Drug

by O'Rourke, Lynda

  “Hey, Kassidy,” Carly smiled. “This is Wendy.”

  Wendy gave me a huge smile. Her skin was masked in freckles and her bright orange hair stuck out in all directions.

  “Have you two had your checks done yet?” I asked, the nerves of going to the ward beginning to creep through me again.

  “Yeah,” said Wendy. “My friend May hasn’t come out yet – she’s probably trying to get as much time as she can with Doctor Fletcher. Have you seen him? Talk about making you feel hot under the collar.” She flapped her hands about in front of her face as if to cool herself down.

  “No, I haven’t seen him,” I said, my eyes wandering around the room for Jude. He was sitting with Max, the guy who had been asking questions in reception earlier and some bald-headed bloke. Jude was good-looking with tanned skin – like a surfer. I could just picture him propped against a beach bar, surfboard in one hand and a lager in the other.

  “Excuse me, everyone.” Doctor Middleton had reappeared. “Before we move on to the ward please place your passports and any electronic devices into these envelopes and mark your name clearly on the front.”

  “Why can’t we take our phones in?” Carly asked, hands on hips.

  “For security reasons. What we do here isn’t always appreciated by members of the public. We’ve had protesters turn up at the front gates before. Any film footage leaked out could put the security of Cruor Pharma in jeopardy. We like to keep our tests – our work confidential,” Doctor Middleton explained.

  “What about our passports? What are you going to do with them? No one’s even checked mine yet,” said the bald guy sitting with Jude.

  “The passports are needed to verify who you are and will be kept in our safe,” answered Doctor Middleton. “There is no need to worry. You will get your items back tomorrow, once you are finished on the ward.”

  Jude stood up and placed his mobile and passport into one of the envelopes. The rest of the group followed. I checked my phone one last time before handing it over with my passport. May had come back and was standing with her friend. She whispered behind her hand – probably telling Wendy all about Doctor Fletcher. A security guard walked in and took the envelopes away in a clear plastic bag. I checked my watch – 5 p.m. already. Where had the day gone? It was almost dark now and my stomach rumbled for dinner. Carly must have been feeling the same as she called out to Doctor Middleton.

  “Do we get any dinner? I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” She held her stomach.

  “A light meal has been laid on for you,” smiled Doctor Middleton. He cleared his throat. “As soon as you are settled on the ward, the staff will bring it out. Now if you would all follow me, we can proceed. It’s a bit of a trek I’m afraid, it’s in the old part of the building, away from all the labs. The ward is only ever used now when overnight drug tests are being undertaken.”

  After walking in silence we stopped outside a door. A sign clearly stated that no unauthorised personnel were permitted to enter. Doctor Middleton pulled out a card and held it in front of a device. The door slid open to reveal a long corridor. Gone were the white shiny floor tiles and the sterile smell of disinfectant. A damp, musty aroma filled my nostrils as I walked along the frayed brown carpet. The fluorescent lighting overhead flickered, casting shadows along the wall. I wished I was back in my flat. I didn’t like the look of this place. Alarm bells started ringing in my head. I stopped. My feet didn’t want to go any further.

  “Hey, are you all right?” Jude asked, staring into my eyes.

  “I don’t want to stay here,” I whispered. “I don’t like it.”

  “You know, I’ve stayed in worse hotels than this,” he laughed. “Yeah, it’s a bit grim but once you’ve had some dinner and settled in, everything will seem better. You’re one night away from earning two grand. The first thing I’m gonna do when I get out of this place is buy myself a plane ticket to Canada. What about you? There must be something you really want or you wouldn’t be here, Kassidy.”

  He was right of course. I needed to get back on my feet and keep the wolves away from my door. This was my only chance of doing that.

  I sighed. “I need to pay off some debts. My dad died four months ago and left me with a lot of money problems. I don’t have a job anymore so I can’t pay the debts.”

  “There you go, see?” he said. “That’s your motivation for going through with tonight. You’ll be fine, I’ll look after you. Come on – we need to catch up with the others.”

