The drive to the hospital was short, and familiar to both women, Dr. Possible had worked here since she'd arrived in Middleton, and Kim had been here…nearly as often.
"Hello Dr. Possible." The desk nurse said, "Working late?" Then she looked over at Kim and nodded. "Hello Kim." She smiled, "Are you here to help out again?"
"No, we're going to do some tests, Marjorie." The nurse looked concerned, and Andrea smiled. "For a school project."
"Oh, good." Marjorie said. Kim had looked ok, but after all…
Moments later, they were in a lab, and Kim's mom had the pill out, in the plastic baggie that she had put it in. Before doing anything else, Andrea went and got a headset.
"Mom?"
"Sorry Kimmie, but if there is something nasty about this, we have to make certain this is admissible." She said, turning on the headset, and the video pickups in the lab.
"This is Dr. Andrea Possible, Chief of Neurosurgery at Middleton Regional Hospital. The time is 6:50PM, October 5th." She paused, and put the pill on a sample tray on the desk, not taking it out until she had put on a pair of surgical gloves. "I am examining a pill of unknown manufacture and composition to determine its chemical make up." She focused on the pill.
"The pill is blue, with no identifying markings of any type and is ten milligrams in weight. I am dividing it to provide a sample for chemical analysis." She continued, pulling out a scalpel, skillfully covering the pill with her other hand so even if it shattered, it would remain on the tray. It didn't, not being overly brittle, and soon there were two halves. "The color of the pill is the same on the interior, indicating that the pill has no coating and no differentiation of material." Andrea continued. One half went into a sample case, which she labeled, sealed, and placed in a cabinet, locking it with her code after she'd closed the door.
"Now what?" Kim asked. Her mother suddenly smiled.
"Now I have an excuse to play with the newest toy the hospital bought." She said, pointing to the machine that Kim had never seen before.
"What is it?"
"Full spectrum chemical analyzer." Her mother said, "five hundred thousand dollars worth."
"You're kidding."
"No, and Kimmie, believe me, it's worth every cent—comparing this to older ways of analyzing samples is like comparing a space plane to a hot air balloon." She carefully took the other half of the pill, and crushed it into a fine powder, before scraping it into a small sample tube, and inserting it into one of several access ports in the machine. "I didn't have to do that." Andrea said, "It can take lots of different types of samples, but this is faster."
"Now what?"
"Now? We wait." Her mother said. "It'll take at least five minutes to give even a preliminary reading." She paused, "And besides, it's been a while since we've had a mother daughter talk."
Oh. Kim mentally said.
"So, how are you and Josh getting on?" Andrea asked. "Has money gone to his head?" Kim shook her head.
"No, he's just really happy that he's going to be able to go to the college he wants."
"He's thinking ahead." Her mother paused. "What about you, Kimmie?"
"Well…" Kim paused, "I have the grades to go anywhere I want… but I'm trying to decide what I want to do."
"You not only have the grades, but you're working at a higher level than the other students." She paused, "You know that Mr. Barkin and some of your teachers have suggested that we have you take a few courses at Middleton University next year."
"They did?" Kim paused, "But that would mean…"
"Not full time." Her mother reassured her. "Besides, your father and his college friends to the contrary, there are more important things than learning." Kim giggled.
"I hope dad didn't hear you say that."
"Oh, he has…at length and volume." Andrea said. "Your father can be… a little naive about some things." She smiled, "Like the time he told you about the birds and the bees-"
"Mom!" Kim burst out, but then frowned. "He never did… you did." She paused, "Right when you got me my implant."
"Actually he tried…" She told her daughter. Kim thought and then groaned.
"Let me guess—the two hour talk about genetically altered honey bees…."
"Was supposed to be the lead up to 'the' talk." Andrea finished. "Your father…distracted himself." She shrugged, "Which, I have to admit may have been for the best—he would have never gotten you an implant."
"I don't think many girls have them." Kim said, her face reddening slightly. On the other hand, Kim's injury had led to lots of medical talks, so maybe she wasn't as embarrassed as she would have been otherwise. "When I mentioned it, I think Tara nearly dropped her drink, she was so surprised." Her mother's eyes narrowed at that.
"Better safe, than very sorry." Andrea said. "I do not understand some of those parents. It's mathematically certain that at least some of the parents started experimenting when they were high school age or younger, so why don't they realize their children could be doing the same thing." Kim didn't say anything, because, well, she didn't like to lie to her mother, and so she wasn't about to get upset at the thought that her mother thought some of the students were doing it.
