by Lisa Stone
The officer escorted him out and to another holding cell where he was left to calm down.
Two hours later, he was taken to see the prison doctor.
‘You seem to be limping,’ the doctor remarked as Burman walked in.
‘You noticed,’ Burman sneered sarcastically and sat down. ‘It’s part of my condition, genetic and very rare. They confirmed it while I was in hospital. I’m also sweating a lot. But, more importantly, you need to know what has to happen to my body when I die. An organization called ELECT – it stands for Eternal Life Education Cryonics Trust – must be phoned straight away, the minute I die – before if you know I’m dying.’
‘ELECT, you say,’ the doctor said and made a note. ‘I haven’t heard of them, but I will look into it.’
‘Look into it! You have to do it now! Supposing I drop dead tomorrow? No one here will have a clue what to do.’
‘I’m sure that’s not likely to happen, Dr Burman, and the medical staff here are very good if you are unwell. I will look up the organization you mention, but you have to understand that things take time in prison. Resources are stretched to the limit and I have nearly a thousand patients, many of whom have complex needs, so I have to prioritize my time.’
‘Fuck you!’ Burman shouted. Which brought in the prison officer, ended the consultation and did nothing to persuade the doctor to look into ELECT.
Prisoners like Burman were held on the high-security wing in solitary confinement for their own protection, as child abusers tended to get their faces slashed open if they mixed with other prisoners. Sleaseford prison remained short-staffed so prisoners were only allowed to exercise in the yard once a day. Sometimes they didn’t get let out at all and tensions ran high. Those in the high-security wing passed most of the day lying on their beds watching television, reading or writing letters to loved ones. They hardly stirred when an officer checked on them through the viewing hatch. A quick look to make sure they were behaving themselves and on to the next. So it was 6 p.m., towards the end of the day shift, before anyone suspected Burman might not be just asleep – and by that time it was too late.
‘Stone-cold dead,’ the officer who found him said. It was six months after his arrival.
A sudden death required an autopsy, so Amit Burman’s body was removed to the morgue, where it was kept cold until the autopsy could be done and his organs were removed and examined. The conclusion was that he’d died from natural causes, his heart had just stopped as a result of the condition he’d inherited. No one was to blame, the coroner said, and while short-staffing at the prison resulted in his body not being found for some hours, it was unlikely that anyone could have saved him, even if an officer had been present at the time he’d collapsed. His body was released to his next of kin.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Was she really doing the right thing? Emily asked herself for the umpteenth time that morning. Wouldn’t it bring back horrific memories, open doors that had remained locked for good reason? Reveal secrets? Show her things she’d be better off not seeing? Ben had thought so. ‘Don’t go,’ he’d said. ‘It will be too upsetting. You can’t help her. You don’t have to go.’ But in a way she did. She was hoping it might give her some closure, for Alisha and Eva remained the missing pieces in a jigsaw. She remembered them from before – when they were friends – but couldn’t see them in the room where she’d been held captive. She saw snapshots, glimpses of scenes, experienced smells and sensations, but could never picture them there in the room, and it gnawed at her. Her therapist said it was unlikely she’d remember any more now, not after all this time, unless there was a trigger. Could seeing Alisha and Eva be that trigger? She wouldn’t know unless she tried.
Arriving at the block of flats where Alisha and Eva now lived, Emily parked her car in one of the bays at the side of the building and took her handbag and the bunch of flowers from the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she got out. A chill had settled in the air, suggesting autumn wasn’t far away. It was two years since she’d first got to know Alisha and it was incredible she was still alive given how ill she’d been the last time she’d seen her.
She opened the rear car door, unfastened Robbie’s safety harness and helped him out.
‘Good boy, hold my hand while we’re in the car park.’ He tucked his hand into hers.
Emily glanced at him as they walked to the front of the building. Would he remember Alisha and Eva? She doubted it. He’d been very young when they’d all been friends and he’d stopped saying their names during her stay in hospital.
