After the Cure, Deirdre Gould [the beach read TXT] 📗

It was my job to listen to far worse stories than yours. Before that, I worked in a mental hospital where I heard stories beyond anything Dr. Pazzo has up his sleeve. He’s going to have to try a lot harder to shock me.” She leaned forward and put her hand near his on the table. “You shouldn’t let him make you uncomfortable either. He’s only trying to make himself feel more powerful.”

Frank smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “Nothing he’s said isn’t true.” He put down the spoon and slid back, his legs brushing by hers as they stretched out.

“Just because he aired your dirty laundry doesn’t mean nobody else has any. Including him. And Mr. Grant.” Nella frowned at the bad taste his name left in her mouth. She looked up and saw Frank watching her. She smiled gently. “And me,” she said.

He was silent, but he continued to watch her. She blushed. The waitress brought their food.

“Why did you agree to do this trial?” he asked.

“The simplest answer is that I was asked to do it. You don’t really say no to the Military Governor if he asks you for a favor. And he told me about Ann. I hope that I can help her. He told me it would be one of the most important trials in history we needed to be sure that it was fair.” Nella sighed. “Although, from the attitudes of the people I’ve spoken with, that seems to be an incredibly optimistic view.”

“Dr. Rider, I know I said that acquitting Dr. Pazzo wasn’t my goal-”

Nella shrugged. “You were just being realistic,” she interrupted.

“I hope this world is still as decent as you seem to think it is. I hope that, whatever the outcome, the trial is fair. I just don’t expect it.”

They ate in a comfortable silence. The waitress brought their check. Nella sighed. “What’s wrong? Is your hand hurting?” Frank asked.

Nella smiled. “No, I just don’t want to leave yet. This was nice. Well, this part of the day anyway.”

Frank laughed. “Really? I haven’t just depressed you more?”

“It’s nice to just be able to be me and not a psychiatrist for a while. Even if our conversation wasn’t light. It’s nice to be around normal people, doing normal things.”

“We can come back.”

Nella smiled and paid the bill.

The day had turned gray and dull as they returned to the prison. Yesterday’s snow was slithering into the gutters in dirty silver slumps. Frank stopped the car next to hers. “Has the aspirin worn off enough? Will you be okay to get home?” he asked.

Nella slid out of the car. “I’m fine,” she said, “and I’ll go slow. It’s not like there’s much to run into any more.”

“That’s true. But if it snows-”

“It’s okay, I’m just down the road. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She began to shut the door and changed her mind. She leaned down to see Frank’s face. “Mr. Courtlen- maybe it’s not my place to say- we don’t know each other that well. But since no one else seems to have told you, I guess I will. You don’t deserve to be treated the way Mr. Grant and Dr. Pazzo did today. What you did when you were sick- none of us can say we were any better. Not the Cured or the Immunes.” Nella blushed. “Okay, good night,” she said and shut the door before he could respond.

She found he had parked in the same spot the next morning and half expected him to be sitting in his car in the same clothes as the day before. But he was inside already, laughing with Officer Kembrey. Terry, the nervous soldier, was nowhere in sight.

“Good morning Dr. Rider,” said Stan, “I heard you were injured. Are you feeling better today?”

“Yes,” Nella lied. The pain had been flashy and sizzling all morning and the willow tea she’d had was a very poor substitute for the little aspirin pills she’d run out of.

“Good. You’ll be glad to know that Ann has been doing fine today, thanks to your orders and we haven’t heard a peep.”

“That’s great news. Maybe we’ll start to make some progress now.”

Stan exchanged a quick glance with Mr. Courtlen. Nella ignored it. “I guess you’ll be wanting Frank then,” he said.

Nella smiled. “If you’re ready Mr. Courtlen.”

“As I’ll ever be,” said Frank, “Have a good day Stan.”

Officer Kembrey waved them off. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Stan? He was at the prison before I even got here. We play poker sometimes with a group. And I introduced him to his wife. She was in the same Cure camp as me. He’s a good friend.”

They had reached the dented metal door. “Last chance. You can go home and call in sick if you want,” said Frank with a grin.

“No,” sighed Nella, “let’s get this over with.”

Dr. Pazzo was already sitting at the plastic picnic table as if he’d never left. Nella sat down across from him. Mr. Courtlen sat next to her rather than crossing to his client. She guessed that he hadn’t forgiven him for yesterday yet.

“We’re all ready then?” Dr. Pazzo asked brightly, as if nothing had happened, “Good, let’s start the show.”

A guard wheeled in an old black television set and Nella took advantage of Dr. Pazzo’s distraction. She lightly squeezed Frank’s arm and gave him a comforting smile when he looked over at her. She was relieved that he smiled back.

