Shout out to my "Guest" reviewer. They've been reviewing many of my stories over the last year or so, but I can't respond to guest accounts, but I'm glad you've been enjoying my stories about our favorite couple! Your continued support means so much!
And a reminder for this and some of the upcoming chapters, I tried to keep the medical stuff believable, but I'm no expert so if you are and see something that's inaccurate, consider it "creative liberties."
The next day, they arrive at the clinic. It's a very modern looking building amongst many older looking ones. Linka stops on the sidewalk and looks up at the structure.
"A lot of money went into building this clinic."
"It definitely stands out," Wheeler agrees. "Did you read any of the testimonials on the website?"
"Da…it is encouraging. It is just…happening so fast."
"You don't have to make any decisions today…this is just about getting some answers." He takes her hand and squeezes it. "You ready to go in?"
"Da."
They walk through the entrance and Linka reads the sign on the wall.
"We need to go to the 8th floor."
They step into the elevator and when she presses the button for the 8th floor, a computerized voice says something in Russian.
Wheeler looks at her in question.
"It said 'Welcome to Miracles Fertility Clinic. Going up'," she explains.
Something about computerized voices freaks Wheeler out. He always associates them with Mal and that's never a good thing.
Once the elevator stops and the doors open, the voice speaks again.
"Eighth floor," Linka translates.
She walks up to the receptionist and speaks with her in Russian. Her tone sounds frustrated.
She turns to Wheeler and says,
"We should have made an appointment. I do not know why I did not think of that. We drove all this way for nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Well, she said we could wait to see if there is a cancellation…but we could be here all day and leave with nothing."
"Then we'll wait. But in the meantime, make an appointment for another time and we'll come back."
"You would be willing to make the trip again?"
"Yes, of course. As many times as we need to," he says as he wraps his arms around her and kisses the side of her head.
"Thank you, Wheeler," she says, tightening her arms around him. "I will see when the next available appointment is if I cannot be seen today."
"Alright, I'm gonna go have a seat and see if I can luck out and find a magazine that's in English."
"Ok…I will be over soon to translate, it not!"
Wheeler finds a spot in the busy waiting room where there are two empty seats. Looking around he sees several expectant mothers and their husbands. Definitely looks like this place has a high success rate. Linka should feel encouraged.
"Doctor, we have a problem."
"What is it?!" She snaps.
He brings up video of surveillance footage from the elevator and the waiting room.
"Planet pests."
"What? How did they find out about this, Mal?!" She asks as she grabs the computer screen and shakes it.
"I don't know Dr. Blight. Why don't you ask Anna, the receptionist?"
"Get her up here…NOW!" Dr. Blight barks.
A few moments later, the buzzer on the receptionist's desk goes off.
"Da?" She speaks into the intercom.
Wheeler and Linka look up, when the young lady leaves her desk and exits through the door behind her.
"She got called back to the doctor's lab," Linka tells Wheeler.
"Getting sent on a coffee run maybe?"
"Maybe. Weird that a receptionist would be needed in the lab though."
"Like I said, probably a coffee run…didn't I see a Starbucks across the street?"
"Da."
The young girl knocks on the door to the laboratory and enters.
"You wanted to see me, Doctor?"
"The blonde and the red head in the lobby…what do they want?"
"I believe she said her name was Angelina Kovaleva. She is here for the free consultation. I told her that she needs an appointment, but that she could wait to see if there was a cancellation. They drove from Vladimir. Our next opening is two days from now, so I made an appointment for her then."
"And what about the boy? Why is he here?"
"Support, I assume. They walked in holding hands and when she told him they would have to wait all day or come back, he said he would do whatever they needed to do, and then he hugged her and kissed the side of her head. To me, it looked like they were a couple."
"Interesting. Ok. You can go back to your desk. I'll call you if we can fit her in."
Once Anna leaves, Dr. Blight turns to Mal.
"So, the Planet punks plan to procreate?" Dr. Blight asks.
