Anything You Can Do ... Read online

  _SECOND INTERLUDE_

  The woman's eyes were filled with tears, for which the doctor wasprivately thankful. At least, he thought to himself, the original shockhas worn off.

  "And there's nothing we can do?" she asked. "Nothing?" There was anguishin her voice.

  "I'm afraid not," the doctor told her gently. "Not yet. There areresearch men working on the problem, and one day ... perhaps ..." Thenhe shook his head. "But not yet." He paused. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Stanton."

  The woman sat there in the comfortable chair and looked at thespecialist's diploma on the doctor's wall--and yet, she really didn'tsee the diploma at all. She was seeing something else--a kind of dreamthat had been shattered.

  After a moment, she began to speak, her voice low and gentle, as thoughthe dream were still going on and she were half afraid she might wakenherself if she spoke too loudly.

  "Jim and I were so glad they were twins. Identical twin boys. He said... I remember, he said, 'We ought to call them Ike and Mike.' And helaughed a little when he said it, to show he didn't mean it."

  The doctor said nothing, waiting for her to go on.

  "I remember, I was propped up in the bed, the afternoon after they wereborn, and Jim brought me a new bed jacket, and I said I didn't need anew one because I'd be going right home the very next day, and he said,'Hell, kid, you don't think I'd buy a bed jacket just for hospital use,now do you? This is for breakfasts in bed, too.'

  "And that's when he said he'd seen the boys and said we ought to namethem Ike and Mike."

  The tears were coming down Mrs. Stanton's cheeks heavily now, and thegrief made her look older than her twenty-four years, but the doctorsaid nothing, letting her spill out her emotions in words.

  "We'd talked about it before, you know--soon as the obstetrician foundout that I was going to have twins. And Jim ... Jim said that weshouldn't name them alike unless they were identical twins or mirrortwins. If they were fraternal twins, we'd just name them as if they'dbeen ordinary brothers or sisters or whatever. You know?" She looked atthe doctor, her eyes pleading for understanding.

  "I know," he said.

  "And Jim was always kidding. If they were girls, he said, we ought tocall them Flora and Dora, or Annie and Fanny, or maybe Susie andFloozie. He was always kidding about it. You know?"

  "I know," said the doctor.

  "And then ... and then when they _were_ identical boys, he was verysensible about it. He was always so sensible. 'We'll call them Martinand Bartholomew,' he said. 'Then if they want to call themselves Martand Bart, they can, but they won't be stuck with any rhyming names ifthey don't want them.' Jim was always very thoughtful that way, Doctor.Very thoughtful."

  She seemed suddenly to realize that she was crying and took ahandkerchief out of her sleeve to dab at her eyes and face.

  "I'll have to quit crying," she said, trying to sound very brave andvery strong. "After all, it could have been worse, couldn't it? I mean,the radiation could have killed my boy, too. Jim's dead, yes, and I'vegot to get used to that. But I still have two boys to take care of, andthey'll need me."

  "Yes, Mrs. Stanton, they will," said the doctor. "They'll both need youvery much. And you'll have to be very gentle and very careful with bothof them."

  "How ... how do you mean that?" she asked.

  The doctor settled back in his chair and chose his words carefully."Identical twins tend to identify with each other, Mrs. Stanton. Thereis a great deal of empathy between people who are not only of the sameage, but genetically identical. If they were both completely healthy,there would normally be very little trouble in their education at homeor in school. Any of the standard texts on psychodynamics in educationwill show you the pitfalls to avoid when dealing with identicalsiblings.

  "But your sons are no longer identical, Mrs. Stanton. One is normal,healthy, and lively. The other is ... well, as you know, he is slow,sluggish, and badly co-ordinated. The condition may improve with time,but, until we know more about such damage than we do now, he will remainan invalid."

  He had been watching her for further signs of emotional upset. But sheseemed to be listening calmly enough. He went on.

  "That's the trouble with radiation damage, Mrs. Stanton. Even when wecan save the victim's life, we cannot always save his health.

  "You can see, I think, what sort of psychic disturbances this mightbring about in such a pair. The ill boy tends to identify with the wellone, and, oddly enough, the reverse is also true. If they are notproperly handled during their formative years, Mrs. Stanton, both can bebadly damaged emotionally."

  "I ... I think I understand, Doctor," the young woman said. "But whatsort of thing should I look out for? What sort of things should Iavoid?"

  "First off, I suggest you get a good man in psychic development," thedoctor said. "I, myself, would hesitate to prescribe. It's out of myfield. But I can say that, in general, most of your trouble will becaused by a tendency for the pair to swing into one of two extremes.

  "At one extreme, you will have mutual antagonism. This arises when theill child becomes jealous of the other's health, while, on the otherhand, the healthy one becomes jealous of the extra consideration that isshown to his crippled brother.

  "At the other extreme, the healthy boy may identify so closely with hisbrother that he feels every slight or hurt, real or imagined, which theill boy is subjected to. He becomes extremely over-solicitous,over-protective. At the same time, the invalid brother may come todepend completely on his healthy twin.

  "In both these situations there is a positive feedback that constantlyworsens the condition. It requires a great deal of careful observationand careful application of the proper educational stimuli to keep thesituation from developing toward either extreme. You'll need expert helpif you want both boys to display the full abilities of which they arepotentially capable."

  "I see," the woman said. "Could you give me the name of a good man,Doctor?"

  The doctor nodded and picked up a book on his desk. "I'll give you thenames of several. You can pick the one you like best, the one with whomyou seem to be most comfortable. Try several or all of them before youdecide. They're all good men. There are many good women in the field,too, but in this case I think a man would be best. Of course, if one ofthem thinks a woman is indicated, that's up to him. As I said, thatisn't my field."

  He opened the small book and riffled through it to find the names hewanted.