“Where is it?” Donna snapped as she entered the genetics lab.
Gary peeked at her over the top of his glasses. He could almost feel the heat radiating from her dark eyes. “What are you doing up here?”
“I work here, or has that changed, too?”
“No... but you were supposed to be….”
“Gary, cut the crap! I know, and he’s not my favourite person right now, so just tell me where the sample is, so I can get this done.”
“Are you talking about Sam or Jared?”
“Both! Sam knew Jared was observing us in the operating room, and he bold-faced lied to me. Oh, and let’s not forget the other guilty party – Sir Richard. About the only men, I know in this centre that I’m not pissed off with are John and Ian.”
“You’re pissed off with me? Donna, there are reasons for the way things have been done. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you, and it’s not because I don’t want to. I hate keeping anything from you. For one reason, you’re like a damn billy goat. You’ll keep butting my ass until I give in and tell you. First off, Sam didn’t lie to you – well – not willingly, anyway. As much as I hate to admit this, if you want to blame someone, then blame Jared.”
“Oh – I do – make no mistake of that. In fact, I lay most of the blame on the coward! Now do me a favour. Answer my question, before I forget Jared is the one to blame and start taking it out on you. I’ve had it with men in general today! Oh – and another thing – I want Sam and Richard in here, working on this with us. We are a genetic team, meant to work together. I am tired of hiding in closets and tip-toeing around something that could change the World if we’re successful.”
“What about Jared, D? What about the promise you made to him?”
Donna’s eyes glossed; she swallowed hard. “Jared made a promise to me too, Gary. He promised me that nothing would ever come between us. He laid all the blame on me for our breakup. As far as I’m concerned, there was no breakup. You remember when I collapsed in Forrest’s office? Did you ever find out why that happened?”
Gary narrowed his eyes. “Not entirely.”
“Did Jared tell you that he and I could communicate telepathically – even now – if I didn’t use a great deal of mental energy to keep him out?”
“Yes, Donna. I don’t fully understand the concept, but I know about it.”
“Jared was the reason I collapsed. Because he’s full-blooded Dine'é Kay-Yah, his mental abilities go way beyond mine. His mother taught me how to keep certain things from him – to block him out.”
“Right….”
“I had Jared blocked out. I took the memory of sending my DNA and blood samples to you and put it behind what Nadine called a warning barrier. As I understand it, a warning barrier is kind of like a thought force field. It doesn’t actually keep Jared from accessing those thoughts, but warns him, that it is my personal preference, unless my life is in danger that he not read that part of my mind. Out of love and respect to me, he’s not supposed to force his way beyond my warning barrier. You see, I’ve been doing this for years, I just didn’t know what it was.”
“OK… I’m not sure I agree with all this, but I’m with you so far.”
“Jared got angry with me because I left the clinic with Forrest to go and see my new office. He tried to push his way past my warning barrier. Of course when I realised that he was trying to do this, I strengthened it. Apparently, my ability to block him out was stronger than he thought and he kept pushing, but, the more he pushed, the more I strengthened my warning barrier. To make a long story short, I collapsed under the mental strain. Jared stopped when he realised he was hurting me. He also tried to hide the fact that he was the one who’d hurt me. I realised that was a mistake, so I let it go.”
Gary tightened his jaw. “Jared hurt you?”
“I think if it hadn’t been for my EHG, I might not have survived that.”
Adrenaline rushed through Gary’s veins like molten lava. “Are you saying Jared Thundercloud almost killed you that day?”
Donna swallowed hard. “I’m saying it was a strong possibility. I don’t want you to breathe a word of this to Jared. You’re the only person I’ve told, and I’m only telling you because I know if there’s anyone on this earth that I can trust – it’s you. Please, promise me you won’t repeat what I’m telling you.”
“Can I just beat the shit out of him without telling him why?”
“No, Gary. I do not want Jared to know we’ve discussed this. He wrote something in his ‘Dear John’ letter that I’ve come to realise is true. Jared and I don’t have a future, at least not together.” She went into the back room.
Gary opened his cell phone. “Sir Richard, it’s me. I think you’d better get Jared out of the UK as soon as possible.”
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Sir Richard furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong Gary?”
“Donna is not – let’s just say - I wouldn’t want to be Jared right now. Until Jared comes clean and tells her why he left, I think he has truly cooked his goose this time.”
“I know. Donna was pretty upset when she left my office. I hate to see those two split. I know if Jared would just tell Donna why he left; Donna would drop Sam like a hot potato and wouldn’t give Ricky or anyone a second look. Donna and Jared had something special, Gary, and I know what you meant, now.”
“Sir?” Gary furrowed his brow. “I don’t follow.”
“Donna may not let us see her pain, but it’s there. No one gets that upset when they don’t love someone or don’t want to see them again. I don’t care what she says. And the part that makes this whole damn thing so unfair is Jared still loves Donna as much as he did the night he left. I would love the opportunity to make Forrest pay for all the pain he’s caused my family.”
“I would too, Sir Richard. Anyway, what I called about. Donna said to send Richard and Sam back up here to help us with the project.”
“She what – but I thought…” Sir Richard sighed. “Donna is really pissed with Jared if she’s refusing to keep his secret about his unique abilities.”
“Yes Sir. That’s what I was talking about. If Jared doesn’t talk to Donna before he leaves this time and explain why they can’t be together, I don’t know if she’ll be willing to listen when he’s ready to explain. Donna says she’s not, but I think she’s falling for Sam.”
