The Golden Goose of Los Angeles Extended Edition

by Travis Adams Irish

that you won’t need my blood anymore?”

 

  “Well, about that…” Doctor Yahmir says tactfully, preparing the couple for more news. “Our microbiologist, Doctor Chan, noticed a major difference in your T-Cells when compared with regular T-Cells. As such, he took it upon himself to run tests with patients who are suffering from leukemia.”

 

  “Leukemia?” Rory asks with a blank stare, folding his arms, and showing disapproval of how raucous the doctors are coming across in their messaging, despite how visibly exhausted they are.

 

  “That’s cancer, honey,” Kelly informs him with a quick wink as she leans forward, waiting for Doctor Yahmir to continue.

 

  “Yes.” The doctor confirms with a brilliant smile that shows off his Egyptian heritage and raises his thick eyebrows. “In fact, leukemia is a cancer that impacts the production of white blood cells in the bone marrow and negatively affects the immune system.”

 

  “Sweet,” Rory replies in a disenchanted tone, “I will have my medical degree by the time we’re done here.”

 

  “There is a six-year-old girl in our cancer ward who received a small transfusion of your blood, Mr. Chambers.” The doctor speaks with what can only be described as a loving smile, ignoring Rory’s bitter comments. “Based on our preliminary findings, it looks like that small amount of blood may allow this little girl to have her seventh Birthday… eighth Birthday, and perhaps maybe even her twentieth Birthday some years from now.”

 

  Kelly grabs Rory’s arm and leans close to him; tears are starting to emerge from her eyes, and she uses the little finger of her left hand to wipe them away, attempting to keep her makeup from running.

 

  “This was not possible,” The doctor begins, looking at both of them with a serious expression, “without the Advanced T-Cells found in your blood.” The doctor opens his file folder, lifts a few papers, and slowly pushes a photograph across the glass top of the mahogany conference room table.

 

  Kelly picks up the photo by its left corner and holds it close so that she and Rory can clearly see the image of a little girl with no hair, smiling with bright blue eyes from a hospital bed. Once again, Kelly begins to cry as she is suddenly touched by this story of a new chance at life. Rory also feels a tear roll down his right cheek as he looks at the picture of the happy little girl.

 

  “Now the results are far from conclusive at this stage,” the doctor continues in a gentle voice, “but we have confirmed an aggressive remission of the cancer cells in this young patient. Our microbiologist is also running trials on patients who suffer from lymphoma, and we should have results back in the coming weeks. Mr. Chambers, it appears that your blood carries a genetic code that is able to recalibrate the immune system and allow it to fight: HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, Leukemia, and possibly Lymphoma.”

 

  “That sounds like a miracle,” Kelly concedes with tears still running down her soft white cheeks. “How is that even possible?”

 

  “We are uncertain what Mr. Chamber’s blood contains that triggers this recalibration, and we have been unable to duplicate the results artificially or by a transfusion to a healthy second donor. There have been recent breakthroughs in leukemia treatments where scientists genetically altered T-Cells and used them to successfully eliminate cancer for patients, but what is happening with your blood could take decades to understand. That patient,” the doctor boasts, pointing at the photograph in Kelly’s hand with his right index finger, “did not respond positively to any of our most advanced forms of treatment.”

 

  “We understand the news media will be an annoyance,” Doctor Anderton explains, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “but we hope that you will help us to continue saving the lives of little girls like this one.”

 

  “Yes,” Doctor Yahmir agrees, “having the ability to cure blood borne pathogens and cancers is not something we will be able to keep secret from the world forever. This is not going to be easy, and it will change your lives, but you will have the ability to save ten to fifteen lives a month with just two pints of your blood, and when we engineer a vaccine, you will save hundreds of thousands of lives.”

 

  Rory looks at Kelly, and she immediately nods, staring back at him with loving eyes; both of them feeling a divine duty to stay on course and help the doctors.

 

  “You have our full support,” Rory agrees with a wholesome smile, “whatever you need to make this happen and save these people.”