"Do you know what this means?" Mal says excitedly.
"If one of them is 'in a family way' that's one less we have to worry about. And if they're both looking to settle down and leave the team…two less!"
"Only one problem Doctor…we're not actually getting anyone pregnant…just harvesting eggs."
"Yes, and so far, we've had no success trying to create an army of radioactive mutant super soldiers. In theory, the eggs have been exposed to radiation since most of our suckers...errr, patients are coming in after being exposed to the radiation in Chernobyl. So have the sperm that we've collected…with a little help from science, a genetic mutation should be possible."
"Maybe some help from Duke Nukem would be more effective," Mal suggests.
"Well, we might have just been presented with a better opportunity…we either do what we can to get blondie knocked up and out of commission as a Planeteer, OR we get what we need from both of them and create our own little Fire and Wind babies. We can mould them into our very own polluters. And just think, years from now when we reveal who these kids really are…it will devastate them to know that not only were they unable to conceive children together, that they WERE able to reproduce, and their little spawns were raised by ME!"
"That is pure genius, Doctor…EVIL GENIUS!"
"I know."
"Assuming the girl's eggs are still viable. If she's already been told that she's infertile…"
"Stop being so negative! Get Anna back in here."
Several moments later, Anna is back in the lab.
"Tell Miss Kovaleva that we will be able to fit her in so that she doesn't have to make another trip back to Moscow. Doctor Morozov will do her consult. And give the boy some information on specimen donation and show him to a private room so he can…make his deposit!"
Wheeler was unable to find anything to read so he played games on his phone instead.
Linka rested her head on his shoulder and watched him play.
"You wanna try?" He asks
"Nyet, I am just watching you."
They look up again as the receptionist enters the room, approaches them, and speaks to Linka.
She smiles and thanks the young girl.
"The doctor will fit me in today considering we have traveled."
"That's great! Soooo…I guess I just wait here…I mean, if they're going to do any sort of…exam…I…you probably…well, that's pretty private."
"I will see what they plan on doing. I will have them come get you if there is just talking…although if it is all in Russian, there is not much you can do anyway."
"Well, like I said, I just want to be there to support you."
The receptionist says something to Linka.
"They are ready for me and said I will be in exam room number three if it turns out that it is all clear for you to come back with me."
"Ok," he says as he stands up with her, puts his hand on her shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "Good luck. Hope you get good news."
"Da, me too. Thank you," she says as she turns to him and kisses his cheek.
Once Linka has left the room, the receptionist hands Wheeler a cup.
"If you will follow me, I will show you to a private room."
"Uhhhh, for what?" He asks, even though he knows full well what he's supposed to do with the cup.
"You are here for fertility treatments, da? Your girlfriend is in a delicate situation. If she does have any viable eggs left, they will have to be artificially inseminated. We will collect your sample now, make sure all is well, and proceed from there."
"Umm, I'm not sure what her plans are…and we're just friends. I mean, if she can have kids, she might want to choose…her own…stuff. Another Russian, a musician, a rocket scientist…"
Remembering what her boss said about making sure they get a sample from the red head, Anna tries harder.
"Well, that is fine if she chooses to do that, but time is of the utmost importance in this delicate matter. If she does choose to go with your specimen, if we have it in stock and already tested, it could increase the possibilities of the procedure working…however, the longer we wait…"
"Ok, fine. Better to be safe than sorry…lead the way."
He follows her to exam room number two, right across the hall from the room that Linka is in.
"Here is a pamphlet with instructions."
"Umm, that's ok. I'm a pro," he jokes and laughs nervously.
She nods, not the first time she's heard that joke being made.
"There are magazines on the table and a video if you need it. Just push play. When you are finished, slide that little door in the wall open and leave it there. One of our lab techs will pick it up."
"Ok."
Once she leaves, Wheeler walks over to the table and looks at the magazines on it, then at the remote.
"Ew."
