Chapter Three
The Laboratory Determination
On the third scrapbook Saturday, the girls met at the Fowler-Koster residence, Erik working at Disneyland that day, getting photos of happy families enjoying the holiday cheer. Bernadette arrived first, a plate of fudge in hand, happily seeing Amy made a variety of cookies, including Meemaw's recipe, and peanut brittle, a recipe Bernadette needed to remember to ask for, a specialty of Erik's mom. Of course, Howard would not be able to partake, but that would leave more for her.
As Amy set up the table for their scrapbooking, Bernadette looked at the couple's holiday decorations, smiling at the blending of Disney and Victorian England. Her gaze fell upon a framed photo on their bookshelf, one of the entire group at their June wedding along the Washington coast. Seeing Sheldon, his arm draped around Rosemary, Bernadette suddenly wished she could give him a big hug, not something she ever really wanted to give Sheldon, him being an ass the majority of the time. However, his unusual phone call to her in August saved her marriage to Howard, reconnecting them more intimately than before, and for that she was grateful.
The front door suddenly opened, and the women turned around to see Erik pulling out his key, walking into the apartment.
"Erik, get out!" screamed Amy.
Erik jumped at Amy's words. "Oh yeah…sorry." He stepped back outside the door, but kept it open a crack. Bernadette laughed at the ridiculousness of the couple.
"What do you want?" Amy asked.
"Forgot my other lens," he said. "Hey Bernadette!"
"Hi Erik," Bernadette giggled.
Amy walked into the couple's spare room/office and came out with a rather large camera lens. She handed it to Erik through crack in the door, leaned out to kiss him, then closed and locked it.
Amy turned to Bernadette, rolling her eyes and sighing. "Men." She returned to the table.
Bernadette shook her head, remembering the Amy she met years ago, comparing her to the one today. Incredibly awkward to still awkward, but someone Bernadette could actually consider a true friend, one who was a little more worldly, a little more open, not clingy or a pushover like she'd been for years. Of course, Amy was even more different after returning from Gabon. She and Erik both were. While Bernadette knew about the Kosters' Operation Full House, she felt something else gnawed at the couple. While Amy told them stories of Gabon over the past few weeks, she continually referenced reconsidering her research, a huge move since Bernadette knew Amy now pursued tenure.
A knock sounded and soon Penny joined them, bearing wine. After pouring the glasses, the girls sat down and began work. Bernadette immediately noticed Amy had forsaken the wine in favor of a glass of soda. Precaution or had her and Erik succeeded? The afternoon passed without Amy mentioning any hints towards pregnancy, so Bernadette concluded Amy was just being careful. Watching Amy throughout the day, Bernadette again marveled at the changes in her. Empowered, yet uncertain. She wondered what was to come for her friend.
Midweek, Raj found himself sitting across from Amy in the Caltech cafeteria, the neurobiologist having joined the three men for a morning tea and muffin, set to check out her lab later in the day. Having not been around Amy in person for quite some time, they filled her in on their recent projects.
"Well it is strange to be back here," said Amy, picking at her half-eaten muffin. She sighed. "I'm having second thoughts about returning to my research. Well, second thoughts about my past research too."
"Didn't you just submit that article?" asked Leonard.
"Yes…but…I don't know," Amy said, Raj noticing her seeming distant. She looked up at them. "Want to come to the lab with me?"
"Sure," the men said in unison, and they headed toward the neurobiology labs.
"So Kripke and Sheldon are in a Twitter war again," said Howard, scrolling through his phone while walking. "I think Sheldon will…"
"Amy, are you okay?" asked Raj, stopping to look at her.
Amy leaned against the wall, one hand on her head, the other on her stomach. "I don't think that muffin settled well with me," she said. She tossed her lab keys to Raj and dashed off to the restroom. "Meet you guys at my lab."
The men entered Amy's lab, turning on the lights, looking around. Everything was neat and tidy, Amy's students having kept things in prime condition. Raj smiled at the framed photo of Patricia the chimpanzee, remembering the day he met Erik, who'd brought the gift to his future wife. Erik made a nice addition to their group of friends, and they'd resumed their usual gaming nights, glad to have a fourth person again with Sheldon's schedule now quite erratic.
Messing around with the beakers and microscopes, Raj looked toward the lab door worried. "I hope Amy isn't getting sick. She loves the holidays and that would be a bummer for both her and Erik."
"She's probably just not used to the university food," laughed Howard. "She needs to build up an immunity again."
Amy returned to them looking quite a bit better. "Sorry. Think it was the muffin." She looked around the lab. "Wow, it just feels strange being back here."
"The place looks great," said Leonard. "You have a nice group of students. What's your next research study?"
