Tina Phillips, one of the lab technicians at Newcastle Stem Cell Research Centre grabbed a carrier bag and headed for the door.
“Wait!” Ian called out. “Where have you been? You’ve missed all the fun.”
“Out of town. I got back to Newcastle about half an hour ago.”
“Did Sam know?”
“Yes. I told him about a week ago I wasn’t planning on coming in today. I only came in because I forgot something. What did I miss?”
“It must have slipped his mind then because he tried calling you first. He told me to come in around six. A chopper brought Linda Wilson and Melissa Hart in this morning. Melissa is in critical condition. She’s in ICU. John Sherriff hasn’t left her room since she got out of surgery. I need to go to the loo, but I’ve got to get this to the nurse’s station first.”
“What is it?”
“Linda Wilson’s amniocentesis.”
“Linda Wilson, as in Kevin Wilson’s wife?”
“That’s the one.”
“What is she doing here?”
“Tina, I’m a nobody. I’m told on a need to know basis, just like you. All I can tell you is that Linda Wilson and Melissa Hart were admitted to the infirmary early this morning. Sam and the surgical team spent hours working on Miss Hart.”
Why happened to Miss Hart?”
“Don’t know.”
“Boy! You’re just full of information, aren’t you? Well, have fun. I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll pass by the nurse’s station on my way out. Why don’t you give that to me and you go to the loo before you have an accident?”
“Oh – Tina – you’re a lifesaver. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It must have been something I ate at lunch, but I’ve got the worst case of….”
Tina twisted her nose and held up her hand. “…That’s enough information. Just give it to me and go,” she said, holding out her hand.
“Here. Make sure you tell them to page Dr. Rigden. She may be on the upper level in the genetics lab.”
Tina sighed, glanced at the slip of paper and shoved it in her front jeans pocket as she left the lab.
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As soon as she was in the privacy of her car, Tina popped her cell phone in the car cradle and put in her Bluetooth ear bud. She tapped it twice and waited. “It’s me. What in the hell is going on over there?”
“Tina, I’m at the hospital. He collapsed. What do you want?”
“Oh, I’m just wondering what Melissa Hart and Kevin Wilson’s wife are doing in the UK.”
Liu’s voice was anxious. “Hart and Wilson are there - both of them - alive?”
Tina turned on her indicator and changed lanes. “Yes. Both here and both alive.”
“Fuck! That must have been why Forrest collapsed. He rang and found out things fell through at the Wilson’s house, as well. What is Miss Hart’s condition? Tina, she should be dead!”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to look at her chart. According to Ian, she’s critical, though.”
“But, she’s still alive – you’re certain of it?”
“Yes! What do you want me to do?”
“It shouldn’t take much to finish her off. She can’t regain consciousness, Tina! Understood?”
“Yes, but….”
“You’re still sleeping with Dr. Browne – right?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Tina groaned. “What has my assignment got to do with it?”
“If my suspicions are right, your boss will be behind this double rescue.”
“Sam!” she scoffed. “The only thing he’s behind is Rigden.”
“No, Tina – Sir Richard. Forrest wants Wilson’s wife for some reason. He’s been doing some kind of experiment on her that’s supposed to save his life. I don’t know what it is, but I suspect it has something to do with her baby. I need you to keep a close watch on Linda Wilson. Be nosey. See if you can uncover anything that might tell us why Linda Wilson is so important to Forrest. In the meantime… silence Melissa Hart.”
“How… important is this information on Linda Wilson.”
“Very, especially if Forrest dies before he names me as his heir.”
“What makes you think he’ll do that?” she hedged.
“Do you know anything about Forrest’s interest in Linda Wilson?”
Tina narrowed her eyes and fingered the paper in her front pocket. “No, John, but if the price is right, I might put forth a special effort to find out, for you.”
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Gary looked at his watch. “Ok you three, let’s wrap it up and head for home.
Donna looked at Sam. “We’re not going home tonight, Gary,” Sam spoke up. “Donna and I are spending the night here.”
Richard frowned. “Why? We won’t know anything until morning.”
“We’re going to hang around in case anything goes wrong with Missy,” Donna said. “Besides, I’m still waiting on the test result for Linda Wilson’s amniocentesis. I’d really like to know if I’m right about that. If I am…” she broke off and shook her head. “It just doesn’t make sense why her doctor put her life at risk like this.”
“If you’re right, what are you going to do?” Gary asked.
“I’ll talk to Mr. Wilson first, and see what he knows about this. He and Linda wanted this baby badly. She’s been trying to get pregnant for several years now. Under the circumstances, I dread telling them their baby would be better off not being born.”
“There’s nothing we can do? What about what we’re working on? Could that be used to help her baby?”
“I don’t know, Gary. My research was never intended to be used for something like this. It was geared more toward older people and the terminally ill.”