  He took hold of my hand – pulling me gently along the corridor. As we rounded a bend, I could see the group had stopped in front of some double doors. A sign above it read Ward 2. Almost opposite was Ward 1, but the doors had been locked with a padlock. There was one more door at the end of the corridor which looked like a cupboard.

  “Here we are,” smiled Doctor Middleton, stepping aside. “The ward has been separated into two halves. Males at one end, females at the other.”

  I looked at Jude. He gave me a reassuring grin like we were queuing up for a thrill ride, which he was persuading me to go on.

  “Come on, Kassidy,” he smiled. “You know you want to. You get a whole night with me!”

  I laughed. What was I waiting for? I could do this. Tomorrow I would be walking out of here with two grand and probably signing up for my next drug trial. I took a deep breath and stepped into Ward 2.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I felt like I’d stepped back in time. Images of Victorian hospitals came to mind. It was so different to the rest of the building. Old, cold, and grubby. Cracked floor tiles and barred windows. The beds had seen better days too. I bet I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep on any of them. The only thing that brought me back to 2014 was the modern equipment that had been set up beside each bed. Drips!

  “Take the bed next to mine,” Carly said, patting the mattress. She’d already plonked herself down. The bed creaked like it couldn’t take her weight. Wendy and May had taken two beds opposite, and the girl I had seen earlier in reception with the greasy black hair had taken the bed nearest to the door. At the far end of the ward, the guys had already picked where they were sleeping. Two nurses walked in handing out hospital gowns.

  “Oh no, we haven’t got to wear those things, have we?” Wendy asked. “They never fit properly – your arse always hangs out the back.”

  I screwed my nose up as the nurse handed me one. I tried to remember what underwear I was wearing. Thank God it wasn’t a thong.

  “It’s only for one night, my dear,” the nurse said, handing the last hospital gown to Carly.

  I looked down the ward to see Jude holding his gown up and laughing with the other guys. Well at least they had to suffer the embarrassment as well.

  “I’m Nurse Jones, and I will be looking after you through the night,” smiled the nurse who had handed me the gown. “Dinner will be brought round in a few moments, and once you’ve all eaten, you will need to put on the gowns. The doctors will soon come and hook you up to the drips.”

  “Does that mean we can’t move about?” I asked. “What if I need to go to the loo?”

  “The drips are mobile, so you can walk about,” she smiled. “They are a little cumbersome, so you will need to be careful not to pull them over or knock the tube from out of your arm. If you do need the bathroom, it’s just through that door.” She pointed to the opposite end of the ward.

  The lights flickered and hummed throwing the room into darkness for just a split second. I could still hear rain pelting against the window and the howl of the wind. What a night to be stuck in this place. The doors swung open and two members of staff wheeled in trolleys loaded with covered plates. They were dressed differently from the doctors and nurses I had seen. They looked more like porters of some kind. One of them looked really old. Perhaps they had a geriatric ward here somewhere.

  “Food at last,” Carly grinned, making herself comfortable on the bed. She pulled the mobile table toward her.

  “Sand
wiches or soup?” the old guy asked, staring at me. His I.D. badge was pinned to his blue tabard. His name, Fred Butler, was engraved across the badge.

  “Soup,” I said, propping myself up against the pillows.

  He placed a bowl down on my table and shuffled toward Carly. I lifted the lid covering the bowl. Steam poured out. The smell of the chicken soup made my stomach rumble and I tucked in. I was starving. It was quiet for a few minutes while we ate. Everyone seemed content now they had food.

  “What do you need the money for, Carly?” I asked, eating the last of the soup.

  “I want to visit my boyfriend. He’s living in Australia at the moment. He’s got a job out there,” she said, licking her fork clean. “I haven’t seen him for six months.”

  “Wendy and I are going to travel across Europe,” May joined the conversation. “And when we run out of money, we’ll probably do something like this again – just to keep us going.”

  “What do you think of Jude?” Carly asked, looking at me. “I think he likes you.”

  “He seems like a nice guy. Very good at putting your mind at ease,” I said. “I nearly walked out of here but Jude persuaded me to stay.”

