WHEN SAMANTHA FINALLY WOKE UP, she had hoped it was all a bad dream and that her intruder would no longer be in her home. Yet the restraints were a quick reminder that it had all happened, and that her situation was quite real. She looked around the room but there was no sign of the alleged criminal, turned doctor of hope. She tried to shake and jiggle out of her restraints but could tell that it just wasn’t going to happen. This guy had set them so well that Houdini himself would have retired before getting out of them. Finally, after realizing that the only way out was to talk, she called out to the other room for her intruder to return. Sam listened intently and heard the television turn off and then the semi-hard stomps of his feet as he strolled over to the door and opened it. Xavier walked back into the room and this time he pulled up a chair and sat to the right of her bed. Unlike the picture she had seen in the press bulletins on the news, Xavier was clean cut and had shaven in the last few days. The picture on his wanted poster had him with long hair, a small goat-like beard that made him look as evil as Charles Manson. He had looked outright revolting in that picture but the man before her seemed civilized, caring, and only wanted to do one thing which was speak with her. Since she wasn’t going anywhere, Samantha decided it was time for her to try to talk her way out of this.
“Why are you a wanted man?” She started, “Why are the authorities looking for you if you’re not the killer they think you are?”
“Because there are other people out there looking for me.” Xavier answered, “And they’re using all means at their disposal to catch me, even bribed contacts with law enforcement who trumped up all these charges. I’m innocent of the crimes they’re accusing me of, Samantha. My capture will mean my death, because I’ll be dead before my story and my work ever sees the inside of a courtroom. The reason I’m being pursued has more to do with my research, and that powerful people out there don’t want it to see the light of day.”
“What kind of research did you do?” she asked, somewhat curious.
“Funny you should ask that,” Xavier said, as he could tell her demeanor was starting to change. “I had taken a particular project fresh out of medical school because it was just a money pit that I hoped was never going to lead to anything substantial. Our project was to do the impossible and we were well funded to try just so that big companies could turn to the public and say they were doing their best while overcharging the masses for the status quo. Yet something very bad happened while I was working for them.”
“What did you do?” she asked him.
“The impossible,” Xavier said, sitting back and sighing. “I discovered the one thing the company I worked for never wanted me to find.”
“What was that?” she asked.
“A cure.” Carter answered.
“A cure to what?” Sam inquired.
“At the moment,” Carter admitted, “I’m not entirely sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure?” she inquired, slightly confused.
“I haven’t been able to fully test it enough to realize its potential,” Xavier explained, as he paused for a moment, “My research was funded by a private pharmaceutical company that was just dumping money into a problem that everyone assumed was impossible to solve. One of those projects that you didn’t want to solve but still funded it like was important, so people didn’t think the company I worked for was run by cruel, heartless bastards.”
“Companies do that all the time.” Samantha countered.
"That’s true,” Xavier agreed, “but how would that company react if the problem they didn’t want taken care of was suddenly solved once and for all? This is like a dog actually catching the car it was chasing. So, when I made my discovery, they had no idea how to deal with it.”
“What the hell did you do?” Samantha asked him.
“I created a serum that does two things,” Carter explained, “It attacks bacteria and foreign viruses like a super white cell. At the same time the serum appeared to assist the immune system and bring it back to top form. By the time this stuff is in you for the better part of a week, you’ll be ready to get a clean bill of health.”
“So, you do know what it cures then?” Sam asked.
“I have some idea,” Xavier confessed, “but I need to conduct more testing. I went on the run before I could see its true potential.”
Samantha gave his captor a weird face, “I’m still not getting what this has to do with why you’re on the run.”
“This whole façade of the wanted killer,” Xavier continued, “It was all done to prevent my discovery from ever going public.”
“They killed people to keep your research quiet?” Sam asked.
“Pretty much,” Xavier confirmed. “And to stop me from testing it.”
“How far did you get?” Samantha asked, no more curious than ever.
“I was doing some pretty impressive human testing when everything hit the fan.” Xavier said, as he seemed a little uneasy talking about it.
“Exactly what kind of cure were you working on?” Sam finally asked.
“Our project was to find a cure for the common cold.” Xavier replied.
She stared at him with a dumbfound look face. “Are you fucking kidding me? A cure for the cold?”
“I told you,” He reminded her. “This was a frivolous project no one expected results from; just tossing money at it for publicity and deniability.”
“The big money pit for public relations?” Sam repeated.
