by P J Mann
Dr. Wright nodded with a sigh, “yes, and at least from my point of view they could be the people from which we start the test.”
There was a long pause of silence when Prof. Doyle went through all the results of the clinical tests they collected. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, and he knew that the risk that some of them might remember something was feasible without the necessary prep time.
Not to mention the feasibility of damage to their health – he thought – we cannot risk such a scandal. If something happens to one of our patients, the police will start an investigation, and the whole project will come under intense scrutiny. That is a too high risk to take.
“What are you thinking about?” Dr. Wright asked, noticing his turbulent expression.
“I was thinking about the risks of speeding up the process. Regardless of the positive results we might have, there is a marginal risk that the patient will recall something about the night of the murder, or that the higher dose of drugs will have repercussions on their health. In either outcome, it is something that will send us to jail for a long time.”
Dr. Wright shook his head, “Then we will have to tell our client that we cannot speed up the process; not yet. Perhaps we can do it for the next group when we have a better calibration for the dose and response time. Our target is that of reaching the one-two days’ time frame.”
As they were ready to leave the room, the telephone started to ring again.
They glanced at each other, “I guess this is him,” said Dr. Wright.
“Hello…” Dr. Wright replied trying to keep his voice as calm as usual.
“Good evening,” he replied. “You’ll have to excuse the fact that my calls that have been quite late recently. Nevertheless, I understood that Prof. Doyle is with you at the hotel right now, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is right here with me at the moment,” Dr. Wright replied.
“Perfect, so put the phone on speakerphone, so that we can have a chat together,” he replied. “I would like to have the opinion of both of you, regarding the possibility of making the process a bit faster.”
“Good evening, Mr. M.” Prof. Doyle greeted as soon as the speakerphone was on. “Dr. Wright informed me about your request, but I have my concerns about it. The dosage of the drug has been developed in a way to be harmless, but if we try to obtain the same results in a shorter term, it might be harmful to the health of my patients. I am also concerned about the possibility for them to potentially remember something about the murder, and if this happens, we might all be in serious trouble.”
“I do share the same concern as Prof. Doyle, although we do have some promising patients for this experiment, we haven’t tested the reaction on the human body to higher dosages of this drug. Perhaps it would be wiser to stick with the plan and with the results we are gathering at this stage, we can improve the drug’s formulation to fit with a shorter term. The risk is too high,” added Dr. Wright.
There was a long pause of silence where the client, a man introduced only as Mr. M., took some time to think about their answer to his request. He was not the kind of person who would have given up that easy, and he was used to obtaining what he was looking for, in one way or the other. However, in this case, he had to admit that their reasoning was well founded, and there was a real risk to having the Police Department banging down their door.
Although they would be the only ones who will get into real trouble with the police, I would also end up with a loss of money and nothing to show for it. I need this formula to be ready, and perhaps I need to give them more time, Mr. M. thought. “I do understand your concerns, and I will try to see whether there is a way to keep the Police busy with other issues than to nose into our business.”
“It is not only the problem of keeping the Police far from our research,” replied Prof. Doyle. “My main concern is how not to endanger the health of our patients.”
Mr. M. laughed heartily, “You are ready to murder someone, but you are worried about the health state of those patients? You know that thought process doesn’t make much sense.”
“I understand that this might sound like nonsense to you. However, those people came to us to find a solution to their problems. I am still willing to help them, even if along with helping them I will also test a new drug,” explained Dr. Wright, agreeing with Prof. Doyle. “In our profession, we do always test something new with our patients, but this doesn’t mean that we are ready to sacrifice their health. Our aim is still to cure them.”
“I have another question for you, then,” said Mr. M. “Has it ever happened to you during your career to have a patient who had problems with a certain treatment?”
Dr. Wright started to become a little nervous; he knew where this discussion could have led, and he was afraid. “Unfortunately, there have been cases of patients who could not get fully healed, but…”
“There is no ‘but’” snapped Mr. M. “If there is any slight possibility to try the drug within a couple of weeks or even less, I want you to work on that possibility. I am not paying you to enjoy your life, but to get results.”
His voice thundered in the room even though it came from the phone, leaving Dr. Wright speechless.
“No,” Prof. Doyle replied firmly. “We are not going to put their health in danger, it is true that you are paying us generously, but we also have an agreement. By this agreement, the deadline for the final drug’s formulation will be in ten months. Although you might think that this is a long time, you also need to understand that we need to do our work in the shadows, not to raise any suspicion, not to us and not to you.”
“You’d better watch your tongue, Prof. Doyle,” warned Mr. M.
His voice was calm, but was well aware that he was furious, and both, Dr. Wright and Prof. Doyle knew they’d better not try their luck, or they might be the next victims.
“All that we can do is to think about it and see if whether there is the possibility to reach a result in a shorter period of time. However, you need also to agree that this might not be possible,” Dr. Wright said. “What are we going to do to handle the situation if one of our patients might remember something?”
