TV news reports identified the critically injured man in the London hospital as Max Fortune and displayed the photo of a man appearing to be about thirty five, though he was actually approaching fifty. The report said:
A police officer driving by had seen a group of men drive away from the scene of a violent attack leaving Mr. Fortune sprawled out on the dimly-lit pavement. The police officer stopped to assist Mr. Fortune, who claimed he and his 28-year-old girl friend, Carla Day, had just left a party when the attackers had abducted her. No photo of Miss Day is available.
The taxi driver who had come to pick up Mr. Fortune and Miss Day had also been rendered unconscious by the attackers and was found in deep shadow on the footpath. He has now recovered fully and the police have found his taxi, which was stolen by the unknown attackers.
Mr. Fortune, agitated when the police failed to respond to his pleas to chase the attackers, pushed the police officer to the ground and stole the patrol car to pursue them alone. During the pursuit, Mr. Fortune was seriously injured in a collision at a road junction with a stolen van, which was not found. Mr. Fortune is now undergoing treatment in a London hospital and is under arrest.
Mr. Fortune and Miss Day are linked to the murder of a scientist during a bomb attack at an exclusive London hotel, where they were staying at the time. There is also evidence linking them to a morning rush hour shooting and a foiled terrorist plot at the recent London Olympics. Enquiries are on-going into all these allegations.
None of these reports meant anything to the patient who fought to stay alive. The serious brain injury had wiped Max’s memory clean, though he suspected they were talking about him. Having seen himself in a mirror only with bulky head bandages after his memory loss, it was impossible for him to correlate his appearance with the news photograph. The doctors and nursing staff had been told to discuss nothing other than his health with him.
When the driver of the heavy van had deliberately smashed into the police car, the side impact had fractured Max’s skull, ribs and pelvis. And if this was not enough to kill him, he had a strange underlying medical condition that flooded his system with stem cells. Although his injuries were healing at an unprecedented rate due to these cells, his increased metabolism was simultaneously killing him.
The hospital’s attending physician Sir James Packer was surprised by a telephone call from Herzog Zumthor, a Swiss scientist at a medical research establishment in northern Italy. Zumthor appeared to be very familiar with Max’s rare medical condition, a condition so rare it had not been named yet. Pressure from the security forces to keep Max alive at all costs forced Sir James to accept help from Zumthor, who accurately described every feature of the injured man's condition and the grim prognosis of death if his advice was ignored.
The scientist had explained how the condition only reveals itself when the patient is severely injured or medically challenged. Subjects with this condition are seldom examined medically; they live long and healthy lives, never needing medical help. The few seriously ill or injured patients that need medical intervention die from metabolic issues which are passed off as sudden and terminal infections of some sort.
[Herzog Zumthor’s total expertise about this case was because he had carried out an illegal experimental procedure two years ago (on instructions from The Organization) to save Max Fortune's life. Max had just been shot in the face by Philippe, Carla's biological father, and this surgical procedure was the only way to keep him alive and ticking for future projects. It was this experimental procedure which was causing the stem cells to multiply rapidly.]
Having just kidnapped Carla, Philippe would return for Max, when he had suffered enough for losing Carla. Of course, Max knew nothing of this because of his amnesia, so he could neither suffer for the loss of his beloved Carla, nor comprehend the danger he faced from Philippe and The Organization. There was no possibility Max would be allowed to live if The Organization could not get him back. They would not hesitate to eliminate any evidence or person (including Max) which could lead back to them (whether he regained his memory or not).
Zumthor was effectively The Organization’s man on the inside. If the authorities got too close, he had been instructed to kill Max, making it appear like death from natural causes. Alternatively, a team was already in place to spirit Max away to safety the moment his health was stable. The Organization owed Max and Carla a great debt, and they would repay it, if possible.
It would have been easy for The Organization to alter any police or security forces records held on Max and Carla, using their people on the inside to do whatever was necessary. However, the facts and allegations in the news reports were now public knowledge. Back door access to the security forces computers would be noticed and valuable assets would be exposed and very hard to replace.
Carla was also a priority for The Organization. Philippe had probably tortured and killed her by now, and they did not want her body popping up anywhere. Carla was a prime asset. If anyone chose to dig deep, The Organization would be found to be at the root of many of her exploits. It was increasingly likely that Philippe would dump her mutilated body in a public location, just to punish Max a little more and expose The Organization. Philippe had no idea that Max had no memory of Carla and was therefore indifferent to her suffering. He planned to concentrate his considerable resources and intellect to snatch Max from his hospital bed at the right time, and then take slow, painful revenge on him and Carla.
As Philippe saw it, Carla had irreparably disfigured the left side of his handsome face when she caused his car to crash about two years ago.