  “I bet he did,” Carly winked.

  “Wait till you see Doctor Fletcher,” giggled May. “He’ll get your heart racing.”

  “You’re too young for him,” teased Wendy, “he won’t be interested in you.”

  “I’m nearly twenty,” May pouted. “I’m not some silly schoolgirl.”

  I stood up and walked over to the window. There wasn’t much to see now that it was dark – just the distant lights of the town twinkling through the rain. I wish it was me who was going travelling. Maybe when I’d paid off my debts and found a job? Perhaps I could save up some money and…who was I kidding? I was never gonna find a job that would pay well enough for that.

  “Not having second thoughts again, are you?” Jude suddenly whispered in my ear.

  “No,” I smiled, turning to face him. That was the second time today he’d crept up behind me. “I was just daydreaming. Don’t think we’re gonna get much sleep in here tonight, do you?”

  “Not if I’m with you I won’t,” he grinned – pushing his luck again. “Do you fancy hanging out with me once you’ve been hooked up to the drips? I’m sure there’s plenty for us to do – to while away the hours.”

  I could feel my face blush. I looked away. Was he just playing or did he mean what I thought he meant? I didn’t really know why he was bothering with me. After all – he would be off to Canada tomorrow. Surely he wasn’t after a one night stand! Not in this place. Perhaps he was just one of those guys with a permanent hard-on?

  “We can hang out,” I said, “as long as you make room for me and my drip. What are the other guys like? I haven’t spoken to any of them, yet.”

  “Max is cool – he’s the one in the bed next to mine. See that guy with the brown hair – Simon?” he asked. “He’s a bit of an idiot, only wants the money so he can gamble it away – what a waste. I haven’t spoken much to the other two, but the one with the pierced lip is Howard, and the bald headed guy is James”.

  “Hey, you two,” Carly called over to us. “Nurse Jones says we have to get changed – the doctors will be here in five minutes.”

  “Guess I’d better get going – make sure you put on your best dress when you come and visit me tonight,” Jude winked.

  “Will do. I think I’ve got a rather revealing gown I could throw on,” I laughed, walking back over to my bed.

  I pulled the curtain round. This was it. I was soon to have some untested drug travelling around my body and although it had been the one thing that had bothered me the most – now I felt surprisingly calm. Even the grim surroundings didn’t worry me anymore. I slipped the gown on and tried to tie the back, hoping I could shut as much of the gap up as possible.

  “Pssst, Kassidy – can I come in?” Carly asked, poking her head around the curtain. “Do you think you can tie my gown up? The gap must be as wide as a freaking motorway!”

  I laughed. “Only if you do mine up for me. There you go, I’ve done it.”

  “Thanks,” she said, tying me up. “Do you want me to open this curtain?”

  I nodded my head. “Might as well. I want to see what’s going on.”

  I climbed onto my bed. Doctor Middleton walked onto the ward with Doctor Wright and who I guessed was Doctor Fletcher. He was very good looking. May was giggling again at the sight of him. He had short black hair, clear blue eyes, and he definitely worked out. The doctors were no longer in their white coats but now in scrubs. Nurse Jones trailed behind them pushing a trolley with surgical items. There was a large box underneath which read VA20. The mystery drug. I wondered what could be in it. The girl with the black greasy hair on the bed by the door suddenly spoke up. It was the first time I had heard her speak.

  “Can you tell me what’s in that drug? It isn’t going to kill me, is it?” she asked, slipping a greasy strand of hair behind her ears.

  A bit late to be asking that now. Was she getting cold feet? Her brown eyes flicked from one doctor to the next.

  “It’s highly classified. I can’t divulge what is in it,” Doctor Middleton said, clearing his throat. “But I can assure you that it has been passed by the MHRA and all the ethical bodies. VA20 has been cleared for human trials.”

  “But you don’t know if it’s going to kill me, do you?” she said, lips trembling.

  “She has got a point you know,” Carly winked at me. “We are putting our bodies and health on the line here.”