The thought of touching that after someone else has been in here doing the same thing he's about to do grosses him out. Instead, Wheeler pulls out his phone and starts flipping through his pictures. There are plenty of pictures of Linka. Some are of her skiing in Japan and the scenery, including her, in the hot springs. There are pictures of her smiling at the camera and posing jokingly and playfully with him as they take selfies during their safari; pictures of her in her bikini on the beach in Argentina, some of her happily playing amongst a group of penguins there. He recalls her educating him on the fact that not all penguins prefer the cold. He smiles when he gets to the pictures of her in the dress that she wore during their tango lesson…he thinks of that moment. How close he held her, the passion and emotion that the dance requires. The way her hair smelled as his cheek was pressed to hers, the look in her eyes when they made eye contact. He's never seen her so happy as he has the past week and a half. He imagines that same look on her face if she gets good news today, or if the procedure is done and it's successful.
That's all the incentive he needs to complete the task at hand, so to speak.
Once he's finished, he puts the lid on the cup, slides the door in the wall open, and can't resist having a look into the lab. He sees a doctor in a pink lab coat with her back to him. She's on the phone. The thing that catches Wheeler by surprise is that she's speaking English. He can't hear all of her conversation though.
"Doctor Morozov is examining the patient now," a computerized voice says. "Sounds like she's agreeing to the hormone injections and egg harvesting."
It's the same voice as in the elevator except in English and now Wheeler knows why that voice reminded him of Mal…because it IS Mal.
Blight raises her voice as she excitedly continues her phone conversation.
"Did you hear that Looten? It couldn't be more perfect. She just walked right into our clinic! Yeah, the hothead is here with her. Seems like they're ready to settle down and make mini Planeteers. Little do they know, they've just handed over their DNA to me so I can have some fun of my own!"
Wheeler takes the cup he's holding and puts it in his jacket pocket. There's no way he's leaving anything behind for Dr. Blight to experiment with. He continues to listen in on their conversation.
"Yes, it has been a very lucrative operation. All these desperate people willing to pay top dollar to have a kid and then after we've gotten what we want, we tell them, 'oh, I'm so sorry. There's always that chance that you'll fall into the 12% that aren't successful. Having those fake patients in the waiting room is very convincing as well."
He's heard enough. He leaves his exam room and bursts into the room across the hall and sees Linka on the exam table wearing only a gown, just as the doctor is about to inject her with a syringe.
"Wheeler?!" She exclaims. "They went to get you, but you were not in the waiting room."
"Get away from her!" He warns the doctor. "Linka, get dressed."
"What is going on?" She asks worriedly.
"I'll explain later. Just get dressed," he says as he picks her clothes up from the chair and tosses them to her. Then he turns to the doctor and yells, "YOU! GET OUTTA HERE!"
He gives her some time to change, but is anxious to get out of there.
"Are you decent?" He asks her before turning around.
"Da."
He turns around just as she finishes pulling her shirt down.
"Come on," he says as he grabs her by the hand and leads her out.
He leads her through the lobby and shouts at the people in the waiting room,
"You all should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Wheeler! Stop it! These people are…"
"Fake!" He presses the button for the elevator and waits for it to arrive.
When the doors open and Wheeler hears Mal speaking in Russian, he pulls Linka along with him and says,
"We're taking the stairs."
"Will you tell me what is going on?!" She asks.
"That voice…didn't it sound familiar? It's Mal."
"Doctor Blight's Mal?"
"Yeah, she's running this joint…with financial backing from Plunder."
Wheeler explains everything he overheard, how they're scamming innocent people who are desperate to have children, that the people in the waiting room were hired actors, and how Blight told Plunder how lucky they were that Linka had shown up and how they were going to use her eggs for experiments.
"Call the police. Tell them what I just told you," Wheeler instructs.
When the police arrive, they raid the office, pulling all the names of Blight's clients and comparing it to Blight's billing and bank deposits. They discover that not a single person has had a successful fertility treatment, unlike what the website states. Blight and her associates were caught trying to flee the building.
To Be Continued…