Sam fiddled with the computer in the medical lab, trying various things to figure out what happened to Linda Wilson’s medical records. Fifteen minutes later, neither he nor Donna were any the wiser. At this point, they had no other choice than to call in the expert. Donna unlocked her new Triplet International cell phone and put it on speaker. “Hey, it’s me. Is Tina with you?”
“No D. I haven’t seen nor heard from her since yesterday. She’s not answering her calls or returning her messages. I’m starting to get concerned.”
Donna frowned; she didn’t like the sound of that, or the direction the evidence was pointing. “Do you have time to help me with a computer problem?”
“Sure, what sort of computer problem?”
“Linda Wilson’s medical records seem to have disappeared from the infirmary’s database. I need you to see if you can figure out what happened to them and get them back.”
“Have you checked the recycle bin to see if they were accidentally deleted?”
“Yes,” Donna responded. “That was the first place I looked.”
“In that case, have you tried the access log? Does it show that an entry was made?”
Donna glanced at Sam. “How do we do that?” Sam asked.
“I’ll do it from here. It’s too complicated to explain over the phone. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get back to you.”
“In that case, in the meantime, I’ll just take the sample out of cold storage and run the test again myself. I need to talk to the Wilson’s, and I can’t do it until I know whether or not I’m right about their baby.”
Sam went in the back to get the sample for Donna.
Gary chuckled. “Do you still remember how to do such a menial task?”
Donna rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Ha, ha – Smart Ass,” she scoffed. “You do your thing, and I’ll do mine.” She ended the call.
Sam paused in the doorway and sighed in exasperation. “Sweetheart… there’s nothing in cold storage. Unless Ian disposed of the rest of the sample after he’d run the test, it’s disappeared, as well.”
“Oh come on, Sam!” Donna groaned. “This doesn’t make sense. I never dispose of amniotic samples. They’re an excellent source for harvesting stem cells.”
“I know, and Ian doesn’t normally do this. Maybe the sample became contaminated somehow.”
“I suppose it’s possible, but if we can’t get her records back, I’ll have to draw another sample. I don’t like causing my patient’s unnecessary suffering because of mine or someone else’s negligence – especially a pregnant woman.”
Sam turned off the computer monitor and took her hands, lifting her to her feet. “There’s nothing we can do until we hear from Gary. Why don’t we go back and finish our meal? By that time, we should have heard from Gary.” He cradled her face and kissed her. Donna wrapped her arms around Sam’s waist and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. Sam closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. “Come on.” Resting a hand at the small of her back, he guided her to the door, switched off the lights and locked the door.
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Sam and Donna were on their way back to Melissa’s room, when her EKG alarm went off. John stepped out in the corridor. Sam and Donna took off in a run. John and two nurses followed behind them. Donna checked her vitals. “She’s arresting, Sam!”
Sam motioned with his head. The two nurses urged John back, out of the way. Sam held Missy on her side while Donna positioned the backboard. John stood and watched helplessly.
“Charge the defibrillator to 200!” Sam shouted and opened the front of her gown. “Clear!” he commanded. Melissa’s body jumped.
“She’s still throwing afibs.” Donna watched the monitor. “She’s slipping, Sam!”
“5mg atropine push, Donna!” Sam growled. “Charge to 360!”
“Charged!”
“It’s in, Sam!” Donna announced.
“Clear!” Sam warned and shocked Melissa again.
“She’s back,” Donna sighed. “We’ve got a weak, irregular sinus.”
Sam switched the respirator over to full assist and studied Donna’s eyes. “Call Ian back to the lab. Tell him I want an MRI and a full line of blood work including blood gases, and I want those results STAT!”{5}
Sam and Donna approached John. Sam rested his hand on John’s shoulder and guided him outside the room. John was shocked. “What happened to her?”
Sam drew in a deep sigh and exhaled. “John, until I get the test results, I really can’t say.”
“Is she going to be all right?”
