The Hour of Dreams (20 page)

“Do you really think all of this is necessary?” I replied.

He cleared his throat and sighed tensely. “Yes, it is.”

His tone took me aback. I pressed my brows together, trying to figure him out. “Is there something about his condition that you’re not telling me?”

“No,” he said, but I needed to make sense of the situation. And the more I thought about it, the more things weren’t adding up. Dr. Carter and Dr. Lyon had been testing Wes day and night since his procedure. He was doing fine. With a little more physical therapy and memory recollection, he was expected to make a full recovery. The only major question was whether he would age normally, and only time would answer that. Not a full-body scan, done by some stranger, in a different hospital, when all Wes wanted to do was go home.

I looked around the room, suddenly
really
not liking the fact that Wes was in there by himself.

Just as I was about to press Dr. Carter further on what was happening, the doorway to the lounge entrance opened. Dr. Carter glanced up quickly and stood. A dark-haired man in military attire stepped in, followed by three armed men. They filled the small room. Dr. Carter looked stunned, and then pins and needles pricked my lungs as a very important detail finally clicked. This was a military facility. Why would he bring us here? I started shaking my head.

“Dr. Carter,” the first man said.

Dr. Carter seemed frozen, but then he cleared his throat. “John,” he responded.

John smiled wryly. “Didn’t think we’d see you again. Glad to see you
didn’t
jump ship.”

Dr. Carter refused to look my way. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he murmured.

“No, I don’t suppose you did.”

“I was told that the staff here would run their tests and we’d be on our way.”

It felt like the walls tilted in toward me. How could he do that to us?

John stepped forward. “You’re not my problem anymore, Doc, and I’m fine with that. But I’m more clever than you think. See, I realized there was a connection between you and the Weston kid, and when you ran off after him, it hit me that maybe he was more important than sergeant major thought. So we did some investigating, and things didn’t quite add up. You see, there are some dots that don’t connect about his past, and when we dug further, we found a strange picture of someone who looks quite a bit like you.”

Dr. Carter’s mouth parted and he stood an inch or two higher, but it was obvious that he was rattled. The soldiers who were standing behind John took a wider flank, ready to pounce if one of us decided to bolt.

“No need to worry, Doc. We’re not going to hurt you. Yet. We’re just going to run some tests on you too. And her.” He tilted his head toward me.

“What for?” Dr. Carter asked, stepping forward.

“Because I think you and your Weston are up to something. Andy Walters was on to it too. And we’re about to find out what it is. See, we have doctors in there as we speak, testing Mr. Wilson, where you can’t interfere. And you two are coming with us.”

“What if we refuse?” he asked.

“That’s amusing,” John replied, nodding to his men.

In a quick instant, one of them came straight for me and two of them toward Dr. Carter. I attempted to bolt toward the door where Wes was, but the soldier grabbed me from behind and lifted me off the ground.

I kicked his shins and yelled for Wes. The soldier covered my mouth, and, in the madness, I heard Dr. Carter tell me it was okay. I turned my gaze on him and saw that he was standing there, calm and collected, willingly going along with the insanity.

He had betrayed us. Walked us right into a trap. I flared my nostrils, ready to scream and fight with everything I had, when he winked and shook his head.

The gesture stunned me to silence, and, before I could decide how to react, the men were leading us out into the hallway. With my feet dragging, we were pushed farther away from Wes. I tried to formulate a plan, but the seconds were flying by too fast for me to think. The next thing we knew, Dr. Carter and I were shoved into another small waiting area, stripped of our phones, and forced to sit down.

“The doctor will be with you soon,” John said with a smirk.

As soon as they left, steam started blowing out of my ears.

“What the hell is happening right now?” I blurted out.

“It’s not what you think. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“Like what?! Us being set up? How could you do this to him?!”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he hissed, again. “Think about it. They’ve always been after him. We figured that if we let them test him now, he would test clean, and they’d move on.”

“Wait. Wes was a part of this?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Then who is
we
?”

