“I don’t want to have that conversation right now,” she thought. So she let the call ring out, and then continued on until she reached Dean’s door. It was closed. She knocked briefly, and then stepped in without waiting for an answer.
Dean looked terrible, he was quite pale and his face was more drawn than before. He looked at her with effort, the energy and vitality she was used to was gone.
“Dean what’s going on?” Elizabeth said with concern. She ran forward to the side of his bed.
“This could be it, the beginning of the end. I’ve felt a change, and I’m not as strong as I was,” he said, trying to shuffle up in the bed. Elizabeth stepped over and helped him sit more upright.
“Thanks. Yeah, it’s funny you know how things can change so quickly.”
“I know,” Elizabeth said.
“Yeah, sorry about yesterday. It was a tough conversation. I hope I didn’t make you feel bad.”
“No, it wasn’t you. I felt terrible giving you that information.”
“The reality of the situation can be hard. Even when you think you have confronted it, there’s still that hope lurking in the background. You tell yourself that you’re being realistic, but you cling to that hope. You hold on tight, and you believe with all your heart. That you will be the one that’s different, that you will be the one to survive against all the odds.”
“Of course you do. It’s your story, you should be the hero and survive.”
“Well the hero doesn’t always survive you know, not that I’m the hero. But some of the best stories end in tragedy.”
“Tragedy is just a perspective. I’ll make sure your story has a happy ending,” Elizabeth said. Dean laughed, the effort curbed by his pain.
“You going to make up the ending huh?” he said.
“No, but I’m going to end it in triumph. It’s all about perspective.”
“Well, good luck with that. But enough about my woes, let’s hear about your other story. How’s that guy going? Got him out yet?”
“It’s not good, I’m in over my head,” Elizabeth said. Dean laughed again, not even the pain reigning it in this time.
“I never thought I’d ever hear you say that. Didn’t think you knew the words. What’s got you all worked up?”
“There’s this guy, says he’s a government agent. He’s following my every move, restricting what I can do. I tried to push things with my editor, a bit prematurely, and then discovered my editor is in on it. Or at least he’s been approached and bought off.”
“Oh wow. Government conspiracy, and the newspaper editor is complicit. That’s a pretty rocking story.”
“There’s no story, because the editor won’t run it. And I quit.”
“You quit? The newspaper?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I can’t work for that guy anymore. You need to stand for what’s right, not bow to government or corporate pressure.”
“Well I did peg you as an idealist. But that’s a pretty rash decision. What are you going to do now?”
“Well, I’ll find something else. Maybe another paper, maybe something totally different. But for now, I can spend more time with you. Make sure we can get that story down.”
“Well I do enjoy spending time with you, and I do like the idea of my story being told. But I’m not where you should be spending your time.”
“Why not? Your time is limited, we should make the most of it.”
“You’re right, my time is limited. Soon I’ll be gone. But you will still be here, and so will that man in the hospital. What are you going to do then?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re giving up on him, aren’t you?”
“No, just putting it on hold.”
“Listen here,” Dean said, his voice rising in volume. He attempted to sit up further and waved away any help from Elizabeth.
“You do not put that man’s freedom on hold. That’s as good as giving up. You and I both know that as soon as the urgency is gone, it’ll be easy to start making more excuses. And then conveniently forget. And then he will be lost, and you’ll have to deal with that.”
“It’s not my problem.”
“Yes it is, you made it your problem. And you did great things. But now you’re throwing in the towel. All because you got some pressure from the government?”
“It’s not like that. I can’t do it myself.”
“Aren’t you the one that took down the corrupt mayor? They pulled you out of a burning building. And you survived, and you went back there to get the evidence.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth said, defensively.
“So why are you stopping now? Because you can’t do it alone.”
“Yes, I’ve got no more avenues to investigate. I’m being watched constantly. My hands are tied.”
“Either you are a complete coward, or you have the biggest blind spot I’ve ever seen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Get some help. If everyone is watching you, play that to your advantage and use someone else to do the legwork for you. This is a dangerous game you are playing, there’s teams of people against you. Why not even the playing field?”
“Who can I trust? I don’t want to get anyone else in the line of fire.”
“Only you can answer that. But don’t take people’s choices away from them. If someone wants to help, let them. We’re all adults here, and you can’t take everyone on yourself.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think about it? You know what, let me make this easier for you. I won’t say another word to you until you come to me to say that he is free.”
“What?”
“I mean it. And if you want us to talk again, you better get moving. The clock is ticking and we both know death waits for no man,” Dean said with a wry smile. He enjoyed the look of bewilderment on Elizabeth’s face, and her inability to respond. After a moment of looking down, and then looking up again Elizabeth spoke.
“You’re a hard taskmaster Dean, but I think I needed to hear that. I’ll be back,” she said. Dean just nodded and watched her leave.
