Robin Cook - Seizure

“Wonderful,” Daniel said in a depressed monotone.

“What’s the problem now?” Stephanie asked. She came into the room and sat down. “You look like you’re about to ooze off onto the floor. Why the long face?”

“Don’t ask! It’s the same old story about money, or at least the lack of it.”

“I suppose that means you called the venture capitalists again.”

“How very clairvoyant!” Daniel said sarcastically.

“Good grief! Why are you torturing yourself?”

“So now you think I’m doing this to myself.”

“You are if you keep calling them. From what you said yesterday, their intentions were pretty clear.”

“But the Butler plan is moving ahead. The situation is evolving.”

Stephanie closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. “Daniel,” she began, trying to think how best to word what she was about to say without irritating him, “you can’t expect other people to view the world as you do. You’re a brilliant man, maybe too smart for your own good. Other people don’t look at the world the way you do. I mean, they can’t think the way you do.”

“Are you being patronizing?” Daniel eyed his lover, scientific collaborator, and business partner. Lately, with the stress of recent events, it was more the latter than the former, and the business was not going well.

“Heavens, no!” Stephanie stated emphatically. Before Stephanie could continue, the phone rang. Its raucous sound in the otherwise silent office startled both of them.

Daniel reached for the phone but didn’t pick it up. He glanced at Stephanie. “Are you expecting a call?”

Stephanie shook her head.

“Who could be calling here at the office on a Saturday?”

“Maybe it’s for Peter,” Stephanie suggested. “He’s back in the lab.”

Daniel lifted the receiver and used the long name of their business rather than the acronym. “Cellular Replacement Enterprises,” he said officially.

“This is Dr. Spencer Wingate from the Wingate Clinic. I’m calling from Nassau for Dr. Daniel Lowell.”

David motioned for Stephanie to go out in the reception area and pick up Vicky’s extension. He then identified himself to Spencer.

“I certainly didn’t expect to get you directly, Doctor,” Spencer said.

“Our receptionist doesn’t come in on Saturdays.”

“My word!” Spencer remarked. He laughed. “I didn’t realize it was the weekend. Since we’ve recently opened our new facility, we’ve all been working twenty-four-seven to iron out the wrinkles. Many pardons if I’m causing a disturbance.”

“You are not disturbing us in the slightest,” Daniel assured him. Daniel heard the faint click as Stephanie came on the line. “Is there some problem vis-à-vis our discussion yesterday?”

“Quite the contrary,” Spencer said. “I was afraid there had been a change on your end. You said you would call last night or today at the latest.”

“You’re right, I did say that,” Daniel responded. “I’m sorry. I’ve been waiting for word about the shroud to start the ball rolling. I apologize for not getting back to you.”

“No apologies are necessary. Although I hadn’t heard from you, I thought I’d call to let you know that I have already spoken with a neurosurgeon by the name of Dr. Rashid Nawaz who has an office in Nassau. He’s a Pakistani surgeon trained in London who I’ve been assured is quite talented. He’s even had some experience with fetal cell implants as a house officer, and he is eager to be of assistance. He’s also agreed to arrange for the stereotaxic equipment to be brought from Princess Margaret Hospital.”

“Did you mention the need for discretion?”

“Most certainly, and he is fine with it.”

“Marvelous,” Daniel responded. “Did you discuss his fee?”

“I did. It seems that his services will be somewhat more than I thought, perhaps due to the required discretion. He is asking for one thousand dollars.”

Daniel momentarily debated with himself if he should make an effort to negotiate. A thousand dollars was significantly higher than the original estimate of two or three hundred. But it wasn’t his money, and in the end he told Spencer to make the arrangements.

“Any further information about when we can expect you?” Spencer asked.

“Not at the moment,” Daniel said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”

“Perfect,” Spencer said. “While I have you on the phone, there are a few details I’d like to discuss.”

“By all means.”

“First, we’d like to request half the agreed-upon fees up front,” Spencer said. “I can fax you wiring instructions.”

“You want the money immediately?”

“We’d like it as soon as we have a date for your arrival. It will make it possible for us to begin scheduling appropriate staffing. Will that be a problem?”

“I suppose not,” Daniel responded.

“Good,” Spencer said. “Next, we’d like to arrange for instruction in HTSR for our staff, particularly for Dr. Paul Saunders, as well as the opportunity to discuss with you a future licensing agreement for HTSR and rates for the required probes and enzymes.”

Daniel hesitated. His intuition was telling him he was being pushed for having agreed too quickly to the compensation the day before. He cleared his throat. “I will not have a problem with Dr. Saunders observing, but as for the licensing issue, I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to grant such requests. CURE is a corporation with a board of directors that would have to agree to any such arrangement, with full consideration of the stockholders. But as the current CEO, I can promise you we will visit the issue in the future, and your help in the current situation will be taken into consideration.”

“Perhaps I was asking a bit much,” Spencer admitted amiably. He chuckled. “But as the saying goes: There’s no harm in trying.”

Daniel rolled his eyes, lamenting the indignities he had to endure.

“One last thing,” Spencer said. “We would like to know the name of the patient, so we can start the admission process and the patient record. We’d like to be prepared for his or her arrival.”

“There is to be no record,” Daniel said flatly. “Yesterday I made it clear this treatment is to be done under absolute secrecy.”

“But we will have to identify the patient for lab tests and such,” Spencer said.

“Call him Patient X or John Smith,” Daniel said. “It doesn’t make any difference. I anticipate his being in your facility for only twenty-four hours at most. We’ll be with him the entire time, and we’ll be doing all the lab tests.”

“What if the Bahamian authorities question his admission?”

“Is that likely?”

“No, I suppose not. But if they do, I’m not sure what we would say.”

“I’m trusting that with your experience dealing with the authorities during the clinic’s construction, you can be creative. That’s part of the reason we’re paying you forty thousand dollars. Make sure they don’t question.”

“We’ll need a bribe or two. Perhaps if you were to raise the price by five K, we could guarantee no problems with the authorities.”

Daniel didn’t respond immediately while he controlled his anger. He hated to be manipulated, especially by a clown of Wingate’s caliber. “All right,” he said at last, without camouflaging his irritation. “We’ll be wiring twenty-two and a half thousand. However, I want your personal assurances that this operation will go smoothly from here on out, and there’s to be no more demands.”

“You have my assurance as the founder of the Wingate Clinic that we will make every effort to ensure your association with us meets your expectations and complete satisfaction.”