The Cure

Chapter 14

     SAMMY STOOD THERE, LOOKING AT THE photo with a stunned deer in the headlights look on her face. There were so many things running through her head that she was having trouble concentrating. Was it a fake and the crazy doctor was just pulling her leg and stringing her along? Sammy didn't think this was the case, as she went through a lot over the last day or so to get to this point. The proof was in her hands in the form of a clean MRI that proved that the tumor in her head was no longer there. This meant she was going to have to carry on and now live the rest of her life. Suddenly Sammy was cancer free and able to move on as if it never happened. was doing her best to hold back the tears.

     "I can't believe this." She finally whispered, even shaking a little bit.

     "Believe it," Xavier said, as he couldn't hold back his grin. "I think you owe me a margarita, young lady. Considering the situation, I actually think you owe me about half a dozen of them."

     "How is this even possible?" Sammy asked, waving the paper around. "I thought you were giving me a low dose to minimize its effect?"

     "I was!" Xavier confessed, "I guess it wasn't low enough!"

     "Wow, that potent, huh?" Sammy said.

     "Apparently," Xavier agreed, "It looks like I've got to re-evaluate how I dispense this serum."

     "You think?" Sammy called out, aware of the obvious.

     "I mean I may have to go a lot lower than your dose if I ever want to consider attacking a tumor in an elderly person," Xavier continued, "I'm just afraid there's no way some of them could survive the seizures and fever you went through."

     He took off his ball cap and started to scratch his scalp.

     "This result changes everything," Xavier exclaimed, "The serum is just so much stronger than I thought it was."

     "But this is good," Sammy replied, "Because it means I'm not going to die!"

     "We need to get back to the house." Xavier said, his mind racing with all the possibilities of what he could do next. He was about to say something else when he noticed someone was watching him. He quickly put his ball cap back on and turned back to Sammy.

     "Get back in the car." He quickly ordered.

     "What's going on?" Sammy quickly asked.

     "I think someone spotted me," Xavier said, sounding a bit scared. "Get back in your car and drive away. Act like I was trying to harass you. We'll meet back at the house later."

     "Are you sure?" Sammy asked.

     "We can't take chances," Xavier said, putting his sunglasses back on. "Go, now!"

     Sammy paused for a moment and then ran back to the other side of the car.

     "Mister, I don't know who you are," she called out, "but leave me alone!"

     Sammy got back into the car and started it up and left the parking lot as quickly as she could. Xavier pulled his collar up and took a quick walk to the road that was the closest exit from the park. He didn't want to take any chances if there was a person who recognized him, and splitting from Sammy kept her away from suspicion and thus kept his current lab safe. That was important to him, and if he kept things low key, Xavier could make his way back to the house later when things cleared up. Once he was on the road, he turned towards a bridge that would lead him towards the downtown area of the city. From there it would be much easier to grab a cab and then he could get a ride close to Sammy's house and he could hoof the rest of the way when the path was clear. He took the pedestrian route across the bridge but as he was walking across, he took notice of one of the newspaper machines.