Links to previous chapters at end of this chapter
Radu-Chapter XXXX (A Novel by Patrick Kelley)
6 pages approximate
Chou did not like it, but he had his instructions. James Berry was too valuable to die. He watched him through the glass partition that enabled the staff to monitor him within his isolated environment. He was still obviously dangerously ill, yet improved from the day before when he hung to life by a thread. He talked incoherently as Chou fed him intravenously and insured a steady dosage of the formula developed from the white blood cells extracted from the whole blood of Marlowe Krovell.
Berry improved considerably. In a way, Chou was glad. Berry had much to answer for, and Chou was determined to get answers. Some things, however, there were simply no answers for. Chou walked grimly down the hall to where yet another patient waited for his services. He entered the room where the old woman lay. Though seemingly ancient, she was yet spry, and cackled with delight when Chou entered the room.
“I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you again,” she said.
“Oh, I would never just abandon you. You know that.”
“When can I get out of here?” she asked. “I am tired of being cooped up in this place.”
“It is way too soon for you to leave.”
“I feel as good as I ever did. I want to visit my children. Is there any word on them? You would think the least they could do is drop by for a visit.”
“We have had to limit visitations to the hospital,” Chou replied sadly. “There is a multi-epidemic going around, and we fear for the safety of the public.”
The old woman howled with laughter.
“That is hilarious. What place could be safer than a hospital?”
“There are few safe places anymore,” he replied.
Chou turned away from the old woman. It was hard to come in here, but he had no choice. Each visit, however, was more and more difficult. He tried feverishly to find a cure for the old woman. Yet, he was unsuccessful. Nothing he tried seemed to work, and at her advanced age, he had to be careful not to put too much of a strain on her. Yet, as she clearly seemed to be well over a century in age, and although she seemed healthy for one so ancient, she obviously did not have much longer to live. Chou had to face the eventuality of her death, and the likelihood that he was helpless to do anything about it.
Her mind had adjusted to her dilemma. At first, she fell into shock, and went through all the various stages of adjustment. She went through them very rapidly, in fact, and now was past even the stage of acceptance. She was to all intents and purposes well adjusted. Some might even consider her happy. It was as though she had lived a full, long, productive, and happy life, and experienced no tragedies or, for that matter, nothing out of the ordinary.
“David, how long have we been married now?”
“Twenty four years,” Chou replied. “You know I love you still, don’t you Mia?”
Chou turned to look at his wife, now so blissfully ignorant of reality in her advanced stage of dementia, only to see she was already asleep.
He lowered the light in her room, and, looking one more time at her, he silently walked out. It was so ironic. Her reaction to the death of Susan and to her disappointment with the other children was not one of despair or surrender. She wanted to have another child, despite the fact she was past childbearing age. She did not care. She would take fertility drugs if necessary.
That was all Chou needed. One child hated him and was now dead, before Chou could ever come close to establishing a rapport with her. Another daughter kept the family in debt with her extravagant and impulsive spending, while their only son, who was gay, drifted habitually from one job to another and seemed totally lacking in ambition. The last thing he needed was a litter.
When he injected her with Marlowe’s blood, he thought it would boost her immune system, provide her with renewed strength and vigor, and at the same time pull her out of her depression. He got more than he bargained for when she raped him, and then, unsatisfied with him, she left. When she returned two months later, she looked as though she aged more than twenty years. Every day that went past, she seemed to age more than a month by his reckoning. He was helpless to reverse the process. Now, she was obviously near the end. So was Chou.
He made his way slowly toward his office, but stopped when he heard someone call his name. He turned to see the man flashing a Baltimore Police Department badge.
“I’m Lieutenant Frank Anderson,” he said. “I’m here about my colleague, James Berry. I hear that he has improved considerably.”
“Yes, he has improved a great deal, but he is by no means able to leave here yet.”
“That is fine, I don’t want him to be discharged,” Anderson replied. “I was just wondering if it’s possible yet that I could have a word with him.”
