“Darling, I’ve been waiting for you, my whole life” she whispered tenderly as she rocked her younger, much smaller version of herself in her arms. She rocked him carefully and gently whilst kissing his soft head that felt like soft marshmallows beneath her cracked lips. She stroked his fair haired head, slowly and lovingly.
Everyone told her that she wouldn’t be able to do it " to have a baby at 41, but she did it, with the help of IVF. She went against the odds and had her first, only and healthy child. Well, he was healthy - until he turned 10.
Phaedra and Henry sat, silently in the doctor’s office. Phaedra sat up straight, impatiently twiddling her thumbs as Henry sat in his seat, curiously looking around the room with the occasional
“Mum what’s that?”
To which she gave a half hearted answer as the doctor sat at his computer, aggressively typing away at his key board with the occasional “hmm” or “ahh” escaping his pale lips.
Phaedra had just about had enough of waiting when the doctor finally swung around on his office chair to face the mother and son that sat in his small shoe box like office.
He turned to Henry and brought his hands together in a prayer position.
“Okay, Henry, I’m going to ask you some questions, is that okay?” the doctor kindly asked.
Henry looked at his mother, pushed his falling Harry Potter like glasses onto the bridge of his nose and gave her a look that asked her for the answer to which she with a nod.
“Yes” he smiled.
“Okay” said the doctor.
“What’s your name?”
“Henry McMillan, what’s yours?” he smiled politely.
The doctor was taken aback as his patients never exchanged pleasantries with him during his questionnaires.
“Mines Henry as well” the doctor said, smiling back.
The boys face lit up.
“What’s your age, Henry?”
He extended his open hands to the doctor to show he’s 10.
“My mum says I’m this many”
“But how old do you think you are?” the doctor said, more concerned than taken aback.
Henry extends one open hand to the doctor and made the thumbs up with the other, showing he was 6.
“I’m this many”
“Okay” he said slowly.
“Do you remember the last thing you’ve had to eat?”
Henry shook his head.
The boy turned to his mum, pushed his Harry Potter like glasses back up on the bridge of his nose,
“Mum, why are we here?” he whined.
The doctor frowned, got up from his office chair, and crouched down in front of Henry who was now standing. He put his left hand on Henry’s shoulder.
“Don’t you remember why you’re here, Henry?” he looked into the small boy’s eyes which stared into his own eyes, as though he was an insignificant speck of dust.
“Who are you?” he asked innocently.
The doctor sighed sadly, and stood up to sit in his office chair.
He looked over to Phaedra, with guilt dancing the tango in his eyes.
He leaned in to her, and said;
“I’ll need to do some more tests, but I’m so sorry, Ms McMillan... Henry’s showing signs of onset dementia... I’m sorry, I really am.” His sincerity didn’t match his eyes; his eyes looked as tortured as a Jew in a concentration camp, struggling to breathe in the gassing chamber.
Phaedra brought her wrinkling hands to her face and hung her head between her legs and let out a loud and heavy sob. The doctor, Henry grabbed at her shoulder and beckoned Henry over to his mother and draped his arms over his mother. He then realised his mother was crying and hugged her tighter.
“Why are you crying mummy?” he cried.
At the sound of his voice, she sat up, looked into his empty blue eyes and sniffled.
“Oh no reason, darling” she wiped at her red and puffy eyes. “Come here, you” she smiled sadly as she held her arms open.
He walked into her arms and squeezed her long and tight. She held onto him for dear life, like a hiker who had ended up falling off the cliff face and has nothing to grab onto but a tree branch poking out the side of the cliff.
“There’s a procedure” the doctor blurted, feeling sorry for the woman.
”It’s only a prototype, but one of the doctors here has apparently developed a procedure for early onset dementia and needs someone to test it on, now, it may or may not be a long shot... I have faith in this doctor. He’s a great doctor, and a great man”
Phaedra attacks Doctor Henry with concerned questions asking whether it’d be safe for her son, or why hadn’t it been tested just yet.
“Now, Ms McMillan I know you’re concerned but it’s completely safe. Henry will come in twice every month, for 3 years.”
Phaedra opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor continued on. “Yes, I know it is quite a long time, but you see Ms McMillan it’d be worth it! Wouldn’t it?”
Phaedra was about to answer his question, to only be interrupted again. “Now, you must be wondering what the procedure entails. What will you do during this procedure? You must be asking yourself. The procedure will include, injections of a new drug that temporarily eradicates symptoms of early onset dementia, and helping him learn and re-gain his memory.” The doctor flashed a charming smile. Phaedra looked at him, with unsureness lingering on her face which made the corner of her red coated lips twitch.
“How many times have you rehearsed that?”
“Quite... a few...” He said, his confidence diminishing some. Phaedra looked to her little boy who sat in his chair nibbling on his lip like a timid animal does to its food. She smiled kindly at the doctor.
“We’ll do it”
“Great” smiled Henry, with a twinge of guilt hiding in his eyes.