the morals clause of her employment. Apparently, despite his dick being caught outside his pants, he hadn't been similarly punished. The firm had ignored his part in it.

Despite years of glowing employment reviews, when a prospective employer had called for a reference, Kurt had panned her performance and warned everyone she was trouble. He had blacklisted her for jobs in an industry that would have welcomed her experience.

I swore they were going down and going down hard by the time I finished with them.

"Dan?" I wanted his opinion.

"Three suits. All launched ex-parte with subpoenas, so they don't have time to hide evidence. One against her ex-employer as there's malfeasance, criminal acts, conduct for licensing and a whole lot more there. The licensing board will probably shut them down if they get wind of this. There's a suit for paternity and support against the father. Then there's Social Services, their behaviour is inexplicable. I seem to recall The State versus Templeton as a great precedent. But the heart of the matter says something's rotten in the Social Service's office. We may have to get the Attorney General's office involved."

"Julie, when we get support money out of Kurt, do you want anything to do with him in the future?"

She got a look of disgust on her face and shook her head.

"You okay with him signing a voluntary termination of his parental rights for Emma once we have money?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you have any copies of those employment reviews?"

She nodded. "When I was losing my apartment, I paid for six months rental in a storage place to store everything, including my important papers."

"Okay," I confirmed. The largest and most preeminent law firm in town was about to embark on a scorched earth campaign. I was pissed; there'd be no prisoners on this one. When the culprits found out I was taking this one personally, they'd be scurrying like rats to hide.

I started talking, sketching out what I wanted to happen.

After a brief stop at her storage place to retrieve her documents, we headed for the hospital. Beth had arranged for several transcribers to be waiting for us. It was important to get those nurse statements on record regarding the patients getting ignored by Social Services.

We headed upstairs to the maternity department. The head nurse saw Julie coming, a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Julie, you're okay! I'm so relieved! How's Emma?

"Good!" They shared a hug, then Julie introduced me. "This is Royce, my lawyer. He'd like some statements from hospital staff about Social Services refusing to see people like me."

"It's about time someone did something about that." She clapped her hands loudly to get the nurse's attention. "Ladies, a minute, please."

***********

Things were going well. We had a lineup of nurses out the door wanting to fill out affidavits. As word spread through the hospital, more and more nurses, doctors, and staff began showing up. I should have expected that. It wasn't just one patient getting ignored; it was a biblical flood!

I was taking a breather after witnessing and guaranteeing the signature on an affidavit when my mind started wandering. Julie was sitting there with Emma asleep on her chest. I admired the two of them for a minute, and then my eyes focused in on Julie's lips. Those luscious, kissable curves of her lips I so badly wanted...!

"OW!"

I turned. Beth was standing behind me, glaring. "Focus. There's a job to do here."

"You didn't have to smack my head!"

"Daydreaming while staring at a girl and popping an erection isn't a cool way to romance her!"

"Really?" I looked down. "Oh! OH!!!"

"Do I also need to remind you she's a client now? Hands off!"

I glanced over at Julie. She was biting her lip, eyes downcast, trying to hide her amusement. I just wanted to crawl under the small table I was using.

I motioned the next nurse forward, time to get back to work.

It wasn't long before some prissy little guy came stomping in. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked in a loud voice. Things got silent. This had to be the hospital administrator.

I got up, my six feet of height towering over his five-foot, two inches. I tilted my head sideways and smiled at the extra thick soles on his shoes that gave him a couple of inches of lift. The crowd of employees snickered. They knew exactly what I was looking at. He barely made five feet without them. Then I started taking in the details of his clothing.

He exhibited classic symptoms of little man's syndrome. Everything about him said, look at me!

Those were custom made Armani shoes. There would be extra costs with the lifts built into the soles like that. I assumed around fifteen hundred dollars. His suit was Armani, priced close to five thousand dollars. I know. I have a couple for court appearances or special social occasions. The eighteen thousand dollar Rolex Presidents watch clinched my opinion. Hospital administrators get paid well. But I doubted it was that well.

The penny dropped. He was in on whatever was going on with Social Services.