“Again, I won’t know until I see the test results,” Sam said, offering little hope. “In the meantime, the respirator will breathe for her unless she runs into some other complication like renal failure. If that happens, the only option would be to put her on dialysis. I’m afraid at that stage, we would be forced to make a difficult decision,” Sam said, looking into John’s worried eyes.
Donna frowned and intervened. “Sam….”
Sam softly smiled and nodded. “We don’t need to worry about that right now, John.”
“Why don’t you go back and sit with her, while Sam and I talk?” Donna added. John nodded and went back in the room. Sam took Donna’s hand and led her down the corridor. She tucked her head and swallowed hard. “I think we should call Sir Richard and discuss the possibility of using my CTZ5 treatment.”
“I thought you were worried that Missy might not be genetically compatible with the EHG.”
“I am concerned, Sam, but I want to be prepared. I can run the tests for you. We don’t need to wait on Ian. It might save us some valuable time.”
“You know,” Sam grinned. “You’re coming in handy in more ways than one.”
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John sat in the chair beside the bed. He picked up Melissa’s hand and gently caressed the back of it with his thumb. He studied the features of her face; the smile lines beside her mouth; the sharp angle of her brow; the edge of her hairline where her natural hair colour was starting to show. He smiled, remembering how embarrassed Melissa had been when he discovered she was not a natural blonde.
He traced her bottom lip around the breathing tube with his finger. He wanted to burn her into his mind as she was burned into his heart. “Come on Missy! Fight!” He rested his head on the bed. “Please fight,” he said in a forced whisper.
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Jared, Juanita, Sir Richard, and Richard sat down at one of the tables in the complex cafeteria. Rita Holback, the assistant cook in charge approached. “Would you or your guests like anything else, Sir?”
Sir Richard wiped his mouth on a cloth napkin. “I wouldn’t mind another cup of tea, Rita,” he smiled.
“Coming right up. Dr. Thundercloud. Dr. Walton. Dr. Triplet, would you like anything.”
“I’m stuffed,” Jared responded, reaching for his drink. “I have to hand it to you, Sir Richard. This is a pretty impressive place, but what’s your purpose for all of this?”
Sir Richard studied Jared’s eyes. “The continuation of life on Earth, Jared, survival.”
Jared frowned. “From what? What’s the big threat?”
“An ELE – an Extinction Level Event.”
“You mean like the kind that killed the dinosaurs?”
“Something a bit bigger than that but you have the right idea. In the year 7141 a planetoid, a little bigger than the Moon will hit the Earth.”
Juanita’s mouth gaped. “But, that’s five thousand years into the future. Why should we be worrying about something like that?”
Sir Richard grinned. “Exactly! Because it’s so far into the future, our generation does nothing. And so does the next, and the next, and so on. Eventually, the last generation won’t have the time or the resources to solve the problem. Higher life on Earth will cease to exist. That’s the purpose of this biosphere. The complex is a pilot project for a self-contained environment used while we travel to a different solar system.”
“Why not some place closer, like the Moon, or even Mars?” Juanita asked.
Jared sighed. “Because, sweetheart, an impact, such as Sir Richard is describing, would scatter debris throughout our solar system. Nowhere would be safe,” he mused. “OK, apart from being able to absorb actual sunshine, living here would be tolerable. I can imagine Donna will enjoy the futuristic touches, especially the wallscreens.”
“I think she’ll be more impressed with the park and the genetics lab,” Juanita interjected. “I used to think we had advanced technology at D’Netics, but we’re still rubbing sticks together – no offense, Jared.”
Jared grinned. “Now all you’ve got to do is learn to send smoke signals, and you’ll be right up there with me,” he teased.
Sir Richard laughed. “I’m going to miss your sense of humour, Jared. Are you sure I can’t convince you to let me send for your daughter and your family? I’m sure we could find a remote corner to tuck you away in. If you’re worried about your daughter’s education….”
Jared held up a hand and glanced at Richard. “Sir Richard, if my daughter was here, I would not be hiding. I would be on my knees in front of Donna, begging for her forgiveness. If she turned me away, I would simply live with knowing I would be close to her for the rest of my life.”