“Exactly, but it’s more problematic than that.” Xavier explained. “I don’t think you understand the complex nature of the common cold or influenza for that matter. These viruses mutate so often that we must create a new vaccine almost every season to combat the new strains that are going around. So, the goal was to create one cure that will attack every possible mutation out there and still be successful. It was a very daunting task.”
“And you found it?” she asked.
Carter smiled. “I found it and then some.”
“I don’t understand.” Sam said, still a step behind.
“When I started to do human testing,” Xavier carried on, “I wanted to find people who had different variations or types of colds to see how the serum would work on them all. So, I had ten patients who I paid to give this stuff a try. It worked on all of them, but my biggest discovery came from a patient that was suffering from pneumonia. He had lied to me about his condition.”
“He didn’t have pneumonia?” Sam asked.
“Oh, he had that,” Carter confirmed, “Not only did he have pneumonia, but he was withholding the fact that he was also suffering from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.”
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“Wait,” Sam said, interrupting him, “The patient has AIDS?”
“The patient had AIDS,” Carter corrected her, “Had being the key word.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“He was cured,” Xavier answered. “Everything he had was gone.”
“You cured AIDS?” Sam repeated, thinking about how many people around the world would benefit from such a discovery.
“The serum I had made not only fought off the infection in his lungs,” Carter confirmed, “But it continuously mutated so that that it could kick the crap out of any other disease or virus that was present in his system. Anything that was causing the patient’s problems, including AIDS, was completely obliterated. There was no trace of the virus in his system anymore. I had tested him three different times, each time from a different lab to confirm the result. Not only was he disease free, but his immune system had been completely restored. Not only did I have a cure to the common cold, but I had also discovered a cure to AIDS.”
“Then what happened?” Sam asked.
“Our research was just about to start accelerated human testing or at least it was when I went on the run.” Xavier hopped out of his seat and started to pace around the room. “At the time when my discovery was made, we were only supposed to be testing the serum on lab rats and other small animals. I was begging my superiors to approve human testing, but my superiors flat out denied it right left and center. When they found out what I had, I decided to confess that I was doing secret human testing. But rather than report me… my supervisor marveled at our discovery and seemed very happy about it. What I really didn’t know is that the bastard was stealing my research. He was going to conduct his own human testing and then take all the credit for it all himself and all the accolades that came with it.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Sam gasped, “What did you do?”
“I didn’t have to do anything.” Carter answered, “Someone else took care of that bastard for me.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
Xavier stopped pacing and sat back down in his chair. “The minute my boss tried to formally apply for human testing, he was murdered. Two days later, someone torched the entire building our research lab was in. All our work burned to the ground.”
“Why would they do that?” Sam asked, not captivated by the story.
“Think about it for a minute,” Carter challenged her. “How much money do think these massive pharmaceutical companies make selling cold medication and even medication for AIDS all over the world? Forget millions; we’re talking billions in revenue at stake here.”
“Wait a second,” Sam said, processing the comment. “They’d rather kill people than cure them?”
“You have to think about it this way.” Xavier said, trying to be as compassionate as he could. “If they released a cure, all people would need to do is buy one treatment and poof, you’re done. But if there is no cure, you’re buying their meds by the handful every day, week, month, and year for the rest of your life. They stand to lose at least eighty percent of their total revenue. I have no doubt a lot of these companies would go bankrupt, and the industry would take an enormous hit if this cure made it into the open market and did half as well as I think it could.”
“That would explain why your boss wanted to steal it.” Samantha concluded, “That kind of shit is Nobel material.”
“Exactly,” Carter concurred, “but by stealing it the man saved my life. That scheming bastard took the bullet that was meant for me. I managed to escape and take my work with me. They didn’t know I had taken a lot of my work from home, which was a big no no. It was the only way I could conduct my testing without my boss finding out about it. They assumed with my boss out of the picture that everything was fine because it was assumed that he created it. When they discovered that the serum was stolen and that I was the original designer, they came after me and that’s when I started running. Before I knew it, the police had made me the lead suspect in not only my boss’ death but for the fire that killed my co-workers. That’s why I am being hunted: because I have the serum. The formula is right here in my cranium, and I can make more of it anytime I want. I took everything with me, and they want it either obtained or destroyed.”
“I don’t understand.” Samantha declared, still confused, “I don’t have AIDS. I have something completely different. What are you doing here?”
“When I took my work on the road,” Carter said, looking more excited, “I had decided to test the cure on other diseases to see what effect they would have on other people. At first, I wanted to make sure that it worked for all genders and ages. Then I also wanted to see what effect it would have on other diseases. You see the whole point of this serum was to have the ability to adapt to fight an unlimited amount of influenza mutations. There was no telling how far this serum would adapt when fighting other ailments. That’s why I’m here. I want you to be my next test subject.”
