P2: Leo took another step closer to the incubator, his dirty fingers gently pointing at the baby’s neck.v
Leo took another step closer to the incubator, his dirty fingers gently pointing at the baby’s neck.
“Sir… there,” he said softly but clearly. “That small bump. It’s not a mass. Something is stuck there. I’ve seen this before with kids in the slums. They swallow small things. Sometimes the machines can’t see it clearly because it’s the same color as the skin.”
The room fell into stunned silence.
The chief physician let out a bitter laugh. “Young man, we have performed multiple CT scans and ultrasounds. There is no visible foreign object.”
But Richard Coleman, despite his grief, stared at Leo with desperate intensity. Something in the boy’s calm certainty made him listen.
“Wait,” Richard said hoarsely. “Let him speak.”
Leo continued, undeterred. “Can you turn the baby slightly? Sometimes the light has to hit it at a different angle. My lolo taught me how to look for things others miss.”
Dr. Elena Morales, the youngest specialist in the team, stepped forward. She adjusted the lighting and carefully repositioned the infant. Everyone held their breath.
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
“There… oh my God. There is something. A tiny shadow. It’s not a mass. It’s a foreign body!”
Chaos erupted. The medical team sprang into action. Orders flew across the room. The chief physician, now visibly shaken, barked instructions for an emergency bronchoscopy.
Richard grabbed Leo’s thin shoulder, his hand trembling. “You… you saved him?”
“I just saw it, sir,” Leo replied humbly.
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