The Cure: A Genetic Engineering Thriller

Chapter 5

James had just reached the threshold of the kitchen when he heard a string of uncharacteristic curse words come out of Reggie’s mouth.

He was clutching the landline tightly in one hand, while using the other to rub vigorously at his face.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Dr. Ardolf, Irene and I are giving you complete consent to this voluntary procedure. We’ll even pay you for it if it’s not covered by our insurance, we just need someone to do it!”

Tiptoeing out of the kitchen to let Reggie battle it out with their family doctor, James headed out the front door to start with the lawnmower that needed fixing when he spotted Irene in the garden. She was having a difficult time bending down to harvest what she needed from the herbs, and although she was very much an independent woman, he thought it might be best to offer his assistance before heading out to the garage.

“Good morning,” he greeted the old woman with a friendly smile. “Anything I can help with?”

“In the garden, no,” she teased. “But if you could drive down to Dr. Ardolf’s office and give him a piece of your mind I wouldn’t try and stop you.”

“Yeah, I heard a few exchanged words between him and Reggie just now,” James sighed. “I don’t know what’ll happen if he doesn’t agree.”

“I’ll die from a brain tumor, and that’ll be it. But I don’t want you to give up here, do you understand me?” she scolded, but it was in a sort of gentle, motherly way. “You are a gift to this world, and if things don’t work out with us, I want you to try and help as many families as you can. Will you promise me that?”

“I promise.”

James placed an open hand over his heart to show his sincerity. He meant every word of it. He couldn’t remain idly in the shadows with something as precious as this. And if Ronald were still alive, James was certain he could’ve convinced him to share his work peacefully, too.

Just then, the screen door burst open, and Reggie practically leaped out onto the front porch with his hands above his head. “He’ll do it!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with celebrations for the upcoming procedure, and not one of them brought up what was going to happen if it didn’t work.

Arrangements were made at the local hospital where Dr. Ardolf worked, but he and the O’Connors agreed it would be best to do it in the evening, so there would be less patients and doctors around.

James, Reggie, and Irene all piled into Reggie’s truck, which seemed to fill with anxiety and uncertainty. Even James didn’t know if what they were doing was going to work or not, all he knew was that they had to try.

Before he could even contemplate backing out, they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. Reggie, despite his age, quickly jumped out of the front seat to help his wife walk inside, their arms linked together the whole way. James lingered just a few paces behind, wishing he could call Melanie to tell her the great news. He wasn’t sure why he sought out her approval, but after everything they had been through, and all the guilt he’d been carrying ever since she told James about her father’s death, he wanted her to know that he was doing right by her.

A bald man with large glasses greeted them in the waiting room, and by the looks on Irene and Reggie’s faces, it was Dr. Ardolf.

“Reggie, Irene, welcome, and you must be James, the donor.” He extended his hand out in greeting, and James shook it awkwardly before returning to Irene’s side. “I’ve had a nurse set up a room to do the transfusion but requested that no one disturb us until the procedure is complete. If you’ll follow me, we’ll get started right away.”

James swallowed the lump in his throat, hoping it would help ease some of his nervousness. He never did like hospitals, especially not after practically living in one while Amelia was on her deathbed. It was just a painful reminder of the wonderful woman he lost.

“In here.” Dr. Ardolf opened a door and gestured for them to huddle inside. “Irene, if you could get up onto the bed, I’d like to run some preliminary tests just so we can run some blood tests beforehand. Since it was only a few weeks ago since your last x-ray of the tumor I thought it would be unnecessary to check again. The progress and placement will most likely be the same.”

With the help of her husband, Irene did as instructed. She grasped onto his forearm as she stepped up onto the stool and slid onto the crinkly paper, an all too familiar sound. James parked himself in the chair next to the bed, figuring he’d need to be relatively close for the transfusion.

“I have a couple of documents here for you to sign,” Dr. Ardolf began, handing them each a clipboard with a pen. “Legal stuff, waivers that I’m not to be held liable if anyone dies on my table this evening. You’re all aware of the risks of this,” his eyes flickered to James as he narrowed his gaze, “unusual circumstance. I don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with here, so this procedure is happening off the hospital’s radar. If anyone asks, I know nothing.”

“We appreciate your due diligence,” James replied. “As I’m sure Mr. O’Connor made perfectly clear over the 45 phone yesterday, this is highly classified information we’re dealing with. Few people know about the serum, and if something were to be released to the public, you’ll be the first person I speak with.”

“I assure you; I have no intention of going to the press,” he confirmed. “Once I run these tests we’ll start with the procedure. It’ll take somewhere between two to three hours to complete, so I hope you all enjoy each other’s company, we might be here a while.”

