Echo

On a cold October night, I just got done eating at my favorite restaurant with my girlfriend Lacey. It was raining out so we ran to our car, holding each others hands. The sound of our feet hitting the wet pavement sounded funny and made Lacey and I giggle. Lacey’s beautiful laugh made me smile. When we got to the car, Lacey unlocked it, and we started to get in when suddenly, we heard a scream and something start crying from a garbage can that was nearby. “What was that?” asked Lacey. “I don’t know, let’s go find out,” I replied.We closed the car doors and walked over to the garbage can. Lacey took the lid off and we peered into it. We both gasped. There was a little baby wrapped up in what looked like a piece of a sheet that was ripped apart. It was covered in dry blood and the piece of sheet it was wrapped in had dry blood on it too. I picked up the baby and Lacey took off her coat so we could wrap the baby up in it. The poor thing must have been freezing. “How awful is this?” I asked Lacey, “What are we going to do with it?”“Well, first we will bring it to the hospital so it can get taken care of, then we will see what happens from there.” she said. “Okay, let’s go,” I replied.We walked over to the car and got in. Lacey was driving and I was sitting in the passenger seat with the baby. We headed off to the hospital. The baby was still crying and I was trying the best that I could to make it stop. I was gently rocking it back and forth in my arms. “Shh, it is going to be okay little one; we are going to take care of you.” I said.The baby started to stop crying and then it finally stopped. “Why would someone just leave such a beautiful little baby all alone like that?” Lacey asked me. “I don’t know, this is so horrible,” I replied, “I feel so bad, I hope everything turns out okay for it.”“Me too,” said Lacey.After about 15 minutes we arrived at the hospital. Lacey parked the car and turned it off. She got out and came to the side I was sitting on. She opened the door for the baby and me. We got out and walked towards the hospital. When we got inside we walked over to a desk where two young women were sitting. “Good evening,” one of them said, “How may I help you?”“We need a doctor,” Lacey answered, “We found a baby and it needs medical assistance immediately.”“Yes ma’am, right away.” she replied.She got up from her chair and walked around to us. She took the baby from me and told us to follow her. She led us down a hallway and then to an elevator. We went up to the 3rd floor, walked down another hallway, and then went into a room. She laid the baby down on a bed and took the bloody sheet off of it. All it had on was a diaper. She walked over to the phone and called a doctor. She told him to come to the room we were in because there was a baby in need of assistance, said okay, and then she hung up. She walked over to a sink, washed her hands and put on a pair of latex gloves. She grabbed a washcloth from a cabinet above her head. She ran warm water on it and walked over to the baby. She took off its diaper (it was a girl) and cleaned her off. Just then the doctor walked in. “Good evening ladies,” he said.Lacey and I both said good evening. “My name is Dr. Fitzrovia," he said and shook Lacey and my hand," and I will be assisting your baby today. What are your names?”“Well, my name is Nicolette and this is Lacey,” I said and pointed to her. “It isn’t our baby though sir, we found her outside in a garbage can,” Lacey said, “we figured the best thing for her would be seeing a doctor.”“Ah, I see, well you were both right and I am going to do everything I can to help her.” the doctor replied. “Thank you doctor.” said Lacey. “I will just need to take her for about an hour or two so I can run some tests on her to make sure she is okay and there is nothing wrong.” he said. “I will also try to find out who she is.”“Okay, that sounds good.” I told him.While we were talking the nurse had put a new diaper on her, clothes, a hat, and wrapped her up in a blanket. She was adorable. The doctor walked over to the baby and picked her up. Then he took her out of the room. “You are welcome to sit in the waiting room till he is finished,” said the nurse. “Alright, thanks,” I replied.We walked out of the room. The nurse led us down 2 different hallways and then to the waiting room. She told us that the doctor would come to the room when he got finished. Lacey said okay, I said thank you, she smiled and then left.Although it seemed like it was forever, about 2 hours passed by when the doctor finally came in with the baby. He walked over to Lacey and I and we stood up. “We have good news,” said Dr. Fitzrovia with a smile, “the baby is perfectly healthy and I also know who she is.”“That is good,” Lacey said. “Yeah, most definitely. What is her name?” I asked. “Her name is Echo.” the doctor replied. “Aw, that is cute.” said Lacey, "What is going to happen to her?” "Well, I also found out about her parents," he started to say, "Her mother is a drug addict and is in prison for a very, very long time. And her father didn't want her, so he left her and her mother.""That is terrible." I said."Yeah," said Lacey, "So, is she going to be put in an orphanage?"“We actually have two options to choose from, we are either going to have her be put into an orphanage, or since you two are the ones that found her you are welcome to keep her if you want.” he said.Lacey looked at me and I looked at her, we were both smiling. We have talked about adopting a baby before but never thought it would happen this soon. I felt so horrible for her since she was already abandoned by her mother, I didn’t want her to have that happen to her again. Then again, Lacey and I were both still really young and it would be better for the baby to have someone older and that would be able to take better care of her. I wanted to keep her so bad though. “What do you want to do honey?” Lacey asked me. “Do you want to keep her?”“It is up to you. If it is okay with you, it is fine with me. I would be more then happy to keep her.” I replied with a smile. “Really? You want to? I do too!” she said. “Okay then,” said the doctor, “It is settled. The two of you are now Echo’s parents.”He handed her to Lacey. Dr. Fitzrovia led us back down to the entrance and told us to have a good night. We said thank you and went outside. It had stopped raining. I put my arm around Lacey’s waist and we walked to our car together. I opened the door for Lacey and our daughter, closed it, and then went to the other side. I got in the car, started it and we headed for home. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Lacey was staring at me. “What?” I asked her. “I love you,” she replied.I smiled and said, “I love you too.”Then she looked at Echo and said, “And I love you little one.”I looked at Echo, who was sleeping in Lacey’s arms. She was such a gorgeous baby girl. I was the happiest person alive. I had the greatest girlfriend ever and the most beautiful daughter in the world. Everything was perfect. While looking at Lacey and Echo I thought to myself, life possibly couldn’t get any better.