De Novo (The Gene Thief Series Book 1 - Short Story) by Jason Cole Read Free Book Online

Chapter 1
     
    “Sweetheart, everything’s going to be okay. Any moment the doctors will be back to give us the results. Our baby is fine. Our dreams are about to come to fruition. Hang in there.” Marcus’ voice trembled but he didn’t care. He was consumed with trying to comfort his wife.
    They sat in the office at the geneticist’s facility, time itself had seemed to stop. Each of them staring at the door, unable to focus on anything else. All the expensive decor and fish tanks weren’t enough to distract them from what came next. An hour ago, they received a call to go over the results of the gestational genome screen and didn’t know what to expect. Cindy’s fingers frantically tapped her knees, her nerves frayed, she couldn’t contain herself.
    Cindy looked over at Marcus, a look of despair painted on her face. She asked, “But what if he’s not okay? What if our baby isn’t healthy? I hear these horror stories all the time. Families dealing with diseases they didn’t know they carried.”
    No words would comfort her, so Marcus lowered his head until it rested on her shaking shoulder. They would have to weather the storm for now.
    The sound of the doorknob turning grabbed their attention. The doctor came out into the waiting room, any hints of a smile absent from her face. Instead she wore a poorly hidden look of concern and hesitation. This alarmed Marcus and Cindy picked up on the same thing. Cindy’s tapping had worked its way throughout her whole body. Her feet tapped the floor anxiously, her lips pursed, and Marcus sensed her bursting at the seams.
    “Doctor, what’s the news?” At his core, Marcus was dying slowly inside. He noticed the distraught look in Cindy’s eyes and realized she needed him more than ever.
    The doctor was petite, no more than one hundred ten pounds, small frame and quiet voice. She held a folder tightly against her chest, and in that folder, a piece of paper. That paper held the results and in a petrifying way, the future of their lives. This little woman held an immense power over them at this moment.
    The doctor guided them down the hallway and into the consult room. She placed the folder down on the bench top and started to thumb through the pages. It felt like an eternity.
    “Marcus, I suggest you take a seat for this.” Her voice had a soothing and comforting tone, but the angst was still palpable. No doctor asked someone to sit down for good news.
    “I’m not sure there’s a best way to discuss this with you. Your baby has what we call a de novo mutation.”
    “A de..what?” Marcus jumped to his feet and interrupted the doctor. A moment passed, he regrouped, took a deep breath, and sat back down.
    “Let me explain. It means that something went haywire in the germ cells, not the inherited genetics from you two.” The doctor had yet to face them, much less make eye contact. She was hiding at her bench top, staring at her papers like a statue. That corner of the room offered her safety from the intense stares behind her. “There hasn’t been a case yet where the child lived past 12 months. The reported cases listed the possible physical symptoms as polydactyly or extra fingers, macrocephaly, a larger head, mental development issues and a few other things.” She paused, “we can get into the finer details another time. It’s not going to be easy guys.”
    Marcus fell to his knees beside Cindy, her eyes brimming with tears, his arm wrapped around her. On the outside, he was keeping it together, but it was a hollow façade anyone would see through. No one should have to deal with that sort of news.
    “So that’s it. Our child is born into a brief life of suffering and then leaves us, crushed and broken? What kind of bullshit is that?” Marcus was staring at the doctor’s back, his hope dangling by a single thread, knowing that the next few words she uttered might shatter his world.
    The doctor slowly turned around and looked at them. Marcus felt his heart