Read Online SH Medical 07 - The Detective's Accidental Baby by Jacqueline Diamond - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jacqueline Diamond
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she might be pregnant. Why was she so stubbornly insistent about standing on her own? Well, that was her right, just as it was Mike’s right to fill the world with his offspring if the sperm bank accepted his application.
As he’d said, he wasn’t throwing anyone away. Rationally, Lock knew his birth mother probably hadn’t intended to do that, either. But why had she given him up?
On the internet, he clicked on an adoption search site he’d bookmarked during his convalescence. Being seriously wounded made a guy reflect on life, death and major unanswered questions, and he’d taken the first steps toward locating his birth mother, before deciding he wasn’t ready.
He’d listed the little he knew about the circumstances of his relinquishment, including the agency involved, along with his birth date. Although he’d been born in Orange County, he had no idea at which hospital. It would have been easier if he could have talked to his adoptive parents, but his father had vanished after their divorce, and although Lock’s mother had been released from prison while he was with the Aarons, she’d made no attempt to see him.
He’d heard that she’d died of a drug overdose not long afterward. A few years later, her own mother had passed on, ironically leaving no heirs except her unwanted adoptive grandson. The inheritance had paid for college and his share of Fact Hunter Investigations, with a tidy sum left over.
How could his birth mother have entrusted him to such unstable people? Sure, there’d been a few tender moments that ached in his memory: his adoptive mom singing him to sleep, his father teaching Lock’s five-year-old self to bat a ball in the backyard. He’d loved them with all his young heart, and they hadn’t cared enough about him to put their lives in order.
Lock shifted his attention to the website, which allowed both adoptive children and birth parents to input their information. They could then learn if there were people whose parameters matched, without names or other identifying data. Instead, you could, if you chose, agree to have your email address forwarded.
Three women were listed as having given birth to male babies in Orange County on the same date and had relinquished them for adoption at the same agency. Since he’d posted his information months earlier, none of the mothers had forwarded their addresses to Lock. Presumably, they were waiting for him to make the first move.
His fingers hung over the keyboard. All he had to do was click in the right spot and he’d be on the road to answering his questions.
Or opening Pandora’s box. He’d read on chat sites about painful experiences, as well as joyous reunions. There was no guarantee his birth mom hadn’t been a druggie, too. Or that she wouldn’t cling to him obsessively, or have other children who would resent him.
Alternatively, Lock reflected, he might ruin a nice woman’s fantasy about the picture-perfect life her son had led with his adoptive family. Most adoptions worked out well, after all. Plus his lingering resentment was likely to spill over and poison whatever chance they had of forming a bond.
He logged off and closed the laptop. What was that old saying about letting sleeping dogs lie? In this case, it might be more like a pack of wolves.
Better to let them snooze than to end up provoking an experience he might forever regret.
Chapter Six
Although Erica assisted surgeons other than Dr. T when the schedule required, she didn’t usually enjoy the experience. Not being accustomed to their preferences regarding instruments and procedures, she couldn’t achieve her usual standard of near perfection. Also, she missed his dry wit and easy banter.
But one afternoon in March, when she looked at the board and saw that she was set to assist Dr. Paige Brennan next, she felt a touch of relief.
Dr. T hadn’t been very pleasant that morning. Both twins had come down with bad colds, and he’d worried aloud about the
As he’d said, he wasn’t throwing anyone away. Rationally, Lock knew his birth mother probably hadn’t intended to do that, either. But why had she given him up?
On the internet, he clicked on an adoption search site he’d bookmarked during his convalescence. Being seriously wounded made a guy reflect on life, death and major unanswered questions, and he’d taken the first steps toward locating his birth mother, before deciding he wasn’t ready.
He’d listed the little he knew about the circumstances of his relinquishment, including the agency involved, along with his birth date. Although he’d been born in Orange County, he had no idea at which hospital. It would have been easier if he could have talked to his adoptive parents, but his father had vanished after their divorce, and although Lock’s mother had been released from prison while he was with the Aarons, she’d made no attempt to see him.
He’d heard that she’d died of a drug overdose not long afterward. A few years later, her own mother had passed on, ironically leaving no heirs except her unwanted adoptive grandson. The inheritance had paid for college and his share of Fact Hunter Investigations, with a tidy sum left over.
How could his birth mother have entrusted him to such unstable people? Sure, there’d been a few tender moments that ached in his memory: his adoptive mom singing him to sleep, his father teaching Lock’s five-year-old self to bat a ball in the backyard. He’d loved them with all his young heart, and they hadn’t cared enough about him to put their lives in order.
Lock shifted his attention to the website, which allowed both adoptive children and birth parents to input their information. They could then learn if there were people whose parameters matched, without names or other identifying data. Instead, you could, if you chose, agree to have your email address forwarded.
Three women were listed as having given birth to male babies in Orange County on the same date and had relinquished them for adoption at the same agency. Since he’d posted his information months earlier, none of the mothers had forwarded their addresses to Lock. Presumably, they were waiting for him to make the first move.
His fingers hung over the keyboard. All he had to do was click in the right spot and he’d be on the road to answering his questions.
Or opening Pandora’s box. He’d read on chat sites about painful experiences, as well as joyous reunions. There was no guarantee his birth mom hadn’t been a druggie, too. Or that she wouldn’t cling to him obsessively, or have other children who would resent him.
Alternatively, Lock reflected, he might ruin a nice woman’s fantasy about the picture-perfect life her son had led with his adoptive family. Most adoptions worked out well, after all. Plus his lingering resentment was likely to spill over and poison whatever chance they had of forming a bond.
He logged off and closed the laptop. What was that old saying about letting sleeping dogs lie? In this case, it might be more like a pack of wolves.
Better to let them snooze than to end up provoking an experience he might forever regret.
Chapter Six
Although Erica assisted surgeons other than Dr. T when the schedule required, she didn’t usually enjoy the experience. Not being accustomed to their preferences regarding instruments and procedures, she couldn’t achieve her usual standard of near perfection. Also, she missed his dry wit and easy banter.
But one afternoon in March, when she looked at the board and saw that she was set to assist Dr. Paige Brennan next, she felt a touch of relief.
Dr. T hadn’t been very pleasant that morning. Both twins had come down with bad colds, and he’d worried aloud about the
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