Bigger is Good 2
by dymondbolt
Well here's the next part of my story. Thank you all for reading my story, and for the positive reaction to it. and now with no further interruption I present...
As Doc got closer to the ICU waiting room he could feel the sound of heavy pacing through his feet. Suddenly the pacing stopped and he could hear a bass voice talking to the Head nurse say" Ma-am, I hate to be such a bother, but..."
The voice was interrupted by the Head nurse saying" Son I know how hard it is waiting for news. but I know that Dr. Marantz will come and tell you your friends condition as soon as he gets out of surgery."
Doc punched the button to open the doors just as the nurse was finishing. Doc says" Thank you nurse. That paints me in a better light than I see my self. He pauses as he turns to Sam.
Doc says, "Samson . Peter is alive and will stay that way for a while. But I need to talk with you about his condition. Lets go to my office, Ok?"
They start walking down a different hallway to Doc's office as Sam says, "Pete bein alive takes a weight off cause I thought I mighta hurt 'im when i pulled 'im outta the truck. There was so much blood an.."
At this point Doc cuts him off with, "Samson!" the Doc waits for Sam to look at him. Doc continues, "You saved his life ! You were giving him CPR as you brought him to the emergency room. With the strength you have you could have crushed his chest." at this Sam winces and looks like he's about to cry.
The Doc grabs his chin to get his attention. Sam opens his eyes as Doc says, "there is not one broken rib in his body and his lungs are fine. As far as I know you are not responsible for the accident and you did not hurt your friend." He lets go of Sam as he turns towards his office door.
Doc says, "Lets get into my office, I think we both need to take a load off our feet."
He puts a security card thru a reader and the door unlocks. As they enter Doc turns on the lights and goes to the fridge in back of his desk and gets out two and then thinking better of it, gets three nutrition sport shakes and hands two to Sam.
Sam says, "Thanks Doc I'm powerful hungry."
Doc sits as he says, "I'll bet! You haven't eaten for at least, what eight... ten hours?"
Sam has already finished one and before he starts on the next says, "longer than that. They didn't feed me much of anything in jail."
Doc seeing the speed that each drink is downed turns his chair around and pulls out the remaining nine from the fridge and puts them all on his desk near Sam. Doc says, "Here ."
Sam opens a third and says, "Thanks Doc. You know what a man needs." before downing a third.
The Doc says with a slightly worried face, "Yeah, like the truth."
Sam gets through number four and five before he pauses to say, "Truth? What Truth?" His eyes get bigger and he stands up to get closer as he says, "Pete's gonna be Ok, ain't he?"
Doc thinks, and not for the first time today, "boy is he big" but he says, "Sam. Have a seat why don'tcha? I don't get such a bad crick in my neck that way. " All the while smiling at the mountain of man looming over him.
Sam comes back to himself and sits as he says, "Oh. Sorry Doc. I didn't mean to frighten ya, really."
Doc replies, "I wasn't that frightened Sam (like Hell!) but what I have to tell you might make you mad at me; and that is the last thing I'd want, believe me."
Sam's face looks a bit confused as he says, "I'm getting confused. What truth?"
The Doc says, "I'll have to start at the beginning . When we first met."
Sam chimes in, "I remember."
Doc continues with, "when I told you my research was about athletics and sports nutrition... Well. That was a Lie. To keep my funding secret and the real nature of my research secret; the FBI and the Pentagon required that my research group act like were testing athletes for a sport drink."
All Sam could say was, "Wow, "as he downed another drink.
Doc thought, "I better take him to the cafeteria" and then thought better of that idea thinking, "I better warn them first or they'll have my hide!"
Sam set the sixth drink down empty with an, "AH ." before Doc continues with, "We are conducting basic research, but the kind with a specific goal in mind. Years ago I realized that the act of heavy exercise caused the body to damage itself. In a small way perhaps but over a large part of the body. I thought if there were a way to trick the body into thinking that major damage like the damage a burn causes, was really just like when we exercise, and then speed it up; we could save a lot more patients. With that kind of procedure, we could save a lot of people from the pain that surviving burns represent."
Sam seems to be getting most of this but asks, "Why would the FBI or Pentagon fund stuff like that?"
Doc looks down and then at Sam as he says, "If a soldier gets injured in the field, and he can heal fast; then he's not taking other men out of the fight to tend to his wounds. " Sam nods as if that makes sense.
Doc continues, "But that alone wouldn't have gotten their attention and money. My initial research showed that the procedure would also make people stronger and faster and, "...
Sam finishes with, "and bigger?"
Doc answers with, "Yep. It seems that seven out of ten get bigger. We just finished tests on baboons and of the thirty tested, twenty-one got bigger to some degree or another. It hasn't been tested on humans yet, but were ready to start."
Just then the intercom on the phone chirps. Doc hits the talk button and says, "Dr, Marantz here."