“I am sorry, but I can’t allow that,” Chou replied. “It would not only be detrimental to his recovery but it would be dangerous to you, and in fact any contact with him would necessitate your remaining here in isolation. I know you had contact with him when he first fell ill, but we cannot assume your immune system will protect you from prolonged exposure. Even if it did, you might still carry it and infect those with whom you might later come in contact. This is a very serious situation, Lieutenant Anderson. The CDC is just two steps away from placing the entire city of Baltimore and the surrounding areas under quarantine. The only thing that has prevented this so far is the logistical problems such an endeavor would entail. In my opinion, they should do it anyway. But, I am, alas, a simple physician.”
Anderson looked at Chou with a good deal of obvious suspicion, and even some frustration.
“I have just been informed that Berry is willing to talk to me. In fact, he has requested that I personally come here to take his statement. He has sent word that he has some important information. It might interest you to know some of this has to do with the death of your own daughter. That is another thing I am concerned about. Are you sure you should even be involved in his case?”
Chou rolled his eyes, a habit born of frustration that he usually tried to avoid. Mia always chided him for it, calling it a mark of inferiority, to say nothing of bad manners. Some times, he could just not help himself.
“Lieutenant Anderson, my patient has gone through hell. He is not quite yet in his right mind. He will say anything to get his way. I would be derelict in my duties were I to allow you to question him while he frankly does not know what he is talking about. We are both professionals. I am sure you understand the need for objectivity and discernment.”
“I would be more than willing for you or someone else to monitor our conversation. I know there is a system set up to where I can question him without having to come in contact and risk exposure. Look, Doctor Chou, this could be very important. James Berry might have a lot of information, vital information, not only about this plague, but also about other matters. Many innocent lives could be at stake here.”
“I am sorry, but my answer is still no,” Chou replied firmly.
Anderson seemed shocked by his determination.
“I guess I’ll have to go over your head. I will get a court order if I have to. I do not know why you are being so stubborn, but your attitude is incomprehensible to me. You are very possibly interfering in a criminal investigation. You might want to take some time to rethink your position. Good day to you, DOCTOR Chou.”
Anderson stormed off then, while Chou realized he had better do something quickly. He made his way back to the isolation ward, and soon found himself standing at the window to the room where James Berry, though still feverish, anxiously paced the floor.
“You had better get some rest, Lieutenant,” Chou advised him. “You have a ways to go yet before you are sufficiently recovered.”
Berry reacted to this with obvious agitation.
“I sent word two hours ago I wanted to speak with someone from the Department. His name is Frank Anderson. I was assured he would be here way before now.”
“I am afraid I cannot allow that, Officer Berry,” Chou replied. “Perhaps in a few days”-
“A few days is not good enough,” Berry shouted.
“Oh, but I am afraid it will have to be,” Chou replied. “So, calm down. You still need to rest. By the way, I must tell you, you have very unusual taste in women. I am sure Officer Anderson will be more than curious about your recent association with Raven Randall. The next time you find yourself so eager to speak to him or any of your colleagues as to send messages to them, you might want to bear that in mind.”
Berry almost collapsed when he heard this.
“What about Raven?” he demanded. “Is she all right?”
“She is dead, my friend. She seems possibly to have died of a traumatic stab wound to the heart, pierced all the way through with some kind of ceremonial sword. Perhaps she died from the third degree burns over ninety percent of her unaccountably decayed body. I am not sure what the actual cause of death is. This time, however, unlike before, her death seems to be, shall we say, permanent?”
Berry sunk back down to his bed in an obvious state of shock. He seemed on the verge of tears.
“That is right, James,” he said. “Stay in bed and get some more rest. It can always get worse. However, as my wife always used to say-not too many months ago in fact-surely it cannot get much worse.”
Berry said nothing, just sat on the edge of his bed, unsure of what to say. Chou watched him silently for a few minutes, until he heard the receptionist page him. He had a phone call on his office phone. He looked around and, certain no one was watching him, he pushed the button that unlocked the door to Berry’s room. Berry visibly reacted to the sound, and looked strangely all around as he rose.
