Miracle Man Read Free Page A

to our house have seen it, they thought Bobby was catatonic.”
    Draper looked up from the notes he was taking. “When Bobby comes to, do you ask him about it?”
    Edith’s hands fidgeted. “Yes. He says, ‘I was just thinking about some things.’ Then, when I ask him what things, he says, ‘those things I’m reading about.’”
    Draper’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say, things he was reading about?”
    Edith nodded.
    “He’s four, correct?”
    Edith nodded again and Draper scribbled more notes.
    “Do you question him further?”
    “I ask him why he gets so quiet and still. I’ve told him it’s real spooky.”
    “And how does he respond to that, Mrs. Austin?”
    Edith shook her head. “He says he’s just concentrating.”
    “And what other issues are there?”
    “Bobby always slept much less than other children, even as an infant. And he never took naps. Then, starting about a year ago, almost every night, he has terrible nightmares. He comes running into our bed crying hysterically. He’s so agitated he’ll be shaking and sometimes even wets himself.”
    Draper put his pen down and leaned back in his worn leather chair, which squeaked loudly. “And what did your pediatrician, Dr. Stafford, say about all this?”
    As Edith was about to reply, Peter squeezed her hand and said, “Dr. Stafford told us not to worry. He said Bobby’s smart and imaginative and bad dreams are common at this age for kids like him. And he said Bobby’s trances are caused by his lack of sleep, that they’re just a sleep substitute—like some kind of ‘waking nap.’ He told us Bobby will outgrow these problems. We thought the time had come to see a specialist.”
    Tapping his pen against his folder, Draper asked Edith and Peter to bring Bobby into his office and wait in the reception area so he could speak with the boy alone. “I’m sure we won’t be long,” he said.
    His chin resting in his hand, Draper looked at the four year old who sat in front of him with his long hair and piercing light blue eyes. “So, Robert. I understand that you enjoy reading.”
    “It’s the passion of my life, Doctor.”
    Draper laughed. “The passion of your life. That’s quite a dramatic statement. And what are you reading now?”
    “Well, I only like to read non-fiction, particularly, astronomy, physics, math and chemistry. I’ve also just started reading a book called ‘Gray’s Anatomy.’”
    “Gray’s Anatomy?” Draper barely covered his mouth as he yawned, recalling how many times he had met with toddlers who supposedly read the New York Times. In his experience, driven parents were usually the ones who caused their kids’ problems. “That’s a book most medical students dread. It seems awfully advanced for a child of your age.” Walking over to his bookcase, Draper stretched to reach the top shelf and pulled down a heavy tome. Blowing the dust off the binding, he said, “So, is this the book that you’ve been reading?”
    Bobby smiled. “Yes, that’s it.”
    “How did you get a copy?”
    “I asked my Dad to get it for me from the library and he did.”
    “And why did you want it?”
    “I’m curious about the human body.”
    “Oh, is that so? Well, let’s have you read for me, and then I’ll ask you some questions about what you read.”
    Smiling smugly as he randomly opened to a page in the middle of the book, Draper put the volume down on a table in front of Bobby. Bobby stood on his toes so that he could see the page. The four year old began to read the tiny print fluently, complete with the proper pronunciation of medical Latin terms. His eyes narrowing, Draper scratched his chin. “Ok, Bobby. Now reading words on a page is one thing. But understanding them is quite another. So tell me the meaning of what you just read.”
    Bobby gave Draper a dissertation on not only what he had just read, but how it tied it into aspects of the first five chapters of the book which he had read previously on his own. By