©GeraldineBanks2025
The safe arrival of Alex was a great relief to Martin and Sandy. It had been another tough labour . The new baby brought back the joy into his and Sandy’s relationship. The initial optimism was tempered by Alex’s gradually deteriorating health . Sandy tried everything to comfort the child but nothing worked. Martin was away a lot in the first few months of Alex’s life, so each time he returned he saw a healthy growing baby, who slept a lot , but when awake could scream the house down.
Martin noticed Sandy’s trepidation as she picked up Alex to breast feed him. She had gone from a confident mother to one who simply dreaded the piercing screams Alex made . He remembered one incident , when they were all at home , and Alex was due his feed.
Sandy turned to him before picking Alex up and said. ” I’m so afraid , I’m hurting him.”
As she picked him up , the screaming started, she moved her nipple towards his mouth and he suckled for a short while and then pulled away again and started screaming again. One pediatrician had told her that Alex might be allergic to her Breast Milk, so she immediately stopped Breast Feeding and started Bottle Feeding . Things did not improve and as time went on Sandy began to feel more desperate. This was not how things should be. It was Martin who suggested a Counselling session, Post-Natal Depression was a treatable condition and the Counsellor was very helpful. It was through Counselling that Sandy voiced her concerns about Alex’s health, it was only much later that she realised it was the worse thing she could have done.
When Alex reached six months, he begin to fit regularly, and his health began to deteriorate quickly. There were numerous hospital visits and tests and the diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder came back.
Alex had inherited a defective gene, it was life limiting and he would need special care for the rest of his life. Sandy and Martin were devastated, they were A2’s , they had been screened , how could this have happened? The doctors said that there was an outside chance that the damaged genes were the result of external influences, such as environment, but that was a long shot. It was something that they hadn’t seen for some time, they would have to report it to The Authorities. The State Machine intervened and within a few days they were both asked to attend Alex’s Assessment Meeting.
Until the fateful meeting about Alex’s future , Sandy and Martin as A2‘s had never came across A1‘s. People wondered did they really exist. No one was sure and certainly Sandy and Martin had never met one. There was no identifiable career path or progression to becoming an A1. To most it was unachievable and the ambition to be one did not resonate with many, but Sandy and Martin were about to find out that they did exist and they were very powerful people.
The letter with the A1‘s names and titles inviting them to the “Assessment Centre” had come a few weeks after their last hospital appointment. Martin’s Company had already been advised about his time off work to attend and as Sandy read the details of the letter out to him while Alex was asleep upstairs, Martin saw that she was worried.
The appointment would be in the next two days, they should bring Alex along with them , as well as his medications and an overnight bag for him. He would be allocated a place in their Day Nursery, so Martin and Sandy could be free to participate in the discussion about his future care. The letter stated the attendees , which included the Counsellor who had been working with Sandy on her Post-Natal Depression.
There were three other attendees whose names Sandy nor Martin did not recognise. It was made quite clear that there was no option of declining the appointment as all the arrangements were in place. Martin , Sandy and Alex would be collected by Taxi and taken to the assessment centre. There would be no cancellations or need to rearrange.
Instinctively Sandy and Martin acknowledged together that this was indeed a crisis point and they began to talk to each other like they had not been able to do for some time. Neither had dulled their senses or loosened their tongues with a bottle of wine. Martin was getting ready to go to bed and Sandy wandered in to their ensuite bathroom as Martin was brushing his teeth: she held the letter in her hand, she stood behind him and looked over his shoulder at him in the mirror. Martin looked at Sandy’s reflection , she was pale and drawn and he knew she was very frightened.
” Something awful is going to happen, I just know it.” She stared directly at Martin’s reflection in the mirror
Martin couldn’t reply straight away as his mouth was full of electric toothbrush and toothpaste. He listened to her intently and began to rinse his mouth . When he’d dried his hands and face he turned to her , put his arm around her and gently moved her into the bedroom.
Sandy explained that a colleague of hers in the Newsroom where she worked had said that a Government Policy to remove children deemed not genetically perfect existed and over the last 30 Years or so and they had expanded the process. The Letter Sandy and Martin had received was the start, because of Alex’s condition , he would be taken away from them.
Sandy had tears in her eyes. Martin turned to her and gave her a big warm hug.
” Sandy , it’s only a meeting , nothing is finalised. Alex will be fine, he’s not going anywhere.”
Sandy whimpered as she rested her head on Martin’s shoulder, the terry-towelling of his dressing gown absorbed her tears.
“They’re going to take him away.” Sandy lifted her head and looked Martin in the eye.”
“Shhh,Shhh, don’t say that Sandy, it’s early days. We need some help with Alex’s health that’s all.” He put his hand on the nape of her neck and gently massaged her trying to soothe her.
” We just need to find out more information that’s all. It’s a meeting to discuss what’s best. They can’t do anything if we say no, Alex is our child.”
Sandy looked up again at Martin.
” Martin, they can and do. We just never hear about it. Children are taken away as a matter of course now and no one knows what happens to them. Moira at the Newsdesk said it didn’t sound good, having the letter and the meeting.” Sandy started to cry.
” Martin no one ever sees those children again.”
They both sat on the bed ,their shoulder’s touching.
“Surely that’s not possible, we have rights”. Martin was not trying to reassure Sandy anymore, he was beginning to think what she was saying was right. Alex was going to be taken away from them.”
“What exactly did this Moira in the Newsroom say?” Martin put his hand on Sandy’s hand.
” She said that I should be prepared, that it was unlikely that they’d let me keep Alex and that we would not be given any choice during the discussion’s about his welfare. It would be residential care and no contact. Basically just telling us what they were going to do and to say goodbye. We cannot refuse. All the arrangements will have been made.”
” Don’t we have any say?” Martin looked at Sandy and bowed his head, it was Sandy’s time to put her arm around Martin.
” Moira said, some parents do kick up a fuss. They run off and tell their stories, none of them reach the Mainstream Media. It might go out on an obscure satellite channel . The Parent’s win a big Court Case, and the child is amazingly cured. It’s rare, and frequently linked to some Medical Breakthrough story. Curing the incurable. An opiate, that gives the general population hope and in reality neglects the decline in real health care. Easier to destroy then try to treat.
Sandy continued ” Real investigative journalism no longer exists, but journalists still have access to information that other’s don’t . The Powers that be, see it as an effective means of dissemination of information when needed. Journalists are motivated by the “Scoop”, they call it “Taming the Tiger”, let them have their scoop. I’m really shocked how much we are controlled”. Sandy had stopped crying, she sniffed and reached for a tissue from the bedside table.
Martin was exhausted and so was Sandy . They could say little to comfort each other , but they both understood that they would face whatever happened next with a united front. They both got under the cover of the duvet and curled up beside each other and fell asleep.
thenotsomightyom 