Sundered (3 page)

Sobering, I sat up, pulling the sheet around me. “I’m going to ask the doctor about that Nevermore shot. I think it’s what we’ve been waiting for. I mean, we could be fit, trim, and then have a baby too. It would be amazing.” I stared at him, willing him to catch my excitement.

It didn’t work. Sebastian frowned, and then shrugged his big shoulders. “I still think it’s some sort of hoax, but you go ask him. See what he has to say, but don’t get your hopes up.”

I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled into his arms. I could be excited enough for the both of us; in fact, I already was. My eye lids began to droop as the second dose of antihistamines kicked in. I let them close completely, my heart light with the hopes and dreams of a family, already forgetting Sebastian’s warning.

3

The doctor’s office was full. And I don’t mean all the seats were taken, I mean there wasn’t even standing room. I ended up halfway down the hall leaning against the cream-coloured wall next to one of the office doors.

“
Excuse me, are you Mara Wilson?” a voice behind me asked.

I turned to face a woman who looked vaguely familiar. She was in her late thirties with beautiful blond hair and eyes the colour of the Caribbean ocean. I cocked my head to one side. “Yes, I’m Mara, have we met?”

The woman laughed and patted me on the arm. “Only briefly. I’m Shelly Gartlet, I live on the road above you, and we met at the mailbox when you first moved here.”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s right. I remember now.” Really, how could I forget? The woman had grabbed me in a welcoming hug, spilling all the neighbourhood gossip in less than five minutes, and in a single breath. I’d made a mental note never to confide in her. “Are you here for the Nevermore shot?”

Shelly smiled. “Yes and no. My husband, George, and I got the shot last week, but Jessica here,” she half tugged a younger looking clone forward, “wasn’t able to get the shot, she was sick with that flu that’s been going around.”

I put my hand out. She was a very pretty young girl, with the same long blond hair as her mom and the same stunning eyes. She looked to be about sixteen years old, but could have been younger; it was so hard to tell now days. No doubt the boys went crazy for her at school. “Nice to meet you Jessica.” She gripped my hand lightly, ducking her head.

Shelly patted her on the arm and gave me a wink. “Jessica weren’t you telling me about Mara’s husband, and about how good looking he is?”

Jessica flushed from her chin to the roots of her hair, her eyes widening as our gazes connected.

“
I didn’t mean . . . it’s not like . . . mom, how could you say that?” she finally spit out.

I laughed, warmed by the thought, knowing that my husband was an attractive man, so much so that even teenagers had crushes on him, despite the extra weight he carried. Tall dark and handsome with confidence and a wicked sense of humour, he’d had women swooning over him in every age bracket. “It’s okay Jessica, I’m sure Sebastian would love to know that he had an admirer.”

“
Please don’t tell him,” she whispered. We were interrupted by a woman who pushed her way in to our conversation.

“
You here for that miracle drug?”

She was a chubby woman in her mid forties standing behind me. A quick glance and from my experience and time in Weight Watchers, I knew she had to be at least eighty pounds overweight.

“
Yes. You too?” I asked.

“
Hell no. I’m perfect just the way I am.” Hands on her hips, her purple and red muumuu fluttering around her thick ankles as she glared at me, daring me to call her out. I smiled and bit my tongue. She continued her rant, “And all you yahoos coming in for some quick-fix are going to get what’s coming to you. There’s no such thing; it’s ridiculous to think one shot can do all that. Fertility, heart stuff, making bones stronger—foolishness that you’ve all bought into.”

Shelly and Jessica backed away from the woman and I gave them a smile as I too gave the riled-up woman some room.

“
Come over for coffee,” I said over the muumuu woman’s head, “and we can get to know each other. Anytime, I would love some company.” Shelly and Jessica smiled and they gave me identical thumbs up. This was one of the nice things about where we lived. Yes, we were in the country, but there were still neighbours close enough if you needed some sugar or a helping hand, or maybe just a cup of coffee with the local gals. I smiled to myself. I loved it here; the island was everything I’d hoped for.

“
Mara Wilson?” The desk nurse called me and I followed her directions into the doctor’s room, happy to get away from the woman on her tirade. I glanced back and she hadn’t paused for a second, now laying into a pudgy teenager on the other side of the hall. The doctor’s room was close enough that I could still hear her with the door not completely closed, her voice rising with intensity.

“
Exercise and diet. Kids when I was young were outside playing and working. None of this TV and computer crap.” There was a pause and I imagined a nurse speaking to her. “No, I will not lower my voice; I think you all have lost your minds. This is some government conspiracy to plug you all full of tracking devices and drugs so they can better control us.”

I shook my head, why couldn’t she just let us be? It was obvious she was delusional, she could use the shot and lose a few pounds, and she’d probably live longer. There was a large thump that rattled the wall and made me jump. Then came a god-awful screech that sounded like a parrot being strangled, followed by a dull cheer from the crowd. “You can’t kick me out!” the woman screamed, “I have an appointment!”