Flat four was on the ground floor, through the main doors and turn right, Alisha had told her on the phone. Her telephone call last week had come as a complete shock. A mobile number Emily hadn’t recognized; she nearly hadn’t answered. Then the female voice, slight, tentative, as if unsure she had the right to call. ‘Emily? Is that Emily King?’
It had taken Emily a moment to place the voice and realize it was Alisha, although she’d thought about her many times and wondered how she was. She’d assumed the disease had progressed and she might even be dead. Alisha had said very little on the phone – only that she needed to see her. Emily had hesitated. ‘It’s just me and Eva,’ she’d said. ‘If you could come, it would help us a lot. We’re struggling to come to terms with what happened.’
You and me too, Emily had thought, but agreed to go. They set a date and Alisha had texted her address; but it was an hour’s drive away. Now she was here her doubts returned and her anxiety grew. She held Robbie’s hand tightly and pressed Alisha’s doorbell. Was she doing the right thing? There was still time to turn and run. But the decision was made as the door opened and there stood Alisha. Her face rounder, fuller, her hair shining, healthier than Emily ever remembered her being. She handed Alisha the flowers.
‘Thank you so much for coming,’ Alisha gushed, her voice full of emotion. She hugged Emily and then Robbie. ‘It’s good to see you again. Come in. Eva can’t wait to see you.’
‘She remembers Robbie?’ Emily asked, as they went in.
‘Oh yes. And you, and everything she saw in that …’ she stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.
They were now in a large open-plan living room adapted for a wheelchair. Eva came towards them, working the controls on a new motorized wheelchair. She looked different, Emily thought. Her forehead seemed less pronounced, perhaps because she’d grown. Then she was smiling.
‘Robbie and Emily, thank you for coming.’
‘You see!’ Alisha cried to her daughter. ‘I told you they were OK.’ Then looking at Emily, ‘One of the reasons I needed you to come was to prove to Eva you were still alive. She wouldn’t believe me after everything.’
Robbie hesitated and then ran to her. ‘Eva.’
‘He remembers me,’ Eva said. ‘You want to play?’ she asked him.
‘Yes.’
‘Come with me.’ Turning her wheelchair, she led the way into a recess off the room that was a large play area. Emily could see shelves full of books, games and toys, all at wheelchair height. ‘You choose,’ Eva told Robbie.
‘Can I make you tea?’ Alisha offered.
‘Please,’ Emily said and tried to relax. Seeing them both again had stirred up many uncomfortable feelings, as Ben had warned it might.
‘Sit down and make yourself comfortable,’ Alisha said.
Emily did as she said. Alisha not only looked different, but she was behaving differently too – far more confident and self-assured. She was like a different person, not at all what Emily had expected. She could hear her moving around in the kitchen, preparing tea as she had done at the start of their friendship in her old house, but that was the only similarity. Through the patio windows there was a clear view of the open countryside beyond, very different from the views they’d had before. Emily experienced a flashback of her picking dark film from a window, but as usual with these snatches of memory, it vanished as quickly as it had begun.
Alisha retu
rned, carrying a tray laid with tea and homemade pastries and set it on the coffee table. ‘You read about Amit’s death?’ she said almost casually as she passed Emily tea and a plate.
‘Yes,’ Emily said, a familiar chill creeping up her spine at the mention of his name.
‘He can’t harm you now,’ Alisha said, seeming to know.
‘No I suppose not,’ Emily said. She accepted a pastry and changed the subject. ‘You and Eva are doing all right then?’
‘Oh yes.’ Alisha sat on the sofa beside her. ‘I’ve received a lot of help from social services – this flat, the wheelchair, in fact everything Eva needs. She attends a day centre for children with disabilities. She fits in there, she’s normal. She’s had an operation on her head to relieve the pressure and will have another one next month.’
‘I thought she looked different,’ Emily said, finally taking a sip of her tea.
‘There is no cure for her condition, but the doctors can help alleviate some of her symptoms and make her more comfortable. They can extend her life.’
