The Golden Goose of Los Angeles Extended Edition
Page 5
joint aches, or any other significant health symptoms in the past six months?”
“No,” Rory replies with frustration, “I’m feeling a little abdominal discomfort from these questions.”
“I understand.” Doctor Anderton continues without breaking his line of vision with Rory. “One last question; do you have any family history of heart disease, cancer, or any other major hereditary illness?”
“My father had a stroke, and passed away ten years later,” Rory evokes with great emotion. “His life was saved by this hospital. My mother has diabetes, but she exercises regularly and keeps it under control.”
“Okay, that’s superlative,” the doctor says with an icy demeanor. “Oh, and one final question; have you had promiscuous sex with multiple partners in the past six months?”
“No,” Rory states in a rough tone, “but my girlfriend and I have very promiscuous sex together.”
“What?” The tall doctor asks with some confusion, blinking his eyes at Rory and shifting his legs under his long, white lab coat. He looks like a computer that is about to crash, having not understood Rory’s response.
“He’s joking,” Doctor Yahmir says with a smile, “please sign here, Rory, and I’ll tell you more after Doctor Anderton can extract a blood sample.”
Doctor Yahmir hands Rory a clipboard with a hospital disclosure that is already filled in with all of his correct contact information. Rory glances at the line items showing many of the questions he just answered, and briefly reads the disclosure to donate blood, then quickly signs the form and hands it back to Doctor Yahmir.
“Excellent!” Doctor Anderton exclaims with a smile in his eyes, showing as much emotion as Rory deems the man is capable of displaying at any given time.
The doctor gently grabs Rory’s right arm, rolls up the sleeve of his flannel shirt, and begins the steps to extract his blood while Doctor Yahmir watches with fascination from the other side of the expensive mahogany desk.
After an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting in Doctor Yahmir’s office by himself, Rory is seething with frustrated energy. He wants to get home for a romantic evening with his girlfriend, and still hasn’t gotten any answers as to why this meeting is so important. Rory looks down at the fresh gauze and medical tape on his arm where the doctors drew over a pint of his blood for some lab tests. Once they extracted his blood into the clear, plastic pouch, both men left the room talking quietly with excitement between them.
“Mr. Chambers,” Doctor Yahmir announces as he steps back into the office, closing the door behind him, “I’m so very sorry to have kept you waiting. We had to confirm our findings with a few of our peers before I could give you any solid information.”
“Great, I’m ready when you are,” Rory says in a sour tone, leaning forward and feeling like all of his time waiting will finally mean something.
“Well, Mr. Chambers,” Doctor Yahmir states with cryptic pride, “I will first need you to sign this non-disclosure statement before I tell you anything further about our preliminary findings here at the hospital.”
“I already signed your damn permission slip,” Rory begins with a disgusted tone, “just tell me what the fuck is going on already.”
The doctor smiles patiently at Rory, pretending he didn’t hear his expletive, and he extends the clipboard to him again with a new disclosure form and a pen.
“Whatever…” Rory says with disgust as he immediately signs the form and tosses it onto the doctor’s desk.
“Thank you!” Doctor Yahmir says with an excited look in his eyes. “As we discussed,” the doctor speaks slowly, pushing his glasses tight against his nose, “you have been giving blood at this medical center for some time now.”
“That’s right.” Rory agrees with tired eyes.
“Well, we’ve been using your blood on many patients over the years, and recently used some of that blood in a transfusion for an AIDS patient who was injured in a car accident just a week ago. Since the week has passed, we have noticed that the man’s AIDS symptoms are in rapid regression.” The doctor adjusts his lab coat and turns in his chair, placing his elbows on his desk and putting his fingers together to form a triangle shape. “We spent the entire week scratching our heads about this rapid regression of AIDS symptoms. At one point,” the doctor chuckles, “we even thought that we had read his records incorrectly and that he never was infected with HIV or AIDS. To our astonishment, after the transfusion, the man’s T-Cells are now showing a surface expression of an unknown protein.”
