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“No. They don’t even know there is another patient similarly afflicted, or about this smuggled dose. I didn’t want their hopes raised in case I failed to intercept it.”
“They may have qualms about it being ill-gotten.”
“They won’t.”
“You’re sure?”
Softly she asked, “What if it were your child?”
“I’d have busted down the door of the lab and stolen it myself.”
She smiled at his vehemence.
“You think I’m kidding.”
“Not at all. I know you’re deadly serious.”
“What about Violet? Will she be afraid to get it?”
Brynn shook her head. “Her parents and I agreed never to mention the GX-42 to her.”
“In case it doesn’t work.”
“To hold out the hope of a miracle cure and then have her hopes dashed? That would be too cruel.”
“She knows she’s terminal?”
“The word hasn’t been used around her, but she’s clever enough to realize that she’s very sick. All the treatments she’s undergone, the grueling testing. And she’s made friends, known other children who succumbed.”
“Jesus.”
“Yet, miraculously, she retains a child’s sunny outlook. She loves Disney princesses and talks of becoming a ballerina. When she’s teased, she giggles. She squabbles with her brothers. Except for having a rare blood cancer, she’s an ordinary little girl.”
Rye rubbed his fingers across his brows, and, for several minutes he looked out the rain-streaked car window without saying anything.
She said, “You’re mulling over all the moral and ethical implications, aren’t you?”
He turned back to her. “Fair to say they’re ambiguous?”
“Fair to say. You’ve had only an hour to contemplate them. I’ve had months, Rye, and don’t believe for a moment that the conclusion is clear cut. It is playing God. Who gets the kidney, the lung, the heart? The choice is never easy.
“True, I favored Violet. But not because she is an adorable little girl, and Hunt is, well, Richard Hunt. I didn’t base my decision on who I liked best. For me, the decision came down to one thing. Time. He has it, Violet doesn’t.”
“Okay. I believe you, and I agree.”
“Then why are you gnashing your teeth?”
“What if you’re caught?”
“I will be. Because I must document every single aspect of her progression.”
“Or digression.”
“Or digression. The records will help determine the future of the drug, so they can’t be fudged. But I’ve looked at it from every angle and—”
“Every angle you know about. There are probably dozens of angles you don’t foresee, any one of which could ruin you.”
“I’ve weighed the risks, Rye. To my reputation. My career.”
