The Littlest Superhero by Matthew D. Smith (7 ebook reader txt) 📕

“Just relax, Gabriel,” the voice called out over a speaker. “You may hear a little bit of a humming sound, but it is important that you not move, OK?” the voice continued.

“OK,” Gabriel replied as he stared at the ceiling. When the table he lay on began to move, Gabriel could see the machine he was entering.

“Katie, when we get the results of this test we will probably have a better idea of why Gabriel isn’t growing,” Doctor Jennings stated placing Gabriel’s medical file on the counter in front of them. “Have you been able to ask his father if there are any genetic abnormalities in his family?”

Katie ran her fingers through her hair as she brushed it away from her face. “I haven’t seen Gabriel’s father in almost four years, doctor. The last time I did, he tried to kill me. I would prefer to try and find out why Gabriel isn’t growing without having to involve him. I’m sure you can understand that."

Doctor Jennings paused for a moment and then nodded slowly that he understood Katie’s reluctance. “Well, hopefully we’ll have our answers soon.”

Two days later, Katie sat in a chair across a conference table from Dr. Jennings and another physician. Gabriel sat at the end of the long table, playing with a toy he had brought with him.

“We don’t know. That’s the short of it,” Dr. Jennings stated. “Every test that we perform indicates that Gabriel is a perfectly healthy and normal boy of four years old.”

“That’s the problem, Dr. Jennings. Gabriel is eight years old, not four.” Katie looked down the table towards Gabriel and continued. “He doesn’t grow, nothing, not his hair, his fingernails, toe nails, nothing grows.”

Another doctor who wore a lab coat that had Doctor Rawlings stitched on the chest with Genetics just below the name began to speak. “That’s the part that we are most concerned with. Your son’s tests indicate that at the cellular level he is growing at an extremely high rate. We’ve witnessed the manufacturing, growth, and death of cells within Gabriel. So we really don’t have an answer for you as to why he isn’t…. Well, aging if you want to call it that.”

“We’ll have to get the results of the rest of the cultures we’ve taken before we can even begin to know what direction to continue looking in.” Dr. Jennings leaned back in his chair as he spoke.

It was agreed that within two weeks the remaining results should be ready and they would all meet again.

Katie stood in the doorway of the conference room speaking to the doctors about future tests and schedules as Gabriel ran up and down the hallway with his airplane toy outstretched in his hand.

Dr. Rawlings tried his best to reassure Katie before leaving. "We'll get to the bottom of this," he remarked before walking away.

Katie could no longer hear Gabriel playing and looked down the hallway to see him speaking quietly to an elderly looking gentleman in a wheelchair who was waiting to get on an elevator.

“Gabriel, honey, come here please,” she called out and Gabriel quickly hurried back to her side.

As she made her way through the twists and turns of various hospital hallways leading to the parking lot, Katie thought about what she hadn’t said. Gabriel wasn’t the only one of the two of them whose hair, nails, or anything else she could think of was not growing. Katie had not trimmed a toenail, hair, or even shaved her legs in years.

She had begun to worry that an environmental cause of some sort had given them cancer or some other condition. She had their water tested, changed their diets, changed almost everything around them and still it had no effect.

In the car travelling back home, Gabriel asked, “Mommy, can we stop and get some chicken nuggets?”

“Yes, sweetie, we’ll get some.” Katie decided something to eat would probably do them both a world of good.

“Daddy likes chicken nuggets still,” Gabriel announced much the way a child blurts out information freely.

It felt as if an icicle had been shoved up Katie’s back when she realized what had been said. “Daddy, how do you know?” Katie tried to lead on the conversation.

“He told me at the hospital,” Gabriel stated in a matter of fact manner.

“You spoke with daddy at the hospital?” Katie questioned. “When honey?”

“He was in the wheelchair. He was waiting for the elevator,” Gabriel answered.

Katie’s fear began to subside as she realized who Gabriel was speaking of and stated, “Baby, that man was an old man. Your daddy is mommy’s age.”

“Not anymore,” Gabriel stated. “I took it from him for hurting you.”

Publication Date: 11-19-2010

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