Chương 103: Book 4 - Chapter 2 A

That afternoon we were back at San Diego. The drive to the GA headquarters was great. I had the windows down the whole time.

"Dr Agnew," I said, greeting the President of GA Technology.

"John, welcome back. Congratulations on your wins."

"Thanks, but I'm not fully back yet. I'm taking care of a few other matters before I can settle back into work. I just wanted to ask about the ECC status."

"We've licensed the mathematics only to that company in Luxembourg you bought. They'll develop the technology separately. Here at home I've got the software engineers at GA defense pulling apart your software and figuring out how to hardwire them into communications. I know you like Motorola, but we are using Honeywell. They have an excellent military grade production program."

"That's fine. We need the secure encryption chips for MERCURY. I just wanted to be sure that you were working on it. When I get back I'll be integrating that technology into our internal networks for security, and possibly communications also."

"When will that be?" he asked.

"After enjoying the winter weather in San Diego on the drive from the airport? Not soon enough!" That evening I was back at Oklahoma City. I decided to spend the night on the plane, as it was more comfortable than my RV at the bio-lab. Construction of the bio-reactor had gone well when I checked it the next morning. Having taken care of that, I visited Amber again.

"Hi Amber, I bought you a pony!" I said, handing her the big stuffed animal.

"Hi Mr and Mrs Petworth."

"Don't bother Harry, he just won't call you by your first name," Janet told her husband before he could say anything. They both offered holiday greetings and I returned them. It was late morning and I looked around to see if anything was new, then pulled up a chair next to a smiling Amber, petting her new pony.

"You were right," she told me.

"Of course!" I boldly declared.

"About what?" I stage whispered. She giggled.

"Several things. Kitchen Stadium was amazing, that Kerr guy was cute and a pony really will fit in here."

"I'm glad you liked it. Did you see me on TV?" I asked.

"Yes, but the construction hat didn't really fit the black suit you like to wear."

"Come on Amber, guys in hard hats are naturally handsome," I told her. She made a fake gagging face.

"Ugh, not cute."

"Okay, next time I'll wear a cute hat. Maybe something pink." She laughed, then winced and lay back against the pillows in the hospital bed. I decided to change the subject.

"So are you looking forward to getting back to school when this is over?"

"I guess," she said noncommittally.

"Well you're going to look great, let's face it, the Freshman Fifteen you put on wasn't great."

"Just stop! That's so mean!" she shrieked in mock outrage. I laughed.

"Seriously though, are you still planning on a medical career?"

"I've always wanted to be a nurse," she affirmed.

"Well you have very valuable experience now. You'll know what it is like from both sides of the needle. I know that there are some other kids on this floor too. Consider the comfort you can give to your future patients to let them know you've been through this and came out stronger on the other side." She squeezed my hand, tears coming to her eyes.

"I never thought about being a nurse in a hospital, it was always in a doctor's office in my imagination."

"You've seen what the nurses here do, and how important they are to the patients. Maybe you can specialize in Oncology. Maybe even Pediatric Oncology. You're great with kids."

"What makes you think I'm great with kids?"

"I'm twelve, so an expert. Trust me, you're great with kids," I said as seriously as I could. She laughed lightly.

"Yeah. I'm great with kids." She was getting tired, so she let me go. Matt was waiting downstairs in the limo.

"You can come up too, you know," I told him.

"I hate hospitals. Can't stand them. I'm fine out waiting in the limo out here. It's got a TV and your wireless cable box."

"Fine, let's go get barbecue," I told him.

"Oh good. Oklahoma barbecue is the best," he said, and lowered the divider to tell the driver where we were going. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Matt was sure he was right. He continued to explain as we drove to the barbecue place.

"Oklahoma City barbecue is special. It sits at the overlap of Memphis, Texas, Kansas City and Tennessee barbecue styles. It's not so much what it is, as what it's not. It's not any of the others. It's not afraid to do pork or beef or occasionally other critters. It's what happens when you mix the best of all the other styles and it's good." Regardless of his opinions, it was good. We both stuffed ourselves full. The following few days I assisted in the fabrication of the bio-reactor. Eventually, it was complete.

It wasn't huge, but it was going to take a small half-ounce sample and turn it into gallons of bone marrow ready for transplant. With it finally working, I headed to the hospital to talk to Amber's doctors.

"Dr Cook, thank you for the update. We are relieved that you found a way to increase the bone marrow that Amber needs."

"I'm happy to do so. I'm hoping that our facility will continue to work with the hospital here. Once we have more machines set up, we'll be able to replicate any marrow sample. It'll mean just a tiny amount removed and an unlimited amount donated."

"We will be able to notify the hospitals across the country to match it, so potentially hundreds or even thousands can have the marrow they need for transplants."

