Chapter 9
In his apartment over Jakes, Dr. Ian Devlin was deep in thought about the next shipment he was supposed to receive. Being a doctor, he felt guilty about what he was doing, but when he thought about the money that he was getting paid, the guilt somehow melted away. He knew people were wondering why he was staying at Jakes, when there were nicer places to be, like the Metro Court or the Port Charles Hotel. He'd needed to stay somewhere where he'd be left alone and no one was too curious about anyone else. He wasn't too concerned about what people thought, let them wonder, he had more important things to worry about. He had become a doctor because it was what was expected of him. His parents were both medical geniuses; his mother and father were respectively among the top cardiologists and neurosurgeons in the world. That's how he had met Patrick Drake. Their parents had traveled in the same circles and when they were younger, Patrick had become like a brother to him. Over the years, they had gone their separate way, Patrick to New York, and him to California and had lost touch. Part of the reason he had agreed to take this job in Port Charles was because he'd known that Patrick was at General Hospital. Doing what he did, he didn't have many friends because you couldn't trust many people. Patrick knew nothing about his other job and he wanted it to stay that way, but as much as he wanted to see his childhood friend again, nothing was going to get in the way of the job he had to do.
Across town at his penthouse, Jason opened his door to Robin who had called on her way over. "Come in" he says and walks over to the couch where he gestures for her to sit down. "You sounded urgent on the phone, I'm guessing you found out something about the pills?"
Pulling the folder out of her purse, Robin hands it to Jason "I did some preliminary test on the bottle that you gave me, and I found out that they were literally sugar pills" Seeing his quizzical look, she attempted to explain further "Have you heard of the placebo effect?"
"That's when doctors give their patients medicine that doesn't do anything, right?"
"Kind of, it's a medical intervention that doesn't affect the recipient physiologically, but leads them to believe that the intervention may improve their condition, it's used mostly on hypochondriacs. The placebo is the actual pill they give the patient. It's not completely ethical, but doctors sometimes use it in extreme cases, especially physiologist." Pausing to clear her throat, she continued "It's usually done in a controlled environment, with precautions taken."
"Ok, so are you saying that there's some kind of experiment going on at GH?" Jason questioned her
"That's just it, if any of the doctors were doing an experiment, they would come to either me or Dr. Silverberg. It's standard procedure to have a Pathologist on standby, just in case something goes wrong."
"Aren't Sugar pills supposed to be harmless?" he asked getting up to go into the kitchen and get her a glass of water
"That's the idea" she took the water from him, took a sip, and continued, "The placebo is made of substances designed to have no effect, but when it's not used properly, it can be dangerous. If you think about it, there's really no such thing as an inert substance. For instance, if you take in too much sugar, your body's going to have a reaction, especially if you happen to have an insulin disorder."
"Ok, I get that, but even if one of the doctors were conducting an experiment without your knowledge, why would they try it on Spinelli, he just hurt his foot, what could that benefit?"
Putting down the glass, Robin grabbed his hand "that exactly what I was thinking, so I pulled random meds from different doctors and had them tested too, and guess what?"
"Same results" at her nod, he rationalized, "So that means, the problem could be the distributor," Jason reasoned
"See that was my next thought, so while the pills were being tested, I did some checking of my own. None of the doctors whose meds I tested, purchase from the same distributors."
Scrubbing his hands over his face, Jason rationalized "so the only other explanation is that…"
"Someone at the hospital is switching the meds" Robin cuts him off. "I've thought about it since I got these results today Jason, and I can't think of anyone who would do something like this." Standing up to walk over to the window, she turned to him "Do you have any idea what could happen? People could die because they aren't getting the medication that they need. I don't get it, why would someone do something like this"
"That's what I'm going to find out." He said walking over to her and laying a hand on her shoulder
Turning around to face him, she tilted her head to one side and looked up at him "Don't you mean we?" she said before he could respond "and don't tell me it could be dangerous Jason, this is my hospital, some of these patients are mine and I am not just going to sit back and let someone hurt them." she kept on "besides, you don't have full access to the hospital" at his raised eyebrows, she shook her head "I don't even want to know, the fact is you're going to need someone inside the hospital to help you and since I'm already involved, you might as well accept that it's going to be me."
"GH is a big hospital, Robin, finding out who it is could take sometime" he said trying to dissuade her, knowing her though, he shouldn't have wasted his breath.
