Syndrome

by Thomas Hoover

"No, she's not all right." Don't mention the kidnapping she told herself. Play dumb and see how he behaves. "I want to know what happened to her when she was here."

  He paused, then took a deep breath. "I told you everything I know this morning. She was a very troubled young person. Her treatment seemed to be going well, but she couldn't accept that. She began to believe there was some kind of conspiracy against her. In a word, she became completely paranoid."

  Well, Ally thought,there's "paranoid" and then there are times when somebody really is out to get you.So which was it in Kristen's case?

  She glanced over at Stone, who appeared to be trying to act as though he didn't know what on earth she was talking about. But she could see him efficiently taking mental notes.

  "When you can't remember who you are," she said turning back to Van de Vliet, "and then someone who does know who you are gives you a new, fake identity, I think it's enough to justify paranoia."

  He was rolling the wheelchair toward the elevator but abruptly paused

  "Is that what she's claiming? Good God I told you she was paranoid and that should demonstrate it better than anything. Letting her discharge herself and leave the program, to go off unsupervised was a truly bad idea, but nothing short of physical restraint could have stopped her."

  "And do you have any idea where she is now?" Ally asked.

  "I told you. . Look, if I knew her whereabouts, don't you think I'd do everything I could to contact her, find out how she is?"

  "Right."

  She reached out and took Stone’s hand as they all moved onto the elevator. She could sense his excitement at finally being inside the Dorian Institute, but at that moment her concentration was drifting and she felt as though she were slowly beginning to drown in a sea of white.

  "Stone, please don't leave me. Don't let me out of your sight. Something funny is happening and I don't know what it is."

  Van de Vliet bent over. "Alexa, look at me. I want to see your eyes. I think they may be dilating." He waved a hand across her face. "Can you see me?"

  "It's the fluorescent lights," she mumbled "There's too much glare. Could someone please turn them down? I think that's what's wrong. They're giving me a headache."

  "Ally," Stone said, "the lights are not very bright in here. We're going down in an elevator. There aren't any fluorescents."

  Then the elevator chimed and the door opened. They were in the basement now, where the research lab and the office and the examination rooms were. Debra, wearing a white lab coat, was standing there silently looking at her.

  Now there really were fluorescent lights, and she turned away and tried to shield her eyes.

  "God, turn them off. It's so painful. It's like they're shining into the back of my skull."

  "She's started hallucinating," Van de Vliet whispered to Debra. "I've got to draw blood for a test and give her an injection. We need a gurney now. We've got to take her down to the IC. Her condition is progressing much more rapidly than I expected."

  "Ally, is this what you want?" Stone demanded. "You don't have to do this."

  Her breath was coming in rapid pulses now and she was cringing from the light even as she struggled to rise out of the wheelchair.

  "I want. . to get. ."

  She managed to pull herself onto her feet, but then she sagged and collapsed against Stone as he pulled her to him.

  As one of the nurses grabbed the newly arrived gurney and pulled it over, Van de Vliet and Ellen O'Hara seized her out of Stone’s arms and lifted her onto it.

  "You'll have to leave now," Van de Vliet said to Stone. "I'm sorry."

  "I'm not going anywhere. I promised her I'd stay by her side and, by God, I intend to do just that."

  "I'll determine what's best for her," he replied. "Please go up to the reception area. I'll let you know how she is."

  "I'm not leaving."

  "Then I'll call our security and have you removed from the premises."

  "Stone," Ally said her eyelids flickering, "it's okay. I want you to tell my mother I'm here. She's in room two-thirteen, upstairs, the last time I saw her."

  "You've got it. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

  She heard him saying that, but then she thought she heard another voice inside her head begging him not to leave. It was the last thought she had before the world went entirely white.

  Wednesday, April 8

  7:39 p.m.

  Ellen O'Hara watched the scene with mounting dismay. She'd overheard Dr. Van de Vliet talking to Debbie about the procedure scheduled for Alexa Hampton. Then she'd checked the schedule that had been put into the database. It turned out that Alexa Hampton had two procedures scheduled.

