Roommates

Untitled Part 10

20 YEARS LATER

"Doctor Winchester? Your four thirty is here."

Dean looked up from the chart he was updating to see his secretary, Cynthia, standing in the doorway.

"Parents, right? Show them in."

"Yes. I'll send them in." She closed the door but a minute later it was opening again and a couple was walking in. Dean closed the chart he'd been working on and smiled at the two men who had just walked in. Standing up he leaned forward and offered his hand.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Winchester. I understand you adopted Jenny as a newborn and she's displaying some behavioral issues the last year or so that you're concerned about, is that right?"

Dean knew the parents to be Jay and Carter Forrester but he wasn't sure who was who. "Why don't we start with your names?"

"I'm Jay." The man with a head full of curly black hair and eyes so dark brown they were almost black said as he shook Dean's hand. "This is my husband, Carter." He nodded towards the other man. Dean shook Carter's hand as well before sitting back down. He pulled out a chart, one sent over from Jenny Forrester's regular physician. There were detailed notes regarding her pediatrician's concerns that the two-year-old was autistic.

"Yes, and Doctor Keller referred us to you, said you were the leading expert in your field," Carter said.

"I am. So from what I've read, she is two years old but is not yet talking, and she's been tested already for hearing loss and she can hear just fine. However she has some issues such as rocking and flapping her hands, is that right?"

Jay frowned as he nodded. "She was such a quiet baby, always kept to herself. Loves puzzles. She'll sit for hours just rocking and solving them. If her daily routine gets disrupted she throws one mother of a tantrum. We've suspected for a while now that she might be autistic, but we want to get her officially diagnosed."

"Well, it would probably be easier on Jenny if I come to her rather than forcing her to come in here. Seeing her in her home surroundings often gives me better insight as to how a child's mind works. We can set up a time where you are both home and I can come and meet her. Would that work better for you?" Dean asked. Both men looked relieved. It was clear that neither of them looked forward to hauling a temperamental two-year-old to his office.

"Yes, and any time between nine a.m. and nine p.m. would be fine," Carter said.

"Alright. Talk to my secretary about setting up a time this week where I can come and meet her and we'll go from there." Dean jotted a couple of notes down in Jenny's file, reminders to himself of things he wanted to test the little girl for.

"Uh, we heard a rumor over at the hospital. It was actually the reason we decided to choose you over the other specialist we were referred to," Jay said. Dean set his pen down and looked up.

"I'm sure you did."

"Is your husband...autistic?" Carter asked.

"He has high functioning Asperger's. So does my youngest brother. My middle brother adopted a child four years ago that is severely autistic too. The child of a friend of his that died in an accident. I have two children myself and my daughter Madison is on the spectrum. So are my middle brother and I as well. It's much more common than people think, and it's not a death sentence. It is most certainly not the end of the world. My nephew Grayson is an amazing and highly intelligent child. Nonverbal, but he's a computer genius. We use a program that a friend of mine created in order to converse with him. He understands perfectly what we are saying and responds through the program. It opened up a whole new world for him. There are advances being made all the time, and therapy is making more advances as well. It's a whole new world that wasn't available years ago. My husband? I met him in medical school. He is a doctor as well, specializing in pediatric oncology. Jenny is going to grow up to be a happy, healthy adult. We'll take this one step at a time," Dean told them. Both men seemed relieved and he was glad for that. They discussed a few more concerns they had about Jenny before the men left. Cynthia reappeared as Dean was finishing up the last notes in Jenny Forrester's file.