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Dr. Ardolf muttered under his breath.

He held in his hand two sets of lab results, the first being the ones that Irene had done prior to the transfusion, and the second were the ones after. He had been correcting stating they’d be there for the better half of the night, not that James minded. It was for a good cause, after all. Irene did her best to stay away, but she had dozed off here and there, but once the transfusion was complete, James had already started to notice some of the earlier side effects that he had experienced, too. High energy, a sort of glow to her skin, and increased mobility. It was as if she had drunk a dozen cups of coffee.

“What is it?” Reggie inquired, likely fearing the worst.

While he had been completely onboard with his wife’s decision to do what she wanted with her body, James 46 knew he was likely still hesitant to the whole idea. It was a bit of a foreign concept, so that was to be expected.

“These CT scan results, they’re phenomenal. The change is minuscule right now, but there’s definitely signs of shrinkage of the glioblastoma. It’s no longer putting pressure on the nerves connected to the spinal cord, which I’m sure you can feel yourself, Irene, especially in your mobility and pain scale. I’d like to book you for a follow up appointment in a few days, just so I can gauge an even more accurate comparison of the before and after.”

“That’s amazing news,” Irene cried, wrapping her arms around her husband, and squeezing her eyes shut. James couldn’t help but smile, knowing he was a part of their extended happiness. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you, James,” Reggie chimed in. “You’ve truly blessed our family. I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you.”

“A few more nights at the ranch won’t hurt,” he joked. “I still need to figure out my next move.”

“Irene, I’m just going to ask you to rest for a few more minutes before we get all set up to discharge you,” Dr. Ardolf instructed. “Mr. Scott, do you mind if I have a quick chat with you out in the hall?”

“Absolutely,” he said, following the doctor outside and into a little alcove which provided a bit more privacy.

The hospital was practically empty at this house, being that it was a small town and there weren’t many residents. Pre-potion James would’ve been completely zonked at this hour, but frankly, he could run off a few hours and only need a cup of coffee for routine purposes to keep going. He was a bit lightheaded from the blood transfusion, but it wasn’t anything too serious. He’d just have to take it easy the next day while he recovered.

“That was truly miraculous,” Dr. Ardolf began. “What was the name of your friend that developed this super serum?”

“Ronald,” James answered. He wasn’t entirely comfortable giving his complete name, even if he were deceased. The twisted feeling in his gut had returned, and he knew better than to ignore it.

“I know there’s been talk in the medical community about something like this, but I never expected it would be developed any time soon, at least not while I was still practicing medicine.”

“He was a brilliant man,” James agreed.

“I’m sorry, did you say was?”

“Yes. He passed a few weeks ago, I’m afraid.”

Dr. Ardolf blinked. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it wasn’t anything to do with cancer or an illness? I don’t see 48 why someone with this kind of knowledge wouldn’t use it on himself.”

“No, no, it was, uh,” James scrambled, “an accident. He wasn’t able to inject himself in time.”

“Pardon my asking, but, did he have an associate who was working on this development? Surely there’s someone else out there with the formula he used to create whatever is running through your veins. If you’re the only living person, well, now Irene has some too, but that is—”

“Yes,” James lied. “His colleagues all have access to the project. It was something they had been working on together. I’m not legally allowed to discuss anything about it though, as I’ve signed an NDA, I apologize.”

“Oh, no need to apologize,” Dr. Ardolf reassured. “I completely understand. The most important thing is that we were able to prolong a woman’s life today. Your family and friends should be proud of you.”

“Thank you, Dr. Ardolf.”

“Please, call me Don.”

“Don,” James repeated. “I’m happy you agreed to help.”

“Speaking of helping, I actually took a few extra samples of your blood to give to you. As long as it’s properly stored you should be able to preserve it for a little over a month. I don’t recommend freezing it. I 49 also extracted plasma, which can be frozen, and I think will still be beneficial to someone if they were to use it. That should last a year if kept safe.”

“Thank you, is Reggie able to receive a transfusion as well? Not that he has any medical reasons to be concerned about, but it would be nice if he could tack on a few extra years with Irene, too.”

Dr. Ardolf frowned slightly, and that painful knot in James’s stomach returned. “Unfortunately, he’s not a match to your blood type, so it wouldn’t work. Since you’re A+, Irene was a match since she’s O-, but he’s B+. However, perhaps sometime down the road when it has worked its way into her system, she might be able to do a transfusion herself, but the dosage will be even less than what it was for you and her. I’m not sure it would do much good at that point.”

“I understand,” James nodded, although he was a bit disappointed. “All that matters is Irene will get to live tumor free.”

Dr. Ardolf grinned, holding his clipboards firmly against his chest. “That she will be my friend.”