by Kells, India
“Why here?”
“I want his opinion about Gabrielle’s condition and I want to see him, see his face. If he bluffs or tries to trick us, I will know if he lies.”
“What’s his name?”
“Axel Dahlin. Currently a doctor and researcher at the Copenhagen University, or may I say, previously on vacation in his hometown in the Swedish countryside. James has arranged to have both his office and home searched for possible information.”
“Did you say Dahlin?” Rising from his seat, Luke stretched. Sully turned to see him coming and slouch on the couch beside Gabrielle.
“You know him?”
“I didn’t until I had to go through the research papers. In the experimentation, his name came up most often. He led it, but also refined the final product, so to speak. I must say the initial trials were less than conclusive as per their notes. Very few survived and the success rate of those who did was rather low. Dahlin was the one who found a metabolic reaction to the serum, which had doomed all possible candidates. The survival rate went up after that. But it was one of the two others … I can’t recall their names, who worked on the memory reconnection.”
“When the subject ultimately remembers through their cells who he’s?”
Luke agreed, “Yep. So if that guy can remember how to make the latest serum, the one used by Simon, we have a fair chance of giving Gabrielle her memory back.”
Bea’s phone beeped. “They have landed. They will be here in an hour.”
Sully nodded. “I’ll bring Gabrielle into her room. Luke?”
“Yeah, right behind you. I need to feed my brain cells first. Do we still have pizza?”
***
The men didn’t bring Dahlin straight to the house by the sea. The US government had wind of the extraction and grabbed the researcher as soon as he landed on US soil. It took another twenty-four hours, and all of the admiral’s power and weight, to negotiate an arrangement with both parties.
Sully watched the tennis match with increasing impatience and frustration. He would have jumped into his car himself and gone to the compound where the professor was detained until he learned that Lance was already on site and Luke had been called there, too. He knew his friends were on his side, as was the admiral. There was nothing more he could do but hope his allies weighed more than his opponents.
Time passed again, another twenty-four-hour delay, not knowing if a serum could be produced, without any news from anyone.
When he was ready to burst, someone knocked at the door.
Sully never thought he could be so glad to see Lance, Luke, and the admiral. The three men looked exhausted and about to collapse. It made Sully doubt until Lance opened a small case with three mean looking syringes. Luke took a step forward as Bea and James stayed close by.
“Okay, the treatment is simple: one syringe at the correct time in the right order, one hour apart. The first one is injected. If there is a reaction, we have to wait for it to end before injecting the second one. Same until the third one. As per Dahlin’s notes and comments, the worst effect comes after the second injection.”
Lance nodded. “The first injection in a neural boost. The second one dissolves certain proteins in the brain to open up neural access. The third one regenerates the neural systems completely. The problem with the second injection is that the body feels the change, and as it makes the most vital organ vulnerable, and doesn’t want to die, it tries to reject it by any possible mean. That’s why the second phase is crucial. The subject, Gabrielle, must be monitored closely, and if she reacts, she must be completely calmed down.”
“How?”
Lance and Luke glanced uncomfortably at each other. “We don’t know. As per Dahlin, every subject can react differently. But one thing that doesn’t work is sedatives. It can stop the effect of the serum or send her into shock. Restraints are what work best … well, on some patients he experimented on.”
“Sully, we must make a decision. Are we willing to risk that much? Are you?” Bea was a cautious woman.
He turned and looked at Gabrielle soundly asleep in her wide bed. All his fears, his hopes, and his love for that woman coalesced into a simple answer in his mind.
“Would she want to stay in a walking dead state forever? One way or another, she’s free. I’m willing to take the risk. Are you?”
Bea stared at him for a long time. “Yes, I don’t see any other way to bring her back. So I say, we do it.”
Sully nodded and took the first syringe out of the case when Luke stepped forward.
“Sully? Let me do it. It has to go through the vein and I’m good. I may be able to not wake her up.”
He acknowledged and went to the other side of the bed, as Luke took one of Gabrielle’s arms and prepared it for injection. Gabrielle frowned slightly, but remained asleep throughout the procedure. Sully glanced at his watch. Midnight had passed and by morning, he would know if he had his wife back.
Everyone in the room took a seat on the two chairs or the floor. Sully remained on the bed, watching Gabrielle’s face. Minutes ticked by and soon, it was time for the second injection. Just like the first time, Luke came beside her and removed the cover.
“Help me here; the second and third injections must be done in the muscle.”
Gently, Sully turned her on the side as Luke uncovered her buttock. This time, she woke up briefly, but Luke did the injection swiftly and Sully replaced the covers. She fell back asleep immediately. Each minute passing by, he hoped Gabrielle wouldn’t be one of the statistics. Maybe the serum would do its thing without causing her pain, or without her fighting against it.
