her position in life . . . herpower.<br >and pleading， all of her arguing and<br >: Vasquez s purposely， infuriatingly<br >notice， she was not welcome beyond<br >that. He didn t care who she was， or<br > in fact， given her such a withering<br >t tactic， that she retreated from her<br >child beaten at her own game. Who<br >orld mattered little within the sterile<br >hospital.<br >ad went through that portal with a<br >Devon s nerves. Some hurried by，<br >h worry， irritation， or frustration.<br >mingly bored and disinterested in<br >hour of their shift. All moved with<br >te blanche that set Devon s teeth on<br > met her eyes for more than an<br >mt darted away with a hint of guilt<br >ooks came not in response to her<br >tin of that. The looks were for<br >that screamed silently along the<br >and shouted voicelessly within the<br > 2<br > recesses of Devon s own mind. There was only one reason<br > for her， for any parent， to be in this ~，ff~k~，~ k~，~x~， z~<br > Re "knowledge blazed forth， making her a pariah. On this<br > day， there were no other parents present to share her fears，<br > and that suited her ~ust f t~xe. She x~asn l in the habit of<br > opening up and spilling her guts to strangers.<br > Devon s son Ulysses was somewhere beyond those<br > closed doors， secreted away into an examining room to be<br > poked and prodded while seemingly everyone but his<br > mother could reach him. The sharp realization of an<br > impotence she had never before experienced ate at her vitals<br > with an intensity that made her want to scream in frustra-<br > tion. What was the point of amassing power if you couldn t<br > use it when you needed it the most?<br > It was slowly dawning on young Devon Adair that all the<br > power in the universe was worth diddly-squat in the face of<br > reality.<br > Her fingers curled against her palms， making tight fists，<br > and she pounded the tops of her thighs hard enough to hurt.<br > "Not my child， dammit，" she intoned under her breath. She<br > repeated it over and over again， chanting it like a protective<br > mantra or a beseeching prayer. Unfortunately， there was no<br > protection under which she could hide from this threat， and<br > there were those who said God had packed his bags and<br >vacated the premises a long time ago， leaving the tenants to<br >take care of things themselves. If this all turned out poorly，<br >she d be inclined to agree with that hypothesis and curse the<br >absentee landlord for breach of contract.<br > Ulysses had started life as a hale and robust infant， the<br >delight and ultimate achievement of his mother s twenty-<br >five years. His birth brought a supremely rosy glow to<br >Devon Adair s idyllig， life. Unfortunately， the joy was<br >short-lived. Within a matter of days， Uly began to sicken<br >and fail¡£<br ><br >