Skyler took a deep breath and giggled when Dr. Klein put the cold stethoscope on his back.
"Breath in for me again," Dr. Klein said, "as deep as you can."
Skyler did and he could hear himself wheezing.
"What do you think?" him mom asked anxiously.
"I think he has asthma," Dr. Klein said, taking the stethoscope out of his ears. He pulled out a breath meter and asked Skyler to blow into it as hard as he could. Skyler did and the little marker barely made it past the halfway point. Dr. Klein pushed it back down and asked him to do it again with the same results.
"How is that possible?" his mom asked.
"He spent awhile trying to adjust to Kryptonian air and just as his body was beginning to get used to it, he was brought back here."
"But his dad has super breath. Shouldn't he be able to breathe not only normally but better than normal?"
"Your husband didn't get his super breath until after high school. It's likely the same will hold true for Skyler, if he gets it at all. Skyler is the first of his kind, half Kryptonian and half from Earth, so it's hard to predict these kinds of things, but it's a well known fact that most kids outgrow their asthma. Their lungs strengthen as they get older, but asthma is nothing to worry about. You need to keep an eye on him and see what triggers it. That'll help cut back on his attacks or at least predict when it's going to occur. It could be exercise, emotional stress, or regular allergies like to animals or smoke. Do any of the people around him smoke?"
"No. Well, his grandfather does, but we usually only see him once a year."
"When you do see him, make sure to tell him not to smoke around Skyler. I'm going to prescribe an inhaler. If he feels an attack coming on, he inhales one puff. You wait a minute or two then he gets another puff. The instructions come with the box. Once he gets familiar with it, he should be able to do it himself. I don't know what the school's policy with it is. You'll have to check. He might be able to carry it around with him or he may have to leave it with the school nurse or teacher."
"Thanks," Lois said. "I'll check when I drop him off. It's his first day."
Dr. Klein pulled out a sucker and gave it to Skyler, "Enjoy your first day of school."
Skyler smiled. Dr. Klein always had an extra big sucker for him, since he, Noel, and his dad were the only patients he ever saw. It was as big as his fist and there was no way he'd even begin to work his way through it before he got to school. He'd been getting ready for school when he'd had that especially bad attack and his parents decided his trouble breathing at times was not going to go away naturally. He was a little nervous about going in late. His mom walked him to class and said goodbye at the door.
Mrs. Duncan smiled at him. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled, making her look wise and friendly at the same time. "Hello, you must be Skyler Kent. Your seat's over there."
Skyler hurried to his seat. She was giving a lecture on school rules and what they were going to be studying this year. They played some get-to- know-you-games and they had to write in a journal about what they did over vacation. They only had to write one sentence and draw a picture to match it, but Skyler was feeling a little frustrated. He knew he hadn't spelled most of the words right and she wouldn't tell them how to spell anything. She said they had to sound it out. The day went by very slowly. At the end of the day, he hadn't made one friend. He had gotten to play firemen at recess, but it had been an entire class game and everybody had gotten to play. He'd had to stop early because he started getting out of breath.
The only kid that was worse off than him was a kid named Shankar Borja. He had just come over from India and only spoke a few words of English mostly hello and goodbye. He would not only have to learn English but what was being taught in first grade. They hadn't found an official translator yet, but they would as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Mrs. Duncan was doing her best to make use of the internet that was in their classroom. Shankar also had to learn the alphabet because the writing wasn't the same. Mrs. Duncan had taught them all to say hello in Konkani, Shankar's native language. It sounded like namakaaru. Shankar looked scared and lonely, and Skyler knew how he felt. Just last week, he'd been among a strange culture and heard people babble in a language he didn't understand. Of course, he'd had Kara and the bracelets to fix it. Skyler felt a lot of empathy, but he was too shy to approach him and if he did approach him, what could he say other than namaskaaru?
That evening he told his dad about his problem.
"I know you'll make friends soon," his dad assured him. "You just have to give it time. As for Shankar, a smile goes a long way. It's the one thing that translates in every language."
"That's what Mrs. Duncan said."
"She's right too. I--" his dad got that look. "Sorry, buddy. I can talk more later if you want," and his dad flew out the window.
Skyler sighed. Noel was asleep in the playpen. She had fallen asleep to the sound of Alex Trebek's voice, not that Skyler blamed her. Jeopardy was a boring show. He wandered out to find his mom. She was sitting on her bed with her laptop, her reading glasses sitting at the end of her nose as she stared at the screen. He knew she was too busy to talk, but he gave it a shot anyway. "What are you doing, Mommy?"
She didn't even look up. "I'm working on a story, baby. Is it important?"
"No," and he wandered back out. He plopped down on the couch and then it came to him. They still had the bracelets from Krypton. Shankar would be able to understand everybody and they could understand him if Skyler gave him one. In the mean time, he pulled out a piece of paper and pen for when his dad got back and could help him write a letter to Bobby. Maybe he wasn't as lonely as he thought he was.
TBC
