School was not easy simply because he remembered books. Miles was impatient with writing assignments that asked him to describe feelings he had spent months avoiding. He startled when somebody slammed a locker, and he sometimes hid food in his backpack even though lunch was provided every day. Once, a teacher found three wrapped rolls beneath his notebooks and quietly asked whether he was worried there would not be dinner at home.
Miles began crying before he could answer. He expected to be scolded for stealing food, even though the rolls had been offered freely in the cafeteria. Instead, the teacher sat with him and explained that food insecurity could make people anxious long after meals became reliable. Mrs. Alvarez helped him choose snacks he could keep in a basket at home, while a counselor worked with him on ways to recognize when his body was responding to an old danger rather than a present one.
Hamilton visited after several weeks, bringing no camera crew and no enormous gift box. He sat at the kitchen table while Miles showed him a school assignment about the circulatory system, then accepted Mrs. Alvarez's invitation to stay for supper. The meal was simple, chicken with rice and vegetables, and Hamilton ate it with a seriousness that made Miles grin. When Miles asked why rich people liked such tiny pieces of food at restaurants, Hamilton laughed so hard he nearly spilled his water.
"Because they enjoy pretending hunger is an artistic experience," he said.
Miles did not understand why the joke made Mrs. Alvarez laugh too, but he liked the sound of it. Later, Hamilton helped him with a math problem and discovered that the boy could solve the calculation mentally faster than he could explain his approach. He also discovered that Miles struggled to accept correction when a teacher's answer differed from something he had memorized. It was a useful reminder that a gift could create challenges as well as opportunities.
Dr. Moore began meeting with Miles in supervised educational sessions arranged through the hospital's outreach staff. Sometimes they used anatomical models, sometimes they discussed how to evaluate scientific claims, and sometimes she simply brought articles and asked him what questions he would want answered before believing the conclusions. She was delighted when he challenged an unclear graph and equally delighted when he admitted he did not understand a statistical term. The boy's memory was remarkable, but his growing willingness to say "I don't know" impressed her more.
One afternoon he asked whether she thought Rebecca would have survived if somebody had treated her sooner. Dr. Moore sat beside him in the learning room and chose her words carefully. She explained that sepsis could progress quickly, that prompt assessment was important, and that reviewing the actual records might clarify whether opportunities for earlier intervention had been missed. She refused to promise an answer she did not have.