“It won’t be much longer, Lieutenant,” Chou promised. “Just wait and things should get much better, maybe in-oh, say an hour?”
When Chou returned to his office, he saw his son Jack was on the phone.
“Are you serious?” he asked. “Why in the hell would you want us to go to Lapland? What is there?”
“Well, snow and reindeer,” Chou replied. “That’s about it. Oh, and there are Lapps, of course. You and your sister will be safe there, at least. Most of the diseases involved in this epidemic do not seem to thrive too well in cold weather. Your chances of survival are exponentially better there than they would be anywhere else.”
“Oh, okay, then, but why not Helsinki, or Saint Petersburg, or”-
“There are too many people there,” Chou replied. “Trust me, Jack. Catch your flight tonight, and when you get there, a driver will be waiting to take you to your new home. I hope that you will not have to live there more than three or four years at the most. Now, if you please, let me speak to your sister. Please do not say she is out shopping.”
Christy was there, however though outraged.
“How can I shop when you’ve cancelled all my credit cards? And how can you expect me to go to a place like Lapland without buying the things I need?”
“The things you tend to buy will not be very useful to you there anyway. Just be thankful I finally managed to pay off your debt. It was not easy to do, by the way. Forgive me for not wanting to have to go through it again. You will have everything you need there in the way of food and clothing, and then some. Now, are we settled? Are you ready to go?”
Christy mumbled that she was as ready as she would ever be, and Chou said goodbye as he picked up the DVD that sat on his office desk. He then called his receptionist to tell her he did not wish to be disturbed for the next hour, unless it was an absolute emergency.
He put on the DVD, and there she was-Susan, his late daughter, dancing to the beat of what he considered a butchered version of an old Frank Sinatra standard. As he watched her, and heard her, it finally occurred to him that he had not failed, nor for that matter had Mia failed. Some people were just born naturally stupid. He tried his best, but in the final analysis, his and Mia’s share of the responsibility was probably limited to a bad DNA combination. He clicked on the link, and grimly watched the final fate of his daughter. He saw what now tens of millions of people across the world saw, from all walks of life. Rich and poor, young and old, lawless and lawmakers, all watched in amazement as Susan Chou, his daughter, while ripped to shreds by a variety of savage dogs, screamed in pain and helpless terror. He watched the scene, allowing it to run farther along than he ever had before. He knew the hospital’s computer monitoring system would copy every second of it while he watched. Soon, the scene changed to a close up view of Dwayne Lecher, sarcastically advising his listeners with a smiling leer-“kids-don’t do drugs. Thugs do drugs.”
The DVD then went back to where it left off, to the point where Susan was now vanished, unceremoniously flung to her ultimate fate at the apparent hands of the random thugs and assorted street trash that lined the alleyway setting of the number. Dwayne Lecher then went into a version of yet another Sinatra song, now a number one single-“That’s Life”.
Chou left the music playing in the background as he focused his attention on the electron microscope upon which set a few drops of the Krovell blood. He watched it, as it now slowly replicated. He focused the light of the microscope upon the substance, which seemed to react to the intrusion of even this faint light. It seemed to cringe as though in fear and pain. Chou separated the samples into two distinct groups, to which he added two different samples of blood. The reaction to one was seemingly benign, although it soon became apparent that it was actually soon absorbed completely within the Krovell sample.
The other sample reacted violently to the Krovell blood, as though rejecting it with a fury. He then put a small portion of the newly infused Krovell sample onto the rejecting one, and the reaction first slowed, then halted all together. Within a matter of minutes, the Krovell sample had absorbed it as well-or so it seemed, at any rate. He magnified the power of his microscope until he finally saw what he was looking for. It was some kind of spore, of unknown quality. He had never noticed it before, within either of the samples. Now that he combined the two samples, the spore manifested, as it did once before during two previous similar experiments. He took a small safety pin and pierced his finger, then allowing two drops of his blood to mix with the combined samples. The spores roared to a seeming new life, attacking the new blood-his blood-while they burst open to reveal a variety of bacteria and viruses, which seemed previously contained within the spore as though it were a natural habitat for them all. Yet, in this case, they seemed unable to absorb the fresh new intruder.
