Luthor excerpt
“What can you do for him?”
“I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him. Joshua, I feel that the best thing you and Amanda could do is give the baby up to people who would be better prepared to look after him. People more qualified in dealing with disabled children. Perhaps they could find ways to fix some of his problems.”
Joshua stood again and walked to the doorway, looking down the hallway in one direction then the other. Looking for something, but not looking for anything at all.
“No, we can't do that. That would kill Amanda. She wouldn't understand. She's not strong enough. She's been through too much already. No, she . . . she needs this baby.” Joshua turned and looked again at Dr. Keith. “I want to see her.”
“I have to tell you. Amanda was insistent upon seeing the baby. We couldn't refuse her. She thought we had taken him away from her. He's with her now.”
Joshua looked at the floor, examining the black and white checkered tiles. “You let her see him? But you think we should give him up?” He looked at Dr. Keith again. “How were you planning on getting him away from her?”
The doctor began to answer, but Joshua stopped him. “So Amanda knows what's wrong with him? She understands the problems?”
“We told her beforehand, of course. The baby was in incubation, and we were going to use that as an excuse for her not to be able to see him, because he was in NICU. But the child is strong and didn't need any extra care.” This was a fact the doctor himself didn’t understand. But it would be the first of many incomprehensible things he would have to endure in the years to come. “We had to let her have her son.”
“Of course you did. But that didn't answer my question. Take me to her.”
Dr. Keith led the way as he wondered which question Joshua was speaking of. The one about taking the child from Amanda? Or the one about whether or not Amanda knew about the deformities to her child? Or whether she understood? Dr. Keith hated this night, and couldn't wait for its conclusion. In all of his years, he had never hated his job more than he did now.
Joshua was led to the intensive care unit. He stood in the doorway of Amanda's room and once again stared at her. But this time, she was not sweaty and covered in green sheets. This time, she was smiling and calm, holding her baby. She looked up and motioned for him to come closer. Joshua walked closer and looked down at the bundle of blankets in his sister’s arms. Tears formed in his eyes again as he looked at the child.
The head was larger than it should have been—not terribly, but enough to make a noticeable difference. The nose was slightly twisted and flatter than normal. And the eyes . . . the eyes were as black as night. As black as a shark’s. They had no color. Joshua had never seen a pair of eyes like them before.
But that was not the worst of it.
It was the skin.
It was the skin that was worse than what Joshua had expected. It was the skin that turned his stomach, caused his lip to quiver. The dryness was so severe that it caused the skin to take on the appearance of scales. The child looked reptilian. And the color was wrong. It was not pink like a baby's skin. No, the color was almost grayish. Joshua turned his face away.
“Look at him, Josh,” Amanda said. “Look at him and see what's on the inside . . . an angel.”
He turned again to look at his sister. She did understand. She did understand that their son was a freak. But she did not seem to care.
How could she not care?
“We made him together, Josh. Look at our son.” Her voice was so calm. Joshua began to sob again. Amanda did not seem to notice.
“Why did this happen?” he asked.
“Josh, I thought of a name for our baby.”
He continued to cry as he thought of their past, as his mind soared through the years, trying to find a reason—a reason for the disaster before him.
“I want to
name our child,” Amanda continued as Joshua remembered how it all began, “Luthor.”
Great book! I enjoyed it a lot. I love Luthor! Thank you so much💜. Stay safe!
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