Chapter 10

The drive to the hospital took longer than Rain expected. The roads seemed packed with traffic-officers, causing the usual speedsters to go slower than the designated speed limit. Speeding in the U.S was taken a lot more seriously than back home and getting a ticket for violating the traffic law on her visitor’s visa would not be keeping under the radar at all.

Pulling into the undercover parking area, she stopped at the boom where she retrieved her parking ticket and waited for the pole to lift. A dark blue sedan slowly drove past the entrance and then sped up again. She hesitated, sure it was the same one she had seen parked outside the front of Mrs. Brandon’s house. It was an old model, so what would the chanced be in the modern city of Los Angeles that there would be two of a kind on her route.

Her phone rang through the Bluetooth, startling her, and distracting her from her worries about the car. She gave a sigh as she moved under the boom—her day was overly busy already.

“Hello,” a female said, the unfamiliar voice speaking from through the dashboard.

“Yes,” Raine answered, while navigating the parking lot. She shifted her sunglasses to the end of her nose to get a better view of the parking area.

“This is Charlotte calling from the United States embassy in Washington.”

Raine’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’m calling for a Miss Vi… the woman on the other side tried, “Viviers,” she corrected.

“Ja, it is she,” Raine said, too tired to assist in the correct pronunciation of her surname.

“’I’m phoning in regard to your application for a visa extension,” she said. “We need some documents to support your sister’s health issues as they are currently preventing your visa agreements.”

“Oh, can I have a few days to gather them?”

“I’m afraid they are required urgently otherwise the process will not be completed by the time the…”

The mobile signal dropped as she headed underground and then came back briefly. “It is … by … week.”

Raine pulled into a spot close to the elevator entrance and cut the engine. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers summoning patience. Today, she hoped she could bring her baby sister home.

The hospital was crazy busy as usual. Raine sat in the waiting room, tapping her foot impatiently as time ticked on. The couple opposite her gave her a stare, not hiding the fact they were annoyed by her tapping foot. She stood, pacing the waiting room instead, which wasn’t probably what they wanted but she didn’t care. Her head was full of worry. To calm her nerves she engaged a calming technique - counted her steps from one side of the room to the other as she paced.

“Miss Viviers,” a nurse called.

“Yes,” she said, smiling that at last someone had managed to pronounce her name properly. She followed the nurse, who carried a thick file as she ushered Raine down the hall. The walls were a faint shade of yellow and the carpets a plush blue color, giving the hospital a more corporate feel. Certificates lined the walls, the overhead lights glinting off their glass surface, making everything sparkly.

Raine and the nurse stopped at the door of Doctor Vermaak’s office, and the nurse went in first, placing the file on his desk. Doctor Vermaak stood, extending his hand and inviting Raine to take a seat.

He “It’s good to see you, Miss Viviers. That will be all Daphne,” he instructed, turning to the nurse and nodding.

The door clicked behind them, and silence settled in the room as he waited for the nurse to be well past earshot. It was always an awkward conversation between the two of them, with the exact circumstances of the transplant having to be kept vague. Especially after the amount of money she had paid to get her sister bumped up the list so drastically. It was an unspoken secret shared, something they were better off not mentioning—ever. And it hung between them like a thick, smothering fog.

“So?” she said, fiddling with the zipper of her handbag.

Doctor Vermaak folded his hands on the desk before him. “I want to discuss some idiosyncrasies that have occurred with your sister post-surgery.”

"Idiosyncrasies?"

“Yes, she’s been displaying some rather odd behavior,”

“Odd? How?” Raine moved closer to the desk to rest her elbows on the polished surface.

He gave her a surprised look as she made herself conformable in his space.

“It’s normal in patients who have gone through such major surgery to suffer from some level of post-traumatic stress. However, it doesn’t normally transpire so quickly, or so severely.”

Raine shifted in her seat and laced her fingers together on the desk before her and he pulled back as she encroached his space more.

“Okay?” she said, drawing out the word in show of not quite understanding at what he was getting at.

“I suggest she has immediate intervention therapy,” he said, his eyes level to hers. There was no easy way to say it.

“Therapy?”

He nodded. “Now given your unique situation, I’m going to recommend someone who is in a position to help you out.”

He opened his drawer.

“I know you are both here on visitors’ visas right?”

“Yes,” she said, suddenly remembering she was meant to ask him about the report for the visa officials.

“At the time, we couldn’t get the required documents… I need a report?” Her pitch rose uncomfortably.