"I'm not going anywhere" she looks at him expectedly
"Fine, but you have to do as I tell you Robin, this can be dangerous and whoever is behind it, will probably do anything to protect themselves" pausing to study her "that's why we can't tell anyone"
"Jason, we're going to have to tell Alan, he's the hospital's chief of staff, and this can hurt the hospital, he has to know"
"If you tell Alan, he's going to want to call in the police, and no offense, but the PCPD doesn't know how to do anything quietly, they will just rush in and send out warning signals to whoever is behind this"
"I'll talk to Alan, trust me". She stood up. "I'm going to go over there now, the sooner, the better"
He stood and walked her to the door, "I trust you, I know better then any one how well you can handle yourself".
…
Ringing the Quartermaine doorbell, Robin was nervous. She knew that Alan had every right to call in the police, but she hoped that he wouldn't. She had come to his home because she didn't want to have this conversation at the hospital. As the door opened, she noticed her phone ringing, but ignored it and turned to the door.
"Hi Alice, she called to the Quartermaine "butler". "How are you?"
"Ms. Robin, come in, I'm well, how are you?"
"I'm doing ok" she shook her head, walking further into the room she looked around "wow, this place hasn't changed much since the last time I was here". Turning back to Alice, she smiled "I'm here to see Alan, he should be expecting me"
"Yes, Mr. Quartermaine asked me to show you to the parlor when you got here" she said as she lead Robin to the entryway of the parlor. "Ms. Robin's here, she announced to Alan.
"Thanks Alice, he replied "Come in Robin.", "sit" he said walking over to the drinks on the table "would you like something to drink?"
"Just a glass of water please" she cleared her throat.
Bring the water over, Alan sat next to her on the couch, "now what is this about, you sounded anxious on the phone"
Taking a deep breath, she explained what she had discovered over the past few days. She also explained her and Jason's suspicions and the information that he had given her. When she was finished, she stopped and looked tentatively at Alan.
"Robin, why are you just now telling me this?"
"I'm sorry Alan, I just wanted to be sure before I came to you" she could tell that he was angry and trying to hold it in.
"I understand, but don't let it happen again, now what you are telling me is that you and Jason think someone who works at the hospital could be behind this?"
"Yes, that's why I wanted to talk to you here" she put down her glass "Alan, I know that you are going to want to call in the police, but I need you to give Jason and me some time to work on this." Reading the skeptical look on his face, she continued before he could interrupt, "I love my uncle Mac, and I trust him, but if we bring the PCPD in on this now, I guarantee whoever's behind this will know that we are on to them and cut their losses.
"Jason knows how to do this quietly and I can work from within the hospital. I can rebottle all of the counterfeit meds that are being distributed and keep an eye on the new ones." She knew that she was babbling, but she didn't want to stop in case he shot down her idea. When she opened her mouth to start again, Alan stopped her
"Is there anyone at the hospital that you trust to help you?"
"I trust Patrick, he wouldn't do anything to taint his reputation and I trust Liz, she cares too much about the patients to do something like this, but Alan I don't want to get either of them involved, I mean I know they would both be more than willing to help, but Patrick is impulsive, and we don't know how dangerous this is going to get. I don't want him doing anything crazy while trying to protect me. And Liz has two children to think about, beside, if I asked her for help, she would have to lie to Lucky and I can't do that to her."
"You're going to need help Robin, not even Jason can be in two places at once"
"I know and I… wait", she stopped, "does this mean that you are going to let us work the case"
"With conditions" Alan stood up and started to pace. "I may not agree with what my son does for a living, but I know that when he starts some thing, he will finish it. I also know that he won't let you or the hospital down. I'm going to give you guys two weeks to do what you need, then, I'm calling in the Police."
"Thanks Alan, we're gonna do our best" Robin stood up
"I know you are, now here are my conditions, you are to keep me informed and under no circumstances are you to deliberately out yourself in any danger? Understand?"
"I understand Alan, thank you"
After leaving the Quartermaine Mansion, Robin thought about what Alan had said. They were going to need a lot of help with the time frame he had given them. She trusted Jason and knew that he would do everything in his power to find out who was behind this, but Alan was right, he couldn't be at the hospital all the time. What she needed was someone who would have a legitimate excuse to be at the hospital and not draw suspicion to them self, someone who was observant and could take care of themselves, someone who she trusted to watch her back. She knew exactly who to call, she also knew that Jason wouldn't be happy with the decision she was about to make, but he would have to get over it. They didn't have a lot of time and they needed all the help they could get. Picking up her phone, she dialed the number and when the person on the other end picked up, she smiled "Somehow I knew you would be awake at this time of the night". After some small talk, she got serious, "I need your help, and I know that this is inconvenient, but can you meet me in my office at GH tomorrow?" "Yes, 10am is fine, I'll see you then". Hanging up, she got in her car and drove home.
I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, new job and the general busyness of life, but I will try to be more consistent with the updates. Please continue with the feedback, I really appreciate it. I hope you like my little surprise twist. (Who do you think Robin called?)