"I suggest you contact the hospitals and look for particularly rare donors, especially if they have small samples still in their freezers."

"Excellent suggestion. Bone marrow can stay viable at cryogenic temperatures for years."

"Thank you, doctors, I'm going to go let the family know."

"Thank you Dr Cook. It's been a privilege to work with you." I knocked on the door and Amber quickly held up her 'magic mirror.'

"Mirror mirror in my hand, who has missed me most of all?" I grinned at her, looking again into her blue eyes. Trying to see how tired she might be.

"Well?" she asked.

"Are you coming in, or just ogling the ladies in the newest hospital gowns."

"Oh! Is this the new 1989 collection?" I asked playing along.

"It's so practical, it might be a Donna Karan but it looks so modern it simply must be Versace." Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"How do you know those?"

"I spent almost six months in Paris and Europe. I wasn't just working the whole time."

"Paris! I've always wanted to go to Paris. I took French with Ms Peters too, you know."

"Bah, you'd be disappointed with Paris. You'd get there and discover speaking French was hardly romantic. Why in Paris, even the garbage man speaks French!" The burst of laughter behind me made me turn around.

"Hi Mr and Mrs Petworth."

"Hello, John." I started to shake their hands, but I was too close and Janet grabbed me in her signature head-burying hug.

"Did he tell you the news, Amber?"

"What news?" she asked as I tried to breath through suffocating pillows.

"He got the machine to work! There will be enough bone marrow for another transplant in just a couple days!" she said as tears started to fall.

"I guess they ruined my surprise," I mumbled while still held tightly. Janet let me go, her face beaming despite the tears.

"What did you say, John?"

"I said they ruined my surprise!"

"Come here, let me hug you," Amber insisted. I carefully maneuvered so she could give me a weak hug. It hurt so much knowing that was as strong as she could manage.

"So, since that surprise is ruined, how about this? Once you are all better, I'm sending you and your whole family to Hawaii."

"What? No, John, you've done so much already," Harry disagreed.

"It's fine and it'll be good for Amber. She's gotten all pasty and pale. She needs some sun."

"What!" Amber screeched.

"You'll come back tan and relaxed. Ready to get back to school."

"Sun and sand sounds nice," Janet said.

"You'd get along with my little sister," I told her but didn't explain when I saw her puzzled look.

"I've got some back copies of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. I can drop them by for you to help pick out what you want to wear on the beach. You can't have my 1988 issue, though."

"Why not?"

"I'm still hoping to get Elle Macpherson to sign it!" She laughed, and swatted at me, which I easily dodged. A few days later I had my final meeting with the bio-reactor startup team.

"Congratulations on performing a medical miracle that will save thousands of lives, here and around the world," I told them, then led the applause.

"The next step is to continue to build bio-reactors and expand the available marrow we can produce. While doing that, Dr Albright will be researching the possibility of a universal donor. If he can achieve that, then every state will need at least one machine to provide a constant source of transplantable marrow."

"It may take us years, but I'm happy to continue to do the research," Dr Albright replied. I just nodded, knowing he was going to find a wonderful surprise hidden in the formula I had developed to act as a feedstock for the marrow in the bio-reactor. They would discover its amazing potential. I tossed Dr Albright a set of keys to the office building next door.

"Congratulations President Albright," I said. He looked confused.

"You bought me a car?" I laughed at his confusion. He'd only ever seen me as the driven worker, never the happy Boss.

"Those are the keys to your new offices next door. The sign for OKBio will get installed later this week. It's fully furnished, and ready to go."

"This is incredible," he said, looking at everyone watching with smiles. I turned and looked at everyone there.

"You're all invited to join the new company. I ask that you please do so, because this discovery needs your continued hard work to save lives. Regardless, expect a big bonus from me for the successful conclusion of this startup project." There were cheers and whistles as I motioned Dr Albright to the small office to the side of the room. I handed him a business card.

"You've talked to her before, but this is for Jennifer Parz. She has your employee contract, and her team will set up everyone else. She'll have staff she can give you as well to fill in the non-technical positions."

"Thank you, John. This has been an incredible project. I've been amazed at the speed you work."

"First order of business is to check with Jennifer on the status of the patent on my growth medium and bio-reactor designs. Second order is to get up and running. While you're doing that, keep building bio-reactors and working to improve the design. Third order of business is to get some papers written and submitted. I've always been partial to Science but you'll probably have better luck with The New England Journal of Medicine." He gave me a big handshake and we went back to the small but loud crowd of workers.

"Quiet down a moment, please," I said. Dr Albright gave a piercing whistle.

"Thank you, Dr Albright. One last announcement: everyone who joins the new company will be getting stock options!" The cheering returned, and after what seemed like too many handshakes, I escaped outside to the RV.