The intercom says, "Head nurse in ICU doctor. Your patient Peter . We just finished removing the breather tube per yours and Dr. Sanchez order and we slipped an O2 tube onto him and he woke up and asked for someone named Sam."
Doc just had time to hit the button and say, "Thanks, "before he had to run after Sam who had jumped out of his seat and run towards the ICU.
Doc got out his door in time to see Sam half way to the ICU doors. With the same rage he vented at Peter earlier that day he Bellowed, "SAMSON YOU STOP THIS INSTANT."
To his amazement Sam pulled to a stop and Doc was able to catch up and get in front of Sam. The words - WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME - were written all over Sam's face.
Doc just grabbed Sam's shirt and tipped his head up as far as possible to tell Sam, "Sam. You going in there and worrying Peter with what he might have done or you think you did is NOT GOING TO HELP Peter. " Sam's face crumpled up as he closed his eyes in sorrow.
Doc couldn't be mad at him any more. Doc loosened his grip on Sam's shirt as he says, "Sam hunker down a bit so I can talk to you. I'm not a big man."
Sam mutters, "Coulda fooled me. " as he lowers himself to the point he's practically on his knees.
Doc lets go as he says, "Thanks, "Sam sorta crosses his legs to sit down and he's finally eye to eye with Doc.
Doc leans in and puts his hand on his chest. Doc tells him, "Sam one thing that will help Peter Is YOU."
Sam looks directly into Doc's eyes as Doc continues with, "What will help Peter is knowing the FBI got the police to drop the false charges against you and that the university is paying for the repairs to the jail." Sam looked a little confused.
Doc says, "I'll be there with you to explain . But one thing you have to know is that he is not doing well. Surgically we did all we can, but for him to survive the week, Peter needs a liver transplant. The problem is he is an extremely rare tissue type and even with more people donating their organs after death, his tissue type doesn't come up but once a year if not once every two years. There's little hope of finding a donor in time."
Sam's face falls as he chokes out, "so he's gonna die anyway." Sam pulls his right hand up to cup the top of his head as his chin hits his chest.
Doc rubs Sam's head like he's a little kid and says, "Sam I told you about what I really do here for a reason." Doc's hand falls to Sam's shoulder as Sam's head tips up.
Doc says, "The work we've done here because of the blood you gave led to getting our procedure to work ."
Sam's huge hand moves to the doctors shoulder. Doc continues, "I believe that we can save Peter thru using the procedure on him." Sam's hand started to vibrate.
Doc tells him, "I have to tell Peter his condition and likelihood of finding a donor in time. Then I have to explain the procedure and the side effects along with the fact that it is experimental and he will be the first human to go thru it." Sam is nodding his head.
Doc says, "The problem with the procedure as it stands now, is that it involves a moment or two of pain. It is deliberate and necessary. With the serum comes the need to trick the brain into activating the healing effect. We give the patient a low level current thru the brain, a bit like electro shock therapy but one quarter the current. It is still painful. If I could do it any other way I would, but nothing else seems to start the process of healing. I'm telling you this because you being there will be good for Peter." Sam starts to get a slim smile on his face
Doc continues with a stern face, "But if you can't stand seeing that happen to peter or if you'll try to stop the procedure then we can't have you there when it's done. Now I know you're strong."
Sam tells him, "I'm strong. I'm real strong ." Sam really wants to be there for Peter.
Doc tells him, "I know you're strong. But you have to be strong for Peter . Strong for six seconds of Peter in pain, so Peter can survive this. Can you?" Sam nods his head a few times.
Doc continues with, "Because If you can then I think you being there when he has to go thru that pain will help Peter get thru it easier."
Sam didn't even question it. It sounded right. Sam says, "I can be strong for Peter. I can help him get thru this."
For the first time in the past half hour Doc got a smile on his face as he told Sam, "Damn right you can!"
Doc backs up a little as he says, "Now lets go see Peter."
As Sam starts to get up for a fraction of a second he starts to put his weight on Doc and Doc feels it. Along with the fact that Sam immediately stops and lets up. This amount of control is amazing to Doc. when Sam is standing he nods at Doc.
Doc turns towards ICU as he says, "So first you tell him."
Sam cuts in, "The FBI got the cops to drop the false charges against me."
Doc nods as he says, "And."
Sam continues with, "And the university is payin for the jail repairs."
Doc cuts in with, "I'll explain it's due to all the money my research brings into the university."
Sam says, "OH. Ok."
Doc finishes with, "I'll explain what's going on and the procedure, and if he agrees to it you let him know that you'll be there for him thru the procedure. OK?"
Sam nods yes but hesitates just at the doorway to ICU.
Doc turns to see Sam hanging back and says, "Sam . He's asking for you . " and smiles at Sam.
Sam brightens and says, "Yeah, he is, "and walks into ICU.
Well we're getting there. The next one finally gets Peter back into the story. Let me know how I'm doing on this. And Thank You for reading this story.