“In that unfortunate case, they will be the victim of the next test,” Mr. M. replied calmly. “You take care of the results, I will take care of the Police. I can promise you that nobody will ever suspect anything, we can still deal with it in a very clean and covert way.”
“But what about the friends and family of our patients?” Asked Prof. Doyle. “You might take care of the fact that the Police will not investigate in the case, but we cannot avoid raising the concern and suspicion of the people related to our patients.”
“I can make it seem like an accident. If you can deal with the development of the drug, I can deal with the covering up of those murders,” assured Mr. M. “Besides, this is what I have been doing with the previous victim. She also had friends and family.”
“That is true,” admitted Dr. Wright, “but she was in another country, and for a prostitute, it is easy to be the victim of a maniac who might kill her. In this case, we are talking about people who do not just live in the same country but also in the same city. These people have a normal job, and they have a normal life…”
“Accidents happen all the time, people die every day for the most different causes. As I said, let me take care of those pesky details,” Mr. M. interrupted out of patience.
He started to be tired of their complaints; to his ears, they sound like excuses not to have the job done.
Prof. Doyle realized that there wouldn’t have been an easy way to refuse and nodded his head slightly, “We will think about that possibility.”
“I’ll give you 24 hours to think about it, then I want to have an answer from you, and I expect it to be a positive one.”
With that, Mr. M. hung up the phone without waiting for an answer from the two scientists.
“What do you think?” Asked Dr. Wright.
“I think that we
do not have much time left, we need to start working on the development of the drug as soon as possible and start the testing already within the next week or so,” Prof. Doyle admitted.
“Then starting tomorrow morning, I will begin to test who shall be the best candidate for this trial. I believe we can start with Mr. Abbey.”
“In this case, I will have to move here to run my models. I will need to have a place where I can work. The laboratory at the University is too far from here, and I would like to have everything in the same place to avoid any problems or delay.” Prof Doyle replied, and he left the office, ready to find some sleep.
He felt drained after that phone call.
The next morning, Prof. Doyle started to work on the possibility to obtain results already within one week. He ordered to have some laboratory equipment to be delivered to the hotel, where he would have had a room designated for that purpose. On a positive note, he could count on an unlimited budget for the equipment and that the hotel was not lacking in free rooms that could be designated to be his new laboratory, at least for the duration of the experiment.
Chapter 5.
Laura was already awake when the alarm clock, started to ring; however, she wasn’t at all in a bad mood.
“Another night where I could sleep for five hours. That is my personal record since I started to suffer from insomnia,” she yawned while walking to the restroom.
She felt relieved, for that night there wasn’t any noise coming from the corridor, and she started to be convinced about the fact that they were just hallucinations. Nevertheless, she was wondering about how Jonathan was doing, she hadn’t seen him since the previous day.
“I hope he is feeling better now.”
She hesitated for a moment in front of the door of his room, thinking whether to knock and check if he was already down in the hall having breakfast with the rest of the group, or if he was still feeling unwell.
She shook her head and decided she would check the hall first, as she started to feel hungry.
“Good morning,” she greeted. She felt relieved to see Jonathan who was already sitting at a table.
“Good morning to you, Darling, you look great,” said Sabina. “It seems like you could finally find a way to sleep longer than your usual two hours.”
“Yes, I think I’m starting to understand what my body and brain need to fall asleep. However, I am still far from saying that I do not suffer from insomnia anymore. Still, four or five hours, although they are an improvement, they are not enough to call a good night sleep,” she replied as she sat at her table. “How about you, haven’t you noticed any improvement?”
Sabina sighed, “my problem is that I cannot switch off from my work. The fact that I do not have any means to check what is going on with my business is driving me crazy.”
“But if you are always on the phone with your employees?” interrupted Carolina, who joined them for breakfast.
“I have to call them! If I couldn’t even call them during the day, I am sure I would go crazy. The problem is the fair, that is one of the most important happenings of the year for businesses like mine, and I cannot afford to miss it or show up unprepared,” she replied, showing a bit of distress that contrasted with the calm tone of her voice.
“You cannot live your life like that,” warned Laura. “You need to find the way to switch off, or you will make yourself crazy.”
“Laura is right, you need to take care of yourself,” added Carolina.
Sabina smiled kindly, that was the first time that Carolina didn’t show her grumpiness, she looked almost like a different person.
As much as the lack of sleep influences negatively on our mood, a good night sleep can make miracles, and also a grumpy old lady like Carolina can become an amiable lovely person, Sabina thought, amused.
Suddenly, the pendant Carolina was wearing on her necklace caught her attention; she wondered how she hadn’t noticed it before, as it was something beautiful and quite eye-catching.
“That is a gorgeous pendant,” Sabina said, leaning a bit closer to admire it.