He nodded and knitted his fingers together again.

“Your medical-aid should cover a few sessions here in the States, if it had been with a conventional therapist. I am afraid the doctor I need you to take your sister to is a little out of town. And as she is still recovering, the travel might not be good for her.” He gave her a solid stare.

“Where is this therapist?” she mimicked the tone he used when he said therapist.

“His office is just outside Boston.”

She smiled, proudly. One of the many houses they owned across the world was in New York, which wasn’t too far away.

Their family had built their wealth from the ownership of many medium-sized companies ranging from coffee emporiums, vineyards, and corn plantations.

“It will cost you, as the process he uses is experimental.” His eyes met hers. “As I said, he is no conventional therapist.”

“We have an apartment in New York, and a cabin near Wharton state Forest…” She sighed. “I can always sell.”

“If you are willing to pay extra, perhaps he would take her for a few sessions in Colorado, I recall your parents having a cabin out that way too. But she’d have to heal a little more before traveling.” He smiled.

“How urgently does she need to see him?” she asked, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder.

“I don’t want to alarm you, Miss Viviers,” he said pausing as he contemplated how much to say to create urgency but not panic.

Raine loved the way he pronounced her surname, the hint of his South African accent wrapping around the letters.

“Please just give it to me straight.”

Her lips pulled into a pinch.

“You know when we came to you, it was our last hope. My parents believed in your work. Nothing can be as bad as going through a decade of illness, watching your baby sister miss out on a normal life. Living in hospitals for weeks on end. I’ve seen her close to death a few times. Whatever it is, we can handle it. Trust me.”

Vermaak nodded. “Yes, I’m sure you can.” His eyes crinkled in the corners as he smiled warmly.

“I am sensing you are withholding something about this experimental therapy?” She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with grilling the only one who can help her sister.

Moving closer to the table, he said. “Dr. Havenga developed a device for patients with Dissociated Personality Disorder. He is pretty sure he can isolate the different personalities and find their triggers in only a few sessions using this device.”

Her breath caught in her throat, and she coughed.

“Wait, what?” she cleared her throat.

“Dissociate what. This has never com…” she couldn’t finish her sentence, then changed gears.

“No.” she said bluntly. “You are saying my sister is schitzo?” She was positively outraged.

He sighed at the use of that term. “She is not, but the same methods used for such disorders, can be used to isolate the part of her brain that is causing the hallucinations, and then we can treat it as an entity on its own. Thereby eliminating the source, not just treating the symptoms as most conventional therapists do.”

She shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”

He placed the phone on speaker mode as it began to ring.

“So are you going to tell me?” she looked at the phone on the desk as it kept ringing.

His eyes glanced to the door as if suddenly anxious, then they moved back to Raine. “She’s displaying symptoms of high stress.”

“What kind of symptoms?”

“She’s started walking in her sleep.”

“Is that it?” Raine exclaimed.

His face remained straight, telling her he wasn’t done yet.

“She’s also talking in her sleep. It’s clear she’s having nightmares—and she’s irritable.” He paused. “She’s suffering hallucinations and her drawings …”

The line rang off and the doctor huffed. He glanced back to Raine.

“The sleepwalking has happened three nights in a row and last night, she went missing for nearly two hours.”

Her eyes flashed, “Two—fucking—hours!” she said, jumping up from her seat. She was furious. “Why didn’t anyone call me? Willow could have been lying somewhere dead for all anybody knew.”

“It’s nothing our staff can’t handle,” he began but she cut him off.

“Well, it clearly is something your staff can’t handle. Two hours! That’s ridiculous. I’m meant to be paying for the very best care possible.”

“Let me assure you, that it won’t happen again.”

“It better bloody not!” She wanted to tell him to go screw himself.

“Two hours?” she whispered to herself.

Could Willow have been at home last night? Raine shook her head. “No, it couldn’t be.” It was, after all, quite a trip from the hospital to the house, and Willow really didn’t know the route.

Doctor Vermaak had pressed the dial button again, glancing her over as she spoke to herself. The ring tone rebounded around the small office.

“Why this guy?” she asked. “Why do you think he can help?”

Vermaak shifted his eyes uncomfortably. “He is a bit of, what some would say, a… extremist when it comes to certain medical conditions.”

“That’s not selling it to me. He sounds unstable.”

Vermaak continued. “He’s developing a new program. I think your sister would benefit greatly…” His explanation was cut off as the ringing stopped and a voice came through.

