“Over here!” Kevin yelled. He put down the pipette and stood up. Through the reagent bottles atop the lab bench, he could see Candace across the room, standing in the doorway.
“Am I coming at a bad time?” Candace asked as she approached.
“No, I was just finishing up,” Kevin said. He hoped he wasn’t being too transparent.
Although he was frustrated about the wasted time he’d spent on the procedure, Kevin was pleased to see Candace. During lunch that day, he’d worked up the courage to invite Candace and Melanie to his house for tea. Both had accepted with alacrity. Melanie had admitted that she’d always been curious to see what the house looked like on the inside.
The afternoon had been a big success. Undoubtedly, the key ingredient for the afternoon’s success was the personalities of the two ladies. There was never a pause in the conversation. Another contributing factor had been the wine that they’d all decided upon instead of tea. As a member of the Zone’s elite, Kevin was given a regular allotment of French wine which he rarely drank. Consequently, he had an impressive cellar.
The major topic of conversation had been the U.S., a favorite pastime for temporary American expatriates. Each of the three had extolled and argued the virtues of their hometown. Melanie loved New York and contended it was in a class all its own; Candace said that Pittsburgh’s quality of life was rated one of the highest; and Kevin praised the intellectual stimulation of Boston. What they had purposefully avoided discussing was Kevin’s emotional outburst at the commissary during lunch.
At the time, both Candace and Melanie questioned what he’d meant by being terrified of overstepping the bounds. But they didn’t persist when it became clear that Kevin was overly upset and reluctant to explain. Intuitively, the women had decided it best to change the subject, at least for the time.
“I’ve come to see if I can drag you over to meet Mr. Horace Winchester,” Candace said. “I told him about you, and he’d like to thank you in person.”
“I don’t know if that is a good idea,” Kevin said. He could feel himself tense.
“On the contrary,” Candace said. “After what you said at lunch, I think you should see the good side of what you have been able to accomplish. I’m sorry that what I said made you feel so terrible.”
Candace’s remark was the first reference to Kevin’s lunch outburst since its occurrence. Kevin’s pulse quickened.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “I’d been upset before your comments.”
“Then come meet Horace,” Candace said. “His recovery is fantastic. He’s doing so well, in fact, that an intensive-care nurse like me is just about unnecessary.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say,” Kevin mumbled.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter what you say,” Candace said. “The man is so thankful. Just a few days ago, he was so sick he thought he was going to die. Now he feels like he’s been given a new lease on life. Come on! It can’t help but make you feel good.”
Kevin struggled to think up a reason not to go and then was saved by another voice. It was Melanie.
“Ah, my two favorite drinking buddies,” Melanie said coming into the room. She’d caught sight of Candace and Kevin through the open door. She’d been on her way to her own lab down the hall. She was dressed in blue coveralls which had animal center embroidered on the breast pocket.
“Are either of you guys hungover?” Melanie asked. “I’ve still got a little buzz. God, we went through two bottles of wine. Can you believe it?”
Neither Candace or Kevin responded.
Melanie looked back and forth between their faces. She sensed something was wrong.
“What is this-a wake?” she asked.
Candace smiled. She loved Melanie’s outspoken irreverence. “Hardly,” Candace said. “Kevin and I are at a standoff. I was just trying to talk him into going over to the hospital to meet Mr. Winchester. He’s already out of bed and feeling chipper. I told him about you guys, and he’d like to meet both of you.”
“I hear he owns a string of resort hotels,” Melanie said with a wink. “Hey, maybe we can finagle some vouchers for complimentary drinks.”
“As appreciative and as wealthy as he is, you could very well do better than that,” Candace said. “The problem is that Kevin doesn’t want to go.”
“How come, sport?” Melanie asked.
“I thought it would be a good idea for him to see the good side of what he’s been able to accomplish,” Candace added.
Candace caught Melanie’s eye. Melanie understood Candace’s motivations immediately.
“Yeah,” Melanie said. “Let’s get some positive feedback from a real, live patient. That should justify all this hard work and give us a boost.”
“I think it will make me feel worse,” Kevin said. Ever since getting back to the lab, he’d been trying to concentrate on basic research to avoid facing his fears. The ploy had worked to an extent until his curiosity made him call up the Isla Francesca graphic on his computer terminal. Playing with the data had had an effect as bad as the smoke.
Melanie put her hands on her hips. “Why?” she asked. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s hard to explain,” Kevin said evasively.
“Try me,” Melanie challenged.
“Because seeing him will remind me of things I’m trying not to think about,” Kevin said. “Like what happened to the other patient.”
“You mean his double, the bonobo?” Melanie asked.
Kevin nodded. His face was now flushed, almost as bad as it had been at the commissary.
“You’re taking this animal-rights issue even more seriously than I am,” Candace remarked.
“I’m afraid it goes beyond animal rights,” Kevin said.
A tense silence intervened. Melanie glanced at Candace. Candace shrugged, suggesting she was at a loss.
“Okay, enough is enough!” Melanie said with sudden resolve. She reached up, placed both hands on Kevin’s shoulders, and pushed him down onto his laboratory stool.
“Up until this afternoon I thought we were just colleagues,” she said. She leaned over and put her sharp-featured face close to Kevin’s. “But now I feel differently. I got to know you a little bit, which I must say I appreciated, and I no longer think of you as an icy, aloof, intellectual snob. In fact I think we are friends. Am I right?”
Kevin nodded. He was forced to look up into Melanie’s black, marble-like eyes.
“Friends talk to each other,” Melanie said. “They communicate. They don’t hide their feelings and make others feel uncomfortable. Do you know what I’m saying?”
“I think so,” Kevin said. He’d never considered the idea his behavior was capable of making others uncomfortable.
“Think so?” Melanie chided. “How can I explain it so that you know so!”
Kevin swallowed. “I guess I know so.”
Melanie rolled her eyes in frustration. “You are so evasive, it drives me bananas. But that’s okay; I can deal with it. What I can’t deal with is your outburst at lunch. And when I tried to ask you what’s wrong, you gave some vague comment about ‘overstepping the bounds’ and then clammed up, unable to talk about it. You can’t let this fester, whatever it is that’s bothering you. It will only hurt you and impede your friendships.”
Candace nodded agreement with all that Melanie had expressed.
Kevin looked back and forth between the two outspoken and tenacious women. As much as he resisted expressing his fears, at the moment he didn’t think he had much choice, especially with Melanie’s face inches away from his own. Not knowing how to begin he said: “I’ve seen smoke coming from Isla Francesca.”