Wentworth peered into Eddie Kaspbrak's open mouth. The boy was impressively good about flossing for a not-quite-seven-year old, but his adult teeth were coming in faster than his mouth was growing, which meant that one was going to have to come out to make room. Went did not relish the conversation this was going to require with Sonia.
"All done," he informed Eddie, who cheerfully hopped off the examining chair, "I just need to talk to your Mommy for a little bit"
Sonia was waiting anxiously for Eddie's return, the August, 1977 issue of Reader's Digest lying unopened in her lap.
"Mrs. Kaspbrak, can I see you in my office?"
Sonia picked up her purse and followed Went into the office.
"Is…is something wrong with Eddie's teeth?"
"Nothing serious, they're just coming in a little ahead of schedule, so we need to pull a couple of them out to make room." Went pulled placed a plastic model of a jawbone on the desk to illustrate, but Sonia was already off to the races.
"Oh, my poor baby, first the pneumonia…" Sonia began rattling off a list of Eddie's frequent illnesses, and Went knew from experience that he had no choice but to wait until she'd finished to get a word in edgewise. He found himself growing irritated, and then felt guilty for being irritated after all that she'd been through. Finally, her list of maladies wound down.
"It's really not serious, Sonia, lots of children go through it. He'll just need a shot of lidocaine, and plenty of ice cream afterwards"
"What if it interacts with his other drugs? I saw on Phil Donahue…"
"I'll review Eddie's prescriptions very carefully with Mr. Keene and Dr. Baynes."
Sonia gave Went an odd look, almost like she was sizing him up, and then answered him in a suddenly calm voice.
"Very well, Dr. Tozier. If you think it's necessary, then I suppose I'll have to trust your judgement."
Went thought it was odd, but then Sonia was an odd woman. Near hysterics one minute, then perfectly calm when you turned your attention to something else. He didn't begin to think anything was seriously wrong until he read Eddie's file.
The medication in Eddie's inhaler was HydrOx, a medical abbreviation for dihydrogen monoxide, also known as tap water, and the pills he took were lactose. Confused, and more than a little worried, Wentworth called Dr. Baynes.
"Mort, I've just been reading Eddie Kaspbrak's file."
"You're dealing with the Kaspbraks? My condolences."
"He just needs a couple of teeth pulled. Mort, why the hell are you giving him placebos?"
"Because his illness is all in his head."
"That's impossible! I've seen him have an asthma attack dozens of times."
"Had he been exerting himself?"
"I mean, we try to keep him from getting too excited, but he and Richie kind of work each other up. Usually it happens when he gets upset with Richie, or right after his mother calls to say she's going to pick him up…oh"
"You saw him have a panic attack."
"What about those bruises? Sonia said she was getting him tested for leukemia."
"She gave him those bruises. When I got him alone, he admitted that he'd left his toys out and she walloped him for it."
"Don't you think that's a little…excessive?" The bruises had been spectacular, enough that Went hadn't even questioned Sonia's assertion that they must be due to a fatal disease.
"Well, you're the parenting expert."
Went thought that that was an unnecessarily barbed comment. He knew that Richie had a somewhat precocious vocabulary that he was eager to share with any child that could be pulled out of adult earshot, but he didn't have the heart to discipline Richie in the way that most Derry residents expected. His own father had been a mean drunk, and Went had sworn to himself that his children would never know what it was like to fear their old man.
He decided to have a heart-to-heart with Sonia after the surgery.
"Is he going to be alright?"
"He'll be just fine. He was quite the little trooper in there." Eddie had gripped the arms of the dentist's chair until his knuckles went white when he saw the needle, but he hadn't said a word or let a single tear fall. "I was a little concerned going over his medical records, though."
"Oh," Sonia looked worried, but it was different from her usual worry, much less blatant, almost like she didn't want Went to notice it.
"It seems like his prescriptions are all for placebos, and Dr. Baynes thinks his problems are mainly psychological."
"Well," Sonia sniffed, "You and Dr. Baynes may have a bunch of fancy degrees, but a mother knows her own child."
"It's just that sometimes psychological distress can cause physical symptoms. A consultation with a psychiatrist could help us treat him more effectively."
"Well, if you think it would help."
Went never did hear back about the psychiatrist, but two weeks later Sonia stormed over to the Toziers' house to inform Maggie that her little brat was teaching Eddie absolutely vile language and that, since Maggie was clearly incapable of controlling him, Eddie would no longer be allowed to visit their house or have anything to do with Richie.
Went got the debrief from Maggie when he finished work. Richie was up in his room, still crying. They had a long talk about Not Using Those Words Even When There Aren't Any Grown-Ups Around Because It's the Right Thing to Do and how Everybody Makes Mistakes But That Doesn't Mean Richie's a Bad Person and Mrs. K Didn't Really Mean What She Said, She's Just Had a Hard Time Since Eddie's Dad Died And She Gets Upset Sometimes But Richie Can Still Play With Eddie At Recess. By the end of it, Richie was calm enough to come downstairs for dinner, and Went had regained some of his confidence in his parenting abilities.
He waited until both the kids were in bed to talk to Maggie.
"I'm worried about Eddie."
"Richie did…"
"I know, and I talked to him about it, but I think this started before that. Remember when Eddie had to have teeth pulled a couple of weeks ago? I told Sonia she should take him to a psychiatrist and I think that upset her."
"Why do you think he needs to see a psychiatrist?"
"Maggie, all his prescriptions are for placebos. She's making him think he's sick when he isn't, and I think she might be doing it on purpose."
"Why on Earth would she do a thing like that?"
"Is the Junior League still giving her money?"
"Lisa insisted that we cut off the monthly stipend after a year. Now it's just a little bit for presents and clothes every Christmas, and every now and then to cover the cost of his treatments."
"Maggie, there are no treatments. His pills are sugar, they can't be more than five dollars a month. You've been raising all that money to pay for my fees!"