  “And we are paying you for that,” Doctor Wright said. “You have all had the chance to pull out.”

  “Well I’m staying,” Wendy said. “What about you, Kassidy?”

  The girl on the bed had made me feel a little unnerved with her questions. I didn’t know what was in this drug or what it would do to me. If someone had offered me heroin or crack I would tell them where to stick it. But here I was now, willing to take a drug that I’d never heard of, just for money. But I had to do this. Those final payment demand letters from the debt collectors flashed through my mind. At least if anything went wrong we were surrounded by medical staff.

  “I’m staying,” I said, determined to see this night through. People were always having drips stuck in them. Okay, so it wasn’t untested drugs they were getting pumped with but still… all medicines had been tested on someone and I’d never heard of any incidents where it had gone horribly wrong. That kind of shit would make the news.

  “Fine, I’m staying too,” said Carly, crossing her arms.

  “And you?” Doctor Middleton asked the girl who had caused all the upset.

  She nodded her head slowly as if still unsure. Scratching her scalp with her black-painted fingernails, she pulled the blanket up under her chin.

  “Nurse Jones, could you start by applying the cream to each patient please,” said Doctor Fletcher.

  He lifted the box from under the trolley placing it on a table with a thump. May couldn’t take her eyes off Doctor Fletcher. Every time he bent over she was getting a good look at his arse, then fanning herself like the view was too much. I smiled. It was like being back at school with my mates – sitting together and getting all giggly at one of the young male teachers everyone fancied.

  Nurse Jones came over and asked me to hold out my arm.

  “This is just to numb the area where the needle will go in,” she smiled, squeezing the white cream onto the crook of my elbow. “All done. Doctor Fletcher is looking after you tonight, so you’re in safe hands.”

  “I’m glad it’s not Doctor Wright,” I whispered. “She seems really angry.”

  “No, no, that’s just her way. She likes to get the job done efficiently, that’s all,” Nurse Jones said, pulling off her latex gloves.

  “Do you always work on this ward for drug trials?” I asked, leaning back on my pillow.

  “It’s the first one I’ve done on Ward 2,” she said. “
And it’s the first one I’ve stayed the whole night for. Normally, I just help set up the patients and I’m usually done by 8 p.m. But the doctors needed the extra staff so I’m here until the morning. I used to work at Cruor Pharma’s sister company but they’ve downsized recently and asked me to move here. It was the only way of keeping my job. Anyway, I can’t stand here talking all night or I’ll be in trouble,” she said, walking away.

  I looked down the ward. The guys had all had the anaesthetic cream applied and were now waiting for the drips to be hooked up. It seemed they had the joy of Doctor Wright looking after them for the night. Jude gave me a little wave and a thumbs down at Doctor Wright while she had her back turned to him. I responded with a thumbs up for Doctor Fletcher and a big smile.

  “Ouch! That hurts a bit,” Wendy said, holding her arm.

  Doctor Middleton was inserting a needle into her vein. Nurse Jones held the drip stand steady.

  “Just try and relax,” Doctor Middleton said. “This is always the hardest part if you struggle. There you go, Wendy. That wasn’t too bad now, was it?”

  “That cream didn’t do much to numb the pain,” she moaned. “It felt more like a hose pipe being inserted than a needle.”

  Doctor Middleton moved on to May. She sat with a scowl, annoyed that Doctor Fletcher wasn’t looking after her. You could see the envy in her eyes as he finished with Carly and moved over to me. This was my first chance to get a close up of him. He looked fit. Eyes seductive and lips that could set your skin on fire.

  He looked at his paperwork and wrote something down. “Kassidy, could you rest your arm out on the bed for me – like this,” he said, gently taking my arm, his fingers lightly sliding over my skin. His blue eyes concentrating at the task in hand. I looked down at the plastic tube.

  “Don’t look, just lay back and relax,” he whispered. “There’s nothing to worry about. I won’t hurt you.”

  I did as I was told. My eyes closed and I breathed a deep sigh. Doctor Fletcher was good. With a bedside manner like that, I would let him stick tubes in me all night.