Gabrielle moaned exactly fifteen minutes following the injection. Sully’s heart sank, but he concentrated on what could be done. Movements rippled behind him, but he ignored the others for now. Luke stayed close by, waiting. As a wave, the moans increased until she woke up, panicked and disoriented. She wasn’t herself yet, Sully knew it, but her increasing screams got to him. She was in pain, and if the professor was right, it was only the beginning of it. Her body contorted and she held her middle as if most of the pain radiated from it instead of her brain.
Sully felt helpless and waited until he couldn’t anymore, until she became aggressive and her eyes saw targets in the room. She may have been in an explosion, severely wounded and weaker than usual, but she was still dangerous. Sully came beside her and grabbed her wrist. Bea came to grab the other one, but Gabrielle evaded her grip and cold-cocked her. James prevented Bea from falling on the floor and Lance came to take her place.
The two men wrestled her into a still position, one hand on her arm and another on her hip, on each side. She was stilled, but screaming her lungs out. It was when Sully saw the sweat pouring off her, and her body starting to shake uncontrollably, that he decided to act.
“Luke!”
Leaving Bea, who was coming back to her senses, the doctor went to the bedside and examined Gabrielle. “Not good. Her body is going into shock. Her body temperature is dropping and her heartbeat is way too fast. We must warm her, but if she doesn’t stop fighting, at this rate, her heart will give out.”
Suddenly, an idea came to him. Sully called for James to take his place.
“Luke, find me a pair of scissors, quick.”
As Luke was running out of the room, he pulled the covers from under Gabrielle’s wriggling body and threw it on the floor. Luke came back with the scissors from the butcher’s block.
“Man, what are you doing?”
He didn’t look at Lance. “I’m not sure. I just hope it works.”
Careful not to hurt her, he cut the pajamas from her body before stripping to his briefs.
“When I say so, get away from her. I’ll wrap myself around her. Then, take the blanket and put it over us and you over it. With all this weight, she won’t be able to move. It should give us an edge.”
“Okay, man. Tell us when.” Lance braced for his signal.
Sully nodded to his friend
and both he and James released Gabrielle. He didn’t allow her to realize she was free and wrapped himself, his front against her back, circling her arms and legs with his. Now sideways, Lance and James dropped the blanket over their bodies, tightening it before laying over it, Lance before Gabrielle, James at Sully’s back. Bea draped herself over her legs, pinning her down. Luke stayed close, monitoring her status. They were all trapped.
Sully held on to her tortured body and started whispering in her ear. “Gabrielle, love, I know you can hear me. I know a part of you can hear me. I will never give up; do you understand? Never leave a man behind, that’s what they told us in the Teams. And I’m never leaving my wife behind. I’m desperate to have you back. I miss you, you stubborn woman. Do you hear me? Now, you have to listen to me, you have to trust me. Relax, honey. You need to relax. Do this for me.”
Time stretched, and still he crooned in her ear, making his voice heard through the painful screams, until she finally calmed down. If it wasn’t for the strong beating of her heart against his arm, he would have feared she was dead. She was so still, it was frightening. Again, he waited for her to fall asleep from exhaustion before asking the others to move, making way for Luke and the third and final injection.
This time, he gathered her in his arms as James and Lance wrapped them in a blanket. Lance kept close to his side of the bed, exhausted. James went to sit near Bea at the end of the bed.
Now, they had to wait.
Chapter 11
Why wasn’t she able to open her eyes? It was like moving through thick pudding. How strange. Gabrielle felt like someone was pushing her deeper into sleep as another was gripping her hand and pulling hard in the opposite direction. She wished she could decide and return, but her mind remained steadily blank. She had something to do, someone to see. The weirdest thing was she couldn’t remember what and who precisely. Deep in her chest, she felt a sense of urgency, as if something was not done or complete. Why couldn’t she shake her brains up? And her body wasn’t following orders either. She must have been incredibly tired if she was unable to wake up.
The more she fought, the more she sank. And she was so tired. Why fight anymore? What kind of life am I returning to, after all? When she let go, she felt so warm, so good. It was like a solid blanket. Sometimes, she heard a low humming nearby. It lulled her to relax and have hope. She tried to open her eyes, but again, nothing. Blank whiteness.
How long would she be a prisoner in this swirling world where she was powerless? Why try to wake up again? This was a losing battle to return to a life of emptiness. But if it was empty, who whispered in her ear and stayed close? Sometimes she had an image flashing in front of her. Or laughter. A man? His name was so close; she could taste it on her tongue. She couldn’t remember the name, but she knew the man made her laugh. And she could trust him. And when he kissed her, she turned into warm honey.
Honey? Now her heart accelerated. The word jogged her memory even more. But why was her body reacting this way? Tingles coursed all over her. Every inch of her skin, every cell woke up. It was uncomfortable, even painful, but she wanted to ride the wave and return home. She wanted to see Sully again. Sully! That’s the name, the man she was searching for. Now she wasn’t floating anymore, the one pulling her up won.