  The troubling part was, one was identical to the procedure that had been performed on Kristen Starr several months back, or at least so it seemed. And that had resulted in what she'd just overheard Debra call "the Syndrome." By whatever name, it had produced some horrible side effects. Why on earth were they now repeating that with this new patient? Hadn't they learnedanything?

  Karl Van de Vliet-or whoever ordered this idiotic travesty-was about to put the job of every person at the Dorian Institute at risk. If whatever happened to Kristen was replicated and the word got out, it was going to be the end for everyone who worked here.

  Most troubling of all, what about Ms. Hampton, who seemed like such a nice person? Did she agree to that experimental procedure? If she knew what had happened to Kristen Starr, surely she wouldn't have.

  Ellen O'Hara didn't know how she could stop Dr. Vee from doing what he appeared to be planning to do. The procedure was going to be performed in the laboratory.

  The only way she could think of to stop it was to try to warn Ms. Hampton that what they were about to do was extremely dangerous. But how? Her chart in the database said they were going to keep her quarantined down in the sub-basement. That was specified.

  On top of all this, Kenji Noda had brought in some unidentified patient this afternoon, wheeled in while strapped to a gurney, and they had taken that patient to the subbasement. Noda was still down there, and Winston Bartlett had come in and gone down also. The unholy pair. And now they'd be holding Alexa Hampton down there too.

  Was it possible to get past them and warn her?

  She was determined to find a way.

  Chapter 26

  Wednesday, April 8

  7:40p.m.

  Stone was deeply troubled as he entered the elevator to return to the lobby. He had promised Ally he'd stay by her side and now he'd let her down. Was this the best he could do? He felt like he had to earn the right to be back in her life, but he seemed to be making a slow start.

  But he wasn't about to leave the premises until he knew she was okay.

  Hoping for the best, he reminded himself that although Van de Vliet was wound pretty tight, he clearly was more than competent. The problem was, he'd just offered a transparent song and dance when Ally asked him about Kristen. Now it was easy to understand why she'd said she didn't know whether to believe a word he said. But that didn't necessarily preclude him being a Nobel Prize-quality medical genius.

  In any case, to finally be inside the Dorian Institute was a major coup in his own quest. Up until now, Bartlett's press heavies at BMD had turned back his every attempt to get a first-hand look at the institute or an interview with Karl Van de Vliet. Now, at last, he'd actually seen the man.

  So. . after he visited with Ally's mother upstairs-which ought to be interesting, an actual patient interview-he was going to try to keep a low profile and scout the place. Maybe he could finally talk his way into an interview with the celebrated Van de Vliet himself, or at least with some of his research staff. This was definitely the break he'd been waiting for. Finally he'd have some actual reporting to put in the book.

  When he stepped off the elevator, he noticed that the uniformed security guard looked him over suspiciously. He and Alexa had been waved through the metal detector when they came in, owing to the urgency of her con
dition. Now he felt as though the guard, a tall, middle-aged black guy with thinning hair, was trying to frisk him with his penetrating eyes.

  Stone smiled and nodded toward him and headed for the desk in the middle of the reception area. Around him a number of patients were ambling through the lobby, returning from a room in the back that was identified asdining hall.Some were wearing blue gowns, and most appeared to be in their sixties and seventies. But they all were sprightly and animated as they walked along chatting. Somehow the place felt more like a vacation spa than a clinic. He'd like nothing better than to sit them all down right this minute for an interview. "How has the Gerex stem cell procedure affected your condition? Have you had any side effects?" But to do that without official permission would undoubtedly get him evicted on the spot.

  He took a deep breath and walked over to the reception desk.

  "Hi."

  The woman looked up. She was the same middle-aged Hispanic nurse with bold eye makeup who was there when they came in. "Hi. How's your friend feeling?"

  "Actually, she's my cousin, and I don't know how she's doing because they kicked. . sent me up here. But she gave me a mission to keep me occupied."