 

  “We value your participation,” Doctor Anderton speaks dryly, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose as if being kind for a few seconds is a heavy burden.

 

  “Thank you,” Doctor Yahmir beams with a sudden youthful energy, “we’ll make this process as painless as possible.”

 

  Rory and Kelly shake hands with both doctors and are assured they will get copies of all press releases before publication. As he walks out of the conference room, Rory is awestruck with the ability to give such a wonderful gift to so many people. The image of the little girl is burned into his mind, and the knowledge that he has the capacity to pull someone out of hell reinvigorates his commitment to the project. He takes Kelly by the hand and smiles wide at her, proud to have someone who supports him despite the inevitable news media coverage.

 

  After the hospital publishes another press release stating that the preliminary findings were inconclusive, and that final results will be revealed at a press conference in six months, the news media stops coming to Rory’s home as fast as they arrived. Just as Doctor Yahmir told Rory, the premise of unconfirmed information is like a veritable rape whistle for anyone being pursued for a story.

 

  The next six months progress like clockwork with the young couple leading increasingly busy lives. Rory maintains his twelve to fourteen hour a day schedule and Kelly picks up the slack in his life when he is either too busy or exhausted to handle something on his own. After the first month, Kelly decides to attend nursing school with her new passion for helping people. This allows the couple to fill in the time gaps that left them feeling empty without one another. Despite their exhaustion, Rory brings home new photos at the end of every week, and the couple enjoys the amazing thrill of giving life back to those who were almost cheated. Having experienced almost every extreme sport imaginable, Rory now understands that there is no rush in the world as powerful as knowing that you turned someone’s life around and helped to end their suffering. After this becomes a habit, every Friday night is their date night, and the couple reads the case studies together. While reading the case studies, they gaze with unreserved empathy and strength at the photos of people they have helped, letting the warmth penetrate their souls. Then after a long week of public service and work, they focus on nothing but each other for rest of the weekend.

 

  Now that six months have passed, Rory finds himself pacing across the living room with nervous energy. He walks back and forth over the bamboo flooring; his dress shoes cracking hard on the floor with every other step. Rory is dressed to kill in a black button-down shirt and a pair of expensive black jeans, neatly tied off with a stylish black and silver leather belt. The worried expression on his tanned face does not compliment his slightly messy, spiked hair and the glass with three fingers of Scotch that he carries. Soon he hears Kelly’s key turn in the lock of his large cedar door and he takes a healthy swig of Scotch, feeling the intense burn down his throat and in his chest.

 

  “Hello, sweets,” Kelly greets him with an adorable smile, still wearing her formal clothes from nursing school. She is underdressed for their date, but still looks amazing in her auburn blouse and sexy black skirt. “
Are you all right?” She looks over at Rory trying to catch her breath from a busy day, but notices that something is bothering him. Her gaze stays locked on her boyfriend as she takes off her bright yellow high heels and tosses them near the front door. “What’s wrong, baby?” She inquires, gliding across the floor with her bare feet past the leather sofa until she is right behind Rory.

 

  “Doctor Yahmir is going to show me the results from the six-month case study Monday morning,” Rory declares in a stressed tone as Kelly wraps her delicate arms around his chest.

 

  “That’s great news, Hon, don’t you want to know what they found out after all this time?” She asks, kissing his neck playfully with her arms still around him.

 

  “Yeah, I do,” he begins in a sober tone, pulling her hands from his chest so that he can face her, “but now there are so many questions. I… I’m just worried that something is off.” His face appears sickly with doubt as he stares hard at the floor just off to his right.

 

  “Like what?” She asks with a smile looking at the glass of Scotch in his hand.

 

  “Shit, I don’t know, Kell,” he says, flopping down heavy on the leather sofa and placing his left hand against his temple with the Scotch resting on his right knee. “What about the case study results? What if they can’t find a way to create a vaccine? Another question is the press; the hospital is publishing their results Monday afternoon, and we’re having that press conference