“You’re dying sweety. You’re dying and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.” Tear sprang to my eyes as I looked at my daughters disturbingly still form. Her chest barely moving as she struggled to breath. “The doctors don’t know what the hell is happening. You’d think with all the money I give them they would have… Some idea? Maybe? With all the research. All the test subjects. All the resources they would have at least some small idea as to what the hell is happening to you.”
With a sigh I reach out and gently touch her face, my fingers playing ever so gently with an escaped lock of auburn hair. “ I can barely remember your laugh, it's been so long. It’s been replaced with the sounds of these damn machines. When I close my eyes and think of you all I can hear is the damn beeping. All I can smell is ozone and antiseptic. All I can feel is the roughness of your hospital bed. And here I am, living life to the fullest while you waste the fuck away.” Tears sprang to my eyes as I lowered my head to rest on her bed, the fingers of a hand still tangled in her hair.
“I know… I know I’m doing all I can love but my best does not seem to be enough.”
Still crying silently I stand and glance once more at the body of my daughter. Her face pale. Her eyes closed. Her lips bloodless. And I sob. I weep. I wallow in self pitty. And without another word I turn and walk from the room.
THREE YEARS LATER
“Is… Is this real? Scott, these findings. These are real right? Not some pipe dream of yours and Rebeccas? You got actual results on the test subjects?” A glimmer of hope fills my soul for the first time in years and I shoot to my feet, 6’4’’ fram almost drawfing the other man. “ They showed improvement when subjected to this new strain?”
“It’s real Isaac. We’ve finally made headway. And given how much money you’ve spent well… It’s about damn time let me tell you. Were still a ways away from testing on human subjects, but initial treatment seems to work just fine on our more animalistic patients.”
Scott was not an intimidating man, at least not at first glance. Standing at just under five and a half the man was on the small side for sure. His long brown hair was always lank and in need of a wash. Her pale skin patchy. His shirt and pants always a size to large or to small. Honestly at first glance the man looked at best like he just recently escaped an asylum and mugged the first homeless man he happened across. Most dismissed the man. At least tell they looked him in the eye and saw the spark of intelligence hidden behind those unassuming brown orbs.
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“And the… Side effects? You’ve gotten them under control?”
The man paled, which I hadn’t haden’t thought was possible, and broke eye contact looking everywhere but where I was.
“Not… Not as such. We’ve… gotten them under control. The subjects don’t die o… On the table. But the tests… And the formula still causes some unexpected… Consequences. We… we’ve had to put down more than a few. But i’m confident that when we are ready to move onto human trials we will have the worst of it figured out.” he let out a chuckle and wrang his hands before whipping them on his oversized smock.
“Honestly I think we could start human trials in as little as four or five years…”
I didn’t hear his next words. My mind shutting down as what he said sunk in. Four or five years? Sabrina didn’t have that long. Not at all. At most the doctors could keep her in suspension for another year. A year and a half at most. Not nearly enough time to get this to work. To save her. Which was what this entire enterprise was about. To hell with everyone else, if I couldn’t save my daughter what the hell did it matter?
“No.”
“Uhh what?”
“The time frame is not acceptable. You said you have the side effects to a manageable level yes?”
“I well What I ment to say was that it’s not you know… Always fatal.”
“But you have had success with the treatment, yes? Regardless of what happens after? “
Scott’s mouth hung open for a second before he responded.
“I mean yes in the strictest sense. We’ve treated various lab inflicted cases on various animal hosts and ‘cured’ them as it where.”
“Good. Where moving directly to human testing then. 'Clinical trials'. I’ll have the test subjects ready for you within the week.”
He blinked. “ I wait. What? We can’t just move onto human testing. There still to much we don’t know, and there’s no way in hell we can get the permission to move on to clinical trials..”
I just grinned at the man and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“You don’t need to worry about that Scott. I’ll handle it. And if we need to move our testing facilities thats something we can easily manage. I’ll just have Rebecca set up a new lab at our overseas headquarters just in case.” I turn on my heel and walk towards my office door.
“Be ready my friend. We have work to do.”
I stop halfway out the door and glance back eyeing the man.
“What was it joe used to say? ‘Always strive to fly to close to the sun’ or some such nonsense? Well that’s what we're going to do. But our wings Scott, our wings will not be held together by wax. We won’t come crashing down. No we will soar as high as we want and as low as we need to accomplish our tasks. So buck up, you’re going to change the world.”
I reach into the pocket of the blazer, takeout my cell phone and turn back around, proceeding down the hallway. I had people to talk to. Bribes to make. And threats to issue. All in all, just another day in the office.
"Daddies comming sweety. Just wait a little while longer."