Sophie and Adam waited outside the pod while Danny had
his third eye exam. When the ophthalmologist was done, he
called the two of them over. In his brusque manner, he reported
that Danny’s eyes were getting worse.
Sophie, fearing this conversation was only going to get worse,
called out to Kim. Kim saw the ophthalmologist, sized up the sit
uation, and came over to put her arm around Sophie.
“It’s all right, Sophie. I’m here.”
They stood next to Danny’s incubator.
“You might want to sit down, Mr. and Mrs. Young.”
Adam remained standing. Sophie sat, dreading what was
coming.
“I’m very concerned about your son’s eyes. They’re not devel
oping as well as I had hoped. There have been some changes
between his second exam and today’s exam—changes that aren’t
good.”
Sophie held her breath.
“You should be prepared for the likelihood that your son is
going to have some serious vision problems.”
Sophie exhaled. “We’ve been told by the doctors that he’ll
probably need to wear glasses. That’s what you mean, right?”
“I don’t think you understand. It’s quite possible that your
son could be blind.”
Sophie felt dizzy. She leaned into Kim, then started to hyper
ventilate. Adam dropped into the chair next to her.
182
JULIE HATCH
“Did you say blind?” Sophie squeaked out.
“It’s too early to say for sure, but I think it’s a very real
possibility.”
The doctor quickly packed up his examining equipment and
left the pod, leaving the stunned parents in Kim’s hands.
“How can this be happening?” exclaimed Sophie. “Our son is
going to be blind?”
“That’s just a worst-case scenario,” Kim said, trying to be
optimistic. “His eyes aren’t done developing yet. They could still
be okay. I’ve seen that happen with other babies.”
Sophie and Adam looked at Kim.
“Really? Is that true?” Sophie turned to Danny, put her hands
in front of his face, and moved them around quickly, watching for
a reaction. He blinked.
“There! Did you see that?” Excited, she said, “He blinked! He
can see my hands.” She put her hands down. He blinked again.
Disappointed, she added, “Or maybe he didn’t see my hands at
all.” She turned to Adam. “Oh my God. He can’t be blind. Adam,
he can’t be blind!”
“Sophie, we have to give it time,” Kim said. “Over the next
month, six months, even a year, there’s time for his eyes to
improve. You’ve just got to be patient. Plus, surgery may be an
option too.”
“I can’t believe this. I can’t fucking believe this whole night
mare,” Sophie fumed
