Young Retribution

XIX

Dr. Strand and I spent the next couple of hours talking about medicine. He was curious to what path I had been taking for my medical career when I was in school, and where I wanted to end up. He also asked about why I chose medical, and after hearing about my parents, started asking about them and their choices in paths taken. As we talked, I started taking in the small details about Kyle that really stood out to me.

He definitely wasn't like most of the men around here. He didn't work out, and even had a little bit of weight to him. He wasn't fat or anything, but lifting weights and building muscle clearly wasn't as important as his work. He also wasn't as tall as the rest of the guys. Being here so far, I've been able to notice that almost all of the men seemed to be over six foot. I haven't been able to tell if it was intentionally that way, or if it's a total coincidence. Kyle, on the other hand, was probably right around five-ten, maybe five-ten and a half. His hair was a light brown, and had only a little bit of length to it. It looked as if he usually kept it cut short, but hadn't cut it in a while. Besides his desk, the room was relatively spotless, and his clothes, khaki pants with a light blue polo, looked as if they had been ironed before putting them on. He was definitely a man that kept everything together and in order.

I also couldn't help but notice how straight and white his teeth were. Clearly there were some props to working for the family. Coming from a home that wasn't bringing in a lot of money, the chances of him getting braces as a kid didn't seem likely. To me that meant that when he started working for Dominick's father, he took advantage of the amount he was being paid and fixed his smile. Being someone who actually cared a lot about their own teeth, I probably would have done the same thing.

The last thing I noticed were his eyes. One was brown, and then the other was half brown, half green. As he turned around the room showing me how he had everything set up, every time the light would hit his irises at a certain angle, the green would really stand out. I'd only ever met one person with eyes like his.

Before I knew it, Dominick was back in the room. He smiled at me as I looked up from Kyle's research to see exactly who had come in.

"Glad to know you're interested in Dr. Strand's work."

"I've heard of Aconite and Oleander before," I started as I pulled some of the papers from the desk, "They both fall in line with plants like Belladonna. Gorgeous plants, but very deadly, and they kill rather quickly. Aconite alone can kill someone in two to six hours if not treated properly. The worst part about it is the way it kills too. Unless you knew in advance what you were looking for, you probably would never even guess it was a plant, let alone the actual plant. Basically, it makes you throw up, and then slowly shuts down your nerves and heart until you're well...dead. Oleander basically makes it look like you have the flu, but you know...it kills you the same day that you ingest it. A plan like this," I held up the papers, "Would catch it within a half hour. Do you realize how many lives something like this would save."

"I'm going to go ahead and say a lot."

"A lot doesn't even cut it. If Kyle succeeds with this...every person in the world who was poisoned would probably be able to be saved. On top of that...it's cheap. It's the type of test that every hospital could employ and not have to worry about cutting into their budgets. I know that doesn't seem like anything big, but if they don't have to cut anything, then they will probably be more willing to take it on. This research...this is life changing. There hasn't been this big of a change to the medical world since...since the last tools invented for a safe, and successful organ transplant. I mean I get that poisoning isn't a typical thing, but it still happens. Hell, some people accidently poison themselves because they don't realize that they are ingesting something poisonous. If this all pans out, this guy is going to be famous."