The Cure

XAVIER WAS IN THE GUEST room setting up his make-shift lab when Sammy walked up and stood by the doorway. She quietly watched as the young man worked away, setting stuff up and moving paperwork and other files around. When he finally noticed she was there, he stopped what he was doing and looked back up at her.

“Is there something I could help you with?” he asked her.

“Actually,” Sammy said with a smile, “I was going to ask if there was anything I could help you with.”

Xavier paused for a moment and pondered the request. She was being more helpful than the usual prisoner, but he also didn’t want to take her enthusiasm for granted.

“Of course,” Xavier said, smiling back. “Over there is a box full of files and papers. If you could take them out and place them in alphabetical order on the large desk that would be immensely helpful.”

“No problem,” Sammy replied, as she walked over to the other end of the room and started to take files out of the box he specified. As she was moving files over to the desk, one of them fell out of her hand and spilled onto the floor. As she was picking it up, she realized they were pictures of other people who had undergone treatment. She flipped through the pages and was relieved to see that in the last photo the patient being treated looked a lot healthier than she did at the beginning.

“What was her name?” Sammy asked.

“June,” Xavier said as he came over to pick some of the photos off the floor. “She had become infected with AIDS through an event that was not of her choosing.”

“It was not her choosing?” Sammy repeated.

“It was forced upon her, just like the sexual advances from the man that raped her.” Carter said as he looked at the picture in the folder. “Rather than let life force her to live with someone else’s decision, I gave her a chance to make her own choice. As you can see, she’s doing much better.”

“And yet there are people who don’t want people like June to feel this way?” Sammy asked, the mere thought revolting her.

“I’m afraid so,” Xavier confirmed.

“Why wouldn’t they want her to be cured?” Sammy said in disgust as she put the file on the desk with utter contempt. “Why would someone want to do that? What motive out there is big enough to make someone want to let others die for it?”

“Money,” Xavier said as he walked over and sat down in a chair beside her. “There are companies, thousands of them out there that make a lot of money just medicating these people till the day they die. These companies make billions off their suffering and that’s a lot of money to just walk away from. To those people and the many shareholders they answer to, that’s all the motive they’ll ever need. If my serum ever hit the open market, the pharmaceutical industry would take a mammoth hit. People wouldn’t need to take their drugs anymore, and countless companies would file for bankruptcy protection. For that reason alone, there are oodles of bad people there who don’t want any kind of cure to see the light of day.”

“That’s horrible.” Sammy said as she sat down on the floor of the spare room, “People are choosing money over saving lives?”

“It happens all the time, Sammy.” Xavier retorted, “People choose not to get involved in civil conflicts while genocides rage on unmolested, wars for oil and other outrageous errors in judgment are usually made to maximize profits. It’s not exactly the way to make any moral decisions, but leaders consult their wallet or stockbroker rather than consult their conscience about what is the right thing to do.”

“And because of that you have to run?” Sammy inquired.

“And because of that I have to run,” Xavier repeated, as he fished his box and started to sort out a few files. “Right now, this is the only way I can keep working. I can’t trust anyone right now, not even the police or the government. This is too important to risk losing it.”

“But this is your life,” Sammy said obviously frustrated by what he was going through. “Do you want that to be your legacy, to be a wanted man for murder?”

“Legacies are overrated.” Xavier said, looking back up at her. “If this serum can make its way to nations where a cure is badly needed, then that’s more valuable than any legacy. I’m just one man, where there are tens of millions of men, women, and even children in Africa who are currently living with HIV. Over a million people are killed by AIDS every year over there, and over eleven million children have been orphaned by the disease. That’s not outbreak, that’s an epidemic! If this could cure that and any other diseases that I’ve been testing, we are looking at what could be the greatest medical breakthrough of the 21st Century! At this point I don’t care about credit. I’m a doctor; I care about saving lives.”

Sammy wiped away a tear from her cheek. “You’re the real deal, aren’t you?”

“I am now,” Xavier said as he sat down on the floor beside her and took her hand. “When I first started working on that project, I was just another suit with a medical degree that was just in it for the cash. I took a crap project that I didn’t think was going to amount to anything so I couldn’t be held accountable for the lack of any results that were bound to occur. I was lazy and willing to stay that way, not caring about who suffered because of my lethargic work ethic. If anything this chase, and this rushed life has taught me to not only value the life I had, but to value the contribution I can make as a doctor. I’m going to finish my work here and I am determined to get this serum to the right people so it can be used to better the world. I’m not sure how but I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it. Can I count on your help to do that?”

“Yes.” Sammy said, “I was ready to be tested, but now I really trust you to do that more than before. Is there anything else I can do to be helpful?”

