Chapter 2

                                    

                                          
Derek had sat for a long time in his dark, quiet office after finding the long forgotten business card. He had almost thrown it in the waste basket that hid under his desk, but something had stopped him. So instead he placed it in the pocket of his lab coat. His pager had interrupted any further thoughts of what the card might mean, and he had happily hustled out of his office and down the hall toward OR 1. He was hoping it was a long complicated surgery. Just the thing to get his mind off of everything he wasn't thinking about anymore.
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The mysterious woman squinted her eyes at the bright lights that hummed overhead. It was time to start another dreary day. Everything had become a routine since she and her daughter and came to this big city a few months earlier. 
                          
Life had become an uphill struggle. Not that it hadn't been before. She honestly didn't know. She couldn't remember more than a few years back. Maybe her life had always been like this. Hard, sad, and lonely. The only thing that sparked joy in her heart was her daughter, Ohanna, named by one of the Armenian Nuns at the shelter she had been brought to after being found off the Southwest shore of Canada. No one knew how she had got there, but fortunately she had been found by a fisherman when she had, because she was near hypothermia and was on the edge of death. The Nuns had nursed her back to health only to find she had severe amnesia and was 3 months pregnant. 
                          
None of the doctors or nurses there could believe she hadn't lost her baby in the horrible ordeal, and when the puzzling woman had given birth 6 months later, it felt right when they had suggested she name her baby Ohanna, which meant Gods gracious gift. She now referred to her daughter as Hanna and did indeed believe she was a gift. She looked into her 4 year olds bright eyes and wondered, like she did everyday, who her father was. She knew without a doubt she must have gotten her thick dark curls and light blue eyes from him. They definitely didn't mirror her own. She looked wise beyond her years when she tilted her head to the side to question her mother about whatever it was the 4 year old would find puzzling at the moment. She was so bright and sharp. It was in this little beings intelligence that her mother found the power to continue her search for answers. She knew something incredible had created this tiny person and had vowed to find out just what. That had been the deciding factor in her decision to leave the comfortable sanctuary of kind nuns that had cared for her and Hanna for over 3 years. She wasn't finding answers in the small town she had washed up in and after talking to some of the doctors there that had become her friends, she made up her mind she needed to come to the States, to a big city with fancy hospitals and smart doctors. Doctors who specialized in the brain. 
                          
She was getting frustrated though. She had tried to do what petty research she could with the little resources she had. She had bounced from city to city trying to learn all she could from medical books and journals she found in libraries. Even that was more difficult than expected. To all those looking in she was a homeless person and most steered clear of her. Her presence inside a library made everyone uncomfortable so she had learned to go early in the morning when they were least busy. Even then she knew her time was limited and it was only a matter of moments before she'd be asked to leave. She found the medical journals and anatomy books rather easy to read and understand, and had wondered why. She had concluded from her various studies that the top Neurosurgeon called Seattle home and worked at one of the hospitals there. 
                          
So she and Hanna had picked up what few belongings they had and had traveled here. Seattle Washington. Now it was just a matter of time before she would be able to find this Doctor and all the promise he held.
                          
She gathered their modest belongings and held her hand out for Hanna to grab. They wound in and out of other homeless mothers and their children, headed for the front door. She had found this women and children shelter her first night in Seattle. It was located in a basement of a large Catholic church on Main Street. It didn't seem like much to strangers passing by, but to her daughter and her, and about 65 others in the same situation, they couldn't dream for more. It held promise of a free warm dinner and a dry bed to sleep in.
                          
She hurried Hanna out the door and found that it was drizzling outside. She reached into her well worn bag and pulled out 2 ponchos she had received from a friendly volunteer her first night at the church. She secured Hanna's first then pulled her own over her clothes. She had noticed that a lot of people cursed the rain and complained of the non stop down poor. She found it odd that it didn't really bother her; she would have never picked herself as one for liking the rain but decided maybe she had in the part of her life she couldn't remember. Either that or she had lived somewhere like this where it had continuously rained. 
                          
Ponchos in place, she and Hanna hurried on with their morning routine. She had found a free daycare where she was able to drop Hanna a few hours at a time while she looked for work. It was a program the government offered for homeless parents trying to get back on their feet. She hated leaving Hanna with every bit of her soul, but found it was the only way to work odd jobs here and there to earn a bit of money. At least the center was safe and she was only gone for a few hours at a time. 
                          
Besides she needed to earn all the money she could if she even dreamed of meeting with the top Neurosurgeon in the country. So she pressed on, determined to continue on this journey they had started, curious to see what the day held for her and her daughter.
                          
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Who is that mysterious woman? 🤔