Authors: Dennis J Butler
Again I was logged onto
HealthChat
long before anyone else from the group would arrive. The clock was ticking and
I had to find out how to contact Manny from the CIPE conference. I thought I
remembered Thomas exchanging secret contact information with him at our last
CIPE breakfast. The laptop was set to beep when someone else logged into the
chat room. The first beep sounded just after 9:45 PM. It was MsOakley. He lived
in the Midwest somewhere so my mental image of him was of a young bearded man
sitting in the kitchen of a farmhouse in Nebraska. I assumed he was busy doing
something else while waiting for the others to log in. As luck would have it,
Thomas (TBone) was the last one to log on. I didn’t waste any time getting
started.
“Question for TBone: There was a fellow named Manny who I
met at the CIPE conference. He’s a doctor back home. I believe he is a
hematologist so that would be perfect. He was sympathetic to Tseen Ke for
humans. I was thinking we should find a way of contacting him to ask if he is
interested in joining us. He sat with Cooper and
I
at
dinner each night. Perhaps Cooper knows how to contact him. Maybe if he is
willing, he can help set up something where we can treat humans.”
“It is worth a try,” TBone said. “I’ll try to contact
Cooper and maybe he can contact him. I’m going to sign off now and get
started.”
Two nights later Thomas told us that he had contacted Cooper
and that he was moving forward with the plan to recruit Manny into the group.
“Hello friends,” Cooper said as soon as I logged on the following evening.
“I’ve had three lengthy conversations with Manny. By the end of our third
conversation, the cat was pretty much out of the bag as they say. Although
Manny is sympathetic to our cause, he seems afraid to commit. He said he needs
time to think about it.”
“We don’t have time,” I chimed in. “We need to begin
immediately. I’m not sure how much time my patient has.”
I stared at the blank screen for a long time. No one was
typing. No one really knew what to say or how to solve our dilemma. Finally
after about three minutes of looking at a blank screen, Cooper’s text began
appearing. “I’ll contact Manny one more time, tomorrow. If I don’t get a
commitment, I’m going to move forward with another idea. It’s going to sound a
bit dangerous but I think we could do it at my home. I’m renting a house in
Tanque
Verde at the base of the mountains. The homes are
spread out so there is plenty of privacy. I could begin getting all the
equipment set up.”
“You said you rent. Does your landlord ever come by?” I
asked.
“No. He lives on the east coast. I’ve never seen him. It’s
just an investment to him so as long as I keep sending him
money,
he has no reason to come here.”
“Let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s forget about Manny and just
move forward with this.”
“All in favor?”
It was unanimous. Cooper would work on setting up the
portable facility while Thomas was working on getting the serums. I would have
to work out the logistics of getting LeAnne to Tucson where Cooper lived.
“One more thing Cooper,” I said. “I know we’re dumping a lot
of the responsibility on you, but I will need to know exactly where the patient
will stay prior to and after the procedures. The thing is
,
the timing will need to be precise. I can’t move her out there until we are
ready because she needs to continue with her chemo and blood infusions. So when
we are ready I will need to move quickly to get her out there and begin the
treatments immediately.”
“Okay. Let’s work on getting the serums here while I set up
the hospital room in the spare bedroom. I’m excited about this. It’s something
I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” Cooper said. The rest of the
conversation consisted of each member of the group officially agreeing to the
plan.
Two weeks passed before Thomas had a confirmed date for the
arrival of the serum. LeAnne was somewhat stable probably due to the tiny
glimmer of hope I had given her. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it would
take another three weeks for the serums to arrive. I was at least able to tell
here that someone had agreed to smuggle the serums from Ranjisan.
I found that the best time to visit LeAnne was just after my
shift or early in the morning. Her family arrived each night around 6:30 PM and
stayed until 10:00. I had met and liked her family but I knew LeAnne preferred
that I visited her when no one else was there so we could talk more about our
future plans.
