Redemptio Animae

by Sydney Gibson

  Both parents made eye contact with me, Beth looking between them as the air visibly grew thicker. I pointed at the packet now in Chris's hands. "My background, degrees and transcripts from college and medical school are there. Before you ask, yes I am a Senator but I am also a doctor. What I am about to tell you, may seem farfetched and out of a B science fiction movie, but I assure you, it is all very real and will save your daughter." I smiled as I looked at Beth, trying to ease the nervousness she was emitting.

  I didn't waste time, waiting for the words I spoke to absorb into her parents. To three blank, wide eyed faces, I explained the work I had perfected with organ replacement. Then went over the procedure I had planned for Beth in great detail. Using the same slides, videos and 3D imaging I had with Kit that day in the Malibu home.

  I showed how Emiliana's lungs had healed and how she was living like she was a healthy teenager again. I then went over Rebecca's heart procedure and lastly vaguely going over Kit's incidents where I used the serum to save her, telling the family the serum would be introduced to expedite the healing and regrowth process. "The surgery will last about twelve hours. Beth will then be in recovery for six hours and if everything stabilizes, Rebecca will move you all to one of our recovery cottages, where trusted staff will monitor her progress. In a month's time, Beth will be a healthy and vibrant eleven year old who will have her entire life ahead of her. Disease and pain free." I finished with a genuine smile and excitement, an after effect I always had from talking about my passion.

  The room was silent, papers in Chris and Diane's hands shuffling as they looked at each other. Beth looking at her parents and me, her face completely unreadable. I felt my smile drop with what was about to come. The polite decline of the offer I had handed them.

  Chris spoke first, "Um, Senator...er, Doctor Avondale, basically you're telling me you've unlocked the ability to clone organs and manipulate DNA enough to replace almost half of my daughter's diseased ones and in a day?" He looked over at Beth, "And that she will live a full life, a full healthy life as a result of this radical, crazy process?" He moved his eyes back to me, the pupils full of a serious intensity.

  "Yes, Mr. Littel. I understand if everything I explained seems farfetched and moves slightly along the lines of playing God, but it works. You've met Rebecca. She carries a brand new heart I grew for her." I hesitated, feeling suddenly horrible, "And I will understand if you decide against this. If you do, I will still ensure Beth receives the best medical care I can provide." I dropped my head to look at Beth's file still in front of me. A quick glance over her last visit with her general practitioner, told me she only had three months to live before her lymphatic system gave up completely.

  Death was just a step away for the young girl.

  I kept my head down as I heard Diane speak. "This, this is a lot to take in." I moved my eyes up. She was looking at me, tears in her eyes. "You've been so good to us, Senator Avondale, but." I nodded lightly, collecting the file back together. This was it, I would not succeed for the first time in a long time.

  "Mom, Dad, can I say something?" All three of us turned to Beth, she smiled bashfully, "Sorry for interrupting, but I want to say something." Her parents nodded for her to continue. Beth then drew her focus to me, "I might not have understood everything you said, Doctor Avondale, but I can tell you aren't lying to me. You look in my eyes when you tell me I'll be okay. None of my other doctors do that. They all look at my parents as if I am not in the room." Beth glanced at her parents, "I believe her, Mom, Dad. I want Dr. Avondale to do the procedure on me." She shrugged, "I mean what else do I have to lose? I overheard Dr. Wells telling you my liver was failing last week."

  Diane broke into quiet sobs while Chris held back. Beth leaned forward in her chair, moving closer to the desk between us. "You've been the nicest person and friend I've ever had, Dr. Avondale. Always honest in the letters you write to me every week. Everyone else is so afraid to touch me, be my friend. Be a friend to the sick dying girl. But you, you don't look at me like that. You look at me like I'm alive and will be for a long time."

  I sniffled back the tears, Beth was far beyond her age. Being as sick as she was, it had forced her to grow up fast and take life by the horns. I stood up from the chair, walking around the desk so I could stand and kneel in front of the girl. I took her hands in mine, smiling at her, "Because you will be alive for a very long time if I have anything to do with it, Beth."

