Abe or The Goldfinch

Chapter 7

Earth-4076361

Rebecca and Boris enter the hospital, where they are soon intercepted by Amir. She asks him desperately - Where is... where is Abe? -

He tries to calm her down saying - He is in that room, calm down, they already treated him, he is calmer, but we must not agitate him for now...-

She, already breathing better, reproaches him - I told you it was stupid, we should have taken him to a specialist weeks ago...- Amir defends himself saying - This had nothing to do with yoga, you didn't see it, his skin was cold, he kept shaking and shaking, and... and...-

Rebecca, noticing his condition, hugs him, he reciprocates the gesture and once he calms down, she asks -What did the doctors say?-

He moves away a little and answers -They are doing tests, I asked for... I asked for an antidoping test-

She looks at him, shocked, and whispers angrily -How could you think of th...?- He just stares at her and asks -Tell me it didn't cross your mind too?- pointing with his head at Boris who was far away from them, leaning against a wall.

Rebecca is about to answer something when an Asian woman in a white coat approaches them and Amir introduces them -honey, this is Dr. Chi Park- they both shake hands and the mother asks scared -do you know something yet?-

She checks her tablet and says -there doesn't seem to be anything abnormal in the tests, I don't want to sound rude but your last names lead me to believe...-

Amira nods and answers -yes, I'm of Muslim origin and my wife is Jewish, a doctor- although reluctantly, he probably only answered because he knew it could be important.

Dr. Park nods and says -look, being totally honest, I think this may come from an anxiety attack, it is unusual for it to be so violent, but it can happen, I will direct you to the psychiatrist for a more exhaustive evaluation, perhaps it would be convenient for him to take medication for some time-

That makes both of them move visibly uncomfortable, and Rebecca mentions -no, we would prefer something a little less "invasive"...- the doctor answers -I am sure that something can be adjusted to your needs, and I assure you that it will not be for a long time... but what I would recommend would be to try to lower your anxiety level as much as possible-

To which this time they both answered affirmatively, Amir uncomfortably asks -and regarding the test you requested...?- the doctor smiles and answers -I assure you Mr. Odeh that your son does not even smoke cigarettes in secret... something surprising in a boy of his age, to be honest, you have done a good job-

After the doctor left, Rebecca asked, somewhat annoyed -Happy now?- Amir replied -You can't tell me you didn't feel calmer too-

She reluctantly nodded, she couldn't help her doubts, she wanted to be fair with Boris but... suddenly she was speechless and asked, scared, -Where is Boris?-

They both looked around in fear, noticing that the Slavic boy had disappeared, when they heard his voice in a very low tone, they slowly approached the room and saw the boy hugging a very comfortably asleep Abe in his arms, both in bed, with the older boy whispering that song almost in the younger boy's ear.

Both parents looked at each other, visibly uncomfortable, and after a slight but intense competition of glances... they closed the door.

Well, I know I've been neglecting this story for a while, but I have a good reason for that, I got a sudden burst of inspiration, I already have the next phase that we'll see very well planned, I don't want to salt it out so for now it will have to wait.

Criticism and comments are welcome.