by R Arundel
“Just joking.” Ryan is in a hurry to reunite with Aly.
“You guys go ahead, I’ll be out shortly.” Matthew sits alone with Alice.
Alice says, “She leaves in two days for Sweden.”
“I know—Gullholmen—it’s her family’s hometown,” says Matthew.
Alice says, “She was accepted as a staff anesthetist at the hospital. She has a six-month placement, with the possibility of a permanent placement.”
“She’s not coming back.”
“I could send her a letter stating there is an emergency at the hospital and she can’t take up the position for two more weeks. Maybe you could get her to see reason in the two weeks.”
“Thanks, Alice, but she has a right to do what she thinks is best.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“It’s not important what I believe.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I checked her emails and saw she was planning to leave. She’s booked her ticket and rented a place. I wanted to talk to her, but I didn’t think it would make a difference.”
“Thanks for wanting to help. By the way, did Kofi ever program in you the concept of privacy? You can’t go running around checking everyone’s email when you feel like it.”
“I short-circuited that module. I’m naturally inquisitive.”
“I think you should maybe read up a little on privacy. Why people like it, why we all respect it. Just a thought.”
“I never thought it would end like this for you. I’m sorry.”
“That’s how life is, Alice. You never see it until it hits you hard. Who knows? When one window closes, another opens.”
“What will you do now?” says Alice.
“I don’t really know. I need time to heal. On many different levels. I’ve experienced a lot of loss. Tom, Liam, Michael, Amanda. Many of those closest to me are gone. I really don’t know what I’ll do. Everything’s changed.”
“Change is sometimes good.”
Matthew gets out of the chair and walks to the door. He stops and turns.
Matthew says, “Something has always bothered me.”
“Can I be of some help?”
“Alice, I think you can. On the night that I cut the vessel, the event that set all this into motion, I was almost positive I stopped at least a half-inch from the vessel.”
“Sometimes those inferior surgical robots are not well calibrated.”
“Alice, you can access and hack into many different systems and control them. Kofi’s given you extraordinary abilities. You can also put information together and reach conclusions.”
“This is true,” says Alice.
“Did you take control of the robot at my lab?”
“Are you suggesting that I took control of your robot and made a half-inch extension of your incision to set in motion a series of events that would save the people of our country, not to mention your own life, and the lives of your innocent operating-room team? You are suggesting a pretty complex series of events.”
“I’ve seen you do some extraordinary things.”
“You know robots aren’t capable of thought. That would be one special robot.”
“The more I think about that night, the more it makes sense. If we had been successful with the transplant that night, we would have been killed, and Liam would have been home free.”
“Are you suggesting that I used my intelligence to save countless innocent lives and avenge my creator’s death? That almost sounds human.”
“Or the only logical thing to do, given the facts.”
“Logic I understand; white haired anesthetists, not so much.”
“You’re trying to change the subject,” says Matthew.
Silence.
Matthew asks, “Did you?”
Silence.
“I’m waiting, Alice.”
“Have a nice night. Enjoy your meal, Matthew. And remember, give Sarah time.”
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Thanks, R. Arundel
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