Especially since, well, she and Josh were doing it. Sometimes though, she wondered if she'd fooled mom. Her mother had an unnerving way of looking right through you sometimes, nodding and agreeing….and making you wonder if she was nodding at how dumb you were for thinking you could pull the wool over her eyes.
"In any case, I convinced your father, that however important education is, it's equally important that you stay in high school for the social component of your education." She paused, "He had dreams of you going to college, a sixteen year old freshman… which wouldn't work."
"Oh?" Kim was surprised, she was certain she could do the work. Her mother confirmed that.
"It's not the school work," Andrea said, "But Kimmie—those college students are adults—how easy do you think it would be to make close friends with someone who lives on their own, has no parents keeping watch over them…and no curfew?
"I take it I would still…"
"Curfew? Oh yes." her mother said, eyes crinkling in amusement. Kim paused,
"That might make things a little…hard."
"I know—so I was thinking more along the line of one or two classes at college—and the rest at Middleton High." She smiled. "You get the higher education, and get to stick with your friends." Kim thought about not being able to work with the cheerleaders, or Ron, or not being able to have Josh in her classes…and then thought about how her dad would react if she had refused what he would have thought would have been such a wonderful opportunity… and the fact that Mom had, without Kim even realizing it, arranged to avoid any potential problems.
"You rock, mom." Kim said sincerely. There was a muted tone from the analyzer.
"That was fast." Andrea said, turning to the read out. "Now we'll…" Her voice trailed off. Kim didn't say anything as she peered at the readout.
Kim knew something about chemicals, and biology, of course, but she couldn't make heads or tails of the data streaming past, her mothers' fingers flashing over the keyboard, screen after screen of data going past. Moments later, Andrea looked over at Kim.
"Who took this, Kim?" Kim didn't even think about refusing, given the tone in her mother's voice.
"Tara."
"Do you have Tara's home number on your celphone?"
"Yes," Kim said, unnerved by the tone of her mothers voice. The last time she'd heard it had been when a man had had a heart attack in the diner where they'd all been eating. Dr. Possible had worked on him, performing CPR, and that same voice had cut through his wife's hysteria and quietly given orders of what to do until the paramedics had arrived. She gave the phone to her mother.
"Hello, Daphne." Andrea said as someone answered the phone. "This is Dr. Possible—Kim's mother. " She paused and continued, "No, I'm afraid things aren't okay… your daughter's been taking a memory enhancing drug, and I just ran a sample…" She paused, "No, it's not like normal drugs—it's… well I can't really tell you what it is yet, but I would feel much better if she could come to the hospital right now so we can do a workup on her blood and brain chemistry." She paused, "She's not home… I see. Can you ask her to…she left her celphone? A date? I see. She'll be back by 11:00?" Andrea looked over at the clock. "No. I'll still be here—and she should come in the minute she gets home—earlier if she calls you." She frowned, at something that had been said. "Actually… yes. I think it would be a good idea to call the police and ask them if they can find her, or at least do a drive by at some-" Kim was making frantic semaphore motions.
"Yes Kimmie?"
"She'd be at the miniature golf course or the movies—right now probably golf." Her mother looked at her, nodded.
"Daphne, Kim thinks she knows where Tara is—we're close so we'll see if we can pick her up. No. No, thank you."
"Mom…" Kim said, "What's wrong."
"It's not a vitamin, Kimmie." Her mother said shortly. "I don't know precisely what it is, but there were RNA strands, things that look like they might be some form of artificial retrovirus… Kim, I'm afraid that whatever it is could be very, very dangerous." She paused, "The only good news is that whoever made this pill isn't the one who made the drug." As Andrea said that, she and Kim were leaving, Kim for once having to work to keep up with her mother.
"Why not?" Kim asked.
"Because the stomach is one of the worst ways to introduce a drug into the brain—I'd say better than 99 percent of the material in any pills Tara took never survived the acid, and then you would have to breach the blood brain barrier…."
"So… how did it help her memory?"
"I'm not certain, Kimberly." Her mother said, "But…." She sighed, "I'm sorry Kimberly, I know you don't' want to get Tara in trouble, but this is now a medical matter…"
"I understand." Kim said quietly. Her mother had never been one to play the games some other parents did. If she thought it was this important, then it was. End of argument. "I just hope we're in time." Kim added as they got to the parking lot.
TBC.