He paused, and it was then that I knew. “It’s Dr. Lyon, isn’t it?”

“Yes, he’s the one who negotiated with the government. But this wasn’t what we agreed to. Wes was supposed to test and be on his way. Once they saw that he didn’t have any miraculous, immortal blood, they would back off. That’s all.”

“Only that’s not all, now is it?”

“No, it isn’t.” He put his head down. “But I was prepared for something like this.”

“Prepared? How?”

Before he could answer, John came back in with his goons and two technicians in lab coats, who escorted us through a set of double doors. One group led Dr. Carter through a door on the left, and the other pushed me through the right.

I was so angry and confused and worried at the same time, I moved like a zombie. What was the point of fighting? I couldn’t outmuscle three men, two of whom were armed. And even if I could, there was nowhere to go. By the time I ran down the hall and pushed the elevator button a hundred times, they would have caught me.

My only hope was to let them test me and then get back to Wes. If Dr. Carter was right, then his reckless plan could work. What grounds would they have to hold us or do anything drastic?

They took me to a room with a gurney, regular hospital equipment, and a large window. The sun outside was a bright contrast to my gloomy surroundings inside. I said nothing as they prepped my arm to draw blood, but the markings from my recent IVs raised the technician’s brow.

“What are these from?” he asked with a concerned tone, seemingly unaware that I could be harboring some crazy fountain-of-youth secret.

“I was sick recently,” I answered.

“What from?” he asked, continuing to insert the needle.

I wasn’t sure how much to tell, but figured that, if I acted like I didn’t have anything to hide, it would work in our favor.

“I was in the hospital for a while. My organs were shutting down, but they found a treatment that healed me.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Well, I have no idea what they’re looking for.” He finished up, folding a Band-aid over the site. “But I’ll let you know what they find.”

I nodded as he left the room. I didn’t have a watch, and my phone was gone, so I sat there, not knowing how much time had gone by, though it felt like about thirty minutes. I wondered whether Wes was privy to what was happening.

At that point, the door burst open and two unfamiliar doctors barged in, with Dr. Carter behind them. He came over to me and asked if I was okay.

“What's going on?” I asked.

“We’re leaving.” Just then, John stomped in with his entourage.

“What’s the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Dr. Carter spoke up. “Like I said, John, you have it all wrong. And I'm going to handle this the right way. Now,” he continued, addressing the doctors. “I’ll have you gentlemen take us to Weston, thank you.”

As he finished speaking, I looked around, feeling as confused as John was. One of the other doctors who had come in with Dr. Carter decided to speak up for clarification. “Everyone has provided a sample of their blood, as agreed. Mr. Wilson is finished with his scan, as agreed. It's come back positively normal. And now they may be on their way.”

John’s hands were clenched into tight fists. “Who authorized this?”

By then, the other doctor had stepped forward. “This is my hospital. I’ve authorized this. We have already administered the tests as planned. Now please step aside.”

I quickly hopped off the gurney and made a beeline for the door, getting chills as we passed John.

The doctors escorted me and Dr. Carter back to the corridor where Wes was taken. At that moment, Wes came out of the doorway, completely oblivious to what had been going on.

Dr. Carter spoke up. “Are you all set?”

Wes nodded and then looked at me, his eyes narrowing. I nodded back, hoping to keep the situation calm. Just then, a scuffling behind us drew his attention over my shoulder. I, too, glanced back and saw an irate John in a heated conversation with several men. Something registered in Wes’ expression. He looked to me, and then to Dr. Carter.

His gaze quickly settled back on John’s profile. In an instant, Wes grabbed my elbow and pulled me as fast as he could toward the elevator. “We have to go,” he said. “Right now.”

“Stop them,” John called. In sync, his goons drew their weapons and everybody froze. “No one is going anywhere until I speak with my superior.”

Everyone turned hesitantly and looked at John. “Now get back into that room,” he ordered.

Dr. Carter nodded at me and Wes, and then mouthed, “Just do it.”