  "Well," the woman declared with a smile, "I'm sure she'll be fine. Dr. Van de Vliet is a miracle worker."

  "So everyone says." He smiled back. "My cousin asked me to look in on her mother. Nina Hampton. She is, or was, in two-thirteen."

  "Mrs. Hampton is your aunt?"

  "Uh, yeah, right."Whoops. Get this act together. "Funny, but I always just think of her as my cousin Ally's mother. My own weird way to look at it, I guess. I don't really know her all that well."

  Things are not getting off to a great start, he told himself.I don't even believe me.

  "Visits to patients, except by those on a pre-established list, require a photo ID."

  "Well, let's get started." He reached for his wallet and withdrew a driver's license. He made sure his press card was well out of sight.

  Keep this dumb and innocent as long as possible, he told himself.

  She glanced at the driver's license, then pointed to the sign-in sheet. "Just sign your name and print it and then also print your relationship to the patient. I have to say this is unusual. There are regular visiting hours and guests are normally approved in advance by Mrs. Young, who's in charge of security. But you came in under extraordinary circumstances, with Ms. Hampton, and you're already here, so I don't see the harm."

  He signed himself in as quickly as possible.

  "Mrs. Hampton is still in room two-thirteen."

  "I'll show myself up."

  "Please keep it under fifteen minutes. We don't want to tire her out. You understand."

  "Thanks. I really appreciate this. My cousin Ally likes to get an update on"-he realized he had momentarily blocked her mother's name-"her mom as often as possible."

  He headed for the elevator, trying to contain his excitement. The idea was to keep this as below the radar as possible. Was he about to crack the wall of secrecy that Winston Bartlett had erected around Karl Van de Vliet and the Gerex Corporation?

  Just as the elevator door was closing, he saw a figure emerge through the security entryway. The man clicked a memory moment from somewhere in the far-distant past, but he couldn't place him. As best he could tell, the guy didn't see him.

  Just keep moving. Don't look back

  As he stepped off the elevator onto the second floor, the pale marble floors were lit by small bulbs along the walls. This was a place where medical miracles were supposedly being made to happen and yet it was lit only with a ghostly half-light. The sounds of televisions emanated from several of the rooms.

  The nurse's station at the end of the hall was empty, which added to the sense of a surreptitious undertaking.

  He walked quickly to room 213 and tapped lightly on the door. When he heard a bold "Yes?" from inside, he opened it and entered.

  He hadn't seen Nina Hampton in almost two decades, but she looked pretty much the way he remembered her. Her hair was surely dyed now, but her face was as square and strong as ever. She was reading a paperback book with a tide that appeared to be Spanish. She looked up and stared at him for a moment, adjusting her glasses.

  "Hello, Stone. That is you, isn't it? You're older but you're still a hell of a looker. How did you get in here? Is Ally here too? I haven't seen her since this morning."

  "Mrs. Hampton, don't tell me you recognize me."

  "Of course I do. When you and Ally were. . going out, I confess I didn't hold out much hope that you'd ever amount to anything, but I've been a fan of your columns for a long time. Though it took me a while to put it together that that newspaper writer I liked so much was you, the man I didn't think was ambitious enough for my daughter." She appraised him a moment. "Does this mean you two are together again?"

  Good question, he thought.And I don't have a clue about the answer.

  "I wish I knew. Why don't you ask her the next time you see her?" He smiled and walked over. "She wanted me to come up and see how you're doing."

  "Come up? Is she here now? When she came to say goodbye this morning, I got the impression that she wanted both of us just to get out of here. But I told her that was silly. I'm already feeling so much better."

  "Really. Well, she's downstairs now and she'll be happy to hear that." He walked over and smiled. "Mrs. Hampton, I came along with her this time to keep an eye on her. Hope you don't mind."

  "Of course not."

  "And there's another reason I'm here. I want to warn you. I'm writing a book about stem cell procedures and anything you say to me about your treatment could well end up in it. So don't tell me anything you don't want everybody to hear about."