Samantha lay there in her bed and let the impact of his last statement sink in. He wasn’t there to kill her but to conduct a medical experiment on her. She lifted her head and looked back at him.
“What if I refuse?” she asked.
“Then I’ll leave,” Xavier replied, without hesitation. “I am not going to force you to take the serum. I told you I’m just here to talk. If you don’t want to take part, then I’ll pack my stuff up and move on. Once I have a decent head start, I’ll make an anonymous tip for the police to rescue you. You will not be harmed in any way. But if I do that, you will most certainly die. The tumor in your head will do its work, and you will leave this mortal coil in about five to six months as per your original diagnosed.”
“Do you think the serum can get rid of my tumor?” she asked.
“I’m not sure what this serum is capable of,” Xavier replied. “This is why I need to conduct all these tests. Any attempt to obtain animals that are used for scientific experiments will set off a red flag, which would result in the police or private mercenaries knocking down your door in less than two days. I know this isn’t very ethical, but I honestly believe sitting on this and doing nothing is just as unethical.”
“How so?” Sam asked.
“When I took my oath, I really didn’t give a shit about the sick.” Xavier confessed, “I wanted to make money, take care of my student debts, and live a cushy life. Yet now that I have a medical breakthrough that has the potential to cure millions, and that ‘do no harm’ part of the oath has been keeping me up at night. I have the ability to end so much of the world’s suffering, and the idea of not moving ahead out of fear sickens me.”
“There’s more to it, isn’t there?” She asked.
“If I don’t finish my work or ever try to bring this serum to the public,” he continued, “then I’m letting the bastards who killed my boss and co-workers win. As much as I want to stick it to them, I’m not going to force people to partake in testing. I go out of my way to make sure every subject is willing and well informed prior to consent.”
“In case you didn’t realize, I’m tied down here.” Sam casually observed.
Xavier laughed. “I know. That was just to get you to hear me out. My current stigma, care of the authorities, makes it hard for me to knock on doors and not have people immediately run for their phones to turn me in. Like I said before; if you don’t want to participate, you’ll be released, and I will leave without protest. But I will make sure all your questions and concerns are answered if you want to take a chance and try the serum.”
Samantha paused for a moment. “How confident are you that this could work?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Xavier replied, as he dug into a knap sack and produced a photo. It was of a man who looked in her mid-forties. “Six months ago, I cured this man named Joe. He had pancreatic cancer. The disease has spread to over half of his diaphragm, and he was expected to last only another month or two. It took less than a week for the serum to do its thing... and it worked. Joe is now cancer free and leads a perfectly normal life. I can try to do the same for you. It might work, it might not. This is a gamble, but the payoff is huge. If you win, you stand to get the rest of your life back. You’re only in your mid-twenties, so I’m offering you big stakes: risk losing the last months you have left for an opportunity to win back the next sixty plus years. Even if the cure only shrinks the tumors that will buy you a few extra years, or even make it easier to surgically remove.”
Samantha seemed to be taking it all in, but it was so much to think about.
“I’m hungry.” she suddenly said out loud. “If I promise not to run or call the cops, can you unlock me? We can talk about this more while I get something to eat?”
Xavier looked her in the eyes to see if her offer was genuine and he had the feeling that it was. It didn’t matter since he had already taken measures to prevent her from leaving or making any calls. He had the secured the situation enough to give her a little lead way, so it was safe to take a first step.
“Alright,” Carter said as he walked closer, “But I’d like to make a counter offer: you take a seat in the kitchen and relax, and I’ll whip up something for supper. I happen to know my way around a kitchen, and we can talk more while I concoct something to eat.”
“Alright,” Samantha repeated, as she agreed to his terms. She then watched as he slowly began to remove her restraints.
After he untied her arms, he backed away from the room and let her take the rest of them off on her own.
“I’ll be in the kitchen.” He informed her, “Take a moment if you need to and then we can talk a bit more.”
Sam sat up and nodded. She watched as Xavier walked out of the room and was gone. She was tempted to run for the spare cell phone in the bedroom but realized that he had released her from the binds just for talking. If he was there to kill her, he never would have removed the restraints and allowed her to roam on her own so soon. If she truly wanted to get out of this alive, she was going to have to hear him out since talking seemed to be the best way to get anywhere with him. For now, her best option was to play along, and see where things went.