'George, how are you?’ she whispered.
‘
Just fine, honey,’ replied Elroy. ‘That was a real dumb thing to do, falling in front of the baler like that . . .’
Ethel turned and looked up at Macandrew before starting to sob quietly into her handkerchief. The look in her eyes brought a lump to his throat. Words failed her but the nod of her head was all the thanks that Macandrew needed.
He returned to his office: he needed to be alone for a few minutes. In recent times he’d plumbed the depths of despair but now he was riding a high and he liked the feeling. He didn’t want the moment to end. The treatment worked! It really worked! He called Simone in Paris with the news and smiled when she broke into a torrent of excited French.
‘
I know; it’s absolutely wonderful,’ he said when he managed to get a word in. ‘Let’s hope it works for the others.’
It worked just as well for the next two patients, prompting Saul Klinsman to suggest that Macandrew invite Simone over to the US for the final operation. The university would be happy to pay in view of the positive publicity the success of the new technique was going to generate. Simone arrived in Kansas City four days later - on the evening before Macandrew was due to operate. He picked her up at the airport where they had a happy reunion before he took her to her to the Best Western hotel near the Med Centre on Rainbow Boulevard where Saul Klinsman’s secretary had reserved accommodation for a ‘distinguished guest of the university’.
‘
God, it’s so nice to see you again,’ said Macandrew as the porter left the room.
‘
And you too, Mac. God, you went through such a lot and they hurt you so badly.’
‘
No looking back. It’s all over,’ said Macandrew, wrapping his arms around her. ‘My god, the nights I’ve spent thinking about you.’
‘
Really?’ murmured Simone, trying hard to suppress a smile. ‘Now why would that be?’
‘
You’ve no idea?’
‘
I just can’t imagine what you’re talking about, Doctor . . .’
Macandrew kissed her hungrily.
‘
I thought neurosurgeons might have a strict rule about no sex before an operation,’ said Simone.
‘
Only during one.’
‘
Idiot.’
The operation next day was another success story and Saul Klinsman threw a party at the hospital to celebrate the breakthrough and to honour Simone’s research achievement. Both she and Macandrew had to insist that the new treatment would not be applicable to all cases – in fact, only to those with damage in the pineal area - but even at that, it was still going to make a big difference to a number of otherwise hopeless cases. The world seemed full of people who wanted to congratulate them.
‘
When will you publish?’ Klinsman asked Simone.
Simone was at first surprised and then annoyed at herself for not having seen the question coming. ‘Soon,’ she replied, moving away to avoid any further talk along these lines. She found Macandrew and linked arms with him to steer him to a quiet corner. ‘Your boss just asked me about publication,’ she said. ‘He’s right, you know. We will have to publish.’
‘
We just have to stick to the facts,’ Macandrew assured her.
‘
Which are?’
‘
Some cases of multiple personality disorder are due to damaged cells located behind the pineal gland and in some instances, these damaged cells can be reactivated using a simple surgical procedure and a chemical that you will have to describe in some detail. As for the normal function of these cells in the human brain . . . well, that’s conjecture and, as such, has no place in a medical journal.’
‘
I love you,’ whispered Simone. ‘You’re so devious.’
‘
It’s a man thing.’
‘
Better not be.’
Simone gave a seminar to the medical and science faculties about the new technique and received a standing ovation from an academic audience that was clearly delighted that a mid-western university was playing such a pivotal role in such an important medical advance. Macandrew struck while the iron was hot and persuaded Saul Klinsman that he should have some more time off in order to take Simone to Boston to meet his family and spend Christmas there before she returned to Europe.
‘
I guess the locum can cover again if he’s agreeable. You two are pretty serious about each other, huh?’
‘
We are.’
‘
Does that mean we’ll be losing you?’
‘
You were always straight with me Saul: I don’t know right now. You’ll be the first to know when I do.’
‘
Maybe you could persuade Simone that Kansas City isn’t that bad? I’m sure the faculty could be persuaded to offer her every facility to continue her research . . .’
‘
Maybe.’
Macandrew had just left Klinsman’s office when he heard himself being paged with a request that he go to his own office. Feeling puzzled, he opened the door to find Tony Francini standing there. The nurse with him said before leaving, ‘Sorry, Mac, he insisted.’
Macandrew’s blood ran cold. Just looking at Francini brought back the nightmares. His hands started to ache just at the very thought of the car door: the happiness he had been feeling seemed to evaporate in an instant. ‘You’ve got a nerve,’ he said.
Francini swallowed and said, ‘I know that. Christ, I don’t even know what to say to you.’ He put his hand to his head and let a sob escape.’
Macandrew remained dispassionate.