"I don't know!" cried Amy, sounding exasperated, surprising the group. Everyone pulled up stools to the counter, and Amy put her head in her hands. "I don't think I can continue research how…with…well, with the animals."
"Amy, Caltech gets the special licenses from the government to do the testing," assured Leonard. "Everything is legal and sound."
"Yes, I know, but I…I saw how they live. And thinking how they live here…what we do to them…and…that day," she stopped, studying the counter.
"What day?" asked Raj. "Amy, did something happen in Gabon?"
Amy nodded.
September 2016
Amy smiled out the window of the SUV, watching the world go by. Louis and Joseph sat in the front, Louis driving, while Khalid sat across from her, talking away to the journalist about a shared love of soccer. The three men planned to meet with a developer in a nearby village who was planning affordable housing for local residents, small farms and such. Amy hadn't been out of the forest in weeks and decided to tag along. Now early afternoon, the group headed back to the camp, taking an old logging road into the jungle, hoping to catch a glimpse of some animals.
"So Amy, you thinking about going into zoology after this?" asked Joseph. "Jill told me that…"
His voice faded away, and Louis slowed the car down. Amy glanced around the seat toward the windshield to see several men standing in the road ahead of them. She noticed Khalid looking out his window and saw men there as well. The car came to a stop, and both her and Khalid turned around to see people emerging into the road behind them.
"Shit," she heard Louis say. "Hunters."
"Don't look, Amy," breathed Joseph.
But it was too late. Only a couple yards from where she looked out the window were several cages, younger chimpanzees inside, some frantically crying, gripping the bars, others lying in a miserable state. A wheelbarrow sat near the cage, a couple of dead chimpanzees inside, all adults. Fixating on the wheelbarrow, Amy felt her heart almost stop. Her gaze shifted up to a shirtless, barrel-chested white man standing beside the cages, rifle slung across his back. He stared right back at her.
"Poaching operation," Joseph whispered. "They kill the chimps for bush meat, usually the older ones so they can capture the little ones for the black market."
The men were moving in from all sides, a group of mixed ethnicities, all holding some firearm, a couple with crossbows.
"Okay, we need to take care of this," said Louis. He emerged from the car along with Joseph, approaching the men in front, speaking rapidly in French and switching to another language Amy didn't recognize, perhaps a tribal tongue, Amy remembering half of Louis' family came from western Africa.
Unable to take her eyes off the dead chimpanzees, several things occurred to Amy over the course of a few seconds.
First, Amy realized she was the only woman around. The sudden thought terrified her. Second, she thought about the numerous weapons within their vehicle: a pistol in the seat pocket, a rifle in the storage space beneath her feet, a machete mounted on the seat in front of her, an ever useful tool when navigating the forest. Flight would not be an option – they would need to fight. Amy felt her adrenaline beginning to rise, the blood pumping in her ears, the sound almost overpowering the voices of Louis and the hunters, who seemed to be in an escalating argument.
Her final thought went to Erik. What if something happened to her? What would happen to him? He'd lost Aurora in such a horrible way, would he lose his wife as well?
"They won't hurt us," came Khalid's shaking voice, small beside her. "They won't kill us. It would cause an international incident."
Amy looked over and saw he had the pistol in his lap. She discretely pulled the other one from her seat pocket with one hand while taking Khalid's hand with the other, entwining their fingers. He was shaking but seemed to calm a bit under her touch.
Amy looked again at the chimps, wondering if any that she worked with were once babies in cages, looking at their dead mothers who were soon to be bush meat. Her heart continued to knock in her chest as she listened to the men talking. How had she ended up here, in the middle of a tropical forest, a gun in her lap? Just a year ago she was happily at Caltech, reveling in the new funds she'd received for her research, moving in with Erik. Two years ago, she'd sat eating takeout in Sheldon and Leonard's living room, laughing with her friends. Now she sat along a secluded jungle road, witnessing human nature at its worst, sick to her stomach about her possible participation in it, terrified about what these men might do to her and her friends.
Talking stopped and Louis and Joseph reentered the car, Louis turning the SUV back on and flipping the car around rather roughly, speeding back the way they came. He drove almost dangerously fast, the car bumping violently over the rough road. Khalid still gripped Amy's hand tightly.
After a few minutes of silence, Amy finally spoke, "What happened?"
"They are an illegal poaching group. From the looks of it, an international black market conglomerate," said Louis. "I simply told them we are ecotourists and promised not to expose them. I told them I was your guide. By the way, Joseph is your husband, Khalid a guide-in-training."
"Hey wife," laughed Joseph nervously.
Amy also laughed nervously but then felt angry. "God, I wish we could do something. Put their faces up for all the world to see."
Louis glanced in the rearview mirror at Amy. "Oh we will."
"What?"
