The lab technician placed a rolled cotton wad over the bend of Forrest’s arm and pulled the needle out; securing the wad with a piece of clear medical tape. “Thank you, Mr. Forrest,” she said. “I’ll get the results to Dr. Mobley as soon as possible. He’ll be in to discuss them with you as soon as he’s done making morning rounds.”
“How long will that take?” Forrest growled.
The lab tech looked at her watch. “Probably about an hour. Would you like to go for a cup of coffee, or a snack in the cafeteria? I can let the nurse know, and she can contact you,” she smiled pleasantly.
“You’ve got thirty minutes to get the results. If you don’t have them by then, Mobley can contact me at D’Netics. I have a company to run. I can’t wait around all fucking day for him to tell me he’s given me the wrong dosage of medicine!”
“I’ll try, Mr. Forrest, but I’m not sure I can. There are a few patients ahead of….”
Forrest glared at her. “Then you’d better make sure mine gets moved to the top of your list, Little Missy, or you can look for another job – in the amazon!”
The lab tech swallowed hard. “I’ll see what I can work out for you, Mr. Forrest,” she said and closed the door, flipping up her middle finger.
“Having problems with a VIP patient?” a nurse asked as they walked together.
“Just GW Forrest. That sorry bastard thinks he owns the whole fucking world.”
“He probably does,” the nurse chuckled as they stepped into the elevator. “There are only two major companies in the World anyway. Forrest Enterprises in America and Triplet International in Europe. I hear Sir Richard is just about as bad as Forrest. They both think they can snap their fingers and make anything happen.”
“That may be true,” the lab technician said. “I can tell you one thing for sure. GW Forrest won’t be around much longer.”
“Excuse me,” a man near the back of the elevator interjected. “Did you just say GW Forrest was leaving D’Netics?”
“Oh he’s leaving it all right – in a pine box!” the lab tech replied. “GW Forrest is dying of leukaemia.”
“What form of leukaemia?”
“CML – why? What difference does it make?”
“I was just curious,” the man said with a sly grin. He took out a little notebook and jotted down a few notes.
The elevator stopped, and the lab tech and nurse got off.
“God,” the lab tech said. “I hope he wasn’t a reporter. I’ll be on Forrest’s hit list.”
“Doesn’t really matter,” the nurse said. “If he was a reporter, he didn’t take down our names. I wouldn’t worry anyway. He’ll be dead before he figures out who we are.”
------------
Forrest stood and everything around him started fading out. His heart started pounding as it struggled to pump the remaining red blood left in his withered body. His white blood cells had devoured most of it. He rolled his sleeve up, grabbing the edge of the clear tape, securing the gauze to his arm and yanked. He grimaced as the tape brought off several hairs with it. He looked at the trash can, swore and tossed the soiled gauze on the floor. Staggering back to the exam table, he rolled his sleeve down and buttoned the cuff back. He glanced at his watch, groaned and unlocked his cell phone.
“Missy, patch me through to the research department. I need to speak to Rigden.”
------------
Melissa’s eyes widened. “Mr. Forrest, Dr. Rigden is gone. She met with you on Thursday and turned in her resignation. She left Shreveport and hasn’t been heard from since.”
“What the fuck kind of game are you playing, Missy? Her contract doesn’t run out until the end of September, and I sure as hell didn’t meet with her on Thursday. I wasn’t even in the country on Thursday. If you want to keep your job….”
“With all due respect, Mr. Forrest. I’m no longer your secretary. You hired Kim Gentry in my place and sent me back to my old post about a month ago.”
“I did what? Are you listening to me, or has your fake blonde rubbed off on you. I have been out of the country for the last two months. Now stop playing games with me or I’ll put you in the mail room – or worse.”
“Mr. Forrest. I am not playing games with you. Right after, Dr. Rigden had her surgery….”
“What surgery? What’s wrong with her?”
“Mr. Forrest, have you been drinking?”
------------
“Oh, fuck it. I’ll deal with you - when I get there. I want a report of everything that’s been going on for the last two months waiting on my desk, in fifteen minutes. Include Rigden’s contract with the report. I’ll sue the little bitch. Tell Wilson I expect him to be waiting in my office, or else! ” Forrest ended the call. He felt something tickle his top lip. He touched the back of his hand to his nose.
Dr. Mobley tapped on the door and entered the room. Forrest looked down at his hand and glared at the doctor. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I told you not to upset yourself, Mr. Forrest,” Dr. Mobley said, holding a box of tissues in front of him. “I could hear you shouting all the way down the hall. I have other patients.”