“Yes.” Xavier said as he passed her two things. The first was a key and the other was an envelope, “The first is the key the lock I installed in your front door. This will allow you to leave the house. In the envelope is a list of items I need picked up from the grocery store along with more than enough money to pay for them. Once you start the treatment, you shouldn’t leave the house, so stocking up wouldn’t be a bad idea since I’m not going to leave this place for a while.”

“You trust me not to rat you out?” Sammy asked.

“I am,” Xavier replied, “I’m placing a lot of trust in you, but his is more than just my life and work in your hands. Your own life hangs in the balance, and I’m betting you want to try this just to see if it works.”

“That’s quite accurate,” Sammy confirmed as she opened the envelope and looked at the list. It had a lot of basic items but also some that had to be bought from the drug stores.

“It will take me about an hour or so to get these done,” Sammy said, looking back at him. “Will you be okay here?”

“I’ll be fine,” Xavier said as he stood up and helped her off the floor. “When you’ve been on the run as long as I have, you must get used to being indoors a lot. I should have a lot of work here finished by the time you get back. If all goes well, we might be able to start tomorrow morning. Ok?”

“Alright.” Sammy said as she walked past Xavier and stopped at the door. “I’ll come back; I promise.”

“See you then.” Xavier said with a nervous smile. He always got nervous when he let someone leave but trust always required a leap of faith sometimes. Sometimes he got burned for doing that, other times his trust was rewarded with a lot of time that allowed him to advance his work two-fold. The young doctor was hoping the second of the two options would happen this time as his new patient seemed like a good person that clearly deserved another chance at life. Yet her testing was truly going to be experimental because he had never attacked tumor before. Odds of her living were just as good as her dying, and as much as he wanted her to make it, whether or not she recovered wasn’t going to be his call. Fate was going to make that choice for him, but Xavier was making a game plan to make this as safe as possible to lower the odds of death. He was making sure she was getting a high dosage, or that any other human error would cause her demise. There was no guarantee, but it was worth the risk. He knew it and so did Sammy as she was willing to give it a go. He watched her walk into the living room and waved goodbye, and he waved back as he watched her unlock the door and walk out of the house. Xavier strolled up to the window and watched her walk up to her car, get in and drive away. He took a deep breath and did his best to relax. He walked over to the kitchen where he had set up a police band radio and quickly turned it on. If she were to report him to the police, it would be broadcast on that and give him all the warning he needed to get out. After that Xavier walked back into the guest room and continued to set up his lab and prepare his serum for the next round of experiments. He had more than enough of the serum for Sammy but would use the time during her treatment to make more of it while she recovered. Time flew by fast as he was working in the lab because before he knew it Sammy was unlocking the door and was already back with all the stuff she was asked to get. He strolled into the living room to greet her and was relieved to see that she was alone as she had promised,

“Did you manage to get everything?” Xavier asked her.

“Yeah, it was no problem.” Sammy said as she brought in a few bags and set them on the living room floor. “Is it safe enough for you to come out to the car to carry in a few bags?”

“It’s a little darker out there, so I don’t see why not.” Xavier walked out there with her and helped her carry all the bags into the house.

Turns out she had picked up more than he had asked her to, but he had given Sammy a lot more money than she needed specifically so she could pick up a few things for herself. She was going to be confined to the house for a while herself so it was the least he could do for her. Once everything was inside, Xavier locked the house back up and activated some kind of home alarm system he had hooked up himself. After that he started to carry the bags into the kitchen and sort through them.

“Is there anything in particular you’d like to have for dinner tonight?” Xavier inquired.

“I picked up some takeout,” Sammy said. “That way neither of us have to cook tonight or clean the dishes tonight.”

“Smart move.” Xavier said as he looked in the bags. “Saves what you bought at the grocer to last a little longer. What did you get?”

“I hope you like Indian food.” She answered.

“I do,” Xavier replied, “As long as it’s not vegetarian.”

“Nope,” Sammy confirmed, “It’s the good stuff.”

“Great,” Xaiver said with a smile, “Then let’s eat.”

Sammy noticed what looked like a police scanner assembled on the kitchen counter. “Do you need to have this on?”

Xavier looked back at her. “No. You can turn it off.”

Sam turned the radio off. “You were afraid that I might have rat you out?”

“More like your neighbors or a cop that I passed by on the way in.” Carter answered, as he started to take everything out of the large bag and place them on the kitchen island. She had picked up what almost looked like one of everything, which meant this meal was going to last a lot longer than one night, which again would make their supplies last that much longer. They cracked open a few sodas and enjoyed this wonderful meal before he was aware the real work was to begin soon.