Chapter #19Familial Confessions, part 3 by: Nostrum   Jeff – or rather, Will, the name he had revealed just moments ago – couldn't say a word. It was obvious the story struck him, and hard. His gaze went distant, and his expression was as unreadable as always. Mireya had finished her story, and remained just as silent, for it was hard to revive that tragic moment. She rarely spoke of it, even though almost everyone at the Institute knew it. The late Dr. Maribella, poisoned by a strange animal, unable to be saved.
Mireya might have been able to hold her emotions in. But she was opening her heart to the young man who had suffered a tragedy himself. Worse, that radiant portrait of her mother was close at hand.
Her hunter’s façade shattered. She didn’t even try to hold back the tears.
A hand grasped her shoulder. "Mireya?" Jeff said.
"What?"
"I’m sorry." The hand fell from her shoulder.
"You don’t need to be sorry, Jeff. You didn’t know a thing. You couldn’t have done a thing--"
"You tried to get to us because you saw yourself in us, right?" Jeff’s remark surprised Mireya. "It wasn’t just how we lost our parents. It was the way we lost them. If I had known..." He sniffed, wiping the tears on his eyes. "...I wouldn’t’ve shunned you."
"I-it’s alright, Jeff. You were just protecting your brother. That’s it."
"And you were trying to cheer him up. But..." He squeaked, turning his back on her. "...I shunned you. From the beginning, you were so nice to us, and all I did was set up obstacles, out of jealousy. And even when you began to approach me, I hesitated. If I had known all of this..."
"Things would have been different. But that doesn’t matter, Jeff. All that matters is, you know now. Not too early, not too late, but the right moment." With his words giving her the strength to overcome her grief, Mireya made the first move. "It’s not too late to know each other."
"Yeah. Y-you're right. And...thanks for sharing your story. Makes me feel I’m not alone doing this."
Mireya rubbed his hand and smiled. "Sure. I feel the same."
The tender moment was interrupted as Samaris, the receptionist, called to them. "Mister Harrison? The doctor wants to see you."
"Thanks." Jeff nudged Mireya. "Wanna come?"
"What about confidentiality?"
"You’re my secret-keeper, Mireya. You already heard about what happened. You’ll probably learn about it sooner or later, so why not now?"
"Alright, then. Let’s go." As the two returned to the room, the receptionist patted the desk to call Mireya’s attention, prompting her to stop. "Jeff, go ahead; I’ll meet you there. What happened?"
Samaris glanced at Jeff, smirking mischievously. "Es guapo, ¿verdad?"
Mireya chuckled, glancing at the same direction. "Tiene sus encantos. Tal vez si se arreglara un poco..."
"Lo digo porque se nota a leguas que hacen bonita pareja. Digo, no es que quiera entrometerme, pero--"
Mireya snapped at the receptionist, eyes wide open and exuding an aura of fear. "¡Pues lo hizo! ¡Él no es nada mío, solo un buen amigo! Entrometida..." She huffed away, muttering between her teeth. "Habladora del diablo... Azarosa..."
The receptionist scoffed, though she was still startled by the late doctor’s daughter’s reaction to what she only intended to be a little tart teasing. She returned to her work, but couldn’t help cackling every now and then.
--
"Bueno..." Dr. Gustavo sat on his chair, as the three had returned to his office. He held the mask on his hands, enraptured by it. "I am fascinated by this discovery." He glanced at the image within the nightly bluish reflection inside the mask. "Can you tell me more about it, Mr. Harrison?"
Jeff seemed hesitant, but seeing Mireya at his side allowed him to open up. "Um... I don’t know a lot, except that the mask allows anyone that wears it to become the person...uh, trapped within. Well, not trapped. It’s like..." He sighed, struggling to make sense. "I haven’t told this to many people, but I only worked with these things once, and it felt like a bad idea. What it does is...it sorta copies the look of someone, and when you...uh, coat it with something, it lets you become that person."
"Yeah, that much is obvious." Without loosening its grip, the doctor pressed his interrogation. "If I were to wear this, I would become your brother, then?"
