Chapter 7
On a breezy Monday morning, Chloe found herself waiting in the office of Dr. Kyle Wiseman, a top rare disease specialist on the East Coast. She wasn’t hopeful; she just wanted to make her sister happy.
The Sunday before, Chloe stayed over at her sister’s house. It’s been a tradition when that happened, she made dinner for the family. And later at bedtime, she would read and tell the kids bedtime stories. She’d tell them scary stories that she and her sister had heard from their childhood years. Her nieces and nephew love her lasagna, but mostly prefer listening to her reading and telling them amazing stories. They’d be cuddling and hiding under the bed-sheets, but attentively mesmerized and immersed in her stories. When their adrenaline subsides, they’d all fall asleep soundless throughout the night. She has ways with kids, and her sister always tells her that.
Amy also never slept without her mother’s bedtime stories, even when Chloe traveled on a business trip. She read her daughter via video conferencing or over phone calls; Amy’s books were always packed in her suitcase, in case she ran out of new stories.
Chloe arrived at her sister’s house around four o’clock in the evening to cook dinner. Her recipe was always simple. But her family thought that she has magic to make her cooking taste so delicious and delightfully mouth-watering. She told them there was nothing special that she would do. She would make the ground beef sauce, and when the beef is fully cooked and turned brownish, she‘d add half a pound of chopped red onions, fresh tomato, garlic and a hint of basil and rosemary leaves. She only emphasized that the secret for the perfect lasagna lies on how much sauce and cheese is put between the pasta layers. And of course, she said, “You add love to that recipe, the perfect meal would be served, just-in-time.”
They woke up early in the morning.
Kindred University Hospital is located on the outskirts of Philadelphia, just off I-76 West, in King of Prussia. It sits on one-hundred acres of land and is the top two healthcare providers in the world, which specializes in abnormal psychological and rare genome disorder treatment.
Due to morning rush hour and a deadly multi-car crash accident, the road was blocked. So, the drive took Jaclyn about two hours to their destination. If Jaclyn hadn’t insisted on leaving early, they’d have missed it. The ambulance and fire trucks couldn’t even pass through until the traffic was halted and redirected about three exists behind.
The ride was quieter than usual, although the two sisters often share everything with each other. Chloe seemed lost in her own world thinking about Amy. Jaclyn has tried to keep her sister sane, since the bad news. An FM Classic Rock radio station was softly playing Amy’s favorite songs, which shredded Chloe’s heart like claws of a beast, for the songs added fuels to her burning pains.
Once they exited the highway, she pulled into the vast complex facility, although it was hard finding the actual building. After circling around a couple of times, they had to ask help from the hospital security guard, who then took them to the office. They parked the car in the public-parking outside, the main entrance. Then, they walked inside, passing the revolving door. The receptionist area was located directly in front of the main entrance, on the main floor. Jaclyn And Chloe went directly to the information desk.
”Welcome to KUH, may I help you?” Said a perky receptionist on the front-desk.
”Yes. We’re here to see Dr. Kyle
Wiseman,” replied Chloe.
“Last name, please?”
”Stark, Chloe Stark.”
The receptionist looked for, and found Chloe’s name in the hospital system, and the appointment was set for 10:30 AM.
”Please, take the second elevator to the fourth floor. His office is down the hall, on the left.”
”Thank you,” both said and took the elevator to the fourth floor.
When they got off on the fourth floor, the squeaky-clean floor was quiet. It felt like an asylum than a hospital. A door leading to the doctor’s office was locked, so they had to buzz the bell, and they were let in afterward. Once they passed the hall, they found the office labeled: Dr. Kyle Wiseman, MD.
They were greeted by the doctor.
“Please come, and have a seat,” said an older man with dark hair in his fifties. “I’m Doctor Kyle Wiseman. You must be Chloe Stark, and nice to meet you.”
“Nice meeting you as well,” replied Chloe.
She sat down, arching her back on the comfortable sofa.
“I studied your medical history, and I think we have some hopes for you,” Kyle said, straight to the point. ”We’ve completed some clinical trials on rare genetic disorders. The results have been promising and we’re also waiting on a few more to be completed in the next month or so. Once that is finished, you should be able to continue with your trial treatments.” He continued, “We just need to do some blood work to make sure that everything is in order.”
Chloe’s heart leaped, hearing the good news, although she wasn’t sure of anything.
”What’s really wrong with me though,” she asked, wondering, why her doctors didn’t refer her sooner if she had this option before.
“Well, genome disorder is very uncommon. But, it happens very rarely like your case. Your diagnosis shows what we’ve been studying for so long now. Basically, there are certain genes in our body that overproduce foreign enzymes. These substances then attack our organs. Sometimes it could be passed on genetically, but sometimes they are caused by a type of virus that triggers them. I ’ve read that you often travel outside the states. It is possible that you might’ve encountered this virus from another country. But we’re going to introduce a new helper-virus into your system to stabilize your lungs. The new virus enabler will slow down the fast-spreading attacks by cleansing the bloodstream.”
Chloe felt vibrant and relieved. She thanked her sister for bringing her to come and see Dr. Kyle. After she finished the blood work, she made the appointment immediately for her treatments to start. Then, they left the hospital to go home.
On their way back, they began planning about the future for Chloe and the bright lights ahead. Suddenly, her mind was clouded in sadness, for Amy’s image sparked on her face. Then Brandon and Harvey‘s names nagged her senses. Chloe still believes that angels don’t sabotage their lives and commit suicide. Amy was such an angel.
The test seemed promising, and maybe when this helped her cure her disease, she would be going after the person responsible for her daughter’s murder.