1102. About health, 9
(Armylè)
Of course the dean of medicine remembered.
Of course he expected there could be a day when a lady Gains would ask to meet with him for medical advice.
He had done everything in his power to bury everything about Prume’s medical condition and files.
All the researches, all the analyses, legal or otherwise. All the correlations to other medical conditions noticed in the city this past decade or so. The fake names he used for some of them. All the biological correlations he had mapped, and then destroyed.
But Prume was still alive, and he couldn’t erase everything from her file.
At first, he must have been unsure of what to say to me. He didn’t know anything about me.
He knew a few people had done too much and raised risky suspicions. A doctor overshooting medication levels to bring to light some things that would have remained hidden otherwise. He had been disgraced and banned from the medical order.
Then Sam, not letting go, continuing to ask questions, oblivious to the hazards from the true conclusion.
He had been working and balancing things on a thin edge, always too close to crumbling for his satisfaction. That one had been quiet for a few years, and now, once more and again... She came to dig for dangerous answers or wastes. He had erased all the evidences he had been able to clean along the path and time given to him.
He must have thought that Samanthine had no realisation of the backfiring she could cause with her naïve altruistic drive. And now, she had sent me directly to him, almost as an insult to his previous behaviour. Deal with me face to face now Sam meant to say...
He wanted to keep the secrets, but I was no dupe.
He must have been a little annoyed figuring out what to say to me, to remain evasive while calming the troubled mother of a child who does not grow any longer.
I arrived smiling slightly. He looked very old, but not senile.
We sat and began chatting. I could tell he was quite unhappy to see me and be forced addressing this subject. For now I continued playing the innocent part.
A - My friend told me you could help maybe... I’d like her to grow normally.
- Coppelnheart... I can’t tell you anything new about your daughter’s condition or nature.
A - Nature?
- Slip of the tongue...
I guess he saw through my posture and smile. He sighed, chuckled and raised his head. He knew I knew. What did we know? Good guesses and intuitions let’s say.
- I only have one meaningful question for you Madam Gains. Just one. Depending from your answer, I will tell you what is best to do for your daughter. There will be no going back and no more things I will be able to do for you afterward. Understood?
I didn’t expect this weight of discussion, or just a little bit maybe. He was looking far more serious now.
I felt that cold shiver along my shoulder blades. As if I wasn’t alone all this time.
I raised clearer eyes to him. I was guessing that here we could speak openly.
A - Very well.
- Then what is it you really want? Above everything else in your life and theirs? Your upmost wish. What is it?
A - I want...
I closed my eyes and let the ghosts run wild for a moment. We all know what we’re meant to answer as citizens, and how we feel as people. There’s not really any surprise.
We all believe in a greater good, until it comes to harm our personal life. Not everyone will be a hero ready to sacrifice their life and their children for others. It’s the job of people like him and the politicians above to prioritise the safety of the society above the individual. I’m no hero...
A - I want my daughters to be happy. Like any other human.
- Your daughter is not human.
What?
- Not in the biological sense you’d expect I mean. Call it a slip of the tongue again... Her body is not normal. And it shouldn’t prevent her from reaching a form of happiness anyway, don’t you agree? Our medicine will not be able to normalise her body. We cannot help her, and we shouldn’t try to. Do you see why?
A - Because you will never let her go...
- Today, that is the only thing we can do. To study her. Because she shows the bearing of something much wider and sinister. If we start digging, we will leave nothing...
I had long lost my polite smile now.
I had been right...
- If you want her to be happy, don’t let anything be done on her. The bare minimum to survive if she’s hurt, and never give anything else anymore. If her file reaches my colleagues or higher levels than me, her life will vanish in a laboratory of the health ministry.
A - So you realised... What her body can do?
- It’s not just about her, it’s about how our city is built to function. She is a potential threat. The medical order and the health ministry are there to quarantine and study things like that, until there’s nothing left to learn or it is deemed safe. And our level of science today, will not deem Prume to be safe to roam in the city.
A - Then why... Why did you protect her instead of the city?
This was a grim point to lay bare.
Because there wouldn’t be many possible reasons.
Like me, he was no patriotic hero, however Prume wasn’t his child.
He sighed.
- Because... What happens if we can’t figure it out? That we are missing a technology or science to explain or help it... You can guess.
I can guess.
A - Did we really go that far?
- Have you heard of other cases like her? Since about the change of calendar, there have been an increasing number of them. Diseases we can’t treat just as well. Embryogenesis successes dropping. And some children born with new deficiencies, or further oddities... Our genetic pool isn’t immense, but it’s more than consanguinity that is hitting us already. It’s something else. And most of the time, embryos don’t survive.
I tried to think, but all I could find in my head was Prume’s bright smile.
She’s been the lucky one?
A - So what kind of disease is it?
- It’s not a disease... I can’t tell what she is. What she has I mean... The similar cases I’ve seen never lasted as long. What you need to understand, is our city will not bargain one citizen’s life against everyone else’s health.
A - I get that but...
- Sacrifices are sometimes necessaries. It’s medical. It’s an immune reaction. Sometimes we will digest the outliers to better fare against the extreme ends. It’s still rare. We’re still pretty tolerant. I don’t think we have reached nearly a vicious stage at all. And I’m here to avoid that other end as well. Just... Beware.
A - I should avoid her more medical care? Even if it costs her adulthood or condemns her later?
- If you want her to be happy, it will have to be in this limited health and freedom. Otherwise giving her to the city, she will never recover. Any chance you take for her through our medical system, will risk being her last. From what I’ve learned, I don’t see anything that would be a danger for anyone else. That is the only reason why I’ve chosen to let her go. But next time, someone else might prefer to be more careful facing the unknown.
I felt cold and pained. I bowed.
A - I’m grateful... I don’t know how to thank you.
- Just keep her happy.
~
I left a little more troubled than I would have expected.
The city was doing its best to stand healthily, and people were doing their best to balance the optimum good and safety for everyone. People better than me.
I returned home feeling weird and concerned.
I called the girls, soon thirteen years old.
I told them everything. As much as it pained me.
Prume wouldn’t get anything to help her grow, and wouldn’t return to the hospital unless it was a matter of life and death. And Elyne herself should be more careful from now on.
We have to lie, because something in their blood in no longer the same. It doesn’t appear to be a disease that might spread, and that was why we were still free. But any wise and careful meta-organism would refuse to let things like that roam free.
A - I want you to be happy. And I’m sorry it will mean we have to hide you a little from the health ministry.
P - So... I’m not human?
A - Of course you are human! You’re my sweet daughter...
I wanted to say that she even looked just like me when I had been a young child, but held it. Because on her side, Elyne did not. She had familiarity in her phenotype, but we didn’t look alike as much as we should...
This was a painful moment and I hugged them tight.
They would help each other, I would help them, and they had good friends. They were not alone, but it still was a shocking moment for both of them and me. The threat was minimal since the health ministry wasn’t especially looking for them. They just had to be careful and remain in good health and they would live fine. But it still felt awful, raising painful questions. Was it anyone’s fault? Should we be wary of Samanthine or others?
Prume looked more downtrodden than ever. I couldn’t help her, and she would need to grow up accepting what her body would be.
I kissed her and we all went for a walk to think about something else.
~