 

 

Infection

“This is video diary number thirty-five in the Recharge Project. I am Dr. Gerta Schneider. Assisting is Dr. Robert Pazzo and Anne Connelly.”

Nella stared at the attractive blonde woman on the screen. She could swear she’d seen the woman somewhere, but she couldn’t place the memory.

“As previous videos have stated, the goal of the Recharge Project is to develop a vector that can administer both a dopamine pre-cursor and amphetamine to the brain for a very specific amount of time. The goal being to provide those with high pressure occupations such as police officers, medical personnel or soldiers with a safe and effective alternative to pharmaceutical substitutes.”

A very young Dr. Pazzo spoke up from the background. “We also want to address long term treatments for post traumatic stress. Don’t forget to say that.”

“Yes Robert, I was just going to get to that,” said Dr. Schneider, but Nella thought she looked anything but gracious. Dr. Schneider turned back to the camera, her arms crossing her chest. “We have encountered numerous pitfalls while choosing a vector, trying to find a harmless bacteria that is resistant to most commonly prescribed antibiotics, so that it will be effective in a majority of cases without complications. We also needed to find a bacteria that could easily infect the central nervous system without causing inflammation which could cause side effects. At last, we have chosen a weak strain of antibiotic resistant streptococcus. It should not make the host ill, but can withstand courses of almost all antibiotics on the market today, ensuring that this will benefit almost everyone. This video diary is being made to document our first animal test.”

The screen blinked for a minute and was suddenly focused on a window into a room filled with cages.

“Wait, can you pause this please?” asked Nella.

The guard paused the video and Dr. Pazzo looked at her expectantly. “Are you having trouble with the jargon Dr. Rider?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said, “From what I understand you were trying to make a natural drug that caused euphoria, alertness and extra focus without causing side effects.”

“That’s correct.”

“But you chose a virtually unstoppable bacterium as your delivery system, why?”

“Well, we chose to use bacteria in order to get a more natural bump in delivery as opposed to a huge spike than would come from injecting a drug. It was meant to be used to aid people, not for recreation.”

“No,” said Mr. Courtlen suddenly, “I don’t think Dr. Rider was asking why you chose bacteria, I think her question was why you chose an incurable one.”

Nella could see the scar on his cheek flashing red against his pale face. His voice was steady but she could see his anger rising.

“If we’d chosen something susceptible to antibiotics it would have been wiped out before it even had a chance to work. Anytime it was given to someone who had caught an STD or the flu and went to the doctor and was given a round of medicine, it would have killed a more vulnerable strain. Besides, it was supposed to be weak, so the host’s body would naturally defeat it, but not until after the amphetamine and dopamine precursor were delivered. It was incurable because it was supposed to be harmless.”

“So what happened?” Mr. Courtlen hissed.

Dr. Pazzo shifted nervously in his seat. “Watch and see,” he said and indicated that the guard should start the video again. The screen again showed the window into the room with animal cages. Two figures in light blue biohazard suits came into view. One of them pressed a button near the window and spoke into the intercom.

“We are administering the first dose via injection. After today, this room’s air will be filtered in a closed system where the streptococcus bacteria that the animals breathe out will be refreshed with more amphetamine and dopamine precursors. The goal is to monitor both short and long term effects of exposure.” The speaker was Dr. Pazzo. The other figure was busy opening one cage door after another and administering the bacteria.

“For this series of tests we are using Macaque monkeys.”

A young woman stepped in front of the camera smiling. “For all my animal rights friends, I just want you to know for the record, we’ve done our research, this should be completely harmless to the monkeys. They should feel happier and more alert. Also, they are only in the cages for the administration of the injections. You’ll be happy to know that the room behind me opens into a communal living area for the Macaques once they have received their injection.”

“Thank you Ann,” said Dr. Pazzo.

Nella could actually hear the eye roll in his voice. She felt a pang of sadness as the pretty young woman walked out of frame. So that was Ann as she had once been. The video reeled on, silent now as the two doctors administered the injections.

“Was Ann your student?” she asked.

“No, she was Gerta’s intern. She was in all ways the responsible party when it came to Ann’s fate.” Dr. Pazzo’s mouth twisted, as if he’d tasted something rotten.

“Ann’s fate?”

“Just watch,” Dr. Pazzo spat.

Someone focused the camera more closely on the cages but the animals seemed calm and Nella was unsurprised when the screen went black a few moments later.

“I’m going to save you hundreds of hours of recording. Results were normal across the board. No aberrations, no warning signs for four weeks. In fact, I