"I have three cameras rigged to this car, one mounted on the seat behind you, the other two built into the outside mirrors," he said. "When I did the documentary on L.A. gangs, I learned this trick. No audio, but the visual should do."
"I didn't think we'd run across poachers," said Joseph. "Gabon seems to be doing better than some other countries in keeping things in check. Still, the forests are dense and people are careful.
"We'll get some footage to the local authorities before plastering their faces all over the big screen," said Louis, his voice triumphant. "Assholes."
Amy nodded, knowing assholes to be too mild a word for the criminals. She felt an almost euphoric elation that the poachers would be exposed for their crimes. Then dizziness took over, the magnitude of experiencing so many extreme emotions in such a short time now taking its toll.
The group took twice as long to return to camp as originally planned, since they needed to back track. When they pulled up, she saw Erik emerge from their tent, his usual smile growing as he walked toward her. She leaped out of the car and ran toward him, crashing into him, tears finally starting to fall, her whole body shivering against him. She felt a sudden weakness overtake her and an intense relief at being in his arms. She looked back to see Khalid emerge from the back seat of the SUV, looking distraught, leaning against the vehicle. Cassidy approached him.
Soon, the entire camp learned of what happened, Louis, ever the storyteller, pulling out the hidden cameras and plugging them into the nearest laptop. Throughout the story, Amy watched Erik's face continue to fall until she saw her husband look as sick as he did during one of his anxiety attacks.
Camp activity resumed like normal, and that evening, Amy let all her emotions gush out to the increasingly quiet Erik as they lay in bed. The dead chimpanzees, the black market of animal trade, the policies surrounding animal research, and the blind eye she knew the research community took, including herself. These were endangered animals, cousins to humanity. She was soon up, pacing around the tent, processing things aloud, Erik watching her in the dark. By the time she laid back down and drifted off, she realized he hadn't spoken at all.
The next day, Amy and Erik walked out to the lagoon to see the troop, resuming her observations, Jill already out there early morning with her own husband, who was going to be sketching for the day. Erik still remained quiet, which worried Amy. One thing about them, from the very first day they met, was their connection, their ongoing conversation about everything. She stopped mid-path, forcing him to stop as well.
"Erik, everything is okay. I'm okay. I'm here," she said firmly.
He looked at her, the intensity of his hazel eyes piercing her. He suddenly grabbed her shoulders and spoke quickly. "Jesus Christ, Amy, you could have been killed! They could have raped you and murdered you and…and…if I had lost you, I wouldn't be able…just…good God." He sunk to the ground in front of her, now sobbing.
Amy sat in the middle of the path with him, and the couple wrapped their arms around each other. "Erik, that didn't happen. And…"
"I'm never letting you out of my sight again. Ever," he cried into her hair.
"Okay, that won't work," she said softly. "It's going…"
"I lost Aurora. I can't lose you, Amy. I can't," he whispered.
Amy began to cry as well, thinking about Erik's pain. "Erik," she finally said. "If we're going to be a globetrotting adventure couple, we're going to encounter dangerous things. But I promise, we'll always find our way back to each other."
She felt Erik nod slowly.
"And you need to let me out of your sight. I'm not peeing in front of you. We're not at that point in our relationship," she said.
Erik laughed and pulled away. "Not yet. But give it a few years." He looked at her and smiled sadly. "Okay, I know we need to live our lives and sometimes things happen, but…well…I don't think I could live without you, Amy. You're a part of my soul now."
Amy wrapped him in her arms again, tears flowing at his words. They stayed on the ground like that for several more minutes before continuing to the lagoon.
Amy finished her story and looked up at Leonard, Raj, and Howard, all wide-eyed.
"Holy shit, Amy," said Leonard.
"That's terrifying," said Raj.
Amy just nodded.
"Wow, honestly Amy, who would have ever thought Sheldon's doormat girlfriend would be in the jungle ready to go all Rambo on some poachers' asses," laughed Howard.
Amy and the others looked at him.
"Howard," Amy said. "That's not funny. You have no idea what the hell you're talking about, so shut up."
Leonard and Raj both smiled as Howard looked down, ashamed.
"So, you're not coming back to Caltech?" asked Raj.
Amy looked off in the distance for a moment, coming to the realization she'd made her decision about work already, weeks ago.
"No," she said with finality. "I'll still teach the courses I committed to and advise the students I currently chair, but no research here. No tenure. I have set up to work with the local zoo and also head down to San Diego once a week to work on their conservation projects. A lot of neurobiologists work in zoology, behavior studies, and I have a unique and valuable perspective."
"And Erik thinks so too?" asked Leonard.
"Yes, he's excited. Both of us are on new paths," she said, then smiled. "But we're getting there together."
The men smiled as Amy guided them out of the lab, turning off the light, and walking with them to their own offices.