“Greetings, Johan.”

“Bill! I trust you are well.”

“I am. To what do I owe this call old friend?”

“I’m calling to find out how your prototype is going?”

“Good. Good. All I need is a subject and I’m all set.”

“I have the perfect candidate for you, Bill.”

“Should I be scared?” he joked, obviously not realizing their usually private banter was being overheard by a client.

Doctor Vermaak licked his lips before he continued. “Are you heading to Maryland anytime soon? It’s that time of year right?” His eyes flicked to the wall calendar.

“Yes, actually, I’m heading down tomorrow. I’m super excited to get this project properly launched. The technology is second to none. Nobel Prize worthy, I tell ya, Bill.”

“How many can one man have?” Vermaak’s smile grew.

“You know me...”

Vermaak’s tone went flat as his eyes caught Raine’s.

“It’s urgent, Bill. I can’t think of anyone else who might be able to help this young girl.”

“Send me the files. I’ll get back to you right after I’ve taken a look. I can hear you’re excited about this.”

“She just needs help, that’s all. I believe your way is best for what she is displaying. She is deserving of a normal life, and I know you can give her that.”

“No worries. Leave it with me.”

“Thank you” Vermaak said, dropping the call with a satisfied look. Turning to Raine he said, “He’ll see her. I’m certain of it.”

Raine wasn’t sure how she felt about her sister being a guinea pig in some weird experimentation. “Is she in danger?” she asked.

“What exactly is the therapy that’s on offer, here?”

Vermaak’s face was free of any emotions as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. “At the moment, Willow’s subconscious mind is dominating her conscious mind, she is battling to differentiating between reality and fantasy.”

Raine’s head felt like it had drained of all blood, and the numbness spread to her limbs, making her feel impossibly heavy. “I hadn’t realized things were this bad. You said she was sleepwalking—not losing her mind!”

He stroked the bridge of his nose. “Hallucinations during sleep is a bit easier to deal with, but while one is awake…” He looked a million miles away as he spoke, like he was contemplating the facts himself.

Riane felt her throat tighten up; she cleared it to draw his full attention, hanging her head in her hands.

“Your parents…” he said, causing her to rise her eyes to look at him.

“What about my parents?”

“They were Mercury Hospital’s biggest donors. Because of your sister’s condition, we have some of the best transplant programs in the State. The medical equipment is, or at least was, top notch. They invested in us because they always hoped we would be able to cure her. And we have, or rather we have cured the original issue. But now things have… evolved with your sister’s condition, we’ve maximized our resources and we’re at the limit of what we can do for her here.”

“Is this about money? Do you need more money?”

He snorted. “We always need more money, Miss Viviers—but in the case of your sister, it wouldn’t make any difference to what we can do for her with her current … issues. We just don’t have the expertise, without drawing too much attention to our situation.”

“Oh,” Raine said, again feeling the pang of guilt rise up. “So it’s hopeless then?”

He touched her hand, and she didn’t flinch. He had known her since she had been a child. He and her parents had been great friends.

“Your sister, if she’s not caused too much damage to her system what with last night’s adventures, could be ready for release in a few days.” He gave a reassuring smile. “Do you have all the post-procedure lists?”

Raine gave a slight nod. “Yes, and the house is in order; all cleaned, bug and pet free.”

“Great.” He wrote something down on his pad and handed it to her.

Raine stood. Her head was reeling with the turn in events. Before she left the room, she turned. The conversation didn’t feel finished.

“My sister’s heart…” she began, wondering if it had anything to do with the presentation of Willow’s strange behavior.

His eyes met hers. “We agreed not to discuss this. It’s in both of our best interests.”

She wanted to cry at the pressure her guilt was causing. “I’m scared…”

With his shoulders squared he said sternly, “I’ve done this before, many times. I can assure you, settle your guilt before it not only gets us into trouble, but the dozens of families who have loved ones who are in desperate need of care they can’t get anywhere else.” His words sounded well-used, detached, and she wondered how many others he’d said those exact same words to.

His tone might have been cold, but his words were chilling. As she left his office, the door silently closed behind her, and she felt the weight of her decision not only affecting her and Willow, but all the others too.

He was right, it didn’t just stop with the doctor; dozens of others before her and their loved ones sharing the same dilemma would suffer the consequences. Each nurse and medical professional on his team could suffer severe punishment, in turn—innocent lives could be ruined.