“That’s very noble of you Jared,” Richard scoffed.
Sir Richard frowned and cleared his throat. Rita approached and filled his cup with tea. He stood. “Why don’t we go to my office, Jared, and you can explain what you were talking about this morning at the Centre. Then you and I can have a chat about your mother,” he said, directing his attention to Juanita.
“If it’s all the same to you, Sir Richard, I just as soon have Juanita in there with us. She already knows how I’m... different,” he grinned and cut his eyes at Richard again.
“In that case, Ricky, why don’t you see how things are going with your entertainment project?”
Jared arched an eyebrow and directed his attention to Richard. “Entertainment project?”
One corner of Richard’s mouth turned up. “I’m building Donna a studio like the one you have at Wisteria Hall, only the technology will be a little more advanced, than yours.”
Jared stood to leave. “Really? Trying to make up for your lack of musical talent, Richard?” He leaned close to Richard’s ear. “Little pointer for you. When I come back to stay, none of this will make any difference – trust me on that,” he whispered and walked away. “You coming, sweetheart?” Jared turned and waited.
Richard tightened his jaw and pressed his lips into a thin line. “You keep unpredictable company, Juanita.”
“I’ll see you later, Richard,” Juanita softly said and stood beside Jared, who rested a hand at the small of her back and guided her as they left.
“Arrogant arsehole,” Richard growled. To him, Jared was becoming more of a challenge than Sam. If there were no obstacles between Jared and Donna, Richard knew he or Sam wouldn’t stand a chance with her. Sam just didn’t know that yet. From Richard’s point of view, he would do everything he could to make sure Jared stayed on the other side of the Atlantic – where he belonged. Sam would eventually slip up, but Richard feared Jared wouldn’t. This made Jared a threat.
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Donna looked over the test results a second time, just to make sure she hadn’t missed something. “There is no visible reason why Missy should have arrested, Sam.” Using a pen, she pointed. “If you compare this part of the ECG – recorded a few minutes after we left the room – to this part, taken shortly after she arrested, it doesn’t make sense. Missy has a steady sinus rhythm here, and then, not long after we leave the room, nothing. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was deliberate. She did fine until we left.”
Sam frowned. “Sweetheart, you know that’s not possible. John was in the room the entire time. Sir Richard’s guards never moved from their position, outside the door.”
“I know what you’re saying, but the graph speaks for itself.”
Sam sighed. “OK, what about the blood gases and chemistry? Did they show anything?”
“Yeah. They follow the same pattern that the ECG does. Her electrolytes were fine, and then…” she broke off. “Anyway, I followed my hunch and screened for possible toxins that could produce the same symptoms as cardiac arrest.”
“And…” Sam prompted.
“It didn’t turn up anything. I did, however, find something disturbing.”
“What’s that?”
Donna swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed. “Unless we risk using the CTZ5 treatment, I don’t think Missy is going to pull out of this Sam. Her creatinine and BUN levels are up, and her GFR is down. Her renal system is failing.”
“Any idea why this happened?”
“It’s the EIA, the drug I was telling you about, plus there’s no telling what other experimental drugs Forrest pumped into her. Did you tell John the other part?”
“You mean the signs of sexual trauma?”
“Yeah.”
“No. I hadn’t said anything, because, frankly, I didn’t expect Missy to come out of this. I figured John had enough on his plate already.”
“If the CTZ5 treatment works, John will have to be told because Missy will come out of this. Especially if the EHG transcribes into her DNA the way it did mine. Before my appendectomy, I tested positive for West Nile Virus. Two days later, there wasn’t a trace of the virus anywhere in my system. I saw the test results.”
Sam studied Donna’s eyes. “You know, if the treatment doesn’t work, we have to honour Missy’s wishes. She does not want to be left on life support, sweetheart. I know she was your friend. I know how hard it can be to make a decision like this for a total stranger, but it’s even harder, when it’s someone you care about.”
Donna’s eyes glossed. “Yes, Sam, it is, but before we make that decision, I think we should consider John’s feelings, as well. Put yourself in his shoes. How would you feel if it were me instead of Missy?”
