“What? The same way as me? All I did was ask for some leeway on this new soul box.”
“Yeah, I know. But it was the way that you asked for it. From the moment you got your new box, you started strutting around like you were omnipotent or something. I figured a little humble pie would do you well.”
I could feel my heart beat faster but suppressed the building anger quickly. As much as I hated to admit it, Hauser was right.
“Well? Are you here to help or are you going to just continue to criticize me?”
“That’s up to you, Jack. Do you want to carry on with training, like an adult, or do you want to hold on to your attitude?”
Goddammit, can’t he just let it go?
“Careful, Jack. Your thoughts are louder than you might imagine,” Hauser said.
Shit. “I mean, yes. I would like your help, and I will continue my training like an adult,” I said, fighting back my temper.
“Great. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve done up till now.”
“Well, not a lot. I have the soul box with only a first name on it. It etched itself on the box shortly before you took off. But you already knew that. Unfortunately, the last name has yet to engrave itself, and for the life of me, I cannot find a soul bearer with the first name of Calvin in the entire hospital. Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
Hauser’s brow tightened as he listened to my update. He nodded his head. “Trust me, Jack. If I said you’d find him here, then he’ll be here. Continue.”
“Continue with what? That’s it. I’ve been through the hospital more times than I can count, and I can’t find a Calvin anywhere. That’s what.”
“Well, first off, I believe you’re on the wrong floor.”
“I only come down to the emergency wing thinking that Calvin might be coming in through an ambulance. I’ve spent the majority of my time up on the seventh floor. There’s no Calvin there either. Trust me. I’ve looked.”
“Relax, Jack. I know you’re frustrated. I knew this would be a difficult collection from the very beginning.”
Not exactly listening to Hauser, I continued. “I really thought with a unique name like Calvin, this collection would be so much simpler than how it has played out.”
“Normally your process here would certainly produce desirable results. But for this soul, you might as well just throw all of that out the window.”
“I don’t follow,” I said.
“What I mean is that tracking down a soul by only the first name might be successful if the soul you were here to collect was actually inside a living person. Jack, the soul you are here to collect has not even been born yet. We need to go up to the second floor, to the maternity ward.”
“What the hell?” I snapped. “You knew this was going to be a newborn baby and you didn’t say a word?”
“Well, you did say you wanted to collect the soul on your own,” Hauser said with a smirk.
“Okay, okay. I get it. I messed up. I shouldn’t have gotten cocky. But how did you know?”
Hauser began walking toward the stairwell. “I knew because I’ve collected souls from newborn babies numerous times over the years. I knew from the moment the blank box first arrived. Then, when the first name etched in, I figured I’d let you run with it. With the first name provided, it should have been a lot easier than how it was for me.”
“Care to enlighten me?” I asked.
“The way I had it, I didn’t get a name on my first newborn box. You see, the parents I had refused to name their child until the moment it was born. So I had to sit around for seventy-two hours until the box finally engraved. Once it did, it was a matter of deduction that led me to the dying child.”
As we approached the stairwell door, we slowed our pace until the crowd around us dissipated. Once it was clear, Hauser blasted through the door and began the ascent to the second level.
“How’d you do that?” I asked. “Were you in a hospital? Or was this before hospitals were even invented?”
“Ha ha, smart ass. I’m old, but I’m not that old,” Hauser said. “Yes, much like you, I maintained my presence in a local hospital. And because of where my location was then, there weren’t very many births, so it was quite easy to locate.”
As we stepped out into the second-floor hallway, I tried to imagine what Hauser’s experience had been like.
“And that’s it? You walk into the room and snatch the soul from a crying baby?”
“Taking a soul is never easy, Jack. You know that now, right? Just because the baby has no previous life experiences doesn’t make it any easier.”
Awkwardly, we stood in front of the glass wall surrounding the nursery in silence. We looked upon a dozen clear bassinets, with an infant wearing either a pink or baby-blue knitted cap inside each.
“Well, I guess we can at least eliminate any of the pink hats,” I said. “But without a last name, how do we know which is the correct baby?”
Hauser pulled out his pocket watch and reviewed its face. A moment later he snapped it shut. “Well, none of these babies are your soul borrower. We’re still early, and your child has yet to be born. Until that happens, we’re going to have to do a little sleuthing in the matter.”
“Sleuthing?” I asked.
“That’s right, we’re going to have to do a room-by-room search. See if we can find any clues on who our mother-to-be is.”
“Don’t you think that’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks?”
“Obviously. But you were on the wrong floor entirely.”
“Yeah, yeah. So you keep reminding me,” I said. “So, wise sage, how do you propose that we proceed?”
“We’ll just have to go into each birthing room and see if there’s any indication on which mothers are having boys and then narrow it down from there. If there’s conversation in the room, we’ll listen for talk about baby names.”
I sighed louder than I expected to. Hauser looked at me sideways, cocking his brow in question.
“Don’t get me wrong, Hauser, but I almost prefer it to your old way.
“Boy, that’s the lazy way. Whether you like it or not, we’re going to do this. You need to learn to be proactive in these kinds of scenarios. And to make sure that you’re not phoning this in, we’re going to do this together.”
“Oh, joy,” I said as I pushed through the first door on my right.
Chapter 3
When I entered, I was surprised by the number of people that could actually fit in a room that was only fifteen foot square. Besides the mother-to-be, there must have been an additional dozen people waiting for the birth of the child. Fortunately, nobody paid any attention to me entering the room. Within seconds, Hauser materialized right next to me.
“You know, champ, you have certain skills that allow you to move about much more discreetly.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “Yeah, I wasn’t thinking when I pushed on the door. I’ll be more cautious in the future… oh wise one.”
Hauser winked and then moved through the crowd and stepped up to the bed. I followed, trying not to run into any of the people present.
“Well? Tell me what you see,” Hauser said.
I surveyed the room, noticing a plethora of teddy bears and balloons scattered about—gifts from loving family members, no doubt. As I glanced down at the mother-to-be, I noted that she looked to be in good spirits but wore an air of tiredness. The man standing next to her, his hand woven into hers, was presumably her husband. He looked equally exhausted. The remaining people, all extended family, most likely, gave me no indication.