Dr. Barsch was at the desk when they came into the hospital. Ted exchanged a few words with him. The head doctor nodded gravely and came over to Mrs. Craig and the boy.
“So you’ve caught yourself a bug, Jack,” Dr. Barsch said. “Well, let’s get you upstairs, and Dr. Jenkins and I’ll go over you, and see just what is the matter. If Dr. Loring will take over at the desk, I’ll have an orderly take you right up.”
“May I go, too, Doctor?” Mrs. Craig asked.
Dr. Barsch hesitated, and then Mrs. Craig said, “No, I’ll wait here. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.”
Dr. Barsch nodded. “It’s all right, Mrs. Craig. I know you’re worried. I’ll let you see Jack as soon as I can.”
After the orderly had taken Jack upstairs, Ted sat down behind the desk facing Mrs. Craig, who paced nervously back and forth.
“Please sit down, Mrs. Craig,” he begged her. “You’ll just wear yourself out.”
Mrs. Craig smiled and sat down in an easy chair across the desk from Ted. “I must seem like a foolish mother hen,” she said apologetically.
Ted looked at her in wonder. “I wish there were more mothers in the world like you. Some of the mothers I’ve seen wouldn’t be this anxious about their own children, let alone an adopted son.”
Mrs. Craig thought a moment. “I wonder why people don’t understand,” she said softly. “Jack is every bit as much my own child as if I had given birth to him.”