‘
The word is you’ve been helping folks like Janey . . . ’
‘
We’ve been conducting a clinical trial of a new treatment. It won’t work on everyone.’
‘
But it would work on Janey?’
Macandrew swallowed before finally saying, ‘It might.’
‘
Christ knows I’ve no right to ask you this, but I don’t have an alternative. I love her so much. I’ll pay anything. Will you . . .?’
Macandrew was looking into the eyes of a desperate man – the eyes of a man faced with a steel cable and nothing but a blunt sword to cut it with. He relaxed his face muscles. ‘Have her here at the Med Centre tomorrow afternoon.’
Francini was about to be effusive in his thanks but Macandrew stopped him. He had no wish to associate with the man any longer than absolutely necessary. He recoiled from contact.
Simone agreed that Macandrew should delay their departure to Boston to operate on Jane Francini, saying that this was exactly what he should do.
Jane Francini’s operation proved to be just as successful as the others. She came out of the anaesthetic as the Jane Francini Macandrew had known before the first operation. Like the others, she remembered nothing of what had happened after going into surgery the first time. Macandrew left the recovery room before Tony Francini was allowed in, not wanting to see him again, but he did go back to visit Jane when her husband had left and she was being settled down for the night.
‘
I’m so grateful to you,’ she smiled.
‘
It’s good to see you looking well,’ said Macandrew. ‘I just thought I’d come and say good-bye to a fellow Scot.’
‘
You’re going away? Tony will be so disappointed. He really wanted to thank you personally. Where are you off to?’
‘
Christmas in Boston. I’m taking the lady in my life to meet my folks.’
‘
I’m so happy for you.’
Macandrew could see that Jane was very tired but she was also very much at peace with herself and the world around her. He said, ‘I have a little present for you.’
‘
For me?’
Macandrew opened his briefcase and took out the doll he’d brought back from Scotland. ‘It’s very old,’ he said. ‘You’ll have to be careful.’
Jane reached out and took it from him, her eyes showing a mixture of surprise and bewilderment. ‘You know,’ she said. ‘I’ve got the strangest feeling I’ve seen this before . . .’
The Steven Dunbar Series
LOST CAUSES
DUST TO DUST
WHITE DEATH
THE LAZARUS STRAIN
EYE OF THE RAVEN
THE GULF CONSPIRACY
WILDCARD
DECEPTION
DONOR
Other Novels
HYPOCRITES’ ISLE
TANGLED WEB
RESURRECTION
PANDORA'S HELIX
TRAUMA
CHAMELEON
CRISIS
REQUIEM
PESTILENCE
FENTON'S WINTER
THE SCORPION'S ADVANCE
THE TROJAN BOY
THE ANVIL
KEN McCLURE is an award-winning medical scientist as well as a global selling author. He was born and brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied medical sciences and cultivated a career that has seen him become a prize-winning researcher in his field. Using this strong background to base his thrillers in the world of science and medicine, he is currently the author of twenty-four novels and his work is available across the globe in over twenty languages. He has visited and stayed in many countries in the course of his research but now lives in the county of East Lothian, just outside Edinburgh.
'His medical thrillers out-chill both Michael Crichton and Robin Cook.'
Daily Telegraph
.
'McClure writes the sort of medical thrillers which are just too close to plausibility for comfort.'
( Eye of the Raven)
Birmingham Post
.
'Well wrought, plausible and unnerving.'
(Tangled Web)
The Times
'A plausible scientific thriller . . . McClure is a rival for Michael Crichton.'
(The Gulf Conspiracy)
Peterborough Evening Telegraph
.
'Contemporary and controversial, this is a white knuckle ride of a thriller.'
(Past Lives)
Scottish Field
.
'Ken McClure looks set to join the A list at the top of the medical thriller field.'
The Glasgow Herald
.
'McClure's intelligence and familiarity with microbiology enable him to make accurate predictions. Using his knowledge, he is deciding what could happen, then showing how it might happen . . . It is McClure's creative interpretation of the material that makes his books so interesting.'
The Guardian
.
'Ken McClure explains contagious illness in everyday language that makes you hold your breath in case you catch them. His forte is to take an outside chance possibility, decide on the worst possible outcome . . . and write a book.'
The Scotsman
'Original in conception . . . its execution is brilliantly done . . . plot and sub plot are structured with skill . . . the whole thing grabs the attention as it hurtles to its terrifying climax.'
(Requiem)
Independent Newspapers (Ireland).
'Absolutely enthralling.'
(Crisis) Medical Journal
'Pacy thrillers from Scotland's own Michael Crichton.'
Aberdeen Evening Express
First published in Great Britain in 2006 by Allison & Busby Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 by Ken McClure
ISBN 0 7490 8251 8