Stefan sat on the library steps,
watching the hurried pace of the few faculty and students still hanging around
campus over the winter break. He huffed into his folded hands to warm them,
however briefly, and tried to find another scenario – and scenario – that
didn’t involve getting himself kicked out, arrested, or killed.
If only he hadn’t chosen that
independent study. If only he hadn’t found those old texts in the empty reference
room at the Art Museum Library. Hadn’t translated the Greek and started to
realize they were misfiled. Completely. Dangerously.
If only he’d gone home for
Christmas like Mom and Dad wanted – but he hadn’t wanted to burden them with a
plane ticket they couldn’t afford. Even with his full scholarship – the
youngest student at Harvard in over fifty years – they were stretched beyond
their means. If he’d gone home, he wouldn’t have gotten in the middle of this
nightmare.
His phone buzzed. It was time. He
headed toward the hospital. He’d been volunteering, so no one would think twice
about seeing him. For now. Everyone was thinking about their New Year’s Eve
plans, anyway. He wished he were going to a party, maybe timing it right so
he’d be dancing with one of the pretty freshman at midnight. Yeah, right.
He timed a different kind of
dance to walk through each set of doors behind someone so he didn’t have to use
his security pass. He wasn’t officially here. When he got to the maternity
ward, he walked down to the long row of windows and looked at the babies tucked
into their bassinets. They looked so innocent and helpless.
Phone buzzed again. He wanted to
throw it against the concrete wall. He wanted to scream. Beg someone else to do
this. He was just a kid – even though he’d spent the last five years trying to
convince everyone around him he was more grown up than he was.
How could they put this all on
him? What if he got the wrong baby? How was he going to get it out of the
hospital? This was crazy! He wanted to turn around and run out. His phone rang.
He didn’t want to answer, but he slid his finger across the screen and held it
up to his ear without speaking.
“Stefan?”
He didn’t say anything. There was
nothing to say.
“You know what’s at stake.” She
didn’t sound angry, or obnoxiously cheerful like most adults when they tried to
encourage him. She sounded serious, and urgent. “You can do this, Stefan. You
have to.”
He clicked “end” and took a deep
breath. He could do this.
A nurse he recognized was coming
down the hall. He smiled and gave her a little salute. She laughed. “No hot
date tonight, kiddo? You can come hang out with us. This is a happening party,
I tell you.” She chuckled as he followed her into the warm room.
To be continued, perhaps
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Dogs in house
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Houdini
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Music
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Holiday music sampler
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Time writing
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~30 minutes, including research
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December word
count
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11,524
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