Maverick took me to see the child.

The baby’s body was temporarily stored in the hospital morgue.

Swaddled in white cloth, the tiny figure rested in the chill of a storage drawer, curled in on itself like a kitten seeking warmth.

Maverick told me it was a girl, but she had been born with severe congenital defects—stunted limbs, an underdeveloped heart. The amniotic fluid had drained out entirely, and by the time she was delivered via cesarean, she ...