Forrest jerked several tissues from the box and held them under his nose. “I’ll shout whenever I fucking well feel like it! You said the treatment worked!”
Dr. Mobley sat behind his desk, opened the folder and read through the test results. He sighed and closed it. “I’m sorry Mr. Forrest. The treatment had appeared to be working, but this last blood test confirms my suspicions. There’s been very little change in your condition. The treatment slowed down the white cell growth, but it hasn’t stopped it. I’m afraid your remission is over.”
“How long?”
“Unless we find something soon, all I can give you is three months - six at the most. I am sorry.”
Forrest’s eyes burned with rage. He swallowed the ache in his throat and slowly stood. “Where are you going, Mr. Forrest? In your condition, you should be hospitalised.”
“No fucking hospital!”
“Then at least let me give you a transfusion to counteract your white cell count.”
“How long will it take?”
“A couple of hours.”
“Then send someone to my penthouse apartment over at D’Netics. I have business to attend to. They can give it to me when I’m done,” he said and slammed the door. His driver stood. “Take me to D’Netics.”
------------
Melissa knocked on Wilson’s office door. “We need to talk.”
Wilson raked something in his top desk drawer and quickly closed it. “Missy, I told you. I can’t. Too much is at stake.”
“Well, you better think about getting out now, because it’s fixing to hit the fan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Forrest just called. Something is seriously wrong with him. He wants a report of everything that’s happen in the last two months on his desk, in fifteen minutes. He also said to tell you to be waiting in his office, or else. Kevin, what’s going on? He didn’t remember meeting with Donna on Thursday or her resigning. He didn’t act as if he knew anything about moving me back to my old post or hiring Kim Gentry. He also claimed he hasn’t been in the country for the last two months.”
Wilson swallowed the fear in his throat. “You know him Missy,” he chuckled dismissively. “He was probably drunk or high on something. He’ll be fine when he sobers up.” He stood. “Do you have the report together?”
“Yes, but….”
“Give it to me. I’m sure when he reads it, he’ll remember. Don’t worry about it.”
Wilson followed Melissa back to her desk and collected the report. “For the time being, take what you need to function, get back to your desk outside Forrest’s office and if he says anything, tell him you don’t know what he’s talking about. Play dumb.”
Melissa grabbed her things and followed Wilson to her old desk. She quickly set things up as they were before and tried not to look nervous. She watched Wilson use his key to get in Forrest’s office. She waited until Wilson disappeared behind the door and opened her cell phone. “Mildred, something very strange is going on here. I need to speak to Sir Richard urgently. It’s about Donna.”
------------
Wilson knew there were only two places the advanced security cameras could be turned off; Forrest’s office and the one in his penthouse apartment. With Forrest on his way back to the office, Wilson had to act fast. Once he’d shut the camera off in Forrest’s office, he unlocked his cell phone.
“Honey, it’s me. Did everything go OK with your doctor’s appointment? Did you find out what was wrong?”
“Yes, he said it was a kidney infection that was causing the Braxton contractions. He gave me a round of antibiotics. He’s still talking about inducing labour.”
“I thought it was still too soon.”
“Well, technically it is, but he said if this infection doesn’t clear up, it could develop into something worse. He gave me something for the Braxton contractions and told me to stay off my feet. He’s hoping the antibiotics will help. If not….”
“Where are you?”
“Waiting for the driver. There was a problem with the car, on the way here. Something to do with an engine sensor. The driver took it to the shop. He said it would – hang on – he’s here now. I’m going to put you on mute until I get in the car.”
Wilson glanced at his watch. “Hurry honey, I don’t have much time to talk. I’m in Forrest’s office. He’s on his way here. I can’t be on the phone when he arrives.”
------------
“Where’s my regular driver?” Linda Wilson asked as she approached the back door.
“He had a family emergency,” the driver responded and closed the door behind her.
Linda took her cell phone off mute. “OK Kevin, I’m back. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but being seven months pregnant in August in this Louisiana heat is not easy to deal with. If you decide to knock me up again, could we plan on the next child being born in a cooler month?”
“It’s OK, honey,” Kevin laughed. “The summers are a lot shorter in the UK. Listen, I can’t explain right now, but we have to leave America. Call the airport and make reservations for the earliest possible flight to the UK. I want you to….”
“…Kevin, what’s wrong? Why do we need to leave America?”
“Linda, please, just do what I’m telling you. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t important.”