Ejection from a doctor’s office, that had to be a first. I laughed at the absurdity of her claims. Health Canada and the FDA wouldn’t allow a drug to be given to the masses if it hadn’t been tested. They knew it was safe and there was no way it could get to the public unless it was good to go.

“
Hello, Mara.” Dr. Cooper stepped into the office, his grey hair and stooped shoulders making me wonder how much longer I would be able to go to him.

“
Hi, Dr. Cooper.” I smiled, unable to suppress my emotions. This was it; this was the moment I’d been waiting for.

“
I suppose you’re here for the Nevermore shot?” he asked, his face a mask of concentration.

I smiled wider, my excitement spilling over into my words. “Yup. It’s perfect! I can lose the last of the weight that you said I should to be at an optimum size for getting pregnant, and the shot will make me more fertile, right? That’s what I heard on the radio and when I looked it up on the internet it confirmed that. And then maybe Sebastian should get it too? Because you weren’t sure if the fertility issues were with him or me, we could both take it and then we’d be sure to get pregnant, right? Sorry about the pun—I’m so happy; I can’t believe this is finally going to happen. I’m going to be able to have a baby.”

Dr. Cooper didn’t answer me right away; his eyes stared at the screen of his computer as he scrolled through it, page by page.

“
Dr. Cooper? This is a good thing, right?” I was starting to get a bad feeling that maybe Sebastian was right; maybe this was all a hoax. No, there were too many people in the waiting room. If it were a hoax, it’d be all over the internet and news.

“
Mara, the drug does all that and more. Strengthens bones, prevents skin cancer, and increases fertility. Parkinson’s and arrhythmias are virtually wiped out. It truly is a miracle, of that I have no doubt, and I’m encouraging as many patients as possible to take it.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding in a huge sigh of relief, my heart slowing back to a normal rhythm. I folded my hands on the desk and leaned forward. “You scared me. I thought you were going to tell me it was a hoax. That’s what Sebastian thought it was, some scam to get money out of people.”

Dr. Cooper shook his head but he still wasn’t smiling, and that made me nervous all over again. “It’s no hoax, Mara, but my dear, you can’t take the shot.”

A loud buzzing filled my ears and though Dr. Cooper continued to talk, I couldn’t hear a word he said. I blinked once, twice as I grasped what he said. “Why not?” I whispered.

He let out deep sigh and pulled my hands into his, cupping them like a grandfather would. “Nevermore is derived from cystius scoparius.”

I stared at him, confusion rushing through me. “I don’t know what that is. Is it bad?”

“
Scotch broom. The concentrate within the drug would kill you at worst, and at best you would be in a constant state of agony, hives, sinus infections, swollen glands, and hypersensitivity to the mildest of irritations. There have even been some reported cases where people who were allergic to broom took Nevermore and now they’ve lost their eyesight.” He squeezed my suddenly ice-cold hands. “You can’t take Nevermore, Mara.”

My mind whirled, hopes thrown about in a tornado of emotions before they crashed and burned. I pulled my hands slowly away from him and folded my arms across my breasts, at a loss for words.

Dr. Cooper leaned back in his chair and slid a sheet towards me. “Here’s the chemical breakdown, Mara. Every aspect of the broom has been used in this drug, not just part of it.”

“
Why are you giving this to me?” I asked, trying to keep the venom that was welling up within me out of my voice, my hand gripping the paper.

“
Because I know you, Mara. I know how much you want children, and how hard you’ve worked to lose the weight that was preventing that dream. I know that you’re going to try and find a way around this, and I don’t want you to die. There is no way around this.” His voice was so soft, gentle, that it broke down the last barrier of strength I’d propped up, and a sob slipped out.

“
I’m so sorry, Mara,” he said, and I bit back the next sob that was bubbling up. I stood and ran to the door, pushing past the horde of people that filled the hallway, running till I reached my car. I leaned against it, head against the hot metal and let my heart slow down. It wasn’t the end of the world; it really didn’t make it any harder for Sebastian and me to have a baby. At least that’s what I told myself.

“
Got the shot did you?” a rather familiar voice threw the question at me.

I spun on my heel to face down the chubby woman who’d been tossed out of the clinic. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I didn’t,” I snapped at her, forcing back the urge to punch her in her doughy face.

She nodded. “Smart girl. I’ll tell you now, it was the best decision you ever made. The government won’t get you now.” She reached out and patted me on the arm. I shrugged her hand off me and bit my tongue, the four letter words on the tip that would leave me screaming and ranting at the unsuspecting woman.

I unlocked the car, slid into my seat, and started the engine. The rear view mirror gave me a perfect picture of the purple muumuu waddling through the parking lot, the woman on her way to accost another person leaving the clinic.

“
It wasn’t a choice I made, it was a choice taken from me,” I whispered to her retreating figure. I took a deep breath and headed home to Sebastian and the farm.

4