✅ Younger Than You Think?

1: Hospital

This chapter is dedicated to Ross, with thanks again for all of your support on Patreon.

"It's going to stunt her growth."

The words would be burned into Iriña's memory forever; just like most of her life. Later, she didn't know if she even remembered this conversation, or if it was something her parents had told her about later. Even if she had remembered the sounds, she probably wasn't old enough to take in the meaning of the words at that point. But years in the future, thinking about childhood, Iriña's mind would always come to this exact moment when she tried to consider her earliest memory.

"Why does that matter?" snapped her mother. She had tears in her eyes, and it was clear she hadn't slept. She had been sitting in a hard plastic chair, watching her baby intently as the tiny body convulsed.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Blake. But we have to inform you of possible side effects before changing medication. And I know that in this case it's probably irrelevant, but..."

"Will it work?"

"Possibly. There have been studies showing a significant improvement in memory recollection, but those tests are for adults with chronic insomnia. It's never been tested in children because of–"

"Stunted growth. Right. I think that's better than the other thing. If it works."

"I'm afraid we won't know until we try it," another doctor repeated what his colleague had told them. "I think that it is the best course of action at this point, but we are just guessing at this point. Infants with Cullen-Wellerman Syndrome rarely–"

"Chad?" Mrs Blake turned to an older man by her side. Over the last month, the man next door had become the one she turned to when she couldn't make a decision. He could have been just another doctor, but she already knew that he would put patients' health ahead of corporate profits, or his own career. She trusted that he only wanted to curre people, and that made his opinion one she could rely on. "What should I do?"

"Let's see if I've got this right. CWS means the baby can't sleep. This causes toxins to build up in her brain to dangerous levels. The neurological effects of long periods without sleep seem to be decreased in CWS patients, but there is no empirical data on this." He paused to glance at one of the junior doctors who had opened his mouth to respond, and carried on regardless. "Nevertheless, the hormonal consequences of a week without sleep will usually be fatal. You have attempted to mitigate this by sedating the child, but this causes vomiting, pain, seizures, and brain damage if overused. You're trying to find a compromise between the consequences of not sleeping, and the consequences of sedation. And the longest a child has survived with this condition is... five months."

The doctor nodded sadly. To one side of the room, Iriña's eyes followed their movement. She was tiny now, too young to be considered a person by anyone but her mother. They didn't know how intelligent she was, but she looked at them as if she was trying to understand the world.

"And you have a new medication. Which may be able to help with the toxins in her brain, so that she can survive longer without sleep. But you can only use it if her parents request it, because drugs that inhibit growth can't be offered to children."

Again, the nods.

"I've read the data sheets, and I also noted that there was some suggestion of altered brain activity as a result of this treatment. But nothing we can confirm just yet. And in this case, I would say that six months with stunted growth is preferable to five months without. More time for us to find something better."

"I'm sorry," the doctor shook his head. "This is all there is. Five months or six, but there isn't any more."

"I won't believe that. And as much as I've fought against research on one particular medication over the last three years, I wonder if CWS might constitute a legitimate use for it. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm looking at your daughter as an experimental subject, but–"

"No, you're right," Mrs Blake nodded. "Her life's going to be so short. If there's any chance you can change that, then do your experiments. Tell the doctors when you have something for them to try. And for now, we do what we can to keep her alive. Even if that means stunted growth."

She picked up baby Iriña, and looked into deep green eyes that could already focus on her face. The child might be angry about her size when she grew up, but if she could grow up then it would be worthwhile.