"Your body makes it for you." Sawyer cuts in.
"And what if your body doesn't make any?" I watch as Grant and Sawyer give each other a knowing look.
"Well then, the virus runs the show." Grant says. And Sawyer glares at him. "A virus doesn't invent things. Viruses hijack things. They steal things." Grant continues.
"That's enough." Sawyer shoots daggers to Grant.
"Do you still have a microscope?" Sawyer asks.
"In my office. Down the hall." Grant says, pointing somewhere behind him. Sawyer walks off.
I start picking at my finger nails.
"How do you know my son?" Grant asks.
He kidnapped me...
I smile, "oh, he's my neighbor."
It's quiet for a while. Grant gets up and starts walking around.
"How did you read that?" I question.
"Well I taught Sawyer at a young age that I was blind. I came up with a two-dimensional drawing felt board in organic chemistry. Using a series of rectangles, I represented chemical bonds. Unlabeled circles were carbon atoms. Print and Braille labeled circles represented other atoms such as sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen; and I devised a wild card shape for elements that were not commonly used. All of these shapes were labeled with velcro on the back so they could be placed where required. The base was made of a piece of felt rubber cemented to a poster board. I also employed pie-shaped wedges that had velcro on either one or both sides to indicate stereochemistry. If the wedge had velcro on both sides, it..."
"Wait..." I cut off Grant. But Grant doesn't let me cut in.
"It indicated the atom was below the plane of the page, and, if the pie wedge had velcro on only one side, the atom was above the plane of the page. I used this technique on homework, quizzes, and exams. I had teaching assistants or other paid readers draw my responses on all assessments. This process was very time-consuming, but it was the way I was able to conceptualize organic chemistry."
"Why learn chemistry?"
"If no blind person does it, then no other blind person will."
"Wow, I wouldn't be able to have your dedication."
Grant chuckles.
"I'm a stubborn mule. I taught chemistry at the university level. I was a professor, I had to piss off people who didn't believe I could do it."
"Did you?" I question.
"You see all those books behind you?" He points and I turn around to see a large bookshelf. I almost forget he's blind but remember it's his house and he knows where everything is.
I think he hears me turn, when I'm about to say something he starts talking.
"Wrote them all. Some are text books for students and some are just for the mind." He doesn't sound proud. Almost a humble brag. Like he worked so hard, so why not mention them?
"Can I read them?" I ask and he chuckles.
I'm not really into medical things, but just to see how his mind works would be something I'm interested in.
"Sawyer has a set somewhere. Sure, kid. Read them." He says, almost not believing I can.
"Thank you." I accept his challenge.
"You should start with...." He walks over to the shelf and feels the spines of the books. "This one."
He hands me the book and I gently take it out of his hand. "Organic, survival manual." I read the title.
CHAPTER 29
Start from the beginning