‘That’s good,’ Emily said and returned her cup carefully to its saucer.
‘I’ll never forgive Amit for denying her medical treatment,’ Alisha said. ‘She should have had proper care.’
‘Yes,’ Emily said and looked over towards Robbie and Eva playing quietly together.
‘Just like old times,’ Alisha laughed.
‘Not quite,’ Emily said and placed her half-drunk tea and untouched pastry on the table. It had been a mistake to come here after all. It didn’t feel right, although Alisha seemed very at ease.
‘I used to love it when you visited me,’ Alisha said brightly. ‘You were my only contact with the outside world. I’m sorry for the part I played in you being hurt.’
‘What part did you play?’ Emily asked, turning to her, and dreading what she might say.
Alisha met her gaze. ‘I lured you into Amit’s trap and didn’t help you escape.’
‘I know, Ben told me, it came out in court.’
‘But what didn’t come out was that I discovered what he was planning to do and I did nothing. I couldn’t admit that in court in case I was sent to prison as an accessory. I couldn’t bear the thought of Eva having to live in an institution.’
‘That was always a worry of yours, but you were a victim of Amit’s and in his power,’ Emily said, her voice flat.
‘That’s what the judge said in his summing-up.’
Emily felt a shudder of unease as she experienced another flashback; this one was of Alisha watching her as she fought with Amit. She dragged her thoughts back to the present. She didn’t want to go there now. ‘You look very well,’ she said. ‘Better than I expected.’
‘That’s probably because I’m not ill,’ Alisha said, and gave a low, humourless laugh almost as Amit had that unsettled Emily further. ‘I never was ill. I don’t have the faulty gene.’ Emily stared at her incredulously. ‘Only Amit has the faulty gene. He lied to me about the test results and then fed me tablets to mimic the symptoms and make me ill. Eva’s tablets were placebos, they did her no good and might have worsened her condition. She is on the correct medication now. Amit played God and lost. I’m in charge now.’
Emily continued to stare at Alisha, her unease building. She wished she could feel as confident as Alisha did that Amit couldn’t harm her. ‘Where is his body?’ she asked; it was one of the questions that had tormented her.
‘You needn’t worry. When it was released by the coroner, I had him cremated. I hope that gives you the closure you need.’
‘Yes, it does,’ Emily said. She still had plenty of questions, unresolved issues, but not now. Amit had been cremated, so there was no chance of him coming back from the dead – now or ever. Did she really need to know more? She’d think about it. She could always phone Alisha, for she doubted she’d visit again.
Her phone vibrated with a text message and she took it from her bag. It was Ben. He knew she was coming. Are you OK?
‘Who’s that?’ Alisha asked, trying to see her phone screen.
‘Ben,’ she said and texted back: Yes. Just about to leave xx
‘Well, thanks for the tea,’ she said, making a move to go.
‘You’re leaving already? You didn’t eat the pastry I made.’
‘Sorry, I’m not hungry,’ Emily said and stood, an overriding need to get away.
Robbie seemed ready to leave too and came to her without being asked.
Alisha was clearly put out they were leaving so soon. ‘Make sure you stay in touch,’ she said, as she reluctantly saw them to the door.
‘Of course,’ Emily lied.
Alisha waited by her front door and watched Emily and Robbie go. Just before they left the path and disappeared from view, Emily turned and gave a little wave. Alisha waved back and closed the door.
Alisha was so different from the vulnerable victim Emily remembered, and her need to know more was lessening. Ben was right that some things were better left alone. She would accept this visit as closure and move on.
Robbie was very quiet; perhaps seeing them had stirred up bad memories for him too. Who knew what a small child could remember?
‘Are you OK, little man?’ Emily asked him.
