Finding You by Giselle Green

Author:Giselle Green
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Yule Press
Published: 2014-03-28T07:00:00+00:00

26 - Julia

‘I’m not sure this was such a good idea, J.’ Charlie and I are sitting in the café area of the St Catherine’s Paediatric Unit. After an hour-long session of questions while some of Dr Noble’s team observed Hadyn at play, a couple of the team have now asked to take Hadyn for some cognitive tests without us being in front. It’s giving Charlie and me a short break to re-group, but I can see Charlie’s come away looking upset and slightly shocked.

At the moment, I’m not entirely sure why.

‘But ... they’re lovely, friendly people aren’t they?’ I enthuse. They were certainly listening intently when I detailed all my concerns just now. ‘I got the feeling maybe ... they’d seen cases like Hadyn’s before,’ I run on. ‘Maybe children get separated from their parents more than we think and they see this reaction?’ And maybe—finally—we’ve found somewhere where we can get some sensible advice.

‘I think they ...’ Charlie draws in a breath, and I can see he’s just swallowed the first answer that came into his mind. ‘They’ve listened to us and they’re observing him. It’s what I expected.’

I lean in a bit closer, waiting for the but. ‘You’re not entirely happy though, Charlie?’

‘No.’ He takes a sip of his coffee and his lips curl. It’s cold, the milk congealing slightly on the top. ‘If I tell you the truth, I’m not. Because I can already see where this is going.’

‘You can?’ I look at him blankly.

‘You do realise what we’re doing here, don’t you, J?’ He frowns slightly and moves in a little closer as a group of interns mosey along by us, laughing and bantering, some of the girls lingering to do a double-take at Charlie as they pass. ‘We’re here because they’re looking for something, but the trouble is, as Pippa put it to me, they think they already know what they’re looking for.’

‘Well. What?’

‘Evidence of a pervasive developmental disorder.’

‘A pervasive ...’ Just that word on its own is enough to set my teeth on edge. What does that mean, pervasive? ‘That doesn’t sound very good, Charlie.’

‘It isn’t. And that’s not what’s wrong with him. With the best will in the world, I think we’re in the wrong place.’

My heart sinks. ‘So why aren’t we telling them ...’ I glance over my shoulder in case any of the team are on the way to fetch us back, but all’s clear. ‘Why aren’t we emphasizing everything that they may not be taking into account? Like the abduction, for instance. They know of it. They mentioned it when we first came in but since then it’s all been questions about his development and when did he reach his milestones—half of which I can’t answer because I wasn’t around for them.’ I grind to a halt, realising that I’ve started talking very fast and Charlie looks directly into my eyes.

Without any words exchanged between us, I can hear his thoughts, crystal clear: You know what, he’s considering saying to me, right now I’m thinking that maybe we shouldn’t even have come here.

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