Sam pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “I don’t even want to think about that because I don’t know what I would do. As Missy’s doctor, it is my responsibility to honour her choice.”
“Well… I can tell you this. I’m selfish. If it were you, I would do everything within my power to keep you with me. I’ve already lost too much. I don’t want to lose anything else.”
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She unlocked her apartment door and jerked off her short blonde wig. She unlocked her cell phone and started peeling off her latex mask. “It’s done.”
“Good. Now they have no choice. They either use their experimental virus on her, or they let her die. If it works on Hart, it will work on Linda. Well done, Tina.”
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Sir Richard stared at Jared as he shook his head in total bemusement. A slow smile spread across his mouth. “You are truly a unique person, Jared. This thing with your eyes is amazing, son, and the other enhanced abilities are almost unbelievable. I understand why you wouldn’t want this to go public, but tell me. How in the hell does it work? How do you keep it under control? Is it spontaneous? Is it a muscle or a reflex? Perhaps it has something to do with the amount of adrenaline or a specific hormone present in your bloodstream?” Sir Richard couldn’t contain his excitement. He’d witnessed Jared’s eyes change from their normal dark brown colour to a pair of glowing orbs, that had then gone from amber to so crimson they were almost black.
Jared grinned. “Sir Richard, I’m impressed. Most people, who see what you’ve seen, run away screaming. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t reveal this little secret, about myself to just anyone. Being underground, and around so many people could cause a few problems.”
Sir Richard nodded. “Seeing a pair of red glowing eyes at the end of one of the tunnels might make people start believing I’m harbouring vampires, down here,” he laughed.
Jared arched an eyebrow, snorted and cleared his throat. “Close… but… I don’t drink blood – of any kind. I don’t shape shift, and I’m not immortal – at least not yet.”
“Did Donna do a DNA profile on you?”
“It was in the cards, but no, she didn’t get around to doing one.”
“Juanita, you and Jared feel free to help out at the infirmary if there are any emergencies. It will save Sam a trip. We haven’t moved that many of our medical staff yet. I’m glad you two will eventually be part of it.”
Jared sighed. “I hope you’re right, Sir Richard. Oh, before I forget it. Since Richard is recreating my studio, mind if I tell him what he’s doing wrong?”
Sir Richard laughed. “By all means. What about the rest of your band? Do you think they would be interested in giving my little project a go? I think Raging Storm would add to our family oriented environment. People will need things to do when they’re not working.”
Jared pressed his lips into a thin line. “Sir Richard, without Donna, I just don’t have that much interest in the band. In fact, I’m not part of it anymore. I’m not even participating in our annual Country Music Convention, in Wickenburg.”
“I see. I suppose I would be much the same. Unfortunately, like Ricky, I wasn’t born with a canary in my throat. I’m afraid he gets that from me. Jared, I trust you spoke to your daughter and family in Arizona?”
“Yes Sir. I told her I would be gone for a few days. I thought I would at least enjoy your hospitality until we see what’s going to happen with….”
Sir Richard’s cell phone interrupted. “Sir, it’s John. Missy isn’t doing so well,” he choked.
“What happened John?”
“She went into cardiac arrest. She – ah - she died Sir, but Sam and Donna brought her back. I need to go. Sam and Donna are coming in the room again.”
“Tell them we’re on our way back. Jared, Juanita, I’m sorry. I’ve got to get back to the Centre. Missy’s heart stopped beating. Donna is working as hard as she can to find a way of using her CTZ5, but her vector isn’t working out. She wants to use HIV1, but it’s going to take time to get that. A lot of red tape. It looks like we might lose Missy, after all.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “I can help. If Missy is dying, it won’t make any difference whether she’s genetically compatible or not. Stop by the infirmary before you leave. I’ll have what you need, but Donna must not know where this came from – Gary can, but no one else. I can’t compromise on this, Sir Richard. This could very well come back and bite me in the butt.”
Sir Richard nodded. “Let’s go.”