  "Are you really writing a book about Dr. Vee?" She beamed. "That's wonderful! He's a saint. Everyone here says so. He deserves a special place in heaven."

  This is great, Stone thought.I've got my own Deep Throat.

  "Then could I ask you what you know about what he did and how you think you've improved."

  "I don't really understand what he's doing, but I do know what is happening to me. It's as though my mind was full of fog a lot of the time, but now there's a wind that's blowing it away."

  "And how-"

  A shaft of light from the hallway pierced across the room as the door opened. Stone turned to see the man he'd first noticed in the lobby. The man walked past him and marched over to the bed.

  "Hi, how're you feeling?"

  "I'm touched." Her visage immediately hardened "It's thoughtful of you to finally come by and favor your mother with a visit."

  That'swho he is, Stone finally realized.Ally's kid brother.

  In his few dealings with the wiseass brat that Ally used to rant about-what was the kid's name. . right, Grant-he'd found him devious and pompous. He was particularly deft at cutting ethical corners and using other people any way he could

  "Stone," Nina Hampton said gesturing toward Grant, "this is-"

  "I know exactly who he is," Grant said turning around to face Stone. "W.B. has put out an all-points alert for you, pal. You've got a hell of a nerve weaseling your way in here. But not to worry. You won't be here long."

  "I won't have you talking that way in my presence, young man," Nina declared "Whatever else you may be, I thought I'd raised you to have a civil tongue in your head"

  Grant replied without taking his eyes off Stone. "He lied to the front desk, Nina. He signed in as Ally's cousin. And that twit-brain down there let him get away with it. He got up here by using a lie. Now what does that tell you about him?”

  "It tells me he's creative. This man came with your sister. He's helping take care of her, which is more than can be said about her own brother."

  "This creep is a newspaper reporter, Nina. He's here to spy. He’s planning to do a hatchet job on the Gerex Corporation, and Mr. Bartlett has expressly forbidden anyone to speak to him"

  "I'm not in your corporation, Son, so I guess it’s all right for me
then."

  "You signed a secrecy agreement with Gerex when you entered the clinical trials. Now maybe you don't remember it, but you did" He turned to Stone. "Nice try, amigo. Now come on, let's go."

  "You know, Grant, I remember you," Stone said "Not very nice recollections."

  "And I remember you too, pal. You were that screwed-up journalism student Ally dated for a while. Thank God she got rid of you."

  "Sounds like we were awash in mutual admiration," Stone said.

  “Tell you what. Are we gonna continue this touching reunion outside, or do I have to call for security and take your trespassing ass out of here in handcuffs? It's entirely up to you."

  "Grant, I see no reason why I can't talk to him if I want," Nina interjected "Who I talk to or what I say is nobody's business but mine."

  "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me," Grant declared. "So I have a little say-so too." He turned back. "Come on, pal. We're gone."

  I'm screwed, Stone told himself.But what about Ally?If I get kicked out, I'll really be leaving her completely defenseless.

  "Mrs. Hampton, thank you for letting me check up on you," he said quietly. "Alexa is downstairs. I think her procedure is starting whether she's ready for it or not. You seem very alert, and if I were you, I'd try to monitor her. . progress as closely as you can."

  "Don't worry," Grant said. "I'llbe keeping close tabs on her. And now let's go."

  With no option short of killing him on the spot, Stone followed along, seething.This little creep obviously works for Winston Bartlett-he wished Ally had warned him about that. Grant was bound to have shown up at some point.

  They went down the marble staircase and Grant signaled the security man, who leaped up and opened the front door for them.He probably got a tongue-lashing from Grant, Stone told himself.

  As they stepped onto the wide porch, dusk all around them, Grant turned and headed toward the south end and a long wooden bench.

  "Want to tell me what the hell's going on?" he said gesturing toward the bench and then sitting down. "W.B. said you claimed to be writing a book about this project. If that's true, then it's a seriously bad idea. You have no idea what he's capable of if he gets pissed."