NOT PERFECT
By
PAUL LOCKEY
Ted Barstow changed down to second gear and applied the brakes as he approached the bend at speed. It was too late; the Land Rover clipped the stone wall on the opposite side of the road and started spinning.
Instinctively, the burly young farmer steered into the skid and somehow managed to regain control. Damn this bloody weather!
Peering through the mud-smeared windscreen, Ted felt a sudden surge of hope when he saw the huge industrial waste-processing plant all floodlit and glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Like most locals, he regarded Chemtech's presence as a blot on the landscape, but right now any familiar landmark was welcome. The village of Belmarton lay hidden further down in the valley - less than a mile away, he reckoned.
"Don't worry, Maddie love. We're almost there." He could see his wife in the rear view mirror and she was looking very poorly.
Please God, don't let it be too late.
****
"Come on, Doctor!" Ted yelled as he hammered on the cottage door.
No sooner did Ted hear the bolt slide back when he pushed the door open, almost knocking the elderly - and still half-asleep - practioner off his feet.
"Ted?"
"It's Maddie, Doctor. She's in the car - I think she's started."
"Are you sure? She's not due for another - "
"She's frickin' having it, I tell you!"
"Alright, alright. Have you phoned for an ambulance?"
"I tried but the lines must be down. My bloody mobile's not working either. This storm's really nasty - I don't remember anything as bad as this."
Doctor Henry Weiss tugged at his graying hair as he considered his options. "Okay. Take her into the surgery while I try my phone." He gave Ted a rueful grin. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
****
"Good girl, Maddie. Just one more push. . . "
Maddie screamed as she expelled the child from her body. My God, thought Ted, watching in disbelief.
"Okay Maddie. It's done. You can relax."
Weiss lifted the squirming infant and wiped away the blood and viscera from its dog-like face. He lifted the hair lip and exposed a mouth full of teeth.
"Where's my baby? I want to see him!"
"Not now, Maddie," Weiss said as he cut the umbilical cord. "'Tell her, Ted. She needs to rest."
"Doctor's right, love. You just rest and you'll feel much better."
Weiss wrapped the infant in a blanket and gave it to Ted. "Come on, lad. Put him in the lounge and come straight back. I still have to remove your wife's placenta - it's breaking up inside her and I might need your help."
Ted nodded dumbly, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked down at his hideous offspring.
He almost fainted when its eyes suddenly opened and stared straight back at him with animal-like awareness.
****
Ted stood up as Weiss entered the lounge. "How is she?"
The doctor smiled reassuringly. "I've given her a sedative. She should sleep now."
Ted nodded and slumped back down in the armchair, totally drained by recent events.
Weiss walked over to the fireplace and peered inside the makeshift cardboard box crib. "The little chap's as fast as a rock."
"Little chap. . . It's an abomination!" Ted shuddered as he recalled holding the howling creature. He could not bring himself to think of it as a human child, let alone his son. Christ! How am I going to explain it to Maddie? He thumped the arm of the chair in his frustration.
"When Maddie first told me she was pregnant I was so happy I actually cried. Can you believe that? We'd been trying for months, but of course you know that. You also know we did everything humanly possible to make sure that baby would be fine. So what the hell went wrong, Doctor? Why didn't the scans show anything abnormal?"
Weiss shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Ted. I'm really sor-"
"Well you should know. Christ, we're paying you enough... I thought that fancy clinic of yours is supposed to be better than the NHS!"
Weiss waited until Ted calmed down a little before making his suggestion. "Look, Ted. It's no one's fault. Sometimes these things just happen - nature's not perfect. If you want I can... I can dispose of the child. Say that it died at birth. No one else need know the truth, just you and me." He placed his hand on Ted's shoulder and smiled sympathetically. "You and Maddie are both still young. You can always try for another. It'll be different next time, you'll see."
Ted fought to control his tears as he considered the doctor's offer. Perhaps it would be kinder to kill it now than to try and raise it as a normal child. It wouldn't have much of a life anyway, looking like that. Surely it would be better for everyone?
"Yes," he said, eventually. "Do it, doctor. Please!"
****
Dr Weis watched from the cottage doorway as the ambulance left with Ted and Maddie inside. The poor girl was in shock and it was best that she stayed in the clinic for a few days. Thank goodness, normal services were back on line now that the storm had eased up.
He closed the door and went straight into the kitchen.
Ted and Maddie's dead child lay on the table. He paused to look at it before unlocking the secure cupboard where he kept his illegal drugs and other paraphernalia. On the top shelf were a dozen preserving jars - five of which contained similarly deformed specimens. Tissue samples taken from each one had only confirmed his worst fears...
As a respected member of the Parish Council Weiss had been influential in the granting of planning permission for Chemtech's processing plant. And so far he had managed to keep secret the fact that he was also a major stakeholder in that company. Despite fierce opposition from valley residents the controversial development had brought huge economic benefits to the area since it was completed almost five years ago. The risks of contamination were fully assessed... No one could have foreseen the unfortunate consequences...
Weiss selected an empty jar and filled it with Formaldehyde. Placing his latest acquisition inside, he sighed while wondering how much longer he could go on protecting Chemtech and his own hitherto undamaged reputation.
THE END