A scar would remain somewhere, true enough, but a scar does not have to get in the way of happiness.
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Without knowing glances—without winks—there was in fact no secret—that was any reasoning. It might be hard for us to put the events in the cubicle out of our minds, but in the course of time, they would start to exist outside or —just as they did for other people. But what we did have to forget was the secret. And the best thing was to start forgetting as soon as possible.
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"Were there amniotic fluid tests thirty or forty years ago?" I asked instead.
The school psychologist thought about it for a moment. "I don't believe so. No, now that you mention it. In fact, I'm a hundred percent sure. That was definitely not something they did back then, no."
We looked at each other. At that moment, I was also a hundred percent sure that Van Dieren and I were thinking the same thing.
But he didn't say it. He probably didn't dare to say it so I said it for him. "In other words, the inadequate state of medical science forty years ago is the only reason I'm sitting here across from you today?" I said. "That I'm here at all," I added. It was a superfluous thing to add, but I felt like hearing it from my own mouth.
Van Dieren nodded slowly. A smile of amusement appeared on his face.
"If you put it that way" he said. "Had this test been available back then, it's not entirely unimaginable that your parents would have decided to be safe rather than sorry."
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Is it life threatening?" they asked. They said it slightly sotto voce, but you could hear the thirst for sensation right through it: when people get a chance to come close to death without having it touch them personally, they never miss the opportunity.
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