“Luke, we haven’t talked much about the details of what
we’re doing, that is, things like what I should tell my parents or how you will
get me out of the hospital and onto a plane without anyone finding out.”
“You know we can’t tell your parents or anyone else. It’s
not a secret that normal people can keep. I was thinking we can get a message
to your parents after we get to our destination. You won’t be able to explain
much. You should probably just say that you are okay. I was thinking you could
say that you are starting an experimental treatment outside of the US.”
“What if it is successful?” LeAnne asked. “What will I do?
Can I go home? How will I explain it to my parents and eventually the doctors?”
“Well I’ve thought about it a lot but I’m still not sure. It
is a dilemma but a good dilemma. Let’s hope we are actually faced with those
questions in our real life of the future. I think it will be almost impossible
for me to go back to my previous life and position at the hospital. I don’t
think it will be difficult to figure out that I had something to do with it.
The end result is that I will be exposed. That would be really bad for me. I may
have to disappear.”
“What do you mean Luke?”
“I may have to go into hiding, maybe move away and start a
new identity. There are people who would help me.”
“That’s not good Luke. That would mean that you can never go
home. You would be like a criminal here, always looking over your shoulder. I
don’t want to see you throw away your life to help me.”
I didn’t know how to respond. I knew everything LeAnne was
saying was true. It was my own dilemma. I couldn’t let LeAnne die. I was
willing to make myself a fugitive from Ranjisi law if it meant that LeAnne
could live. “LeAnne,” I paused and continued, “I wish my people would just come
here and introduce themselves and begin sharing our medical cures. But with all
our good qualities, Ranjisi are all so stubborn and rigid in their ways.”
“People die all the time,” I continued rambling on, looking
for the right words. “We can’t save them all. After a long awkward silence, I
attempted to say what was in my heart, “I admit it. I just want to save you.
You are special to me. I don’t want to live here if you die.”
LeAnne was silent and reached out for my hand. I pulled the
chair up close to the bed and slid my hand up her arm feeling her sickness
beneath her gown. She was so frail and helpless but her face felt soft and
healthy. She leaned into my palm and kissed my hand as I gently caressed her
cheek. LeAnne’s eyes became instantly wet when I stood up and reached for her
baseball cap. I kissed her lightly on the top of her head and slowly worked my
way down to her forehead, nose and finally her lips. It was more of a kiss of
affection than a romantic kiss but I knew it was more than a kiss. It was a
turning point, a point where we both acknowledged at the same time that there
was a bond forming between us that went far beyond friendship.
“I’ll go with you,” LeAnne said. She didn’t need to say
anything else. I knew what she meant. If we were successful and I had to become
a fugitive, she wanted to come with me.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have many obstacles to
overcome before we get to the point where I have to become a fugitive.”
“I don’t see any other way Luke. By the way, what is your
real name?” LeAnne was excited and rambling on, “I don’t see how I could return
to my old life, cancer free, and not tell them the truth at some point. It
would be better for you and your people if we just went underground.”
“You are right. At some point you would need to give them
some information on the mystery clinic in Europe that cured you. That Dr.
Sandoval will insist on a report from the doctor who treated you, but the
doctor doesn’t actually exist.”
***
The next three weeks dragged on and the Tseen Ke team kept
up our schedule of nightly sessions. MsOakley was preparing to introduce
another Tseen Ke candidate to the team but generally we were all focused on the
details of LeAnne’s treatment. It was about four days before the three week
date for the arrival of the serum when Thomas announced the serums would arrive
early and I could proceed with getting LeAnne to Cooper’s home in Tucson. I
immediately got a knot in my stomach. It was perhaps the most dangerous piece
of the entire project. I had to get LeAnne out of the hospital without anyone
noticing.
I had been living on Earth for over a year but I didn’t know
exactly how everything worked. I didn’t know how fast they would be at tracking
us once LeAnne left the hospital. I decided that rather than going right to the
nearest airport, we would drive to a smaller airport in a neighboring state and
fly to Arizona from there. But I hadn’t yet learned to drive a car. It appeared
simple enough but it was not an option. Our only option was a bus. It was both
simple and complicated.
