Читать книгу LaCost - Patrick Rizio - Страница 19

She was inherently attracted by the dome. Most buildings were all 90 degree corners. This one felt so much more natural. Having it located right on the lake allowed her to align the domed building in the foreground and look past it as far as the eye could see, and see nothing but water. Bright, shimmering, ever undulating water. She felt the wonder of it, the beauty of it, understanding its interconnectedness.

“Sarah! Sarah, this way dear. We must keep up with the other children. Hurry up now, stay together.”

Her exhilaration faded. She quietly walked up the stairs to the entrance of the building and waited in line with the rest of the kids.

Alison could see the bus at the front of the planetarium as she turned into the parking area. The class she taught at the Art Institute only allowed her twenty-five minutes to get here, and the traffic was, of course, awful.

Running towards the entrance, Alison searched the line of kids for Sarah. She was not hard to find. Standing quietly at the end of the line, head down, body language expressing the quiet sadness of one who doesn’t quite belong. Alison felt her heart swell. She wanted so badly to just run up and throw her arms around that beautiful little girl.

When the room darkened and the sky of the planetarium came into view, with the thousands of stars suddenly before her, Sarah experienced…wonder. Concentrated passionate wonder. A sensation complete and total. She had never actually looked into the night sky before. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have seen what she was seeing now. The light pollution from the city blocks out this kind of detail, this kind of brilliance. It seemed all of the heavens had opened up before her, and for the first time in her life she felt whole, she felt complete. She felt she belonged.

She felt she was home.

After the sky show the children were all taken to the planetarium’s restaurant for lunch. Most of the girls were whispering and staring at the young man sitting with their art teacher. Miss Russo had a boyfriend.

“The brain is an exceptionally greedy organ,” Jason explained. “It’s very high in fat and cholesterol and will sacrifice significant amounts of bodily function to keep its glucose level intact. Sarah’s brain, being many times more efficient than the norm, requires much higher glucose levels than normal. When she started to concentrate heavily, her brain simply pulled so much glucose out of her system it put her into shock. She was, quite literally, in a self-induced coma.”

“But this has never happened before,” Alison added.

“Not that we know of,” Jason answered.

“But I’ve worked with her for months and never seen any indication of, I mean, it was like someone turned her switch to off, and just like that, she was unconscious.”

Jason sipped his coffee.

“How about when she draws?” he asked.

Alison searched her memory carefully. She had usually paid more attention to Sarah’s drawings themselves than her physical condition when she was drawing them.

“Well, she always did seem rather quiet when she drew, but she was so incredibly withdrawn to begin with that I just never really noticed.”

They both looked over to Sarah, and found her looking back at them, (of course so were the rest of the girls at her table).

“I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think there is any change in her when she draws.”

Jason considered that for a moment.

“It would seem she picked up the drawing without a hitch. Possibly because, while her awareness skills are so considerable, her artistic ability is only average,” he answered.

“I don’t follow.”

“Look at it this way. You’ve seen Olympic sprinters run on T.V. right.”

“Sure.”

“OK. Now everyone knows these guys are tremendous athletes, exceptionally gifted.”

“Yes, these guys and girls are tremendous athletes,” Alison interjected. “What’s your point?”

“Just this,” he said smiling. “When these guys and girls were six months old, they couldn’t even walk, let alone run. What happened to Sarah is akin to trying to walk and falling down. As we mature, we learn how. Since her artistic ability is normal, when she draws only normal amounts of energy are required. I’m sure that ultimately her body will produce the proper amount of glucose when she needs it. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Well how much time?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it will take very long. She’s destined for big strides, not little steps.”

Alison looked over at Sarah again, and thought about what Jason had said. It was ironic how withdrawn and helpless she seemed, with the potential she had locked inside. Alison turned back to Jason and found him gazing intently in Sarah’s direction. She was returning his gaze, looking straight into his eyes. This unspoken understanding between these two, that had nurtured itself from their first moment, warmed Alison’s heart, but she also found herself feeling a little…jealous?

“What should we do about her testing?” Alison asked. “The orphanage would not look favorably on a repeat episode. They have the Department of Family Services giving them grief over what happened. I doubt if they’ll give permission for her to be tested again.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Jason answered. “D.F.S really doesn’t need that kind of publicity nowadays.”

“Well, what do we do, just give up the idea of her testing for a while?”

Jason thought for a moment.

“Maybe just for a little while, but first things first. What we really need to do is get her away from that orphanage,” he said looking away.

Alison saw that goofy half smile of his beginning to appear.

“I talked to Bob Schimmel the other day, he’s extremely well connected you know,”

Alison’s eyebrows went up. Jason continued, fighting the impulse to grin.

“He can’t arrange for a full adoption right away, that will take a little more time, even for him, but the foster parent idea you have is very doable. Just take care of the paper work and it’s a done deal.”

Alison stared at him, wide eyed, speechless. Finally, she blurted out, “But, how did you? We never talked. I mean, I didn’t say anything.”

Jason was smiling big time now, finding it rather amusing how the attractive young lady in front of him was trying to remember to breathe.

“Jason, are you serious?” Alison said, her voice rising. “God in heaven tell me you’re serious!”

“Oh, I’ve never been more serious.”

He took her hands in his.

“Bob Schimmel is a very powerful man. As a favor to me, he pulled some strings. His lawyers will be contacting you with the paperwork, but that’s only a formality. It’s done! In a couple of days Sarah will officially be your foster daughter.”

Alison had been thinking about this for some time now, but hadn’t said anything to anyone, not even Sarah. She was afraid that being single might make things harder, and she didn’t want to say anything until she did some checking to see if it would be possible. The thought of having that poor girl experience one more disappointment would just not…And look at him smiling! Him and his damned intuition, or whatever it was. The man was just infuriating. How dare he go ahead and…

That was when she kissed him.

She reached across the table, grabbed him by the shirt, and kissed him so hard his teeth rattled. The children reacted immediately upon seeing their teacher kiss her boyfriend. They were very surprised. The other two teachers were surprised. Jason was even surprised, (pleasantly). The only one not surprised, apparently, was Sarah. She just smiled quietly. She felt good right now, very good. Alison finally let go of Jason’s shirt, and sat back down.

“I suppose we should tell Sarah,” she said, taking a Kleenex from her purse to wipe the tears from her face.

“Yes, I suppose we should.”

“What do you think she’ll say?”

“Gee I don’t know,” Jason said grinning from ear to ear, “What do you think?”