“Well, if you’re right about their baby, and they agreed, what could it hurt to try? Assuming, of course, that it wouldn’t put Linda’s life at risk.”
“I suppose it might be worth a try, but even with my CTZ5 and marking system, we haven’t gotten very far. I need that HIV1 vector. Using the CTZ5 is going to take too long. The EHG just doesn’t seem to want to work on anyone, but me. Every animal test we’ve tried has failed, especially the ones we did on primates. It doesn’t make sense. The CTZ5 should be working.”
“Try not to worry about it too much D. Richard has another batch of stem cells lined up for tomorrow’s tests. I know what you’ll do. Sam, you’ll have to watch her. If she gets a free moment, she’ll be back in this damn lab.”
Sam grinned and wrapped an arm around Donna’s waist. “Don’t worry Gary. I’ll keep her distracted when nothing is going on. What are your plans for tonight, Richard?”
“Date with a hot little thing out your way. Well, what used to be your way until you moved in with us? Enjoying the luxuries of life, Sam?”
“Richard, I assure you if there were no threats, living under your roof is the last place I’d want to be with Donna.”
Richard grinned. “In that case, I guess you’d better get used to seeing my face. The threats will probably get worse, instead of better. Especially when Forrest finds out his bargaining chips just got spent. Goodnight pet,” he said, kissed Donna’s cheek and left.
Sam glared at Richard’s back and kissed the side of Donna’s neck. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go check on Missy and see if we can’t chase up a salad, or something. I’m starving.”
Donna turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up into his aqua eyes. The corners of her mouth turned up. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with our little encounter earlier, would it?”
Sam wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her against his body. “It would have everything to do with our little… encounter… as you put it,” he responded and kissed her.
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Donna tapped on the door and stuck her head in. “Hi John. Want some company?”
John smiled. “Sure, Donna,” he said sitting up in his chair. “Where’s your sidekick?”
Donna chuckled. “Gone to get us some salad,” she said and quietly closed the door behind her. “We thought we’d eat with you if that’s OK?”
“You and Sam can eat in here with me, but I’m not hungry, Donna,” John responded. “Especially not for salad.”
Donna grinned and pulled a chair next to his. “I figured that’s what you’d say, so Sam is getting you a turkey sandwich and a cup of tea. Don’t be surprised if it’s on whole wheat bread with spinach instead of lettuce – more vitamins.”
“I’ll try to eat it, Donna, but like I said, I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat to keep your strength up, John.”
“I will, as soon as I know Missy is going to pull through this. I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t. I should have went and seen her before we left America. Have you had any luck with your vector problem?”
Donna sighed. “Not a lot, John, but don’t worry. I’m not giving up. I have more tests lined out for tomorrow.”
“Ricky told me you and Sam were staying here tonight, because of Missy. I appreciate your help, Donna, yours and Sam’s.” The words were out of John’s mouth before he could stop them. “No wonder Jared was so upset over losing you,” he softly mused.
Donna’s head jerked up; she frowned. “What?”
Two taps on the door. “Knock, knock,” Sam said as he stepped into the room. He handed Donna the bag of food and picked up Melissa’s progress chart. “Let’s see how she’s doing. sweetheart, you want to serve the food while I give her a quick look.”
Donna took the food out and put it on the small table next to the wall. “Did you think to stop by the nurse’s station, on your way back and see if Ian got around to Linda Wilson’s amniocentesis?”
“No, but I’ll go see as soon as I’ve finished this.”
“I’ll do it,” Donna said and stood. “You two go ahead and start without me. I noticed you forgot the drinks, too.”
Sam glanced up from the chart and grinned at her. “I guess I had something else on my mind.”
“More like someone,” John chuckled.
Sam studied Donna’s eyes; the corners of his mouth turned up. “You know, you’re probably right, John.”
Donna rolled her eyes and slowly shook her head. “I know what I want, and I know what John wants to drink, but what do you want?”
Sam smiled wryly. “If I tell you, can I have it?”
Donna narrowed her eyes. “To drink, Sam!”
Sam chuckled. “Whatever you’re having is fine, sweetheart.”
Donna smiled and left. John blew air through his parted lips catching Sam’s attention. He turned. “What’s up?”
“There for a minute, I thought I’d put my foot in my mouth.”
Sam frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I said something about Jared, but I don’t think she noticed. At least, I hope she didn’t notice.”
“What did you say?”
“I commented on how upset Jared was over losing her.”
“Losing her? Sam arched an eyebrow. “I thought Jared left her!”
“He did Sam, but not willingly. He made a bad choice and Forrest blackmailed him, although I haven’t figured out why. What happened didn’t make sense.”
