Chapter 22
Edward was still restrained to the wheelchair as the administrator rolled him down the hall.
“Now, Edward,” he said. “This is what we do.”
The conversation was briefly cut short by the screams that, once again, were heard from a few rooms down.
“Excuse me, Edward,” the administrator said. “Can you quiet that one down?”
He walked back to Edward as the screams became silenced by the rapid injection of drugs.
“These things happen all the time.”
He continued rolling Edward down the hallway. As Edward was wheeled down the hall, he saw that the people who occupied the rooms were all unconscious. They had been restrained by their wrists and ankles. A respirator did the work of breathing for each of them.
“Now, let me introduce you to someone special,” the administrator said.
He stopped in front of one particular room and turned the wheelchair so that Edward faced into it. “This is congressman Rhye. Do you remember him?”
Edward stared into the room. It was hard to recognize the congressman’s face through the medical tape that anchored an intubation tube to his face.
“The good congressman here has a very interesting story to tell,” he said with a bit of taunting. “So, try to keep up.”
The administrator locked the wheels on Edward’s wheelchair. He reached around the end of the nurse’s desk and pulled up a chair next to Edward. Sitting down, he crossed an ankle over his knee and leaned over towards Edward, resting his elbow on the side of the wheelchair.
“Five years ago,” he began. “It was estimated that there were nine hundred million people living in this country alone. Scientists and economists got together at the ‘Global Resources Conference’ in Geneva, where they estimated the world’s population to be around ten and a half billion. And some important people started asking some hard questions. ‘How are we going to feed all these people? And what about water?’ The planets drying up. The oceans are becoming more acidic and we’ve tried desalination plants. But Edward, no one wants to pay for them. Now, the wealthy have flocked to the coastlines and they have their own desalination plants. So, they’re all set. Meanwhile, the ‘Global Resources Conference’ issued its’ recommendations. Naturally, no one listened. I mean, what do a bunch of scientists and economists know about world affairs, right? They started talking about hydroponics and large-scale solar stills and desalination plants. But, a few people in Washington – like the congressman here – thought these were all good ideas. They actually thought that. But paying for it? The world is broke. There isn’t any country in the world that can even afford to take care of its’ own people. So, they just threw up their hands. And for a while, it really looked like we were screwed. We were all gonna die off within the next century and it would be over.”
He pointed to the congressman.
“But, this guy came up with an idea. If we can’t save everyone, then we’ll save the people who can contribute to society. And maybe, if we’re lucky, a few of those people will come up with the answers that save all of us. So, a program was developed and disguised as the ‘Well Baby Initiative’. As far as the state was concerned, it was a preventive health care program. It was the only way to get people in the door. Of course, the congressman insisted on being the first to get screened. He came up with the idea that would solve our resources crisis. And at the same time, it would bring in money for the government. Unfortunately, when the congressman’s psych test came back it turned out that he wasn’t nearly as intelligent as he had people believe. So, here he is. We went through a lot of trouble to make his cover story work. After all, the disappearance of a United States congressman tends to raise more than a few questions. We had to crash a private plane in the mountains to make that work. So far, the good congressman has donated a lung, a kidney, both femurs, and his liver.” Edward looked at the administrator with revulsion and disbelief.
“You’re stealing people’s organs?” he said.
As appalled as Edward was some part of him refused to believe that any of it was real. His mind became numb and he began to feel dizzy. The administrator gave him a quick slap against the side of his face.
“C’mon Edward,” he said. “Stay with me. There’ll be plenty of time to sleep later.” Edward managed to recover his senses. He glared at the administrator.
“You son of a bitch!” he yelled. “You have no right…”
“We have every right!” the administrator interrupted. “We have the right to protect our resources – to keep the useless from sucking the country dry. We no longer concern ourselves with the rest of the world. It’s time to look out for us. And if we can fix society by sacrificing people who add up to nothing more than maintenance then why not. You know the saying, ‘if you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs’. Right?”
“What?” asked Edward.
The horror he felt up to this point had escalated and the administrator chuckled at Edward’s reaction.
“You don’t think we’re just giving these organs away do you?” he said. “Do you know how much a lung goes for on the black market? There are people out there who’ll pay millions for a transplant organ. Now, fifty years ago they used to call them the ‘one percent’ -- people with money to burn. They never paid their fair share. Now, they’re begging the government to take their money, because if they want to live they have to pay. And, all of this lets us reduce the amount of resources being used. Haven’t you noticed, Edward? You don’t see nearly as many homeless around anymore, do you? And with almost a billion people in this country, who’s gonna miss a few million, right? I mean, people disappear all the time.”