  Beth grinned, jumping into my arms and wrapping hers around me in the lightest, strongest hug she could issue. She looked over my shoulder at her parents, "I want Dr. Avondale to fix me."

  I heard both parents sigh heavily, wiping away tears and fighting the urge to protest their only daughters wishes. I leaned back out of the hug and stood up, Beth still holding my hand.

  Chris blew out a puff of air, shrugging, "I agree with my baby girl. Let's do it." Beth grinned at him, hopping up in his arms and turning to her mother. Diane looked at me with hard, motherly eyes, "Do you promise to take care of her? Either way?" She choked on the last few words.

  "With my all, yes, I promise." I made sure to meet her eyes.

  Diane squinted before nodding, "Then yes."

  I held back the sigh of relief, "Perfect. I would like to start the procedure in two hours. I know Dr. Zehren has already prepped you for that." I reached behind me, grabbing Beth's file off the desk as the family stood up. I also sent Rebecca a quick text, asking her to come to the office and escort them to the Hive and get them settled in the waiting room. "Rebecca will take you down to meet with Dr. Zehren. I will be close to follow in a moment to go over any last details."

  A soft knock on the door was followed by Rebecca stepping in and smiling, "If you would please come with me."

  Beth hopped off her father and ran towards Rebecca, her mother's hand in her tiny one. She paused in front of the door, turning back to me with the same massive grin on her face, "Thank you, Dr. Avondale."

  I returned the grin, "Please, call me Claire, Beth. We are friends, no need for formalities with friends." The simple sentence forced her grin to cover even more of her face. She nodded and waved at me as Rebecca gently ushered the two out of the office.

  I hefted the stack of files I would need and my phone, when I caught Chris still in the office, walking up to the corner of the desk. "Excuse my candor, but I did read a news report on the flight down here that you had been shot in the Senate a week ago and that's why you were on leave. A bullet wound to the bicep that would take months to heal." I watched as his eyes fell to both of my arms, bare under the short sleeves of the scrubs, both free of any sign I had ever been injured. "Are you healthy enough to operate?"

  I could feel the multilayered question in the one. He was questioning more than just my health, he still wanted more proof to ease his mind about bending to his only child’s wishes.

  I set my phone back on the desk, reaching for the keyboard and hitting a few keys. The monitor I had used to explain the procedure lit up with a clear video of my home lab and office in the Washington townhouse. Particularly the night I had been shot and left the hospital against the advice of everyone around me. Kit was on the screen, sitting across from me, the audio playing our argument about my behavior. I pressed another key, zooming in on my injured arm. The stitches Kit was pulling out were clear as if Chris and I were standing in that room with her. I turned to him, he was staring at the monitor with a confused look.

  "Mr. Littel, as you will see, I have always tested my theories and processes on myself first." I watched as his face shifted when Kit injected the serum, my wound knitting back together on its own. "When I say it will work, I am not lying because I am standing before you. Injury free."

  I pointed at Kit on the screen, "That woman you will meet by the time you leave is my girlfriend. Kit. She will also confirm that this procedure will work." Chris met my eyes, more phased by what he saw then me telling him the redhead in the video was my girlfriend. "I have saved her from death tw
ice now." I clicked off the video, missing Kit so much it shook me. I scooped up Beth's file, "If you will please follow me, Mr. Littel." I smiled at him softly, waiting for the next round of questions or objections. I had kept my tone light and easy as I showed him the video. I wanted him to trust me, that I would not hide the truth from him.

  He stared at me with strange wonderment and confusion. It was understandable since I had just thrown his family into an incredible situation that would make a great science fiction story line. He nodded slowly after a moment and followed me as I exited the office.

  Silence carried us down the hallway and as we moved closer to the elevator that would take us to the Hive, he finally spoke, "Why us? Why Beth?"

  I smiled earnestly at him, "Because Beth still had hope when all of her hope was taken away. She continues to live when it was told to her that it would be impossible and to give up." I placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it, "She deserves it and so do you for raising such a remarkable child."