He nodded but didn’t say anything. She’d talk to him later about their visit. She opened the car door and Robbie clambered in and fastened his own safety harness. She checked it and then went round to the driver’s door and got in. Setting the satnav for home, she started the engine, relieved she’d been brave enough to come here and confront her fears, but glad it was over. She’d be home well before Ben and would make a nice meal and open a bottle of wine. They could toast their future, one without the ghosts of the past. She’d seen Alisha and that was enough. The family who’d moved in next door were lovely and she and Ben were getting to know them. They’d got the house cheap at auction because a quick sale was needed and were making big changes. The small dark windows had been replaced by bigger, lighter picture windows, and the overgrown gardens – back and front – were now trimmed and neat. Amit’s lab, which had formed so many of her nightmares, had been completely demolished and in its place was a raised flower bed, alive with flowers throughout the year. The owners knew what had happened to Emily but were sensitive enough not to want to discuss it.
Halfway home Robbie fell asleep and Emily switched on the radio for company: an easy-listening channel, the music interrupted every fifteen minutes for news updates. The usual items: the stock exchange, a bomb going off in a war-torn country, a state visit, a lottery win, then, ‘Scientists have had a major breakthrough in extending life indefinitely through a process called cryonics.’ Emily slowed the car and turned up the volume. ‘Scientists working in the research unit of ELECT, a life-extension foundation, have taken a huge step towards allowing us to live forever. They have successfully brought back a chimpanzee from the dead. It had died from organ failure and was preserved in liquid nitrogen until a suitable donor organ became available. A spokesperson from ELECT said, “Humans share ninety-nine per cent of their DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives. It’s only a matter of time before we carry out the same procedure on humans.”’
Emily’s heart raced and she felt clammy with a familiar panic attack. She tried to calm herself and breathe deeply. Of course this research would continue. Why shouldn’t it? But there was no chance of Amit being brought back, he’d been cremated. There was nothing of him left to work on, just a heap of ash. Or was there?
She braked, her stomach contracted and she went cold with fear. Pulling to the side of the road, she stopped the car. Something hadn’t been right with her visit to Alisha. She’d felt it as soon as she’d walked in. It was as if it had been staged and Alisha had been putting on an act, but why? What for? She’d made a point of telling her that Amit couldn’t ever harm her again as she’d had him cremated. But was that true? She’d lied to her before. And something else was bothering her. Alisha had said �
� I don’t have the faulty gene. Only Amit does, in the present tense as if he was still alive. Her hands shook as she took her phone from her bag, googled the number for ELECT and then pressed to connect.
‘Good afternoon. Eternal Life Education Cryonics Trust. How can I help you?’ a female voice asked.
Emily tried to hold her voice steady. ‘I’ve just heard your news on the radio.’
‘Yes, isn’t it fantastic? We’re all very excited. Would you like some literature?’
‘No, I’m aware of your work.’ She paused and steeled herself. ‘I just wanted to make sure my husband was being well looked after. I’m Dr Burman’s widow.’
‘Yes, of course. Everything is fine. As you know Dr Burman’s body wasn’t preserved as quickly as we would have liked at the time of his death, but we’re confident his damaged organs can be replaced when the time comes. And your registration is complete so we’ll let you know as soon as we have any more news.’ Emily cut the call and stared straight ahead, sick and cold with fear. ‘Amit played God and lost,’ Alisha had said. ‘I’m in charge now.’ And it seemed she was just as evil as he was, maybe worse.
Author’s note
While this story is fiction, human embryos are routinely frozen for later use and cryonic preservation is very real. At the time of writing this book, 1,000 people have signed up to have their bodies or just their heads stored in liquid nitrogen, in the belief they will be brought back to life, cured and continue living. The numbers are growing year on year, and who knows? They may be right. Time will tell.
Suggested topics for reading group discussion
The Doctor begins with the words: ‘We all want to live forever, don’t we?’ Would you?
Dr Burman takes his research to the extreme. What do you think fuels his misplaced ambition?
How would you describe the main characters: Emily, Ben, Alisha, Amit, Greg and Eva?
When Emily is kidnapped she and her partner Ben have a lot of time to reflect. What do we learn about their relationship?