"You can't use the hospital staff and resources like this," he announced.

"You mean like you use the Social Services money you're diverting from the indigent patients?"

The room got deadly silent. His face blushed an interesting shade of red, then he went pale. His eyes flickered wildly while he looked around for support; not one iota of support remained there for him. They'd all seen too many people hurt.

"I think you and I are heading down to the Social Services office to have a chat with whoever works there."

He tried to evade. "I'm not going to discuss your ridiculous accusations. I have too much work waiting to be jaunting around the hospital with you. I'm going to my office."

"Beth, call the police."

If it was possible, his face went even paler. Without me saying anything more, two orderlies that looked more like linebackers on a football team stepped up and scooped his arms, lifting him off his feet.

One of them spoke, "You know, boss. I think it's important to visit Social Services, so we'll go along to make sure you get there safely."

Downstairs, we walked into an office with a fiftyish looking woman, her feet up on her desk playing solitaire on her computer.

Her eyes widened in shock when she took in the Hospital Administrator dangling helplessly between those two giants.

"Well, well," she said, putting her feet down. "Is someone doing something about the scam going on here?"

Bingo!

"Why aren't you doing what you're supposed to do with indigents?"

She pointed a finger at the administrator. "Because asshole here, escorted three large rough-looking criminal types down here and left me alone with them. They told me that I was no longer filling out paperwork for new Social Services clients; someone else would be doing it. If I valued the health of my family, I would shut up and do my time here and not go digging. When he flashed a gun under his jacket, I decided I wasn't a hero!"

"How come no one has asked about this?"

"It's going on at the main Social Services office too. Appointments are set months down the line. You can't reach anyone. Not one person has contacted me and asked why there are no applications coming from me for months now."

The cops arrived. We explained what we'd discovered; they had prissy boy in handcuffs in a wink. While he was standing there, pasty-white and sweating, I called Beth again.

"Give our reporters and TV people a tip-off and let them know about this administrator getting busted for welfare fraud. It should make the evening news, and by tomorrow we'll have a lineup of complainants to represent in court."

Prissy boy in his fancy suit got real nervous. "You can't do that. They'll kill me!"

I gave him a wicked smile, intending to add more pressure. "Yeah, you'll probably be dead by morning. And we should care, why?" I shot back. "How many people died on the streets because of what you're done? Call it, Karma! There's a hell of a paper trail in all this, so we don't really need you."

I pretended to think further about it while the cop standing behind him winked at me.

"Tell you what though. Assuming you even survive for long, you're going down for five years or so. I have a lot of influence with the prosecutors. I can request reduced sentencing to two and a half years if you help. But we need to know who's behind this?"

"They'll kill me!" He pleaded, his face anguished.

"I'll request protection. Chances are, whoever it is, the cops want them bad too. They'll go along with the protection. Your buddies are going to find out sooner or later anyway, and then your life won't be worth a plugged nickel. Best that you co-operate and make sure they go down with you."

The sweat was running down his face, and he was gnawing on his lip. "Alright, it's the Rocco Brothers."

I was elated but should have known. They were perpetual suspects in our city where rumours abounded about their crimes but remained unproven.

"We need a statement from you."

He nodded.

"Let's take him upstairs and get him to swear out an affidavit," I told the cops.

We filmed his confession and affidavit. Even if the Rocco Brothers got to him, we could use that in court. The cops were almost whistling when they escorted him out to their squad car equipped with the evidence. They'd been waiting a long time to get those perps.

I added our affidavits to our pleadings and headed for court. After filing, Beth and I headed for the main Social Services office. The one that had put Julie off for six months. Six police officers met us armed with search warrants. Based upon the hospital affidavits and confession, this was no longer an ex-parte issue. We'd scored too much unexpected evidence. The cops had the paperwork to go for the whole enchilada. The office was about to get turned upside down, and arrest warrants were out on the street.

The harried-looking receptionist tried to call the office manager and the Social Worker that had issued Julie's appointment card. Both refused to come out, stating they were too busy. I got on the phone, and with a polite request, let them know they were either coming willingly or the police were coming in to cuff them―that flushed them out.