“What makes you so certain that Jemma’s brain is unaffected by her illness?” the professor asks Mom and Sarah.
I can’t see their faces, but I know they both believe in me.
“It’s an instinct,” says Mom. “We both feel it.”
“Yes,” Sarah agrees.
“My husband too,” says Mom. “And the doctors said at the time there was no reason why her brain should have been affected.”
Professor Spalding touches his lip and looks at me thoughtfully.
What is he thinking? Does he think I’m brain-dead?
“Can you sniff for me, Jemma?” he asks.
Sniff? I think he’s crazy now.
“Breathe in through your nose—as hard as you can,” he tells me.
For a moment I panic, and I can’t think how. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about. It’s also so rare that anyone actually asks me to do anything. Then I calm myself. I have to hurry, or he might give up.
I sniff.
“Now breathe out through your nose.”
I can do that too—though I’d love to know where he’s going with this.
“Now again,” he says.
I breathe in and out through my nose. I am pleased to be able to actually respond, but also confused. Everybody knows that I can breathe.
“Hmmm,” says Professor Spalding. “Interesting.” He pauses.
“I don’t think the eye movements are going to be useful,” he tells me, turning to Mom and Sarah too. “They are not consistent enough. However, a colleague of mine is developing a new communication tool based on sniffing. It’s hard to tell if Jemma would have enough control, but it might be worth a try.”
“Communicate with sniffing?” Sarah repeats. “I’ve never heard of that!”
I sniff again, just to make sure they know I can do it. Professor Spalding continues. “My colleague Alon Katz and his team are based in Israel. When he’s here next, perhaps he could meet you and see if it might be suitable. We hope he’ll be here in a few months.”
A few months! That’s so long!
Could I really use sniffing to communicate, though? Would I be able to say the things I want and need to say? I think about Dan. Can you sniff that someone is a murderer?