  Chris sniffled, covering my hand with his, "How will we ever repay you, Claire?"

  I shook my head, "Her living without fear of how little time she has is enough." I then winked at him, "And when she becomes president, invite me to the inauguration."

  __________________________

  The surgery took fourteen hours. Everything went smoothly until the last section Erich and I moved to. We had saved her lungs for the last, knowing it would be the most evasive and the more stable the rest of her body was with the new organs and the serum. The easier it would be for us to start on the lungs. When we opened her chest, I found pockets of cancer around the lower lobes of her left lung. It was clear they were a new growth and rapidly taking over her lungs.

  Erich and I cut out the cancerous tissue so that it would not leech over onto the new organ. Adding another two hours on the procedure, but it was successful. Closing Beth up, Erich and I both could see the effects of the new organs and the serum taking effect. Her skin was moving away from the sickly pale grey and yellow and towards a healthy pink. Her blood pressure, blood oxygen count had increased to the levels of a healthy normal child and I could just see the girl begin to breathe easier, even under heavy sedation.

  Snipping the last thread of stitches, I felt Erich nudged me. I looked up at him, his eyes still sparkling under the plastic face mask, "I can take her to recovery, Claire. You should go see the family and find a bed. You have had a very long, but amazing day." He looked down at Beth, the nurses covering her up with sheets, "What you have done here is remarkable. A breakthrough that will change the world." I could hear the pride in his voice.

  I took a step back, stripping the bloody gloves from my hand, "I don't care about the world, Erich. I care only about the lives. The lives of those like Beth and others who will not abuse the second chance I can give them." I tossed the gloves in the bin next to the doors. I rested my eyes on Beth, "She will change the world, I just gave her the opportunity to do so."

  Erich stared at me, my words suddenly sinking in. I didn't do the work I did to find fame and fortune for myself, I did it because I felt the world often short changed itself when it handed down the wrong cards to the right people. I only wanted to facilitate real change one person at a time, not give the world immortality and the freedom to continue vicious cycles of selfishness. I sighed hard, I didn't even know if Beth’s procedure would result in complete success, all I knew is that I had given her a chance. He nodded, his eyes crinkling at the corners, he was still smiling under his surgical mask, "Go, Claire. Rest."

  I folded my arms, waiting until the nurses pushed Beth out of the room and down the hall to the recovery room. I then slowly turned and walked out into the prep room, stripping out of the surgical cap and gown, rolling my neck and enjoying the way the cool air of the prep room chilled my sweaty skin. My body was stiff and sore from standing under hot lights for hours. I closed my eyes walking down the hallway, breathing in deeply and letting the adrenaline from surgery find its way out. I was getting more and more tired with every step, all I wanted was to collapse into the warm soft bed and sleep for days.

  I rounded the corner to the waiting room where Beth's parents were. The second I pushed open the door, they were on their feet. Staring at me with wide nervous eyes. I smiled at them, leaning against the arm of the couch closest to the two. "Beth is in recovery. Everything went as expected, better than expected."

  I sucked in a slow breath as I began to tell them about the small delay brought on by her lungs. "When we moved into the chest to work on her lungs. Dr. Zehren and I found a handful of cancerous cells. They were spreading rapidly along the lower lobe of her left lung." I looked up at the sound of a gasp from Diane. I stood up from the couch, reaching for her arm. Squeezing it, "It's okay. Dr. Zehren and I removed all of them and with the new set of lungs that will be there in the morning, Beth will never have to worry about cancer." I bent down to catch her teary eyes, "I wanted to tell you and not hide it from you." Diane looked up nodding slowly and reaching for her husband. I took a step back, "Aside from that, Beth is already looking better, breathing better and her blood pressure is back to a normal level." I folded my arms, "You can go see her within the hour and by breakfast time, Beth will be up and probably itching to get out of bed." I smiled, looking down at my feet. "I will have Rebecca come by when Beth is settled and take you down there." I turned to leave the room. "If you need anything."