The doctor smiles wide, looking at Rory with pride and waiting for him to smile back, but Rory stares blankly at the doctor, not understanding what he is trying to say.
“Okay, so the man got some extra protein from my blood,” Rory deadpans, “hoorah for the crash victim. What the hell does that mean?”
“I apologize,” Doctor Yahmir says with a bit of arrogance, “you’re not a pathologist.”
“No, I’m definitely not.” Rory says with an impatient expression.
“The HIV Virus attacks the body’s T-Cells and destroys them over time. This causes the natural body defenses or immunities to break down. After we transfused your blood into the crash victim, he experienced immediate regression of AIDS symptoms. As we examined his blood further, we noticed that the virus is unable to penetrate his T-Cells. Without the ability to bind with T-Cells, the HIV Virus will eventually be destroyed by the body’s natural immunity.”
Rory stares at the doctor, still waiting to understand what he is trying to explain.
“To put it in simple terms, when your blood was introduced into the crash victim, his immune system was somehow recalibrated, and he is now vaccinated for HIV. For some reason- that we are still researching, a pint of your blood cured an AIDS patient.”
“Holy shit!” Rory exclaims with a long, deep breath, starting to understand why the doctors are so excited. “Are you sure it was my blood that cured him? I mean, maybe he has his own immunity.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Doctor Yahmir states boldly, “as further testing tonight has shown that the T-Cells in your blood have the surface expression of the same protein that prevents the HIV Virus from propagating.”
“What does that mean?” Rory asks impatiently.
“Your immune system comes with its own condom to protect against AIDS. It does not allow the disease to harm the body. Further, once your blood is introduced into a patient it seems that your T-Cells become the normal structure for the entire body.”
“And you’re sure about this?” Rory asks, folding his arms with doubt.
“We’re about eighty percent certain,” Doctor Yahmir says with a grin, “but we have infused your blood into another AIDS patient this evening, and within a few days, we’ll be one-hundred percent certain.”
“Don’t you need permission from the FDA or some other agency to just start trying this on other people?”
“No, Mr. Chambers, we don’t need permission from the FDA to give life saving transfusions. Besides, you’ve already signed a questionnaire indicating that your blood is free of harmful contaminants. Look, we need a few days to dot some ‘i’s and cross some ‘t’s, but I would be very grateful if we could get more of your blood for testing tonight. This could be a major breakthrough in modern med
icine.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Rory concedes with a sigh, “I just want to get back to my girl, but if we can really save people’s lives with a new medical breakthrough, then I’ll be happy to help.”
“That’s tremendous, Mr. Chambers!” Doctor Yahmir says with a somewhat geeky enthusiasm, “I’ll have a tech come in and draw your blood, and then we’ll talk in a few days. In the meantime, get plenty of rest and eat green, leafy vegetables to replenish your blood supply.”
The doctor stands up and shakes Rory’s hand firmly, smiling at him like a game show host who just saw a ratings increase.
“Thanks so much for all you’re doing,” Doctor Yahmir beams with a phony wink and smile, “we value your participation.”
“Okay,” Rory says with a forced smile, “I’ll see you in a few days.”
Rory walks out of the Pathology Clinic and feels an eerie chill run through his body as he sees a technician standing just outside the door, eagerly waiting with a tray of phlebotomy instruments to draw his blood. He shakes off his fear, rolls up his sleeve, and sits in one of the waiting room chairs, watching the technician with a sober expression.
Half an hour later, and one and a half pints of blood lighter, Rory is at his lavish home on Club View Drive. He is relaxing on the tan leather sofa and Kelly is resting her back against his chest. They are each enjoying a glass of Kendall Jackson Red as they discuss the events from earlier in the day.
Kelly looks absolutely gorgeous in her lime green top with stylish ruffles around the shoulders, which is complimented by her black skirt and red heels. This being her outfit from a day job as the hostess for a sushi restaurant. Rory had joked that with a yellow skirt she would look like a reverse