Across town, at Louis' studio, Erik studied the footage of the poachers. Watching the silent video, knowing Amy sat just feet away from the camera capturing those images, made him sick to his stomach. Glancing up at the storyboard of the chimpanzee movie that he and Louis had worked on, he felt this footage would be good with voice overs with everyone present at the scene. Amy was set to come in the following week to record while Khalid and Joseph already sent over MP3s.
He knew Amy was at Caltech today visiting her lab as well as their friends. He also knew Amy was not going back to her addiction research, even though she said she was undecided, and he couldn't be prouder. She'd fell in love with working in the field, and Erik had never seen her so alive, so dedicated. Sure, her excitement about her work, her intelligence, first attracted him to her, but now she seemed driven in a way that was contagious to him. She wanted to use her work to make change, and although she abandoned the idea of tenure, she was using that brilliant mind to make the world better. And she was his wife now, and honestly, her drive just made her hotter than he already found her.
Erik still needed to work out the idea of almost losing her. He'd resumed seeing a counselor, every other week, talking about his continued struggle with anxiety. But overall, his outlook on life, on everything, continued to be better than it had since his college years, and he had his wife, his friends, his family, and his new work to thank. He'd shared at his last session he and Amy's pursuit at a family, rambling about his concern about his anxiety affecting his parenting, wanting to be a good dad, reflecting on his own father. His therapist kindly laughed, assuring him parenting in general caused anxiety, he and Amy shared a deep love that would support a child, and finally, to just take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.
Glancing at the clock, he realized he needed to leave soon in order to beat traffic to pick up Amy's Christmas gift. Although he felt pretty sure nothing would top last year's engagement in Paris, he wanted to get her something special for their first Christmas as husband and wife. Saying good-bye to Louis, he hit the road.
Amy arrived home early evening, carrying a bag filled with some holiday purchases. After leaving Caltech, she met Penny and Bernadette for a late lunch near their company and stopped at a couple of stores on the way home. She felt exhausted, even though the day had been mostly relaxing, fun activities.
She opened the door to their apartment to a rather strange sight. Erik lay on the floor, his head under the Christmas tree, him only visible from the chest down. Honeybee lay under the tree with him. Loud rap music came from their speakers.
"Um, Erik?" Amy asked loudly over the music.
"Oh, hey babe," came his voice from under the tree.
Amy walked over to turn down the speakers before laying on the floor next to her husband, her head now under the tree as well. She looked over to see the camera plastered to his face, clicking away as he took pictures. He stopped and leaned over to kiss her.
"Just wanted to get a different perspective of the tree, something to play around with on Photoshop," he said as Honeybee crawled across him to lay next to Amy. "Amy, today was the best. I got your Christmas gift and when I got home, I found out Kanye dropped a surprise Christmas album. Of course, I downloaded it right away, and I'm planning my next karaoke performance."
Amy grinned and rolled her eyes dramatically at Erik. While he loved hip hop, Kanye in particular, Amy never warmed up to the genre. Still, he put up with her Neil Diamond obsession, so she half listened to rap. She was a supportive wife, after all.
"Can we turn it off in a bit?" she asked. "Not that I don't love Kanye…"
"Um, you don't," laughed Erik.
"But I bought a book of modern Christmas carols for the harp, and I'd love to play," she finished.
"And I would love to listen," he said, again snapping a few photos. "Does it have 'All I Want for Christmas is You'?"
"I think so."
"I love that song. You'll sing along?"
"Not as good as Mariah," giggled Amy.
"Better, baby. Better. How was Caltech?"
"Okay," she paused. "Going back made me feel like I'm making the right decision with the research."
"You are, Amy. You feel it in your gut?"
"Yes."
"Then you are," he said, turning to look at her. He had pine needles in his blonde hair. Hmmm…he'd probably smell like the Christmas tree later, like the outdoors, but not dirty, fragrant and sexy. Someone needed to investigate that as a cologne fragrance.
"I'm tired," she said suddenly, feeling sleepiness take over.
"Hey, I'll make dinner, you lay on the couch and watch cheesy holiday movies," Erik said. "Making a career altering decision is exhausting."
The couple moved out from under the tree, and Amy curled up on the couch under a blanket, Honeybee joining her. She listened to Erik work in the kitchen while half-watching some Hallmark movie starring Candace Cameron-Bure. The actress made her smile, Amy remembering her from Full House and thinking of her and Erik's operation. She drifted in and out, comfortable in the warmth of their home and happy with her career decision.
Author's Note: Damn, I can't believe we have to wait a whole year before the surprise release of Kanye West's Christmas album.
In the next chapter, Amy and Erik make a life-altering decision while under the gaze of dangerous predators.
Hope you are enjoying the story. Please share your thoughts. Take care!
