The Rescue Read Free Page B

he asked her. She said she didn't want anything, she just thought he should know. He would fight if she demanded child support payments, he said. She said she didn't expect that from him, but she needed to know if he wanted to be involved in the child's life. She listened to the sound of his breaths on the other end. No, he finally said. He was engaged to someone else.
    She'd never spoken to him again.
    In truth, it was easier to defend Kyle to a doctor than it was to herself. In truth, she was more worried than she let on. Even though he'd improved, the language ability of a two-year-old wasn't much to cheer about. Kyle would be five in October.
    Still, she refused to give up on him. She would never give up, even though working with him was the hardest thing she'd ever done. Not only did she do the regular things-make his meals, take him to parks, play with him in the living room, show him new places-but she also drilled him on the mechanics of speech for four hours a day, six days a week. His progression, though undeniable since she'd begun with him, was hardly linear. Some days he said everything she asked him to, some days he didn't. Some days he could comprehend new things easily, other days he seemed further behind than ever. Most of the time he could answer "what" and "where" type questions; "how" and "why" questions were still incomprehensible. As for conversation, the flow of reason between two individuals, it was still nothing but a scientific hypothesis, far beyond his ability.
    Yesterday they'd spent the afternoon on the banks of the Chowan River. He enjoyed watching the boats as they cut through the water on the way to Batchelor Bay, and it provided a change from his normal routine. Usually, when they worked, he was strapped in a chair in the living room. The chair helped him focus.
    She'd picked a beautiful spot. Mockernut hickory trees lined the banks, Christmas ferns were more common than mosquitoes. They were sitting in a clover patch, just the two of them. Kyle was staring at the water. Denise carefully logged his progress in a notebook and finished jotting down the latest information. Without looking up, she asked: "Do you see any boats, sweetie?"
    Kyle didn't answer. Instead he lifted a tiny jet in the air, pretending to make it fly. One eye was closed, the other was focused on the toy in his hand.
    "Kyle, honey, do you see any boats?"
    He made a tiny, rushing sound with his throat, the sounds of a make-believe engine surging in throttle. He wasn't paying attention to her.
    She looked out over the water. No boats in sight. She reached over and touched his hand, making sure she had his attention.
    "Kyle? Say, 'I don't see any boats.' "
    "Airplane." (Owpwane)
    "I know it's an airplane. Say, 'I don't see any boats.' "
    He raised the toy a little higher, one eye still focused on it. After a moment he spoke again.
    "Jet airplane." (Jet owpwane)
    "Yes, you're holding an airplane."
    "Jet airplane." (Jet owpwane)
    She sighed. "Yes, a jet airplane."
    "Owpwane."
    She looked at his face, so perfect, so beautiful, so normal looking. She used her finger to turn his face toward hers.
    "Even though we're outside, we still have to work, okay? . . . You have to say what I tell you to, or we go back to the living room, to your chair. You don't want to do that, do you?"
    Kyle didn't like his chair. Once strapped in, he couldn't get away, and no child-Kyle included-enjoyed something like that. Still, Kyle moved the toy airplane back and forth with measured concentration, keeping it aligned with an imaginary horizon.
    Denise tried again.
    "Say, 'I don't see any boats.' "
    Nothing.
    She pulled a tiny piece of candy from her coat pocket.
    Kyle saw it and reached for it. She kept it out of his grasp.
    "Kyle? Say, 'I don't see any boats.' "
    It was like pulling teeth, but the words finally came out.
    He whispered, "I don't see any boats." (Duh see a-ee boat)
    Denise leaned in and kissed him, then gave him the candy. "That's right,