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Turn 203 of 233

Ask Dr. Parekh about any further tests. He discusses Kimo's diet and nutrition. Its actually really good. Just continue feeding him as you are. Kimo starts understanding abstract concepts without relating it back to something physical/real

Lena does not leave the exam room. She sits on the industrial chair and the chair is the thing that is the creaking under 790 pounds and the creaking is the thing Dr. Parekh has stopped hearing. Kimo is on the exam table swinging his feet and the swinging is the thing that is the 55 inches of leg and the leg is the thing that does not reach the floor because the table is the thing that is the standard and the standard is the thing that is not built for Kimo.

"What about further tests?" Lena says. "You said you ran panels three times. Is there anything else — genetic, hormonal, anything that would tell us why he's growing at this rate?"

Dr. Parekh pulls up the file on her screen and the pulling is the thing that is the scrolling through results that are all the same — normal, normal, normal. She turns the monitor toward Lena and the turning is the thing that is the sharing and the sharing is the thing Dr. Parekh does because she has learned that Lena is the thing that is the parent who wants to see the data.

"I've referred his case to a pediatric endocrinologist at Shands," Dr. Parekh says.

"But I want to be clear — I'm not referring because I think something is wrong. I'm referring because his growth pattern doesn't match any known syndrome. gigantism is typically driven by a pituitary adenoma — we checked, his pituitary is normal. Acromegaly presents differently. Sotos syndrome involves developmental delays, and Kimo is the opposite of delayed. There is no catalog entry for what he is. The referral is for documentation, not because I expect them to find pathology."

"So he's just growing," Lena says.

"He's just growing," Dr. Parekh says. "At 2.5 times the standard rate, consistently, with no deviation and no pathology. His body simply grows faster. Like his clock is set differently."

She switches to the nutrition screen and the switching is the thing that is the diet and the diet is the thing Lena has been tracking without tracking — feeding Kimo what she eats and what she eats is the thing that is the construction fuel and the construction fuel is the thing that is the quantity.

"His diet is actually remarkable," Dr. Parekh says. She scrolls through the intake log Lena has been keeping on her phone — a habit from the construction spreadsheets, applied to her son's meals.

"Protein intake is high — eggs, meat, fish. Carbohydrate intake matches his activity level. Fat intake supports his growth rate. He's getting calcium from dairy, iron from red meat, omega-3s from the fish. He eats when he's hungry, stops when he's full. No processed sugar to speak of. No nutrient gaps."

"He eats what I eat," Lena says. "Whatever's on the site, whatever's in the fridge. I don't plan his meals."

"Don't start," Dr. Parekh says. "His instinct-driven intake is better than most planned diets I see. His body clearly knows what it needs and he eats to that need. Continue exactly as you are. The only caveat is volume — he'll need more as he grows. His caloric requirement will scale with his mass."

"He already outeats Tuki," Lena says. "Tuki's a hundred and ninety."

Dr. Parekh smiles and the smiling is the thing that is the real and the real is the thing that says she has stopped being surprised by this family.

They leave the clinic and the leaving is the thing that is the afternoon and the afternoon is the thing that is the warm. Kimo is on Lena's shoulder in the parking lot and the parking lot is the thing that has the trucks and the trucks are the thing that move. He watches a semi turn at the intersection and the turning is the thing that is the wide and the wide is the thing he does not connect to a kingpin or a trailer hitch. He just watches it turn and the watching is the thing that is the thinking and the thinking is the thing that is the new.

"Mama," he says. "That truck is turning. Turning is change. Change is when something becomes different. The truck was going straight. Now the truck is going a different way. That is change. Change is always happening. Everything changes. River changes — water moves, water is never the same water twice. Cloud changes — cloud builds, cloud dissolves. Mama changes — Mama was small, now Mama is big. Kimo changes — Kimo was born, now Kimo is here. Change is the only thing that doesn't change."

Lena stops walking and the stopping is the thing that is the still. The boy has not said bridge or stud or cable or bolt. The boy has not reached for a physical anchor. He has taken the concept — change — and held it in the air with nothing underneath it, nothing holding it up except the idea itself. He has built a structure with no foundation and the structure is the thing that is the standing.

"Where did that come from?" Lena says.

"From the truck," Kimo says. "Truck was going straight. Then truck was not going straight. Not-straight is different from straight. Different is change. Change is everywhere, Mama. Mama doesn't need to build it to see it. Some things are not buildings. Some things are just things."

Lena carries him to the truck and the carrying is the thing that is the 206 pounds and the 206 is the thing her shoulder holds. She drives to the site and the driving is the thing that is the quiet because the quiet is the thing that is the processing. Her son has crossed from the concrete to the abstract and the crossing is the thing that happened without a bridge. He did not need a bridge. He just walked across.