“He’ll get what he deserves, doc,” Stephen said. I could see the anger on his face, which surprised me. Stephen was always so quiet, but this one seemed to really get under his skin for some reason.
Dr. Williams ran his hand through his blonde hair. “I can’t believe you found him so quickly. We’ve been looking for him for at least ten years now.”
“He does have a specific cocktail that he uses that wipes people’s memories. He tests it regularly. He likes to go up to his victims to see if they remember him. It’s why no one has been able to remember what he looks like until Sephie,” Ivan said.
“What an evil son of a bi tch,” Dr. Williams said.
“That’s not even the half of it, doc. He’s responsible for so much more,” I said.
“That’s why we had you come down here today. I’m assuming that you know all about brawn?” Adrik asked.
The disgust was clear on his face. “Unfortunately, yes,” Dr. Williams said.
“We’ve uncovered a plot to replace the entire city’s supply of drugs with brawn, except in two areas of the city. In one of those areas, they’re planning on putting a massive amount of brawn into the water supply. In the other area, they’re planning on withholding all drugs for the weekend they’re planning this.” Adrik paused to let Dr. Williams comprehend what he’d just told him. The shock was evident on his face. “We’ve got the dealers of the city working with us, so even if they’re successful in replacing the supply, the dealers won’t sell it. However, this brings up another problem.”
“Withdrawals,” Dr. Williams said.
Adrik nodded. “How possible is it for the hospitals to deal with widespread withdrawals throughout the city?”
“Do you know when this is happening?” he asked.
“Not yet, but worst case, we’ll have a few days’ notice before it happens. We’re working to stop their plan altogether. We’re just putting backup plans in place just in case,” Adrik said. “There’s the potential for a lot of people to be affected. We want to make sure they’re covered in the event we’re not able to stop it from happening.”
Dr. Williams exhaled loudly as he considered the possibilities before him. “Advance notice will make it easier for hospitals to prepare, but I’m not sure we can handle the entire addict population of the city going through withdrawals at once. Nor could we handle that same population having their drug of choice replaced by brawn, either. That’s a nasty drug, he said.
Armando and Glana walked into the office as Dr. Williams was talking. They quietly sat on one of the couches.
“Oh, they’ve changed it too. This formulation amps up the aggression, but it’s shorter lived. You know how the original brawn could make someone aggressive for a few hours before their body started to shut down on them?” I asked. Dr. Williams nodded his head. “This new formula cuts that time down considerably, but it amps up the aggression In that shorter window.” I looked to Misha, asking, “it was what, like 20 minutes before they started to struggle to remain conscious?” might’ve been longer. We don’t know how long in between them taking it and when they actually attacked us. But I’d say around 20 minutes is a good estimate,” Misha said, I happened to dance at Glana, who had a slight look of disgust on her face at this conversation. That’s odd.
“You were attacked?” Dr. Williams asked, looking between me and Misha.
We both nodded. “It was a test run of this formulation. They gave a couple of homeless guys the drug and then sent them to attack me and Sephie when we were out for a run,” Misha said. Dr. Williams looked back to me. “But you’ve had experience with the old formula, too?”
I nodded, looking to the floor. Adrik turned his chair toward me, opening his arm for me. I sighed, getting up and moving to his lap. “My uncle,” I said as I sat down.
Dr. Williams held up his hand. “That’s all I need to hear, because that is clearly not a fond memory. It’s valuable information, in the event that people get a hold of this new formula. I still remember when the original formula hit the streets. We were scrambling for quite a while until we figured out how to care for the people on it.”
“What kind of support do the hospitals need? In either scenario. If they get their hands on the new formula or if they have to suffer withdrawals,” Ivan asked.
Dr. Williams thought for a moment. “Honestly, neither situation is going to be easy. Not if we’re talking about the entire city’s addict population. And I can only answer for my hospital. Other hospitals might not be as well-staffed as mine. I can, however, go back and try to come up with a plan of action for both scenarios. I’m afraid it’s going to take all hands-on deck to deal with either scenario.”
“What about their plan to put it in the water supply? What’s going to happen to children who drink water that’s been laced with brawn?” Armando asked. He was clearly worried about the people in his area of the city. I glanced at Giana again, who caught me looking at her. She immediately looked down when she caught my eye. I decided to stop looking at her for the rest of this little meeting.
Sephie
“I don’t know for sure, but I can tell you that it won’t be good. It’s so easy to overdose on the old formula, and from what Sephie has said about the new formula, it will likely be even easier to overdose on this formula. That’s really bad news for children,” Dr. Williams said.
We sat in silence for a moment. Adrik wrapped his arms around me tighter. I knew he could feel the faint shaking in my legs. Dr. Williams looked at Adrik again, his curiosity piqued again. “Does the doctor factor into this as well?”
I felt Adrik nod his head as I nodded mine. “He’s the one that created brawn originally. He’s also believed to be the one that made this new formula,” Adrik said.
Dr. Williams slumped down in his chair, like the wind had been knocked out of him. He was silent for a moment before he looked up at me, a serious look in his eye. “I feel like I should thank you once more for what you did in the emergency room that day. You had every reason to ha te me and my nurses, but you’re the reason nobody got seriously hurt that day.”
“Oh, she’s the reason you’re not dead, doc. Ivan would’ve killed you,” Stephen said, completely straight-faced. His delivery was always so serious that it almost made me laugh. I think, like Ivan, he enjoyed the shock value. I caught his eye, winking at him, trying not to laugh. He waited until the doctor was no longer looking at him, then he grinned at me, winking back.
Dr. Williams looked back to me. “I still have no idea what kind of special powers you have over that man, but I remain in awe of them. And I’m forever grateful for what you did that day, especially knowing the evil you’ve had to endure with that doctor,” he said, sincerely. I simply smiled at him, nodding once. I glanced at Ivan, who grinned at me.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.