At the cry of Christian's mother, he turns red with embarrassment. His father pulls his mother back and gives her a reproachful look. I pass my hand over his back, and I can almost hear his heart as all eyes are on him. I smile at him, watching as he takes a deep breath and speaks with a firm voice.

"Mum, I know! But I had them before the accident! To be more exact, the day before that car hit me."

He says this still with his face red from the embarrassment his mother has caused him. She tries to speak, but the words don't come out of her mouth;...