The Cure: A Genetic Engineering Thriller

Chapter 11

Something had been different about James when he returned from his secret drive, and as much as Melanie wanted to pry, she knew best not to.

Especially when Irene and Reggie had shared the news the next morning that there had been a fatal car crash less than a half an hour away from the ranch. A body had been recovered, a man in his thirties the news reported, who had been driving an SUV. Although they had yet to release this man’s identity, Melanie had a sick feeling she knew exactly who it was. James had said he would do anything and everything to protect him, and a part of her wondered just how far he was willing to go to keep that promise.

“That could’ve been you out there,” Irene murmured to James, a hand clutched to her chest. While they didn’t have a television in their home, they did get the newspaper, and it shared every last detail of this mysterious crash. “It says here they found a second set of tire tracks on the scene, and that the driver was likely racing another vehicle.”

“Fools,” Reggie uttered. “Everyone knows that’s a rough road to be driving down. They were probably a bunch of young kids trying to impress their lady friends.”

“Now, now,” Irene sighed, “don’t say things like that. For all we know it could’ve been an accident.”

“Did they say if they’re investigating it at all?” James piped in.

Melanie eyed him from across the table, noticing he had barely eaten anything on his plate. He’d pushed his scrambled eggs around a few times and nibbled at the corner of his piece of bacon, but that was about it. It was unlike him to not devour every last morsel of food within his reach.

“No,” she confirmed. “They don’t think it was anything suspicious. Still very tragic though. I hope they’re able to identify the body for the family’s sake. I would like to know if it were my son lying in a ditch somewhere.”

“Yeah,” James said flatly. “Tragic is an understatement.”

Irene’s eyes welled up with tears, and Reggie was quick to offer up a kerchief from his pocket. She dapped her face carefully, unashamed by her display of emotions for a complete and total stranger. Melanie didn’t expect any less. They had been the ones who invited James into their home after having only met his hours prior. Just because he had been nice enough to give them a hand when they were having car troubles, somehow, all of their lives had changed forever. Melanie had only been staying at the ranch for less than a week, and somehow, the elderly couple had latched onto her heart. She felt an unusual bond with them, the kind 103 where she would go to great lengths to keep them safe. It was at that moment Melanie realized she couldn’t judge James for whatever he did or didn’t do that night. Even if it wasn’t right, it was in their best interest. It was the only way to stop the man in black.

As Irene flipped through the pages of the newspaper, one article caught Melanie’s attention. “Mind if I have a look at that really quick?” she asked, pointing to the page at the back.

“Of course not, dear,” Irene said as she handed it over.

She scanned the article as fast as she could, gaining the attention of James, who looked as if he had woken up from a nightmare. “What is it?”

“It’s talking about the cure. They have a testimony from a Dr. Ardolf. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“Treacherous snake,” Reggie muttered under his breath.

“What my husband means to say is yes, that’s our family doctor. He’s the one who did the blood transfusion. We all figured he was the one who went to the press.”

“I think it’s safe to say those assumptions were correct,” Melanie confirmed. “Listen to this: Dr. Ardolf has been a doctor at the Monument Health Custer Hospital for nearly five decades, and in all that time, he’s never witnessed a miracle such as this. After receiving a desperate call from a patient that he had 104 seen for years, Dr. Ardolf found himself agreeing to a procedure that would change the medical world as we know it. Although the identity of the patient still remains a secret, what Dr. Ardolf did share was that the procedure in question was a blood transfusion, and that this miraculous cure is real, and he’s willing to stake his medical license to prove it.”

“What a load of—”

“Hey now,” Irene interrupted. “I will have no foul language at the breakfast table.”

Reggie crossed his arms over his chest like an angry toddler. “It’s true. This man has gone too far. Maybe someone should drive him off the road, too.”

“He’s not the monster in this horror story,” James seethed. “But we might be able to use this to our advantage.”

“How so?” Melanie inquired.

“Right now, the whole world is buzzing about this mysterious cure, and I’m betting any new agency will be chomping at the bit to get the exclusive report from the patient herself.” He waved to Irene, who seemed perplexed by his words.

“I’m not following,” she said.

“Social media is a powerful tool, a weapon, one we can use to keep you both safe. You’d be surprised how many strangers are willing to back up, defend, and 105 protect innocent people when things go viral. Once a little girl lost her teddy bear on a plane and it was going viral on every last platform. In the end, it had been shared by millions of people and the teddy bear found its way back to her, all because someone made a simple post about it.”

“Aw,” Irene cooed. “That sounds lovely, I'm sure the little girl appreciated all the help to get something important like that back.”

“I see where you’re going with this,” Melanie chimed in. “You want us to show what kind people Reggie and Irene are. Have the people do the protecting for us. If they see that they’re generous, caring, and deserving of this miracle, no harm will come to them.”

“Exactly.” James snapped his fingers and Melanie felt a little jolt of pride that she had hit the nail right on the head. “We have one shot to do this, so we need to go as big as we can get. Do you have any high-profile clients from your real estate business?”

“I do have a contact that sold a condo for a reporter that worked for Fox News,” Melanie recalled. “I could probably make a few phone calls and set up an interview, but that could take days.”