The following morning I clocked in as usual. I had decided
during the night that the best time to make our move would be during the busy
morning when extended care patients were coming and going for treatments. I
arrived fifteen minutes early at LeAnne’s room. Her appointment in the infusion
room was for 9:15. “This is it LeAnne, your last chance to back out of our
crazy plan.”
“So, it’s really happening?” LeAnne asked.
“Yes. It’s not going to be easy. You will be uncomfortable
until we get to Cooper’s house and that won’t be until late tonight or tomorrow
morning.”
“Let’s do it before I change my mind.”
“Excellent! I’ve already called for a cab. All you need is
your ID.”
We both said “Good morning” to the head nurse as we passed
the nurse’s station. Everything appeared normal. I was just taking LeAnne for
her treatment. We reached the lobby floor without seeing anyone who would
wonder where we were going. Fortunately all of Dr. Sandoval’s patients were
long term and they were permitted to wear their own clothes instead of hospital
gowns.
As soon as we exited the elevator we headed for the front
lobby entrance. We were about thirty feet from the automatic doors when I heard
her. I turned to see one of the nurses from the cancer ward. It was Julie. I
immediately thought that it could have been much worse. Julie had a kind of
bubbly personality and I thought she would never suspect anyone of doing
anything bad.
“Hey LeAnne, where are you guys going?”
Julie asked.
“We have another twenty minutes before LeAnne’s appointment
so I thought we might take a spin through the courtyard,” I said.
“Okay. Enjoy the fresh air and I’ll see you up there,” Julie
replied with a big smile.
As soon as she was out of sight I turned back toward the
front entrance, trying to stay calm and trying not to go to fast. The cab was parked
down toward the entrance to the valet area. I waved to him as we approached. We
had reached the point of no return. It was the point where all our plans would
be destroyed if someone saw us. I helped LeAnne into the back seat and left the
wheelchair right there at the curb. We were on our way to the Port Authority
Bus Terminal. I had thought about telling my supervisor Connie that I needed to
take a couple of days off but I decided against it. I wasn’t sure why but I had
a haunting feeling that I would not be returning to New York.
The bus terminal adventure didn’t turn out to be as
difficult as I thought it would be. As soon as we pulled up to the curb and I
opened the back door for LeAnne, a curbside helper asked me if we needed a
wheelchair. It was easy sailing from there. The next task was to determine
where we wanted to go. “We want to go someplace that isn’t too far but also
someplace that has a mid-sized airport,” I said as the two of us stood there
looking at the arrival and departure screens.
“There’s a bus leaving for Harrisburg in an hour. That might
work,” LeAnne said.
An hour later we were on our way to Harrisburg. It was one
of those days you might consider to be one of the ten most beautiful days of
the year in the northeast. The air was dry and the sky was blue with just a few
puffy clouds scattered about. LeAnne sat next to the window and looked out at
the passing landscape. It wasn’t long before we were sailing through the
farmlands of central Pennsylvania. “I’m feeling a mix of emotions,” LeAnne
whispered while still looking out the window.
“I understand LeAnne. It’s different for me. I’m not leaving
my family confused and wondering. There was nothing else we could do. Someday
it will all make sense to your parents.”
“I know but I just feel bad. But at the same time I feel
invigorated. I should be feeling like crap without the meds but I feel pretty
good, physically.”
The view of the farmlands helped us to relax and become
drowsy. We both managed to doze off for most of the rest of the trip. The
stirring of the other passengers gathering up their belongings slowly woke us.
I had been dozing in and out and remembering snippets of disjointed dreams that
mixed characters from home with characters at the hospital. Stepping off the
bus I was relieved to see there was someone waiting with a wheelchair. I
assumed it was standard procedure to greet people who needed wheelchairs.