Dorning waited until the end of class to tell them.
“Just a moment, ladies and gentlemen. Before you go, I’m afraid I have something very important to announce.”
The class chatter died down, and those already out of their seats sat back down.
“Unfortunately, today was my last day with you. I have resigned to attend to other, more pressing duties.”
The class murmured in dismay.
“You will have a new teacher here next Monday, of course. I don’t know who that will be, so I can’t give you any details or warnings. It’s been my pleasure to stand here and try to enlighten you, and I can only hope some of what I’ve said has helped you understand that science is far more important than most people will ever realize. I doubt any of you will now go running to the registrar to change your major, but at the very least I would like to think you now have a finer appreciation for scientific inquiry, which will serve you well in the exciting years ahead.” He bowed slightly. “Thank you, and goodbye.”
After a brief silence one student began to clap, then another, and another, until they were all clapping and on their feet.
He bowed again, pleased.
The class filed out, each student pausing briefly to thank him. Dorning picked up his briefcase, stuffed the last homework assignments he had to grade under a side flap, and then realized Jacob was behind him, still standing by his chair.
“Yes, Jacob? Can I do something for you?”
Jacob approached him with a stoic expression. Dorning instinctively backed off half a step from the imposing young man.
“Doctor, I just want you to know you were one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. I know my test scores weren’t the greatest, but I think a lot about what you’ve said in class.”
Dorning was touched. “Why, thank you, Jacob. I appreciate that.” His gaze softened. “I particularly appreciated your heartfelt comments about your grandfather’s death. I’m afraid I’m facing a similar circumstance right now, although not involving a family member. This is someone whom I admire greatly, someone who, regrettably, doesn’t have too much longer to live.”
Jacob nodded, brow furrowed. “Oh. I’m very sorry, Doctor. Is that why you’re leaving?”
“Partly. An experimental procedure I’ve been working on has recently entered a critical phase. I must devote my full attention to it now. If I’m successful, and I’m confident I will be, it can save this individual. Money will be a little tight for a while but . . .” He stopped, wondering why he was revealing all this to Jacob when he hadn’t even said as much in his letter of resignation to the dean.
The young man grabbed Dorning’s hand and shook it vigorously.
“Doctor, you’re so smart, I’m sure you’ll succeed.”
“Why, thank you.”
“Don’t let anyone stand in your way, Doctor. You know a lot more than any critic.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure anyone who doubts you will regret it someday.”
“Yes.”
“Thanks again for being such a good teacher, Doctor. Goodbye.”
“Thank you Jacob. It’s been my pleasure.”
Jacob finally let go of the doctor’s hand. He stepped back, nodded, then turned abruptly and strode away, his large shoulders still stoically squared.
Dorning watched him go, surprised to feel admiration for the young man and sorry now he hadn’t gotten to know him better. He blinked in amazement, then shrugged and grabbed his briefcase. As he headed for the door he slowed and then stopped just before turning off the lights in the room. Instead, he set his briefcase down, opened it, and pulled out his class attendance book. He grabbed a pencil, erased the D after Jacob’s name and wrote a C in its place. Then he put the pencil and book away, picked up his briefcase, and swiped at the wall switches, plunging the classroom in darkness.
He walked out of the building for the last time, a spring in his step and humming a happy tune.
****
Dorning descended the basement steps in his modest bungalow to his two laboratories. The first one, well-lit and clean, was set up as a hospital operating room, with all the monitoring equipment and instruments needed for surgery. There were two operating tables side by side, oxygen and anesthetic cylinders, an autoclave, a scrub sink, and the same model cranial drill and workstation Dorning had used to gain his reputation as an acclaimed neurosurgeon.
Behind that room was a less impressive one where Dorning spent most of his hours. The walls were lined with racks of animal cages, most empty now except for a few mice that scratched relentlessly, looking for a way out. The surgical instruments here were smaller, as was the space where Dorning operated. Although clean, the room had an oppressive quality to it and seemed bleak in comparison to its impressive next-door neighbor.
In one tall cage was the remaining monkey of the two he had obtained. The other was dead, frozen in a chest freezer in a corner of the room with the yet-to-be-examined remains of guinea pigs and mice from previous experiments.
All Dorning’s hopes were pinned on that last living monkey. It stood on a fake tree branch clutching a teddy bear, a bandage wrapped around its head and wires trailing from underneath to a monitor facing Dorning.
The doctor approached the monkey with a calculated stare, holding a toy dog in front of him. He glanced at the monitor and saw normal brain activity in the form of multiple red lines rising and falling rhythmically in steady waves.
“Hello, Miguel,” he said. “It’s been a week now. I don’t think you’ve been feeling like yourself lately, have you? In fact, I’m sure of it.” He held out the toy for the monkey to see. “Look. Is this familiar? I think it is, isn’t it? It should be by now. It most definitely should be.”
The monkey chattered menacingly then settled down.
“What’s the matter, Miguel? You don’t like change? Oh, but you must. Change is good, especially for you.”
He held the toy dog closer to the cage. The monkey followed his every move.
“Come on, little man. You don’t want that old teddy bear. You want this little fellow, don’t you?” Dorning cradled the toy in his arms the way the dead monkey used to cradle it for hours. “Remember now? Come on, Miguel. Don’t let me down today. It’s been a week, more than enough time for you to begin to remember. Think, little man. Think hard.” He brought the toy right up to the bars of the cage. “This is yours now, isn’t it? Show me it is, show me it is.”
The monkey seemed mesmerized by the sight of the dog and lowered the teddy bear.
Dorning looked at the monitor and saw that the monkey’s brain waves were changing, dampening out a bit.
Dorning’s eyes widened. “Yes, that’s right. That’s right, little man. You’re beginning to remember something, aren’t you? That’s good, that’s very good.”
The teddy bear fell to the bottom on the cage. The brain waves grew more pronounced.
Dorning’s eyes were at their widest. “Come on, you can do it. You can remember. I’m counting on you, Miguel. We’re all counting on you.”
The monkey trembled as if about to have a seizure, head rolled back and eyes unfocused. Its eyelids fluttered.
“I know you’re in there, Percival. Come out, come out, wherever you are.” He watched the monitor as the red waves peaked and grew closer together, as if an earthquake were underway.
And then the monkey leapt to the door of the cage, hand pushed through the small opening, demanding the toy Dorning held. The doctor relinquished it, and the monkey pulled it inside, scrambling to a different fake branch where the dead monkey used to stand.
Dorning looked at the monitor; the brain patterns had returned to normal, but they didn’t seem quite the same as before.
He hurried to the keyboard and tapped in a few commands. The stored brain wave patterns of the dead monkey appeared beneath the ones coming from the monkey in the cage. He synchronized the signals then overlaid them.
They were a perfect match.
Dorning jumped to his feet, let out a yell, and punched the air with his fists.
“Good to have you back, Percival! It’s so very, very good to have you back!”
Dorning stood motionless in front of the cage, entranced by the monkey and breathing hard, scarcely believing he had finally succeeded after so many futile years.