Proof of Heaven Read Online Free PDF

or for someone else’s needs. She reminded herself that a paycheck was a paycheck, whether she was designing or booking conference calls. She reminded herself that the sole purpose of work was to provide for her son, and it didn’t matter what she did as long as she kept doing it. But she knew if she kept this up much longer, she might not have a job, let alone a career. This was the third doctor’s visit this month, not counting the day and night she had already spent in the hospital this week after Colm’s collapse on the subway platform.
    She heard the faint sound of an Indian accent through the walls and could hear the predictable doctor-patient banter. She tried to reassure herself that she would be able to keep her promise to her son. This would be a different doctor. There was hope. There was always hope.
    She heard the rustle of papers behind the door as Dr. Basu grabbed Colm’s chart from the inbox that hung outside the door.
    â€œWell, well, well, what do we have here?” He never looked up from the chart as he shook Cathleen’s hand. Cathleen’s heart sank as the usual scene began, but then she looked up at the tall man who stood before her. He looked surprisingly young to be a doctor. But she guessed that he was most likely in his mid to late thirties, perhaps early forties. He was handsome and fit for a doctor too, she thought. Dr. Basu was impeccably dressed and wore expensive cologne. She caught herself staring at him and quickly shifted her gaze to his hands, where she noticed the lack of a wedding ring on his left finger.
    â€œNice to meet you, Dr. Basu. I heard great things about you from Dr. Jakes,” Cathleen said as she smiled and held out her hand to shake his. But the doctor seemed to ignore her.
    Cathleen noticed Dr. Basu look toward her son, who was still standing by the window. Colm turned around, smiling widely. As Cathleen continued speaking, she realized the doctor was not hearing what she was saying.
    Staring at the boy, Dr. Basu felt a small, but violent rumble in his stomach. His hands began to sweat, and for a second he saw the face of another small boy, Dhruv, his own son. He looked at the chart for a moment, trying to regain his composure, but when he looked up again, instead of Colm’s large green eyes, he saw Dhruv’s. They had been Dhruv’s mother’s eyes before they were his. When Dr. Basu’s parents told him that the woman they had arranged for him to marry was the jewel-eyed Niranjana, he could have run through the streets of his town shouting her name, forgoing all dignity, all pride, all composure. He had fallen in love with her before sunset on their wedding day. He knew few Indian men who could say the same. And the same thing happened when he held and saw Dhruv—he had loved the boy instantly.
    â€œDr. Basu, this is my son, Colm,” Cathleen introduced the boy.
    The doctor gathered himself, smiling at Cathleen, whom he immediately noticed had the same green eyes as the boy, and as his own Niranjana. Struck by her beauty, he felt himself begin to blush, so he quickly turned away to give all his attention to the boy.
    â€œHello, Colm. That is a nice name. My name is Gaspar.” Dr. Basu said, holding out his hand to introduce himself to the boy. “Do you know the story of the Three Wise Men from the East?”
    Colm nodded, eager to share what he knew: “Gaspar was one of the Wise Men and he brought gifts to the baby Jesus.”
    Dr. Basu laughed. “Do you know what else Gaspar did?”
    â€œNo. What?”
    â€œWhy, he saved Jesus’s life. Don’t you know?”
    â€œNo, he didn’t,” Colm said back defiantly. “No one did. He died, remember?”
    Cathleen wondered aloud, “What are you talking about, Dr. Basu?”
    Dr. Basu smiled at Cathleen and turned to the boy to finish telling him the story of Gaspar, the Wise Man.
    â€œIn my old country, my father worked