Free The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo Page B

the brilliant
    doctor I thought I was, prescribed her the drug thalidomide, which in those days was being used during
    pregnancies to stop nausea in the first trimester. There
    were reports out that thalidomide was causing birth
    defects but I didn't pay attention to them. I thought I
    knew what was best for my wife and unborn child. I was
    wrong.
    "Andrew was born in the summer of 1963, and was a
    perfect example of the classic thalidomide baby. His
    head and torso were completely normal-sized, his brain
    and spinal column fully developed and normal in every
    way, but something in the drug had stunted the devel¬
    opment of his arms and legs. They formed, but not the
    way they should have. Basically he had small paddlelike
    flippers where his arms should have been, and his legs,
    although somewhat better formed, were still grotesquely
    underdeveloped and have never been able to hold his
    weight.
    "I lost the use of my legs in a freak car accident, but I
    at least knew the joy of walking for my first forty-five
    years. Because of my stupidity, my son has never walked
    a day in his life. He's never played a game of baseball,
    never ridden a bike. He's never done any of the things a
    normal child would take for granted, but I vowed I'd
    never give up trying to help. That's why I chose this
    particular line of study. From day one, my only objec¬
    tive has been to help my son.
    "Maybe now you can understand why I'm so grateful
    to you four gentlemen. It's too late to give Andrew back
    the t h i n g s he missed in childhood, but with your help,
    it's not too late to give him the one thing he desires
    most, to stand on his own two feet and go outside for a
    walk."
    A single tiny tear dribbled down the doctor's left cheek
    and he licked it away when it touched the corner of his
    mouth. To tell the truth, my eyes were getting a little
    damp, too. It was j u s t such a beautiful story. This bril¬
    liant man had been pushing the boundaries of science
    for decades, not for the love of fame or money, but for
    the love of his invalid child. That child was a fully grown
    adult now, but Dr. Marshall had never faltered, never
    given up h o p e , in his quest to help him, and at that mo¬
    ment I admired the doctor more than any other man I
    could think of.
    I was more than ready to help out. Although nor¬
    mally a cynical son of a bitch by nature, from what I'd
    already seen, I truly believed Dr. Marshall would be
    able to pull it off and deliver his promise to his poor
    son. Although it made no real difference in my life—I
    was going to be rich either way—somehow it made me
    feel a hell of a lot better about donating my arm know¬
    ing what I knew.
    N o t surprisingly, the other guys had been affected
    by the doctor's words, also. He'd been so open and hon¬
    est with us, how could we not be? He didn't have to share
    this personal stuff with us. We wanted the money, sure,
    but I think we also really wanted to help.
    We talked for a few more minutes, everyone quite
    comfortable with each other's company by this time.
    Dr. Marshall promised to introduce us to Andrew and
    talked about what we'd see on the tour we were going to
    take. Everyone was excited, including m e .
    For a second, I considered asking him about some¬
    thing in the video. It had bothered me when I watched it
    and it was bothering me even more now. I wanted to
    learn more about that severed head with the spine
    thrashing around in the glass tank. I mean, the arms and
    legs and hands and stuff I could understand, but not the
    head. Like ourselves, people could have donated those
    other body parts, but that man—whoever it had been—
    had died for that particular experiment. Died, for God's
    sake! Wasn't that taking things just a bit too far? No
    matter how noble and pure Dr. Marshall's intentions
    were, wasn't there a line that shouldn't be crossed?
    Somehow this didn't seem like the time to get into it,
    though, so I bit my tongue. I'd ask him later if I got