  Chris shook his head, tears running down his face, "You've already done so much, Claire." He smiled, laughing before grabbing his wife in a tight embrace, both of them falling apart in laughter and happy sobs. I took that as my cue and left the waiting room.

  I walked down the hall with my head down. I was exhausted, tired, happy, but more than anything I wanted to walk through the door of my cottage and have Kit waiting for me. Her open arms waiting for me and that smile that highlighted her dimples. I wanted to walk in her arms, collapse in them and let out the breath I had been holding since I landed in Geneva. I wanted my family.

  __________________________

  Erich had one of the security staff drive me back to the cottage, sweeping it like Rebecca had and bringing back the hard reality that even though I had saved a life and done something the medical world would herald as one of the greatest breakthroughs in history, I was still being hunted. I still had to look over my shoulder and pray Alistair wasn't waiting for me.

  I stood in the foyer, leaning against the wall waiting for the security officer to clear the house. I closed my eyes, the want for Kit to be with me growing to the point of being painful. She wouldn't be in until the morning due to the time change and the poor weather that had fallen over England and moved across the oceans.

  "Dr. Avondale. All clear." The young man smiled at me. I half opened my eyes and nodded, "Thank you." He nodded once and left the cottage in a whisper. I locked the door behind him and shuffled up the stairs. I stripped out of the scrubs with every step, barely noticing that the DNA report I had requested from the sample Kit sent was on the small desk in the room. I would look at it tomorrow, the mystery of why I was being chased could wait a few more hours. I wanted it to wait a few more hours.

  Leaving the clothes as they lay, I collapsed in the massive soft bed in nothing but my underwear. I rolled under the blankets, burying my head in the pillows and fell asleep in two breaths. Clutching the pillow, wishing it was Kit. I almost woke up to grab her hoody, but my body revolted. Determined to stay in the soft prison of blankets and pillows.

  ________________________

  I was still in a deep sleep when the bedroom door creaked open. I shifted in the bed when I heard the bag softly hit the wooden floor, followed by tentative footsteps of boots on the slats. I opened my eyes, breathing in for a minute to gather my bearings. The room was illuminated by the moonlight offered by being as high as I was in the mountains. I heard a boot fall to the floor, the sound rattling me. I went to roll over and reach for the panic button and the gun I kept on the be
dside table.

  Then it hit my nose, the sweet smell of her vanilla body wash and the light perfume of mine she always wore. I squinted in the moonlight, Kit's distinctive outline in shadow as she struggled to get her other boot off quietly. Her hand slipped, dropping the other boot with a loud clatter. "Shit." I smiled at the harsh whisper and watching her grab the boot.

  I licked my lips and rolled over onto my side to keep watching her, she was trying to change and sneak into bed. "Will you hurry it up? I'm cold under here, and you’re being too loud." My voice was low, soft but it still had an effect on the redhead. I could see her turn around in the room. Her face splitting into a grin in the moonlight. She yanked off her jeans and her top, leaving her in a thin t-shirt and the tiny black underwear she always wore.

  I scooted back in the bed to give her room and pulling the blankets back in a silent invitation. Kit slid in under the blankets, facing me as her body melded against mine tightly. Her face buried into the space between my shoulder and my neck, pressing a soft kiss that sent lightning through my body. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her deeper against me. I felt her sigh as her hands ran over my skin in a way that told me she was worried as much as I was that she would forget what it felt like. "No wonder you're cold, doctor, where are your pajamas?"

  I kissed her forehead, "I was too tired to care about them." I took deep breaths in of the way she smelled and the way her body was always so warm. I closed my eyes, whispering, "I missed you."

  Kit squeezed me, her legs tangling up with mine. "I missed you more." She leaned away from my neck to look in my eyes, searching them for a few moments before she bent closer and kissed me. I melted into the kiss, my hands running under the thin t-shirt. I had no intentions of taking it any further with Kit, I just wanted to kiss her and hold her. Fall asleep in her arms and wake up with her.