“Since when has anything made sense, where Forrest was concerned,” Sam scoffed. He glanced back at the door. “So, let me get this straight because Donna told me a different story. Forrest blackmailed Jared to leave Donna?”
“Something like that,” John responded. “He threatened to make Jared choose, between Donna and his daughter.”
“Sir Richard couldn’t do something about this?”
“He could have, but at the time, he and Jared didn’t exactly trust each other. That’s how Forrest got to Jared. In case you haven’t noticed, Donna is a workaholic.”
“I had noticed that….”
“When Donna was in America – still under Forrest’s rule – or so he thought, she was under a lot of pressure. Forrest had lengthened her work hours, cut her pay, and completely changed the direction of her research. Richard and Gary – mainly Gary were pressuring Donna to leave D’Netics and come over here. Of course, you know why.”
Sam glanced at the chart and looked back up. “Right…?”
“Donna was almost to the point, of telling Forrest what he could do with himself, but then Jared came back into the picture.”
“Came back?”
“Apparently, Jared and Donna met several years ago – the day before Gary came over here, to work for Sir Richard. Jared was already engaged to another woman – Sara Foster. They married and had a daughter, but Sara died about two weeks after Sarabeth was born.”
“How old is Jared’s daughter now?”
“Seven – I believe.”
Sam furrowed his brow. “And Jared waited seven years before he contacted Donna, again? Why?”
“Jared didn’t exactly contact Donna. If you believe in fate, they just happened to be at the same doctor’s convention at the same time. In fact, according to Jared, he came with another woman because he said he’d do her a favour. I don’t think Kim Gentry planned on Donna being there.”
Sam held up a hand. “Hang on – Kim Gentry? Where have I heard that name? Oh yes – wasn’t she the one they laid the explosion on?”
“Yeah,” John scoffed. “I don’t believe her or Jared had anything to do with it.”
“Jared? I’m confused now.”
John waved a dismissive hand. “It’s a long story Sam. One we’ll have to continue another day. I don’t want Donna to catch us talking about this.”
Sam sighed. “OK – fine - getting back to Jared. Are you saying he’s still in love with Donna? He’s not mad at her for giving away his ‘witch doctor’ secrets?”
“No, but I swear, if you repeat any of this to Donna, I’ll castrate you.”
Sam whistled; both eyebrows shot up. “That’s a pretty strong motive for silence – especially now,” he grinned.
“I’m not kidding, Sam. Besides, if Donna knew how Jared really felt, you wouldn’t know which way she went. So, it’s in your best interest not to say anything.”
Sam pursed his lips. “You’ll get no arguments out of me. When did you say he was leaving?”
John chuckled. “I didn’t. Changing the subject, how is Missy doing?”
“I have to admit, John, I feel more confident than I did when we brought her out of surgery.”
Donna tapped on the door and stuck her head in. “Sam, could I see you out here, for a second?”
Sam stepped outside in the corridor. “What’s up, sweetheart?”
“I stopped back by the nurse’s station after I got our drinks. I checked Linda’s chart. The amniocentesis results weren’t there. The lab is closed. Do you think Ian was too busy to finish it?”
Sam unlocked his cell phone. “Let’s find out. Ian, it’s Sam. Did you get a chance to do Linda Wilson’s amniocentesis?”
“Yeah – Sam. I gave it to Tina.”
“Tina? When in the hell did she come in? I’ve been trying to reach her all day!”
“That’s funny. She said you’d given her the day off. She said she told you about it sometime last week. You didn’t give her the day off?”
“Hell no, I didn’t give her the day off! Did she say where she was?”
“Only that she’d been out of town. She said she would be back tomorrow. Anyway, she offered to deliver Linda Wilson’s test results, on her way out. After she had gone, I realised I’d given her the entire form. It’s not the first time I’ve made that mistake,” he chuckled. “Tina usually brings our copy back, but she probably thought she could bring it back in the morning.”
“Donna was waiting for those results. Did you record them?”
“Oh yeah. They’re on the system. That much I did remember to do.”
“OK. I’ll get them off there, then. Night Ian.” Sam ended the call and put his cell phone away.
“What did he say?” Donna asked.
“He said he gave the form to Tina, who was supposed to drop it off at the nurse’s station as she was leaving. But… apparently Tina didn’t do it.”
“Then, there shouldn’t be a problem – assuming you can get into the medical lab.”
Sam grinned. “I can get into any office in the infirmary, and since my security level has been recently upgraded, I can get into the genetics labs, as well.”
Donna followed him to the medical lab. Sam switched on the lights and logged onto medical records. Keying Linda Wilson’s information in, they waited. The list of completed lab tests for that day came up. Sam glanced at Donna and frowned. “Where are Linda Wilson’s records, Sam?”
Sam stared at the screen and shrugged. “Computer glitch?”