Inception by J R Tate

Author:J R Tate [Tate, J R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rusty Bucket Publishing
Published: 2020-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“How are you feeling, bud?” Charlie tousled Ryan’s hair. The boy was pale, his green eyes not nearly as bright as they usually were. He didn’t even break a smile when he got out of Mia’s car, clutching his stuffed dog as he balanced his backpack.

“I’m fine,” Ryan mumbled, slowly walking up the sidewalk to the porch.

Charlie waited on the curb with Mia, still livid about Ryan’s allergic reaction and the lack of medical intervention to help him. “He doesn’t look so good, Mia.”

Mia kept her eyes on their son, unwilling to make eye contact with Charlie. “I know. But he did sleep all night and ate a good breakfast this morning. I kept him home from school today. I even called his regular doctor. Same story—no EpiPens.”

Charlie leaned on the car, his stomach in knots at the sight of his son. “What are we going to do? My grocery list doesn’t allow nondairy products. There’s nothing catering to his allergies. And why in the hell did the school give him milk when they know he’s got the allergy? The teachers know that.”

“I asked the principal why it happened. He said it’s all they had available and that they’re being monitored by someone from Millstone’s people. Every child is required to be served a cup of milk at breakfast and lunch, and all soy, almond, and any other specialty milk has been confiscated from them.”

“Ryan knows not to drink it. What did they do, pour it down his throat?” The idea sounded ridiculous, but Charlie couldn’t discount it. They had been forced to do a lot of things that didn’t make sense, and the new rules and laws obviously weren’t limited to just the adults. Their children were involved in this now too.

“Ask him. I don’t know why he did it. He’s hardly said anything to me.” Mia folded her arms over her chest. “What are we supposed to do? Pray away the allergies he has? Every EpiPen I had is gone. The doctors won’t give me any. And the school is issuing regular food. If he eats peanut butter…” She closed her eyes.

“It’ll kill him.” Charlie finished her sentence, the knot in his stomach growing. “Son of a bitch. How long can we keep him out of school until we can figure all of this out?”

Mia shrugged. “I guess as long as we want to. Maybe I can get his doctor to write a note for however long you want to keep him out. It was an extreme reaction. He really does need to recover.”

Charlie pushed off the car and stepped toward the curb. “Do that. See if he can. I’ll keep him tonight. He can come hang out at the shop with me tomorrow. Skipping school and working on cars will probably cheer him up some.”

Mia looked down, and for the first time in a long time, Charlie saw the vulnerability in his ex-wife. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a civil conversation. When it came to their child, civility was important.

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