The RX Factor

The RX Factor - Chapter 5

“So, tell me,” she said at last, “last night when I asked you about what area of medical research you specialized in, you said it was a long story. We’ve got the time now and I’m all ears if you care to elaborate.”

He was torn between answering seriously and flippantly, but decided to give it to her straight. “My company was founded on the fact that with the mapping of the human genome, it was now possible to identify the markers in genes that lead to cancer. We theorized that once these markers were identified, a cure could be developed.”

She smiled, her eyes locked on his. “That’s a good theory, but hardly revolutionary.”

“Agreed, but I had already positively identified several markers, which put us one step closer to a cure than anyone else at the time.”

“Very impressive. Were you looking at all cancers or one in particular?”

“The long-term goal was to find a cure for all cancers, but our initial focus was on ovarian cancer.”

“Any breakthroughs?”

“At one time I thought so. We were all but certain that we had finally identified all the markers and then developed a serum to target only the cancer cells impacting the ovaries. Through much trial and error and tweaking of the serum, we finally experienced a major breakthrough when all of the infected lab rats were cured after a series of injections of the serum.”

“That is truly remarkable. So your serum cured ovarian cancer in rats?”

“A one hundred percent cure rate with no signs of remission. They lived a normal life span after a series of injections of the serum.”

“Unreal. Why is the entire medical community not following up on your research?”

Ryan twisted in his seat and squeezed the bridge of his nose as he contemplated the best way to respond. “Excuse me,” he said abruptly. He shoved back his chair as he rose and took his lemonade into the kitchen. Muttering to himself, he dumped a generous portion of Tanqueray into the glass before returning to the veranda. After a healthy swig, he said, “The entire medical community is thankfully not aware of this and no one is following up on my research because the FDA halted the human trials when my drug started killing people.”

Jordan’s eyes dropped to her drink and a somber silence hung in the air for several seconds. “I’m so sorry, Ryan. I had no idea.” She set down her drink and twisted her hands nervously. In a gentle voice, she said, “We can talk about something else.” She couldn’t seem to raise her gaze to his.

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t mind talking about it. Don’t worry about me. How are you holding up?”

“As good as can be expected, I guess. Talking with you about all this is helping me take my mind off my own sorrows. I know they each had a long and wonderful life.” Jordan bowed her head before continuing. “I know they would have wanted me to celebrate their life and not mourn their death, but the way they died just seems so senseless.”

She raised her head up, gritted her teeth, and stared into Ryan’s eyes. “I just can’t get to the celebration-of-life point of view until I know exactly what happened, and why.”

“That’s very understandable.” Ryan’s face became sullen as he dropped his head down a few notches. “I guess when someone passes away of normal causes, it is much easier to celebrate their life, but when they are suddenly taken in a tragedy, mourning feels more appropriate.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Ryan fell silent and stared off into the distance. His heart was racing and his palms began to sweat. He wiped them on his shorts and then rubbed them through his hair. He drained his spiked lemonade, excused himself again, and went into the house. A few minutes later he returned with a fresh drink and a pack of Marlboros. He took a swig from his glass and lit up a smoke. As he exhaled, he shot a half-hearted smile towards Jordan. “Bad habit I know. . . .”