Miracle Man
Page 36
Uhlman took the floor. “As Robert’s illness progressed, it manifested itself in the creation of a self-loathing alternate personality whose goal was to frustrate his achievements and destroy him. That ‘force of evil’ that he spoke of —that he was so sure was opposing him and that tortured him in his nightmares— was internally generated. As he became sicker, it became more dominant. It took center stage when Robert didn’t have full control over his mind—-when he slept or when he was in one of his trances. In the end, it did what it needed to do to try to stop him.”
“So Bobby blew up the lab,” Susan said.
Varneys nodded.
Tears streaming down her face, Christina asked, “So where does this leave us?”
Uhlman leaned in toward Christina and rested his heavily veined hand on hers. “He’s stable now and that’s good. He may stay like that indefinitely. I hope so. You and he deserve that.”
“And this meeting. What was the point? Why did you feel you had to tell us?” Susan asked.
Uhlman leaned into his cane as he began the process of trying to stand up. “We were concerned for everyone’s safety—Robert, the two of you, even the little boy.”
“What does that mean?” Christina asked, her face flushed.
“I’m quite certain that Robert’s intellect never really left him, but he thinks it did—and more importantly, so does his alternate self. So, for the time being there’s no internal conflict. But if Robert’s genius ever reasserts itself, it won’t return alone.”
The End
William R. Leibowitz, practices law in New York City and lives in the village of Quogue, with his wife, Alexandria, and his dog, George.