CHAPTER ELEVEN
Matthew stood behind them all, glowing in his ethereal light. The children didn’t even question it. They walked toward him and smiled. As he always did, he touched each one, kissing their foreheads.
“Pops, did you know about these kids?” asked Gaspar.
“No. Not in the way you think. I knew that children like this existed but I had not met these children before.”
“They seem like they know you,” said Nine.
“No. They trust me because somehow they understand me and what I am. Their minds cannot be explained. Stop attempting to do so,” said Matthew.
“Matthew, we won’t be experimenting on these children, I can assure you. We just want to help them to be happy and live full lives,” said Riley.
“They are living their best life, right here, right now. Look at the joy on their faces. Look at how they all glow with the light of knowledge that we cannot fathom to possess.”
The men and women stared at the happy children, already back playing their instruments with such joy it would make anyone’s heart burst.
“Take the boy, Jagger, to the pond,” said Matthew.
“But Matthew, this boy’s condition probably won’t change,” said Riley. “The surgery they did, the damage they did is irreparable.”
“Sometimes we don’t know everything for a reason, Riley,” he said kissing her cheek. “Take the boy to the pond or he will die.”
Riley whipped around staring at Jagger, then at Jane and the others.
“Keith? You, Tailor, and Alec get Jagger to the pond. Tell him we have to take him swimming. Now!” Keith nodded, lifting the little boy into his arms as his father signed where they were going and what they were doing.
Jagger didn’t understand the need for a swim and pointed out that he didn’t know how to swim. But he agreed that if it would make his head stop hurting, he would go.
The entire way there, they questioned the boy about when his head started to hurt. He said it had been hurting for days, feeling as though it were getting smaller. His brain was filling with fluid and Matthew was right. He was going to die.
It was Keith that stripped down and got into the pond first, then took Jagger from his father’s arms. Tailor and Alec followed, knowing that Keith would need help signing to the boy and then getting his head underwater.
“Scared.”
“I know you’re scared, Jagger but trust me. I will not leave you.”
He nodded at Keith and then watched as Alec and Tailor went underwater and then came up, spewing water out of their mouths like great mobile fountains.
Jagger nodded, his face paler then when they’d stared at him only a few moments ago. Keith held the boy tightly and went under. Once. Twice. And then a third time. When he rose the third time, his head seemed a normal shape, the huge bump on top gone.
The concavity on the side of his face was now full, rounded like the other side. His once distorted eyes were now a vibrant blue and his right arm and leg moved freely, stronger than ever before.
“It’s magic!”
“It is magic,” said Keith. “Wonderful magic.”
”I need paper. Music. I have water music in my head.”
The three men could only laugh, those at the dock witnessing it all laughed with them.
By the time Jagger was dressed again, he was running back and forth, testing his new strong limb, no longer dragging behind him.
When he got back to the cafeteria, his hands moved so quickly across the paper, even Bull, Mia, Erica, and Amanda could not keep up.
But what transpired, what was created would change their worlds forever.
“A symphony. He’s created a symphony with the sounds of the waterfall at the pond created by percussion and strings,” said Amanda.
“He has,” whispered Erica. “How is this possible?”
“Don’t look at me,” said Bull. “I’m a stupid grunt who happens to play guitar and sing a little.”
“You’re not a stupid grunt,” said Mia. “Stop saying that. But this? This I will never understand. Was his hearing repaired in the pond?”
“No,” said Jane. “His hearing loss was recessive. A mutated gene. There’s nothing we can do for that. Nor, need I remind you, do we need to. Listen to him, look at him. He is filled with joy and wonder just at now being able to move the way he wants to move.”
“How do we help them?” asked Ghost. “I feel helpless and I don’t know why.”
“Because,” smiled Thomas walking toward them with May, “genius is difficult to understand and can be painful for the genius and those around him.”
“I guess you’d understand that,” smiled Ian.
“I do. I did. Jane is right. They are happy doing what they love, just as I was happy working out mathematical and engineering equations beyond my years. You can help them by giving them a loving home, a place where they can continue to develop their gifts but also learn what will help them feel normal.”
“Should we allow them to perform publicly?” asked Riley.
“Only if they want to. And only after you’ve caught the people responsible for their treatment. We may think that the world needs to hear their genius but the truth is, their genius might break their own worlds if we’re not careful.”