CHAPTER - 4 Kara takes Dina away secretly

Mariah, whose anger had now reached the peak, glared at Kara. 

“Why did you do that? The baby is still alive! How can they issue a death certificate without checking with us first? And I could not understand what you were thinking when you did that. If you are still having hopes that they would come back for the baby, then you can forget that. They had left the country long ago and never going to come back here,” She shouted at Kara while trying to figure out what she should do next.

“Emma proposed to me yesterday. We are getting married soon,” Kara announced something completely irrelevant to the current situation.

Mariah did not understand why she would suddenly change the topic! She stared at her for quite a few minutes without giving her any response. She was gleeful for both of them but what Kara did a second ago made Mariah upset.

 When Ava hugged Kara and congratulated her, Mariah came back to her senses.

“Congratulations! I have always rooted for you both! Promise me, you will make me your bridesmaid!” Ava hugged Kara and demanded.

“Sure! My good friend, I will,” Kara said to her with a bright smile.

“Congratulations,” Mariah said half-heartedly while looking at the phone once.

“Thank you both! Ava, I want to discuss something personal with Mariah. Can you please give us some space? I mean… I want to talk with her alone regarding…” Kara stopped while looking at Ava with begging eyes.

She did not want to hurt Ava’s feelings and neither did she wanted to hide anything from her. But right now, she felt that the fewer people know about her decision, it was better for them. She did not want to trouble anyone or put them at risk because of what she was going to do.

Ava immediately stood up from her chair and said, “Sure! I understand. Anyway, it’s time for me to go for my daily rounds. I have a lot of work to do today.”

 When Ava reached the door, she turned around once and shouted, “I am so happy for your both! Congratulations once again.” 

“Thank you, Ava! You are the best,” Kara said and winked at her.

She then turned towards Mariah, who sat there with a hardened face. It was not because she was not happy for Kara and Emma but she just hoped that what she was thinking right now is not what Kara wants to talk about with her.

“I…” Kara started to speak when Mariah stopped her.

“Stop… Is it about that baby?” Mariah inquired.

“Yes…” Kara replied hesitatingly.

“No… No-no-no… That’s wrong. We need to report that immediately and make the corrections as soon as possible.” Mariah said and shook her head in disagreement.

“Please, Please Mariah. You know right, I have no one and I grew up in a foster system. All I want now is to form a complete family with Dina. I beg you. Anyway, they already sent a certification and as per the system, she was already declared dead. Also, think, if she was put in the foster system, just like me, she would end up growing up alone without anyone besides her to give her motherly love. If she was adopted by a good family then her life will be good but what if her luck was bad, then…” Kara tried to convince Mariah. 

She fell on her knees and was even ready to beg. She did not want to let go of this opportunity at any cost.

“Do not try to convince me. This is illegal. Do you even understand what you are trying to ask me to do? I may lose my job and you will lose yours too. Did you think about Emma? Her career might stop before it even started.” 

Mariah denied her request without thinking as it sounded highly impossible. It affected everyone’s career and also the reputation of the hospital they work in.

“Yes, but Emma and I plan to move to another city. She got a posting over there and yesterday it was her idea that we adopt Dina. Please, I beg you...” Kara held her hands tightly while tears rolled down from her eyes.

“No, whatever you say, I cannot put my job at risk here. This is some serious illegal and I cannot allow you to do that,” Mariah did not show any pity and pulled her hands away from Kara’s tight grip.

“...” Kara with teary eyes stood in the same place with her head dropped down.

Emma entered the nurse’s station and saw Kara in tears. She rushed forward and hugged her. 

“What is happening here? Why is she crying?” She demanded.

“Do not look at me in an accusing way. I did nothing wrong here. Ask her what she wants to do! Also, what she is forcing me to do? This is all completely out of ethics,” Mariah complained to Emma and turned her head away.

Kara with teary eyes explained the situation to Emma. Emma did not know how to respond to her. She clearly knew that it was because of her, that idea entered Kara’s mind. 

“Look, I think Mariah is right! We need to report this issue. Everyone in the hospital knows about this child and…” Emma supported Mariah and tried to convince Kara to stop her from doing anything crazy.

Suddenly, they all heard a baby crying nearby. When they turned their head, they saw Ava holding Dina and walking towards Kara.

“I don’t know if I am doing, right or wrong. But compared to the mother’s who left her to suffer, I prefer if she stays with you. I will help you take her away from here. Make sure she grows up to be an excellent person, just like you!” Ava said and handed the baby to Kara.

Kara held her close to the chest and kissed the baby’s pinkish cheeks. Dina wiggled in her embrace but stopped crying instantly. Emma looked at her in awe while Mariah closed her eyes.

“Do whatever you want. Just make sure to not involve me in any of this. I am not here and I did not see anything.” Mariah said and walked outside the door without looking back.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Kara smiled with teary eyes.

Ava kept on watching the hallway while Emma went to bring the car to the underground garage. She also had to find and fix a child car seat for the newborn baby in her car. Thankfully, she was able to borrow one from her colleague by lying to her that her cousin’s friend forgot to get a child seat for their newborn baby.

She told her colleague that they were getting discharged today. As they were in a hurry, they couldn’t go shopping at the last minute. She also promised her that she would bring it back in a few hours. So the colleague immediately gave her the car seat but also asked her to bring it back before five pm as she had to pick her daughter from the daycare.

Ava removed the wristband from the baby’s tiny hand to avoid alerting the security. She cautiously walked towards the exit door with Kara in tow. Kara and Ava took an elevator to the underground parking garage while holding the baby in a huge tote bag. 

When the elevator door opened on the next floor, they saw the hospital’s director enter the lift. They almost lost their lives and even had to hold their breath as they were carrying a ticking time bomb with them. If the baby started to cry, then they would easily be caught. The next thing that would happen, they don’t even want to imagine it.

“Good morning beautiful ladies. How is it going?” The director smiled and asked them.

“Good,” Ava and Kara said while sweating all over.

“Good, See you then.” the director said and got out of the elevator that stopped on the next floor.

They could finally breathe easily. Kara looked at the bag with relief. 

“I thought she would start to cry and we would be caught red-handed. I even imagined myself getting handcuffed by the officers and being brought to the police station.” Ava said while leaning on the wall behind her.

She held her chest with both her hands and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves.

To their luck, no one entered the elevator after that and it directly reached the underground parking. Emma parked the car just right next to the elevator and Kara hopped inside the car along with her baby. 

She opened the car’s window and mouthed, “Thank you!” to Ava.

“Do not worry! Just make sure, not to forget to invite me to your wedding and also remember that you promised to make me your bridesmaid in your marriage.” Ava said with a wink.

Kara nodded her head with a happy expression and held Ava's hands gratefully.

“We need to go now! We cannot stay here for long,” Emma reminded them. 

“Yes! Go ahead! Be careful on your way home! Bye-bye,” Ava waved at them and walked inside light-heartedly.