“It’s her choice, Gary. I suppose time will tell. I’ll get Ricky headed that way. Tell her Sam will be there later. He’s still running the tox screen on Missy. How long does Donna think it will take to get the CTZ5 treatment ready with all of you working on it?”
“Half the time, Sir Richard, four to five hours.”
“OK, Gary. Work as fast as you can,” Sir Richard said and ended the call.
Gary locked his cell phone and walked in the back room where Donna was. “Sam is still busy working on Missy’s tox screen. Richard is on his way. Sam will be here as soon as he’s done in the lab.”
Donna nodded but didn’t look up from her work. Five minutes later, Richard walked in. “Dad said Donna asked for me.”
“Yeah,” Gary sighed. “We’re working with a different DNA sample and the CTZ5.”
“A different DNA sample,” Richard echoed. “I thought Donna was the only one who carried the EHG.”
“She is,” Gary replied. “But, she’s not the only one who carries the Native American gene.”
“But we’ve already tried your DNA, and you carry the Native American gene.”
“It’s Jared’s, Richard. Jared gave your dad cheek scrapings and blood samples. He said we would find what we needed to make a temporary stable vector. If Missy can be saved, he said this is the way to do it.”
Richard frowned. “I thought Mr. Secretive didn’t hand out samples of his blood and DNA. That’s why Donna had to go behind his back and send them over here to you so we could analyse them.”
“Well, circumstances have changed. Sam will be up here as soon as he’s finished running the gas chromatograph and spectroscopy on Missy.”
“Where is Donna?”
“In the back.” Gary grabbed Richard’s forearm, halting him. Richard gave him an expectant stare, one eyebrow arching. “She’s not in a good mood. She’s pretty upset over this thing with Jared, so unless you want your head bitten off don’t patronise her.”
Richard frowned. “Gary, I know how she feels about him. The last thing I want to do is cause Donna more grief,” he said and went in the back.
Gary rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Sure you don’t,” he scoffed. “You’ll just try to take advantage of her vulnerabilities, like you always do,” he muttered.
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Richard sat at the work station next to Donna’s and started setting up his electron microscope. She glanced at him out the corner of her eye, sighed and went back to her work. “I heard what happened. Do you think we’ll find something in time to save Missy?”
“I hope so, Richard. Did you stop by her room?”
“No. Dad said you needed me. I came straight away. Have you made any progress?”
“Not yet. I got here about five minutes ago myself. Even I can’t come up with something that quick. Jared’s DNA is about as stubborn as he is. It doesn’t want to give up its secrets.”
Richard grinned. “Maybe what we’re looking for from him is the arrogant gene.”
Donna softly smiled and shook her head. “If that were the case, then maybe I should be analysing yours.”
Richard narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you the Miss Clever Cloggs. It’s good to have you back up here with us.”
Donna shook her head again. “Will you stop trying to kiss my ass and just get to work?”
Richard chuckled and took a culture dish out of cold storage.”
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An hour later, Sam finished testing Melissa for the cerbera. It seemed two things had kept her alive; the injection of atropine Donna had given her and the fact that Melissa was already on the respirator. Now the problem Sam faced was determining the best form of treatment. Under the circumstances, he knew a stomach and bowel wash wasn’t going to do Melissa much good. There was no way she could have ingested the cerbera. It had to have been an injection, but when and by whom? At this point, it didn’t really matter how the poison got into Melissa’s system. Her internal organs were already starting to shut down. Sam put her on a steady atropine drip and hoped Donna could convince the CTZ5 to work with the EHG. It was Melissa’s only hope, now.
After he’d finished hanging the drip, he called Sir Richard and asked him to stop by his office. Sir Richard sat in the chair in front of Sam’s desk. “Donna was right,” Sam began. “Although Missy’s arrest could partially have been caused by her condition and the EIA, she was poisoned with cerbera. I believe that’s what caused her to go into cardiac arrest. The toxin blocks the calcium ion channels in the heart muscle and disrupts its rhythm. Two things kept Missy alive. The fact that she was already on the respirator and the atropine injection.”
“Why didn’t Donna catch the cerbera?”
“Because, Donna didn’t know what to look for. She looked for an overdose of digitalis – the toxin found in foxgloves and other drugs that disrupts heart rhythm. The only reason I knew about it was because it grows in the coastal areas of Northern Australia.”
Sir Richard furrowed his brow. “But you’re from Tasmania. That’s clear on the other side of the country. How did you know about it?”
Sam grinned. “Girlfriend and research for my book. Anyway, all I could do was put Missy on a steady atropine drip, but it won’t last forever, Sir Richard. If we can’t come up with something, as Missy’s physician, it’s my duty to honour her living will. I’ll have no choice, but to take her off life support and let nature decide her fate.”
“Then you’d better get up there and get busy. Gary, Donna, and Richard are working with a new DNA sample. Jared has assured me it is what Donna is looking for to use as a temporary fix while I work on getting her the HIV1.” Sir Richard stood. “I’ll talk to John and tell him what’s going on. Whether or not we take Missy off life support is still left up to him.”
Sam looked dubious. “And what makes you think Geronimo knows what he’s talking about? How does he know it will work? Whose DNA is it?”
“His,” Sir Richard sighed and left.