Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green Page 0,43

order exhuming the body, then be able to bring those results to the federal case. But we don’t have time for that so we may have to file the second case before we get a ruling on the first.”

Bruce turned to Tommy. “How about your investigation? Are you finished with that?”

“I’m going to try to see if Calhoun’s story about the Mayo Clinic holds water. I’ve already got a few calls in and I’m waiting for callbacks.”

“Okay,” Bruce said. “Sounds good. You need anything from me, just let me know.”

Dani sighed. “A miracle. That’s what I need.”

CHAPTER

15

Sunny Bergman still wasn’t used to the crowded streets of New York City. Really, after living in Manhattan for almost two years, she should have adjusted to the teeming humanity. Yet she felt a jolt each time she left her apartment. The confined walls of the elevator, the perpetually smog-filled air, even the smell of the streets triggered a yearning to be back in Byron, the small town where she’d grown up. An ideal childhood, she thought, with the coziness that came with knowing just about every person in town. A trip to the supermarket always included chats with friends she’d run into or parents of her friends or even just the smiling workers behind the cash register. And a city was only twenty minutes east, with all the stores and restaurants anyone could want.

Manhattan was so different. No one smiled at her, barely even nodded in response to her cheery attempts at chatter. Once in a while someone would smile at Rachel, but even the most coldhearted person couldn’t resist such a beautiful child. Sunny’s own heart fluttered each time she looked at her daughter. She hadn’t planned on having a child so early. They had agreed she would work until Eric finished his medical training and then she would go to nursing school. Taking turns—that’s what marriage was about. One day she’d go back to school but not yet. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Rachel with a stranger.

Stepping onto the sidewalk from the vestibule of her apartment building, the bright sunshine momentarily blinded Sunshine. Sunshine—that was her real name. She’d heard the story of her name numerous times from her parents. How they’d waited so long to have a child and how when they first set eyes on her, the hospital room brightened, as if drenched in sunlight. Holding Rachel’s small hand, she led her toward the park, an oasis of green in this city of concrete and brick.

“Mommy, can we see the aminals today?” Rachel asked in her dainty voice, so melodic in its tones that it sounded like a song.

“It’s animals, not aminals,” Sunny said. “And not today. It’s too far away. After the park, we’re going to meet Daddy for lunch.”

“But I wanna see the aminals.”

“It’ll be fun to see Daddy for lunch.”

Sunny understood Rachel’s silence. Residents worked long hours and Eric rarely got home before Rachel went to sleep. Ironic—it was Eric who loved children so much that he chose pediatrics as his specialty, Eric who’d brought her to Manhattan, so far from the family and friends she loved, Eric who left her alone all day in this city of strangers. He’d left her alone again yesterday with his sudden visit back to his hometown in Pennsylvania. He’d gotten a call the evening before from his sister. Carol was in trouble again, he’d said. Her marriage was shaky, and she wanted to drink. Two years of sobriety were about to go down the drain. He needed to go back and straighten her out. “We’ll go with you,” Sunny had offered, desperate to spend more time with Eric.

“No, Rachel will be a distraction. Besides, I’ll be back home tonight. It’s just for the day.”

He returned late that evening, withdrawn, unwilling to join in her effort at conversation. He went to sleep early and left for the hospital before she and Rachel had awakened that morning. He’d told Sunny many times that he had to work harder than the other residents to prove himself. He was much older than the rest—he’d been almost 32 when he began medical school. “I was the black sheep of the family,” he’d told her when they first met. “The wild one who didn’t want to settle down to any serious work. Now I have to make up for it.”

Sunny took Rachel’s hand in hers. They walked past the few brownstones interspersed between new apartment buildings and stopped to admire the first buds