Suddenly, Edward felt sick. As he looked at what was left of the congressman, he realized that he was looking at his own fate.
“Oh, Edward,” the administrator said. “Turns out you can live without a liver. You see that machine on the left? That’s called ‘hepatic dialysis’. You won’t see one of these in a hospital. So, let me tell you how it works.”
The administrator continued to explain that the machine was based on the infusion of nanospheres. These were coated with an enzyme that attracted the toxins normally filtered removed by the liver. The blood would then be pumped out through the dialyzing machine where the nanospheres were caught by a magnetic filter. The filtered blood was then recirculated back into the body. Every twenty-four hours the filter would be discarded and replaced. This technology made it possible for those on a waiting list to survive for six to eight months without a liver. Unfortunately, insurance companies were not willing to cover the expense of hepatic dialysis. So, the technology would be used for people who could pay for it, as well as by the government. No information was available as to how many people would die as a result of the lack of access to this life saving medical technology.
“Well,” the administrator said. “I’d love to stay chat with you Edward, but I’m late for an executive luncheon. Besides, we still have to get you settled in.”
He motioned a nurse over.
“This young lady is going to take you to your room.”
He stood up and spoke to the nurse directly.
“If he gives you a hard time, give him ten cc’s of haloperidol and put him on three liters of oxygen. And I want him restrained.”
His tone with the nurse was demanding. He sometimes threatened members of the staff, telling them they could also be made to disappear. Everyone who staffed the facility both feared and hated him. He unknowingly served as a model of taunting and cruelty when it came to people skills, but everyone tolerated him because they had no choice. His authority within the facility went unquestioned and his word was final.
“One more thing, nurse,” he said.
“Yes sir,” the nurse said.
“I want him awake when he gets catheterized.”
“Yes sir,” the nurse replied.
The administrator’s personality lay somewhere between a dangerous sociopath and a charismatic religious leader. His mood could change direction at a moment’s notice. And more than a few people at the facility saw his behavior as unpredictable. Had he been required to get screened, he would certainly be there in a much different capacity.
The nurse wheeled Edward down the hall to a room just beyond the nurse’s station. Just before turning into the room, she motioned Frank over. He made a snide remark to Edward about being tucked in for the big sleep. Edward briefly made eye contact with him. He’d very quickly come to despise Frank and it would have given him great pleasure to him tied to a bed. His hatred for Frank was such that if he was able to get loose, he would certainly kill him even if he wasn’t able to escape. The bed rails were lowered first. The wheelchair was turned around, backed into the room and stopped at the side of the bed. Frank stood with crossed arms behind the nurse as she began releasing the restraints. Physically, he was not very imposing. So, his attempt to appear intimidating resulted in something that could only be seen as comedic. The ankle restraints came off first. This would be Edward’s only chance of escape. The wrist restraints were removed next.
“Get up,” Frank ordered.
Edward stood up as Frank stepped in close. He was still trying to look intimidating.
“Shouldn’t you be off killing someone right about now?” Edward asked sarcastically.
Edward grinned at him teasingly as Frank’s anger began to boil over.
“I didn’t know that murderers did double duty as bedpan jockeys.”
Frank became overwhelmed with rage and leaped forward, grabbing Edward by the shirt. He had provoked Frank so as to use his anger as a distraction. And while Frank’s hands were occupied, Edward brought up his right fist, striking him hard across the jaw. The nurse tried to intervene as Frank stumbled back toward the hallway. Edward turned and pushed the nurse back into a corner where she struck her head and collapse to the floor. He quickly followed after Frank, who was just getting back into a standing position. Edward put all his strength into one solid kick to Frank’s testicles. As Frank doubled over, Edward him out into the hallway, spun him back toward the room and slammed his head through the plate glass door. The impact against the top of Frank’s head caused a vertebra in his neck to explode, killing him instantly. The confrontation seemed to take place within seconds. The sound of Frank’s head bursting through the plate glass attracted the attention of everyone on the unit. But by that time, Edward had sprinted down the hallway and through the double doors leading to the main corridor. Once it was realized that Edward had escaped the unit, a nurse picked up a phone and announced a facility-wide alert. A complete lockdown was initiated, confining Edward to the fourth underground floor. All they needed to do now was find him.