It doesn’t take much, just that Leo is a bit more… grumpy, weepy, apathetic, nervous, sweaty (…). That he sleeps longer or doesn’t have much of an appetite. Or that he stares longer in one direction. And the demons from the long list of Ondine’s bonuses wake up right away in Leoparents’ minds.
A voice in the back of their heads whispers:
He’s got a stomach ache – it’s neuroblastoma, or better yet the Hirschprung’s disease;
he doesn’t react to what he’s told to do – autism;
he stares – epilepsy…
And so on, every day, every hour, minute, second
– increased watchfulness, observation, anxiety.
Living on a stand-by mode.
Joel Peter Witkin, "Harvest"