“Jerry Lamont told my boss that if your serum worked here, you would be making a beeline back to St. Theresa’s,” Dennis said. “And from what I see, he was right.”
“Good old Jerry,” Nick said.
“Dennis, Susan, I’d like to introduce you to the brains of our operation, Dr. Henry Shoo,” said Shelly. “I think you already know Barry.”
The plane trip back to Atlanta was spent mostly in silence. Shelly looked around and saw each of them deep in contemplative thought about what was transpiring in their lives—lives that might never be the same when they stepped off the plane in Atlanta.
“What are you thinking, Nick?”
“About the day my brother died, how my mother cried, and how my father tried to hide his pain. I’ve been thinking about my mother’s death and how she pleaded for the pain to be stopped and for the disease that was killing her to go away.”
Shelly patted his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned back, thinking about all the children she had lost as a doctor, and her time as a young patient, and Chucky. She pictured his face. Every time she saw Sal, she saw Chucky. She thought about what happened in the past seven days, how fast things had progressed, and how they had already saved a life. She looked at Dr. Shoo clutching the bag that contained the syringe that would hopefully save Mary. His dreams of being a renowned scientist were becoming a reality, and she imagined how proud his mom would be. If this had just been last year, his mother could have been saved. He’d told Shelly how proud she was when he became a doctor—the first in the family— and the touch of her hand as she lay dying.
She smiled when she thought of good old Barry, and how perfect that Dennis was flying the team to Atlanta. Even though she was petrified of flying in a small aircraft, at this moment, she was totally at ease. Dennis would keep her safe as they raced through the sky to save the life of an eight-year-old girl. She looked up into the clouds through the window and said a small prayer. She hoped with all her might that what they had discovered would hold true and give so many people their lives back.
“Well, look at that, a Presidential White Top in Atlanta,” said
Nick as they landed.
“A what?” Shelly asked.