AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 6
DESMOND PREFERRED to spend his mornings with Gillian, whenever possible. But today he needed to see Philippe. Their disagreement had lasted long enough. After 150 years, a few ill-chosen words spoken in the heat of anger shouldn't drive them apart.
He'd already dressed and fed his daughter, and put her to bed for her morning nap. She wouldn't miss him if he left while she slept. At least, that had been his reasoning when he called Mrs. Waters and asked her to come over early. She arrived just after Gillian drifted to sleep.
"Thank you, Mrs. Waters. She should sleep for another hour or so."
"I'll be quiet."
"Oh, and my guest will be staying in all day. She's still in bed, since she didn't sleep well." Rebecca had suffered a string of nightmares. The first time, her frightened telepathic cries had woken Gillian. After that, he'd kept a light connection to Rebecca's mental state. Not a deep enough connection to eavesdrop on her actual thoughts, it sufficed to let him sense her rising panic as she slipped into a nightmare. Each time, he sent a quick burst of mental energy back along the pathway and woke her up.
Neither of them had gotten much sleep. He didn't need much, but she'd been exhausted. Just as the rising sun put an end to the night, she'd slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep from which she had yet to awake.
Mrs. Waters glanced at Olivia's old room, then slid her gaze across to Desmond's door.
"Will she be wanting a breakfast?"
"She only had coffee, yesterday. I imagine that's all she'll want today." He glanced at his watch. Philippe would be leaving for his office soon. "I hope having her here doesn't inconvenience you."
"Not a bit. After all, she's your guest."
"She is." He caught the emphasis Mrs. Waters gave the word guest, but didn't have time to waste arguing over Rebecca's exact status. "If she's bored, she might like to read one of the books in my study."
"I'll tell her, Mr. Lacroix."
Leaving the household in the capable hands of Mrs. Waters, he went downstairs and knocked on Philippe's door. No answer. He'd missed him. He'd planned to meet privately, but now he'd have to catch Philippe at his office and hope no one else was around.
Since time wasn't an issue any more, he could check on Dr. Chen's progress first. Chen's lab was between here and Philippe's office in the administration building, and the brief detour would give Desmond the additional ammunition he needed in his battle with Philippe. He headed toward the main area of the complex.
Reaching Dr. Chen's lab, he triggered the scanner with his keycard. The scientist looked up as he entered.
"Mr. Lacroix. I didn't expect you so early."
"How are the tests coming?"
"Well, most of them are finished. We can discuss the results now if you want."
"That would be fine." Desmond pulled over a chair and sat down. He shouldn't anticipate Dr. Chen's response, but after discovering Rebecca's mental powers last night, he knew the results had to be positive.
"Okay. You know all about what sort of transplant your daughter needs?"
"Yes." She needed a bone marrow transplant, and bone marrow donors were rarely found outside of the immediate family. He'd been prepared for disappointment. Until last night.
"I checked the compatibility of Ms. Morgan for a potential donor. Gillian's system would not reject a transplant from her."
"Excellent!" He'd been right about Rebecca. Once Gillian's body absorbed the functioning cells, her immune system would revert to a healthy state. His little girl would live. "When can we start?"
"It's not that simple."
"Nothing ever is with you scientists. Now what?" He didn't want to hear any of the laborious details Dr. Chen would use to try and impress him. He wanted to run home and tell Gillian they'd found her cure. She wouldn't have to suffer through any more shots. She'd have the strength to run and play like other children.
"Accepting the donor's blood marrow is not enough. She'll still produce the bad cells. Unless those cells are recognized by her immune system, they will gradually overpower the viable ones, and go back to destroying her healthy cells."
Desmond squeezed his eyes shut and bit down on his lip, hoping the external pain would blind him to his emotional pain. He'd been so sure Rebecca held the answer. Even now, he couldn't bear to give up. There must be some way to salvage this, some way to save Gillian.
"Isn't there anything you can do? Make Rebecca's cells capable of identifying Gillian's illness?"
"Not directly. But I thought she might have that reaction, so I tried combining Ms. Morgan's gene sample with other samples we'd tried in the past. A combination of Ms. Morgan's genetic matter with yours is capable of identifying and neutralizing cells transformed by your daughter's illness. It might be possible to introduce that combination into the deepest layer of Ms. Morgan's DNA, so that her bone marrow generates the new type of cells."