The first impression was how heavy her body felt. She couldn’t see yet. Her skin was so warm and wind softly blew on her cheek and neck. She could feel! Gabrielle forced her eyes to open, put all her focus on it and when they did, it was blinding. The light was making her head pound as if she had one too many drinks the night before. In fact, her whole body was battered and sore. What kind of battle had she fought to be in so much pain?
Her eyesight adjusted after a moment and she saw him, inches from her face, sleeping. Sully. His hair was longer than she remembered, and his beard was now full and thick. She could see exhaustion lines etched on his handsome face. He held her so hard, she couldn’t look around much, but she saw Bea asleep on a chair, James with his head on her lap, sleeping soundly, too. Someone was snoring behind her.
It would be so nice to go back to sleep, but something told her it would be a bad idea. It was that moment when she realized she was in her own room. In her house by the sea. Sully was in her house by the sea. How could it be?
Her memories were flying too fast, in a blur. She couldn’t hold on to any of them. It was as if the movie was projected at an accelerated pace. Her mind tried to focus, but it made her head throb. The last memory she could latch on was of Sully, wounded in a bed, anger in his eyes. A convent? She remembered her wedding. Holy shit! Now her head hurt.
The image of Sully bleeding still in her head, she slid her hand between them and touched his bare abdomen where she saw the bullets go through him. She didn’t feel any bandage. Instead, the wound was healed and she could trace the scars with her fingertips. How long would it take for a man to heal from two bullet wounds? She knew Sully was in great shape, but nonetheless … Was it the other side? No, no, she remembered it well. She traced his hip again, smoothing her palm over his skin, searching for healing scars. She could feel them, puckered outlines and the muscles underneath. He had lost weight. She was focusing on this thought when he inhaled suddenly.
Gabrielle glanced up at him as he woke up and had to get his bearings. When his face returned to her, he blinked several times, examining her face, searching for something.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” Her voice was raspy, as if it hadn’t been used for a long time. Sully jumped, his green eyes wide, and before she could say another word, he engulfed her in his arms so tight, all the air left her lungs and she squeaked.
“What’s going on, Sully? Why are you in my house?”
She felt him take a deep breath and shudder before pulling back. There were tears in his eyes that he blinked away. Others around stirred, but she couldn’t look away from him. Not yet.
Sully started to touch her face before cupping her cheeks. “You were in an explosion, honey. You nearly died. Bea and James rescued you, but you suffered from amnesia.”
Gabrielle closed her eyes and tried to remember the event he was talking about, but her brain was foggy. “What explosion, Sully?”
Luke came around, his hair a complete mess. He knelt on the bed as Sully helped her sit up. The room spun for a moment and steadied. She was surrounded by people, James and Bea at the end of the bed.
“Gabrielle, baby, how are you feeling?” Bea’s voice was wavering and Gabrielle wasn’t sure why. She must have been in a critical condition for everybody to be so worried. Bea came to sit beside her and Gabrielle naturally opened her arms for her friend. As Bea hugged her, Gabrielle could feel her sob a little.
“I’m sorry, Bea. Are you all right?”
Bea laughed and sobbed as she pulled back. “Me? If I’m all right? Of course I’m. You saved me. You saved us both, me and James.”
Gabrielle turned to James, who was frowning at her. “Don’t you remember any of it, Gabrielle?”
She shook her head. When she tried to search her memories, her head started to pound wickedly.
“Go easy on her, guys. She has to go slow. We don’t know the side effects of the serum, or how long it needs to finish working. All this is experimental.”
Luke examined her. “How are you feeling, Gabrielle? Any pain?”
“My head hurts and I feel like I have fought an army all by myself.”
Sully groaned. “Yeah, it was quite a fight, indeed.”
“Am I still sore from the explosion? How could I come out of this ordeal almost unharmed?”
Bea took her hand. “You didn’t come out of it unharmed. You were critically injured by the explosion and the building falling over your head. When we found you, it took two months to stabilize your injuries; we had to keep you in an artificial coma. When you woke up, your body was fine, but your mind was gone. You didn’t answer to your name, or react to any of us. You stared at us with dead eyes, as if looking through us. It�
�s now been six months since the explosion.”
Six months. Six months? She was gone, trapped in her blank mind, fighting to get out for six months. How could that be?
Luke shook his head. “Don’t try too hard to search your memories. You have to let them come to you. It was incredible the serum worked. For the rest, time will certainly help.”
“A miracle if you want my opinion.”
Gabrielle remembered that voice behind her. When she turned, she immediately recognized Lance. “Hello Lance. At least I recognize you.”
Lance smiled. “Hope so. After all, I’m so unforgettable.”
Gabrielle nodded. “I remember the hot air, too.” But she smiled at the blond man, extending her hand to touch his shoulder, sliding down his arm to squeeze his hand.