"I...guess."
"Impressive..." The doctor laid the mask aside, staring straight at Jeff. "I’ll see how that works out. As for the... ‘patient’ itself, I’ll have to make more in-depth analysis, but at a glance, I can give you good news." He paused, studying the reactions of his two guests. "If my intuition is correct, your...father...may be alive and well inside that shell."
Jeff exhaled as if he held his breath for an eternity. Mireya caught him, as the young man began to tremble. "He... He is?"
"I suspect your father is under a sort of induced stasis. I can’t confirm any further without further studies, but he’s not only alive and well, but also well-protected. Think of it as...if time had stopped. No hunger, no thirst, perhaps not even aging. It is as if he was frozen in time."
"That... That is good, right?"
"More than good, Mr. Harrison." Dr. Gustavo crossed his fingers, lunging closer. "If we find a way to revert this condition, it is entirely possible that we reach the greatest medical breakthrough in the history of mankind!" He grasped the mask once more, his face gleaming with excitement. "And if my hypothesis about this mask and its interaction with someone in that condition is correct, it will revolutionize medicine forever!"
Jeff didn’t seem to share this excitement, as his face darkened instantly. "You mean, you want to use my dad as a guinea pig."
"Your father’s condition is unique, Mr. Harrison. Even if I were to simply reverse it, he would be a subject of experimentation."
"Then don’t do anything!" Jeff exclaimed. "Don’t touch him! Don’t—!"
"Mr. Harrison, what I mean is— I will not spare words. My best interest is to reverse your father’s condition, but my instinct as a researcher—"
"And what about him!?" Jeff howled at the doctor. "What if you can't turn him back? Are you still going to—" He gulped. "Experiment on him?"
"If I cannot, then I’ll respectfully stop my research, despite the promise it shows." Dr. Gustavo returned the young man's hard stare with one of his own. "I recognize the worth of this discovery, but I know my limits. I will not pursue a project if it causes greater harm than it can remedy, but if the inverse is true, I would be a fool not to delve into it!"
Jeff slammed his hands on the doctor’s desk. "Then you want to use whatever made my dad like that? You want to use the masks, and everything that comes with it?"
"Yes," replied the doctor, curtly.
"That thing is nothing but evil." Jeff stepped back, pointing menacingly at the doctor. "You’ll regret it."
"Or perhaps it can be better than you think. I understand your brush with...whatever caused the current state of your father...hardened you against the possibilities. I only see the possibilities. And there are limits I won’t cross."
Jeff scoffed. "So you say. Is there something good you can do with...well, turning people into that stone thing!?"
"They are in stasis, Mr. Harrison. If my intuition is correct, that would halt whatever condition they have. Couple it with the masks, and we could attempt all kinds of treatments on the individual, without ever harming them. Once we have the right way to remedy the situation, we could restore them and act--"
"You’d turn these people into statues and then experiment on them!?" Jeff snarled. "What kind of monster are you!?"
"The kind of monster that would stop at nothing to save the life of someone!" Dr. Gustavo stared at Mireya, hinting her at the hidden meaning behind his words.
"So that’s what you see people as? Puzzles to be solved? What about their feelings? What about their family’s feelings? Don’t you have any attachment to--"
Jeff stopped in mid-speech, as if out of breath. Dr. Gustavo took advantage of his silence to resume his explanations.
"Do I have any attachment to a patient?" he said. "I learned to lose that attachment, or else, I will not be able to focus on their healing and recovery. I am not Dr. Maribella. But if you must know? I felt attachment to a patient, once. I did everything in my capabilities to stop what killed her. And I regret I couldn’t do more. If I had known... if I had known about what happened to your father, if I could replicate what happened to him, and know how to revert it? If I could have a mask of her, and try every single procedure I could, with the only intent to save her? Perhaps she wouldn’t have died."
Jeff paled. "Wh...who...!?"
"If I had this discovery at my disposal?" Dr. Gustavo pointed at Mireya, who immediately broke into tears. "Her mother would still live. I take you heard what happened to Dr. Aristizábal, right?" You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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