I Love You, Baby

by Liam Sweeny

He walked up to the clear plastic wall and stared nervously at the rubber arms with holes hungry for his hands. But the doctor told them how sick she was, that any germ, even a microscopic hitchhiker, could tear her immune system apart. And so the special room, and the special plastic arms for the very special woman who strained to stand steady on her feet. He walked over to the corner of the room to get a stool, bringing it to the plastic and lining himself up with arms that didn’t fit him because he was only seven, and he needed arms he wouldn’t have until he was eighteen. Mom nonetheless hugged the rubber arms as they flapped by her side, squeezing the tubing where his fingers reached out. "I love you, baby," she said.

6S

Liam Sweeny lives online here.