“Thanks,” Carolina said taking the necklace in her hands and handing it to Sabina. “My husband bought it for our twentieth anniversary. It represents my sign on the Chinese zodiac; the year of the dragon.”
“That is so beautiful and with so many fine details; it looks almost real and ready to fly away,” Sabina noticed.
“May I take a look at it?” asked Laura.
“Of course,” replied Carolina.
Laura took the necklace in her hands and sifted through the piece of jewelry, “It is indeed a great piece, was it something handmade?”
“I guess so, we bought it from a jeweler in Hong Kong and I believe he was making many of the creations that were for sale in his shop. I am really attached to this pendant; it is the best memory I have of my husband; besides those, I keep in my heart,” replied Carolina, placing the necklace back around her neck.
Laura glanced at Jonathan, who just stood up from his breakfast table. He walked like he was in a trance, or if he heard something that bothered him.
“Excuse me…” she said standing up from her table and walking towards him.
“Jonathan…” she called,
He didn’t even seem to hear her call and continued to walk away. She ran towards him and looked into his eyes. There was something strange in them. Usually, he would have smiled at her, but now, he was looking straight through her, like he could not even see her.
“Jonathan, how are you?” She asked concerned.
“I-I need to go to the therapy session,” he replied almost whispering.
“I am not stopping you, but I just wanted to make sure you felt better. Yesterday, Dr. Wright told us that you were unwell,” she explained.
“I feel still a bit tired, but much better than yesterday; thanks for asking, but now I need to go. Please excuse me.” That said he walked away leaving Laura with too many unanswered questions on her mind.
“What’s wrong with him?” Sabina asked as she reached Laura.
“I have no idea, Jonathan looked like he was in a trance; he said he feels better, but I cannot see it the same way. To me, he seemed mostly confused, but also scared or worried about something, like he was afraid someone was hearing what he was saying.”
“Could it be that he is losing his marbles?” said Sabina pointing at her temple.
“I hope not, because if he is losing his mind because of the drugs we are all taking, then we might all be at risk. Personally, since I was the only one, besides Jonathan to hear those noises coming from the corridor, I think that I might be the next one to lose my sanity,” Laura whispered.
“But Dr. Wright explained to you that your oversensitivity could have caused your hallucinations, and you believed in Jonathan’s mumbo-jumbo. If I were you, I wouldn’t be worried about that, although, Jonathan behaved in a bizarre way.”
Laura sighed, “Let’s go for a walk before the group session, I think I need some fresh air to clear my mind. Perhaps Dr. Wright can explain to us what is going on with Jonathan.”
“Whatever it is, I hope it won’t compromise the group therapy. I cannot say I really like Jonathan, but I find him an intriguing person. Max revealed himself to be an interesting person too, although I still think that, that Jr. is ruining everything,” replied Sabina while they walked into the garden of the hotel.
Once again, the group therapy was delayed due to the individual session Jonathan had with Dr. Wright, “I am wondering why they couldn’t have the private session after the group session.” Complained Carolina, as they were all waiting in the room designated for the group therapy.
“You always have to complain, are you in a hurry to get somewhere?” said Gabriel.
“I am not in a hurry, but I am that kind of person that when a timetable is set, then everybody is going to follow it. I do not mind if sometimes we have to change our schedule, but this is already the second time in a row!” Carolina replied.
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“I agree with Carolina, but I am also concerned about Jonathan, so if this delay is because they need to take care of his health, then I am more than happy to wait,” added Laura.
Max sighed, “You’re right. I am also wondering about his health. This morning he behaved quite unusually; it was like he was in a trance, and barely greeted me. Generally, we sit at the same table for breakfast, but today, he arrived without greeting anybody and sat alone on a table far away from everybody.”
“Maybe he is going insane,” Carolina suggested while shrugging indifferently.
“But that would be terrible, and how can a person just be going insane from one day to the other? This is impossible,” replied Laura.
In the room, there was a long pause of silence, where everybody started to wonder whether the drugs they have been testing, were safe or there was the risk to have some serious mental health issues as a side effect.
This is impossible - Laura thought – Those drugs, even if they are in the experimental stage must have been tested either on rats or by other means. I refuse to believe that a scrupulous person like Prof. Doyle would be making such a mistake.
“So, did anyone experience any improvement in their sleeping pattern?” said Gabriel, breaking the silence in the room.
Everybody turned their gaze towards him as if they didn’t understand the question.
“I know where I am concerned, I can now sleep longer than my usual couple of hours. Last night I could sleep for five hours, and the level of rest was higher than ever recorded,” said Laura. “At least according to the devices at the side of my bed.”
“I also started to sleep better, not yet longer, but I could see an improvement in the quality of sleep of those three hours,” said Gabriel. “I don’t know if I can count it as a substantial improvement, but when I wake up in the morning, I feel more rested.”
At that exact moment the door opened, and Jonathan came inside together with Dr. Wright. He looked far better than he did this morning.
