Finding Her

C H A P T E R - T W O

I let my hands uncover Eleonora's ears and Carlo starts by telling her his name and making funny faces. He takes her height and weight and just as I suspected, it's not where she should be.

Carlo shows her the bandaids and she has a field day. I now have four princess stickers on my arm and she has one on her cheek.

With me distracting her, I was even able to get Eleonora to sit still while Carlo properly stitched some of the deeper gashes on her back. He told me he won't do a complete examination until Eleonora gets more comfortable around him and I agree.

"So.. little Eleonora. Do you know how old you are?" Carlo asks and Eleonora looks to me with a green apple lollipop sticking out of her mouth.

I don't say anything, I want her to learn to be confident on her own.

She realizes I won't tell her the answer so she looks to her fingers and counts in her head before holding up four fingers and wavering it between five like she's unsure. My eyebrows rise.

"There's no way she's four." I stammer to Carlo. "I thought maybe two pushing three." If she is four, I know for certain she's way behind mentally and physically for her age.

"It is possible. I want to wait until she gets the proper nutrition, then we can see for sure what her age should be but four does seem accurate."

I find myself subconsciously pulling Eleonora tighter to me.

I watch as Carlo pulls something up on his phone and shows it to Eleonora. A dog.

"Eleonora, do you know what this is?" Without any hesitance, she shakes her head no.

I don't understand what he's doing at first but soon I understand.

The next, a ball. No.

A playground. No.

A rose. No.

A picture of two parents with their child. Then the slight shake of her head. No.

My heart hits against my chest, sorrow filling my heart. She really has seen nothing. We went through about ten photos and each she didn't recognize but one, an orange. Though she didn't know the name of it.

Carlo smiles at Eleonora, like everything that was just discovered was nothing.

"You did a good job, Eleonora. I think that means you get another lollipop." He brought out the basket and her eyes light up, hesitantly she takes one. She gives it to me to hold. Carlo turns to me. "I'd like to see her at least once hopefully twice a week for the next month or two—"

Something hits in my heart. Guilt maybe.

"That won't be possible. I've been planning on sending her to an orphanage when she's better. That should take no more than two weeks." I say the words but they don't feel right.

Carlo sits back in his chair, looking between me and Eleonora. Something passes through his eyes. I'm not sure how much I like the look he has.

"Well.. as her doctor I suggest for her mental health, it's better for her to be with someone she trusts."

"And you think that's me?" I scoff, this is unbelievable.

"She hasn't left your side since the moment you
got here."

"Where is she to go? There's no where, of course she's going to be near me!"

"And at your home? On the plane? Does she let anyone else hold her?" My mind went back to when she screamed for the female guard to stop touching her and ended up having to take a bath with me. "Get close to her?" I think to how she sticks her head into the crease of my neck when someone else is near. "Is she comfortable with anyone other than you?"

After a moment of silence I look at him thoughtfully.

"I can't take care of a child."

"I never said you had to. It's only two months. The time will fly."

How am I going to keep her from my family for two months?

I swallow the lump in my throat before reluctantly agreeing. I look down to the blue eyed girl in my lap.

Little leech.

The time will fly. Right?

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