“You want me to do it right now?”
“Yes Linda. I’m texting you the number. Once you’ve booked the flight, call me back. Then tell the driver to drop you off at your mother’s. I’ll pick you up there. Don’t try and carry your suitcases. Get the driver to do that. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
“OK, Kevin, but I don’t understand. Why can’t I just wait for you at our house?”
“I’ll explain when I see you. I have to go. I love you Linda.”
“Excuse me,” Linda said, waving her hand at the driver. He glanced in his rear view mirror, waiting. “When we get to the house, you might as well leave the motor running. I’ll be going to my mother’s.”
The driver glanced at the other man sitting in the passenger seat and nodded to Linda. “Yes Mrs. Wilson,” he responded and put up the divider glass.
------------
Forrest’s cell phone rang. “Yes…?”
“Mr. Forrest, this is Dr. Mobley. I have some good news for you.”
“You were wrong about my remission?”
“No, Sir. I’m sorry, but there may still be hope. I ran your information through the donor database again, and this time it’s come up with a possible genetic match.”
“Where?”
“One of your employees at D’Netics. Now all we have to do is convince her to come in for the tests so I can make sure there hasn’t been a mistake. If she checks out and agrees to be a donor, I believe you could be well on your way to a full recovery.”
Forrest’s eyes turned to two black marbles. “She…?”
“Yes. Dr. Donna Rigden - the head of your research department. I’ve tried reaching her on her cell phone, but it seems she’s changed the number. I was hoping you might be able to give me her new one.”
Forrest’s face reddened with rage. He clenched his other fist at his side. “Donna Rigden is a possible donor for me? How in the hell is that possible?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Forrest. That’s why I need to test her. You see….”
Flashes of his dream came back to Forrest as his doctor explained some of the reasons why they could have overlooked Donna as a possible donor for him. Soon Dr. Mobley’s voice faded as the memory got clearer. Donna didn’t need to find a cure – Donna was the cure!
------------
Forrest saw himself again, crawling on hands and knees to his saviour, and she laughed at him. Donna sneered at him as she held the cure in her hand. Her words reverberated inside his head.
‘Do you want this you poor pathetic creature? Do you think you deserve it? What good have you done in your worthless existence that I should grant you life? I’d sooner rot in hell before I gave you one drop of this cure.’
He watched with horror as Donna opened the vial and poured its contents on the floor. He’d dove for the spreading liquid, lapping at it as a dog. He remembered how it burned his mouth like acid. How he’d wailed and screamed as the blisters rose on his tongue and inside his mouth.
‘You’ve poisoned me. Why Donna? Why? You’re a doctor.’
Donna had glared at him. ‘Doctors heal those who deserve to be healed. You deserve to die, and you will when I’m gone because there will be no one who can save you.’
------------
“…That’s why we need to make sure there hasn’t been a mistake before we ask for her help. Mr. Forrest? Are you still there – hello?”
Forrest snapped back. Donna’s last few words made sense now. If Dr. Mobley was right about her, he would die without her help. “There will be no asking in this matter. I will handle this myself. Donna Rigden is under contract with Forrest Enterprises until the end of next month. I will deliver Miss Rigden!” Forrest ended the call. As his driver turned down the street to D’Netics, Forrest’s cell phone rang again. “Has it been accomplished?”
“Mrs. Wilson is in our hands.”
Forrest grinned. “Good, that should give me the leverage I need. Keep her at her house. I do not want her harmed. If anything happens to her or the baby she’s carrying, you will not see the sunrise. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Mr. Forrest.”
“Linda Wilson is not to leave her house under any circumstances.”
“Sir, there’s something I think you should know. Mrs. Wilson has just booked two seats on British Airways to the UK.”
“Linda Wilson will not be leaving the United States today or any other day. As to Kevin Wilson, I already have plans for him. Until she’s given birth, Linda Wilson is your only concern. Remember what I said!”
“Yes, Sir. We’ll take care of it, Mr. Forrest.”
Forrest pushed a speed number. “Now to set the hook,” he mused. “Hello, Missy. I’m running a little late. Tell Kevin, in the meantime to check on the problem with the hard drive we took from Donna’s desktop. I want her found and arrested for breach of contract and attempted murder. I’ve just come from my doctor. He’s confirmed it. I’ll meet with Wilson in about forty-five minutes.” Forrest locked his cell phone and stepped out onto the balcony of his penthouse apartment. “Now, let’s see how many birds I’ve killed with that stone.”