“Save him, for us both,” Dean thought. He had found Elizabeth’s investigation interesting, but now it had become a purpose for him. His last stamp on the world, however small. He smiled again, and settled back into a nap. Sleep was always so close by these days.
24
Regrouping
Elizabeth left the hospital room in a daze. Dean had completely blindsided her. She had expected that to play out completely differently, with her being the comforting supporter that Dean needed. But he had seen through her, and told her off for giving up. He was right too, she was not looking at it properly. She was letting the events of the past day loom too large in her mind. As she left the hospital she remembered Frank’s call. It was time to take action.
Elizabeth sat in her car and called Frank back.
“Hey, how are you going?” Frank said.
“Not great, but I just got a pep talk.”
“Ha-ha, they’re always useful. My guy came through in record time, and I’ve got some results for you.”
“Is it something we should discuss in person?”
“Definitely. They are strange.”
“I’m going to need some help with that. I’m under surveillance and got hauled in by some shady characters just for going to the Police Station. Got any ideas?”
“Yeah don’t worry I’ve dealt with this kind of thing before with informants. No doubt you have seen your fair share with your own leads. I’ll text you an address to visit tonight. It’s in the Black Jungle.”
“Is that safe at night for a woman alone?”
“Nope, but you’ve gotta manage it. At least until we can meet. I’ll include a few instructions.”
“Alright Frank, I’m putting my trust in you. Don’t let me down.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. See you soon, and take care.”
“Will do. See yo
u,” Elizabeth said. She hung up the phone and waited for Frank’s message.
“How funny, this whole thing started at the Black Jungle,” she thought. It really wasn’t a place she was looking forward to revisiting, especially at night. But she had to take a chance, so that she could get the information from Nathan’s blood test. She knew that would be key.
Frank’s message came through within a few minutes. He provided an address, and mentioned that there were night markets. The markets were so popular that a large and varied crowd ventured into the Black Jungle, so it was a bit safer and easier to blend in.
“Off I go, back into the jungle. At least it’s moving forward, I can figure out the rest later,” Elizabeth thought. She started driving so that she could think. She wanted a few ideas before she met Frank, but mostly she would need to take the information he had and find the best way to use it.
Elizabeth parked a few suburbs away, in a safer location.
“No way am I leaving my car there,” she thought. The Black Jungle was way too risky, anything could happen to it. She walked to the nearest train station and bought a ticket. That was the best way to get there, and she would blend in with the others travelling the same way.
The train pulled up and it was absolutely packed. Hordes of people streamed out of the train, but there were so many that the guards blew the whistle before anyone had a chance to get on. This caused a surge of panic as the passengers on the platform forced their way onto the train. Elizabeth was swept along with it.
She couldn’t move at all on the train.
“At least it’s only a few stops,” she thought to herself. The air-conditioning was running, but it just couldn’t cope with the masses of people so the temperature was constantly rising. At each stop she got a breath of fresh air, but not enough people left the train to make a difference to her comfort.
Finally they arrived at Grunford station. Which was the suburb’s actual name, even though nobody called it that. She would have to look up how it got the name Black Jungle.
“Probably a good story in that,” she thought. But either way, it had stuck and there was nothing anyone could do now. The train emptied as she disembarked, which worked in her favour. The large number of people had to be going to the markets. There was no other reason to visit. But it helped her blend in, just one more amongst the crowd. If she was still being followed, they were going to have trouble. Elizabeth laughed to herself at the thought.
She followed the crowd, curious as to where they were going and enjoying the relative safety. She wasn’t completely sure of the route she needed to take, so also wanted to see if the crowd knew. There were so many people everywhere, it started to give the area a different feeling than before. Maybe part of its problem was the general isolation. A place was much more dangerous and scary if there was nobody around to help you.
The wisdom of the crowd won out, and she started to notice the beginning of the markets. The main street was blocked off from cars, and there were stalls lining each side of it with a fairly wide passage down the middle for foot traffic. The variety of stalls was interesting as well, ranging from tarot card reading to wax hand castings and home-made jewellery. However she was looking for a bookshop.
She found it about halfway down the street. It was a simple stall, with second-hand books covering the available table space. Her instructions had ended there, so she browsed what was available.
“There’s a wider selection available inside the shop,” an older man said, pointing to the back of the stall. Elizabeth looked up and saw that there was an actual bookshop behind the stall. She looked over at the man, sussing him out. He looked fairly normal, with a clean blue shirt on and dark pants with a brown belt. She was here to play along, so she decided to see what happened.
“Thanks, I’ll take a look,” she said. She stepped around the stall and entered the shop behind. Inside it looked like an ordinary bookshop, with rows of books lined up in the main floor space and also on the walls in shelves. She walked through the rows, not sure what she was after. At the end she noticed a room off the side, and decided to take a look. After she stepped through the door it slammed shut and she turned around nervously.