James stood up from the table and discarded his untouched food into the waste bin. “Do whatever you have to do. It’s time we came clean about The Potion. Once people see that this is something that can benefit 106 every sick person across the globe, Big Pharma’s chance of squandering it will die.”

***

As expected, it had taken Melanie a few days to get everything in order for the exclusive news broadcast.

One of the first things she had to do was go out and purchase a laptop with a webcam in it, so that they would be able to stream live on the network. Her contact had been eager to share the story of the woman who had received the transfusion, and after explaining that their intention was to focus on the good side of it, she had agreed to share their story. Irene had been hesitant at first, but James was able to convince her that this was a good thing; she wouldn’t have to hide out on the ranch forever. She and Reggie could go back to their normal life.

She had only one condition—they’d take the laptop with them when they left. She was paranoid about the idea of having a camera in the house, as if someone could tap into it and listen in on their private conversations. Irene certainly wasn’t the first person who believed such a thing, and definitely wouldn’t be the last.

Melanie had planted herself in front of the bathroom mirror for nearly a half an hour; she hadn’t even heard James walk into the bedroom until the door opened. She nearly jumped out of her skin, but quickly composed herself, letting her heart return to normal.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I should’ve made more noise.”

“It’s not your fault,” Melanie explained. “It’s just, ever since that night in my office, I’ve been a little on edge.”

Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held on tight, burying his face into the crook of her neck. “How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to worry about that happening ever again?

“What happened out there?” she whispered.

Regret bloomed in the pit of her stomach as soon as the words left her mouth, especially when James’s entire body tensed up. It was as much of an answer as admitting it would have been. He did something horrible, but strangely enough, she found herself coming to terms with it. Looking back in the mirror, Melanie hardly recognized herself anymore. When had she become this person? The type of girl who accepted their boyfriend was a murderer.

“He wasn’t going to leave us alone,” James admitted. “I did what I had to do. You know what he did to Ronald, imagine if he did that to Reggie or Irene. Could you live with yourself knowing you could’ve done something to stop it?”

A tear slid down her cheek and she made no effort to wipe it away. It was the first time in a while she allowed 108 herself to feel something real. “No, I suppose not. But you shouldn’t have to bear the burden alone, either.”

“I made a choice, and I must live with it for the rest of my life. All that matters now is they’ll be safe when we’re gone.”

“Is she ready?” Melanie asked.

“As ready as she’ll ever be,” he smiled, although she could see a hint of sadness in his eyes through the reflection of the mirror. “The laptop’s all set up and we’re scheduled to chat with Miranda Richards in about ten minutes. Do you think you’ll be ready by then?”

“Yeah, I just need to do a few touch ups,” she said, reapplying another layer of mascara before patting her face with some powder to hide the streaks. “All set.”

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

***

“We’re here live this afternoon with Mrs. Irene O’Connor, the woman who was saved by this miracle cure so many of us have heard about. Irene, can you tell us a little bit more about it? How did you come across it?”

Irene glanced at James, who had been standing behind the laptop, out of sight of the camera. They had decided to leave him out of it as much as possible, for they wanted to keep the focus on Irene. He gave her a 109 nod of encouragement, and with Melanie by her side, she found the courage to speak her truth.

“An angel came to me in the form of a man. He told us about the serum, about how it was able to regenerate the cells in his body, but it did so much more than that. To explain it more plainly, it was as if his body had hit a reset button. Any illness or cancer, every scar and scrape, vanished as if it never existed in the first place.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what reason did you have for taking this serum in the first place?” Miranda questioned.

“I was dying from a brain tumor. I didn’t have much longer to live, but after the transfusion, the tumor shrunk until there was nothing left. Now I get to stay with my darling husband a little bit longer, and we have a newfound appreciation for life.”

“Wow,” Miranda gasped, soaking all this in.

Melanie knew it was just a façade, a tactic that reporters used to sympathize with their audience, but she was fine with it. As long as the viewers ate it up, that was all that mattered.

“I’m sure a lot of people could benefit from having a second chance at life,” the reporter continued. “What do you know about the production of the serum?”

“It’s called The Potion,” Irene corrected. “And as far as I know, there’s nothing being done to create more. The man behind it all, he was, well, to tell you the truth, he’s 110 no longer with us. His legacy remains with us now, but I have reason to believe there is a group of individuals who wish to use this serum for their own benefit, not those of the greater good.”

Miranda sat forward in her seat a little bit more, entranced by Irene’s revelation. “Can you elaborate on that?”

“There are people out there who wish to hurt me because of what I have in my body now,” Irene admitted. “They want it all for themselves, but J—I mean—the man who received the first dose, he just wants to get it to as many people as possible. We just want to help so no one has to suffer like I did.”

“Well, you heard it here first folk, The Potion is a ground-breaking medicine that has taken the world by storm. Just a single dose has the power to cure a person of all illnesses. This is some revolutionary stuff, and we’ll be following this story for as long as possible. Thank you so much Irene for sharing this with us today, I’m sure everyone can agree there’s no one more deserving of the serum than someone like you.”

With that, Melanie clicked off the interview, and the room fell silent for a few moments, that is, until Reggie spoke up.

“So, do you think it worked?”

Scrolling through her social media accounts and seeing the number of positive posts regarding Irene’s story, Melanie’s smile grew wide. “Oh, it’s worked alright.”