Chou smiled as he withdrew from his pocket a bottle, one that contained a cocktail of antibiotics. He quickly downed three of them and drunk a glass of water. Suddenly, the lights went off, the voice of rap star Toby Da Pimp now silenced, as there was a sudden hubbub in the halls outside his office. The power was now completely gone, as he had been promised it would be at this time. He looked at his clock and noted the time was 6:47 PM. It actually happened with thirteen minutes to spare.
He looked out his window as he wondered whether the problem might for now just be contained within the walls of Johns Hopkins. However, a brief glance outside his window was enough to tell him the entire city was experiencing a blackout. He had no doubt the phenomenon extended well beyond Baltimore. He smiled. Then, there was a knock on his door.
“Doctor Chou, are you in there?”
Yes, of course, he thought, but he did not intend to leave-not just yet. He had waited too long and worked too hard for this day. He wanted to savor it while it lasted. He knew that the best was yet to come. All the same, he realized he should spend some more time with Mia. She would probably not last too much longer now.
“Doctor Chou,” the persistent nurse continued, “James Berry has walked out of isolation and no one knows where he is. It is dark and all the lights and power has shut down. If you’re in there, you might want to stay in your office and keep your doors locked for a while.”
Chou laughed silently, stifling his merriment, even as he felt a presence inside the locked and now pitch-dark office with him.
“All this brings back old memories, doesn’t it Doctor Chou? Terror and panic at Johns Hopkins University. Do you remember that day months ago, when you hid me here in this very office, until I was able to make good my escape?”
Chou had forgotten all about it. I fact, he was in terror for his life until Marlowe Krovell reassured him with the power of his piercing green eyes, the same eyes that now peered at him from the barely visible mirror from which Chou now looked not at his own features, but Marlowe’s.
“Marlowe, damn you are everywhere,” he said to the image of the laughing Marlowe, which soon turned into the image of Chou. His entire body then shook as he cackled uncontrollably.
By the time he came to an hour later, his nurse banged furiously at his door. He opened it, still groggy, as though he had slept an entire night. He felt out of it. Worse, he felt hung over. The nurse informed him of Mia’s death, the news of which he greeted with stoic complacency. Soon, however, the arrival of the Johns Hopkins Administrator shook him to his core.
“The CDC has ordered the program terminated,” she told him. “We’ve been ordered to hand over your papers, along with all your equipment and supplies.”
“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why?”
“There is reason to believe the epidemic originated with the experimental blood,” she explained. “Agents from the CDC are waiting to speak to you now. They are saying this might have something to do with some kind of criminal conspiracy, and possibly terrorism. Also, a Lieutenant Frank Anderson from the Baltimore Police Department is waiting to”-
The Administrator, a woman named Betty, found it impossible to go on.
“Why did you do it, David?” she asked. “I’ve known you for years. I just do not understand any of this. Why did you let James Berry leave? Now you have the Baltimore Police and the Feds after you. They are fighting now over which one gets you. I do not know what in the hell is going on, but you had better come up with some answers fast.”
Chou looked all around. The hospital lights were on. He had not even considered the generators. They probably saw him on tape unlocking Berry’s door. Now Berry was gone, and he was finished. The Feds would take precedence of course, so it was only a matter of time before they led him out of the hospital in handcuffs. According to Betty, they were waiting outside his office now.
He looked out the window. The lights of the city were still out.
“Well, we might as well get this over with,” he told her, without a word of explanation. He walked slowly toward the door, and a burly looking Federal investigator approached him flashing a badge from the CDC. He looked past him to see a frustrated Frank Anderson pacing the floor, engaged in conversation with other federal agents as some of Anderson’s partners from the Baltimore PD looked on with some concern, probably more for their own presence in a hospital everyone now realized was the origin of a multi-state, at the very least, epidemic of immense proportions.
Not bad, Chou mused to himself, for a simple general practitioner.
Previous Installments-
Part One
Prologue and Chapters I-X
Part Two
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
PartThree
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