“Come down quick, it’s alright,” a familiar voice said. Elizabeth turned around, looking for Frank. She couldn’t see him, but did notice a trap door in the floor and a ladder going down. She rushed over and peered inside.
“Quick, and close the cover behind you,” Frank said. Elizabeth started to climb down the ladder, and after a few steps reached up and pulled the trap door closed. As she reached the bottom she noticed they were in a dark room with a single light hanging from the ceiling.
“This is a quiet room I can think in private,” Frank said with a laugh. He was seated at a table in the middle of the room.
“Very intimate,” Elizabeth said, and sat down opposite him. Frank pushed over a manila folder, and Elizabeth opened it.
“Results are in there, first page is the human readable summary for us.”
“Ok thanks, I’ll have a read.”
“Hopefully it makes more sense for you, I don’t have much context here.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. But I’ll make up for it,” Elizabeth said, reading through the front page. She gasped and looked up at Frank.
“This is starting to make sense.”
“Talk me through it.”
“As you read, there are a few key things which caused concern for your friend. In the blood sample was a sedative, anti-nausea medication and here’s the kicker: a form of chemotherapy drug. I’m no doctor, but it sounds like Nathan is being treated for Cancer.”
“Well that’s what I figured from the results, the sedative sure sounds suspicious though.”
“Yeah it does, and let me give you some background. This guy has been held in hospital for months with no proper explanation for his being there, and no offer of release. They’re holding him there for some reason.”
“You think for a reason other than treatment?”
“Yeah, what would you think if I said that one of his doctors is running a research team that is testing a new Cancer treatment?”
“I’d say that he’s got himself a live guinea pig. No offence to your friend.”
“Exactly! There’s still something missing, but this is enough. We can nail them with this. If we use it the right way.”
“Well what’s the right way? Are you going to write a story about it?”
“No, I can’t. I left the newspaper.”
“What?”
“Yeah, long story. I guess I should fill you in.”
“Yes, you should.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t hold out on you. But I need to know something: where is the line?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well you’re a cop. You’ve done me a huge favour here, but I know your hands are tied. There’s only so much you can do. So I need to know how far I can depend on your support.”
“Elizabeth, I’ve seen my fair share of troubles. I’ve seen the law bring justice, I’ve seen the law protect rich criminals. I’ve done my time. I still believe in the law, but I won’t be bound by it if I think justice won’t be served. If the situation warrants it.”
“Wow, well I think this one does. We’ve got a lot to discuss. Is this location safe?”
“For a time, but we shouldn’t linger just in case. It connects to a discreet backstreet so we can travel freely.”
“Well let’s move on to a safer place. I need you to understand everything. We can’t gamble with Nathan’s life, and without your help this could get ugly.”
25
Radio Silence
The morning after he smuggled the blood sample to Elizabeth, Nathan awoke with a smile on his face. Life was good. He had defied the hospital and used Annabelle against it, claiming the sample and destroying hers. It was his first major victory. One to be celebrated.
He did a few stretches, with care, not wanting to set off an
y alarms. He had to be extra careful because his additional enthusiasm had given him extra energy.
“Elizabeth will get me out of here with those blood test results, I need to be ready,” Nathan thought. But he had to pace himself, both for his own development and also to stay under the radar. They had to think he was still unable to walk by himself. Although, he didn’t really know how effective his training would be. He would have to find a way to test himself safely.
The morning rounds came, and Nathan was ready for them. He saw Dr Malberg again, and decided to try talking to him.
“Hello again Dr Malberg,” Nathan said. The doctor looked up at him, surprised to be addressed.
“Oh yes hello again Nathaniel. How are you feeling today?”
“The usual.”
“Ok good. I can see here you had a bit of an accident last night. Has this loss of motor control been a consistent problem?”
“I don’t think so, at least not that I have noticed.”
“Hmm, alright that’s fine. Please take care and let a nurse know if they reoccur. Also, we may need to schedule another blood sample sooner than normal, it’s very important.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
“If consistently done, yes, but I see no problem this time. The nurses will let you know.”
“Fair enough. Hey, so any update on when I can continue the treatment from home?” Nathan said. This statement caused Dr Malberg to stop what he was doing and look up at Nathan.
“I’m sorry that you got that impression. With your condition, we can’t possibly send you home with a clear conscience. I’m afraid for the time being you will need to remain here, so we can provide you with the best and most appropriate care.”
“What is my condition?”
“I’m sorry I don’t have time to go over this again. Take care Nathaniel,” Dr Malberg said and left. Nathan watched him go and chuckled to himself. In other circumstances he would have been annoyed, but he knew that help was on its way. It didn’t matter what their reason was for keeping him, he just had to play along until he could leave.
The Secret Patient Page 19
