He still thinks he’s in his mother’s womb

It wasn’t just physical.

There was something else.

A kind of detachment from the outside world. He didn’t track movement the way other babies did. He didn’t react strongly to faces or voices—not even his parents’ at times. It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize them. It was as if his attention was turned inward, focused on something they couldn’t see.

Amira started to worry.

“What if something’s wrong?” she asked one evening, her voice tight with anxiety.

Daniel hesitated. “He’s healthy. The doctor said so.”

“But he doesn’t act like other babies.”

That part was true.

At their next pediatric appointment, they brought it up. The doctor listened patiently, observing Youssef as he lay curled on the examination table, refusing to stretch his limbs.