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You are in
your late twenties, though your face looks younger. And your
girlfriend appears to be a child, but she is also in her late twenties.
Please, Evan. Is there anything you feel you should tell me?” “No, nothing I can think of.”
“Okay, that"s fine. But we need to run more tests because
we need to make sure thatthe rest of you isn"t going to fall apart.” “Fall apart? Is that a medical term, doctor?” Evan was
trying his best not to worry. The scare from the previous day made him feel an aura of death that he never thought he would
experience.
Frank changed to a somber tone. “Evan… thisis serious.”
    Michelle had finished her lunch in the hospital cafeteria and approached the nurses" station when she heard a familiar voice that she hadn"t heard in years.
    “Excuse me. I"m here to see my daughter. She is probably staying with a patient you have here… Evan Troy?”
“Oh, yes. I"m sorry. Only immediate family may see Mr. Troy. He is in an intensive care room. Perhaps I can find your daughter if she is with him.May I ask her name?”
Michelle interrupted. “Mom?”
Maryturned quickly. “Darling!”
“Mom… it"s so good to see you.”
“Oh dear, why did you go for so long without contacting us? It"s been over ten years and your father and I have been so worried.” Mary paused. “My God, and you still don"t look like you aged a day since you were thirteen!”
Michelle could only take a deep swallow.
“I… We… Your father and I thought it odd that you looked like this at your high school graduation, but dismissed it as just being a temporaryyouthful appearance. But honey, you"re… you"re twenty-nine!”
“What can I say? Isn"t there some disease that keeps you looking young?”
“Yeah, but not quite like this. And I can assure you that you never had such a disease.”
Michelle shrugged. “Well, I guess I"m one of the lucky ones.”
“Lucky ones? Looking like you"re forty when you"re fifty- five… that’s lucky. Who wants to look like they"re thirteen when they"re twenty-nine?”
“Maybe I"ll start looking older next year, Mom.” Michelle was never good at acting dumb. Her nervous smile always gave her away.
“Where"s Evan?”
“Oh, he"s in his room. Mom… thank you for coming. I„m not as scared as I was yesterday. I thought I was going to lose him. It was weird… the way his leg started turning to this… dust.” Michelle stopped herself before she went on saying things that she was not prepared to explain to her mother or anyone else. She did not yet know that the medical staff still had grave concerns about Evan"s health.
“Michelle… why have the two of you stayed away from your family? I always liked Evan. What happened? And please tell me why I’m looking my age and you are not? Something"s not right. I feel like I"m in the Twilight Zone.”
“I don"t have any answers for you, Mom. Just hold me, please.”
“Sure, darling. My God, I feel like I"m holding my thirteen-year-old girl again. Why are you still thirteen? Why were you still thirteen when you graduated, and why are you still thirteen now?”
Michelle burst out, “I can"t tell you, Mom! I mean… I don"t know, Mom.”
Mary caught the slip of the tongue. “I was told by the nurse that only immediate family may see Evan. Does mother-inlaw count?”
“Mom, we never officially married.”
“ They don"t need to know that! I"d like to see Evan.”
“Maybe we can see if they will allow other visitors tomorrow, Mom. They"ve been doing a lot of tests on him the past couple of days.”
August, 1953
    The train ride was long and Edward Thomas spent the time intermittently sleeping and thinking. Upon arriving at Grand Central Station, he recalled the last time he had spent some considerable time in New York. He usually made it a point not to return to a former place of residence, but the city is huge and it had been a long time since he had last lived here. He never thought he would grow tired of traveling. He always