The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

Chapter 21 - The Renewed Promise

“Why are we still waiting?” Jay wasn’t even making an effort to be polite at this point. Julie’s attempts to keep him calm weren’t working, and she was getting antsy herself.

Dr. Huitre was looking pretty antsy as well. He kept repeating various forms of “I am sure the doctor will be here in a minute.”

Grater, the head of security, stood stone-faced as the group stood in the small lobby of the Epaphus building. 

“I am so very sorry for keeping you waiting.” Dr. Samantha Trace, hair pulled back in a severe bun, glasses perched upon her pinched face, entered the lobby, addressing her comment to Jay and Julie. “Henry.” She acknowledged Dr. Huitre and then returned her attention to the Jordans. “I can only imagine how inconvenient and stressful this must be. It was very kind of you to bring the children in at this late hour.”

“We didn’t have much of a choice.” Jay muttered. Julie squeezed Jay’s arm.

Dr. Trace continued, “Of course, this is completely our fault. You can be sure that we’ll investigate why it took us so long to get in touch with your family. I called Henry immediately as soon as we found our error. We’ve tested hundreds of participants already and only your three children remain.” Dr. Trace turned to the security guard, “Grater, will you please get our guests some coffee.”

Grater let the slightest grimace briefly cross his face.

“We didn’t come for coffee.” Jay remarked with a mix of anger and sarcasm.

Julie interjected, trying to redirect the conversation. “How long will this take? When can we be with them?”

“Excellent question. I’m so sorry for not explaining that first.” Dr. Trace was doing her best to be conciliatory, but her voice sounded irritated. 

“Your children are in the exam rooms right now. I need to interview each of them briefly, 10-15 minutes at most, and then I’ll draw some blood and you can be on your way.”

“I am sure Dr. Trace will get it done very quickly.” Dr. Huitre tried to sound encouraging.

“Great, let’s go to them and get started.” Jay clapped his hands together.

“Actually,” Dr. Trace paused, sighed, and added, “I have to do the interview on my own.”

“What?” Jay and Julie remarked in unison.

“Part of the test is having the child characterize their own experiences and health. We have a specific protocol we use to collect the information, and we’ve found that the presence of even the most restrained parents can’t help but skew the results.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“I wish I were, Mr. Jordan. But I promise, as soon as the interview is over, we’ll bring you and your wife in so you can be there for the blood draw. I assure you we take the absolute minimum, and the needle is very small.”

Julie looked like she was going to cry at the thought of her children getting stuck with needles that evening on top of everything else they’d already had to deal with. 

§

 “Don’t forget, wait for my signal.” Binny reminded Zach for the third time.

“I know. I know.”

“Good.”

Zach looked at his sister, his face extra serious. “Binny, why does it have to be you?”

Binny was touched by her brother’s concern. “We each have a job to do. I’ll do mine so you and Penny can do yours.”

“But yours is the most dangerous. It’s not fair.”