Wes looked like he wanted to bolt, but quickly assessed our situation and submissively nodded. As neither Wes nor I were willing to move first, Dr. Carter led the way. We followed, and the door slammed hard behind us. We could hear some arguing on the other side, but I didn't want to listen to it. Instead, I turned to question Dr. Carter, but Wes moved between us and interrupted.

“What’s going on? Why the hell is John Peirce here?”

Dr. Carter looked nervous, having to explain what he had done to Wes. Even so, he was way more calm than I would’ve expected, given our current situation. When he was done telling him, Wes was about to go through the roof. “How could you bring Sophie here?”

“I didn't know it would get out of hand. But I've got it taken care of. Don't worry.”

Wes threw his hands up. “How can we not worry?”

Before Dr. Carter could continue, the sound of a helicopter outside turned all of our heads toward the window. I quickly maneuvered to the glass, hating the memory that the sound of a helicopter gave me.

Looking out, I noticed that it was a news chopper. And below, several news vans were parked on the street alongside black Tahoes that looked similar to the ones from Wes’ lab. A small crowd had begun to gather. I quickly turned my head to Dr. Carter. “What's going on?”

He took a deep breath and his shoulders dropped. “I was a little bit worried that they wouldn't keep up their end of the bargain. So Dr. Lyon and I prepared some security measures. If I didn't call him every ten minutes to let him know that everything was all right, he was to alert the media and tell them that we had a groundbreaking medical announcement that we’d be announcing here. And then Dr. Lyon let our adversaries know. When they found out that the media was going to be surrounding the hospital, expecting a press conference, I gave them the ultimatum that they could either let us go and receive partial credit for the impending cure for HIV and many other possible illnesses—or, they could be the center of an investigation as to the whereabouts of Weston Wilson, Sophie Slone, and myself. Naturally, our friends chose the former, and John has no choice. Regardless, he's going to be in the center of a media circus in about five minutes, and it'll be up to them to choose which side they're on and how all of this will pan out.”

I found myself relieved and almost wanting to smile at Dr. Carter's plan. I didn’t think we ever really thought that the military group would give up their operation after Wes’ escape and Dr. Carter’s leaving. So I guessed this was one way to end it once and for all.

“But wait,” I said. “Isn’t this what they wanted all along?”

“Yes, but they began to suspect something more significant was going on.”

I looked to Wes, who was still angry. “How could you do this? How could you compromise our research? I trusted you.”

“I compromised nothing. We found the cure. We promised the government that we would deliver them something, and we will deliver that today.”

“But they had
nothing
to do with finding anything,” Wes argued. “And you’re going to offer them credit? You planned this all along.”

“No, I didn’t. I have nothing to do with them anymore, but don't see any other way in the matter. Giving them credit for the cure is the way out.”

“But it's our research. It's your research. It's everything you've ever worked for, and I won’t allow them to take it.”

“All I've ever wanted was to heal people,” Dr. Carter responded defensively. “It doesn't matter to me whether they get partial credit or all of the credit, as long as humanity benefits.”

Wes let out a low grumble. He turned to me and ran his hands through his hair, and then looked outside. Dr. Carter noticed.

“Your life, Wes, has been about you and Sophie, and finding a cure. And you've more than helped find the cure. You've done everything that you could possibly do, and now it’s time for you to live a normal life with Sophie.”

Wes shook his head. “You’ve planned this perfectly.”

“No…I didn’t.”

“Then why in front of the cameras?”

Dr. Carter opened his hands like we were supposed to already know. “Without the media here, there's no pressure for them to let us go, is there?”

“But I've spent my life avoiding the media.”

“Yes, you have. Because you were hiding who you were. But you don't have to avoid them anymore. They have nothing to hold over you. The test that they just ran will show that you're like anyone else. And the tests they ran on me and Sophie will prove that we are too, other than maybe Sophie having some antibodies present in her blood. But we're about to share the reason for that with the media. You guys have nothing to hide anymore. You're free to live your life.”

“They ran tests on you?” Wes asked me, turning his attention away from Dr. Carter.