Brett Barney - Remember Me.txt Page 9

  you.”

  Even in his lowly state, Todd looked inviting to Laura. The shy and timid side of him had

  never presented itself to her. It reminded her that they shared a common bond. Even the hero has

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  human qualities and sometimes fails. Laura had a love for the underdog, and he suddenly

  appealed to her more than she had realized. She could smell his cologne from where he stood and

  she smiled softly at him. She had to fight to hold herself back from him.

  Todd smiled back at his mistress. “Why are you laughing so hard?”

  “You just have to listen to her,” Laura explained. “I never realized how conceited she

  was. I don’t know how long I can go on like this. I know I’m gonna slip one of these times.”

  “No, Laura. We need to keep things quiet about us for a few weeks. I don’t care if she

  hates me, but the two of you are best friends. I don’t want to come between the two of you. Wait

  for a few weeks until she finds a new boyfriend. Then we’ll act like we’re just starting to date. If

  she found out about us now, she might never speak to you again.”

  “All right, Todd, you’re right.” Laura stood against the wall staring up at Todd. Even

  with the cool breeze drifting in from the opened windows, her tender blue eyes seemed to melt

  him as she looked him over. Her laughter had ceased, but a smile remained across her gleaming

  face. “You’re the best, Todd. I can’t believe things are working out so well for us. When can I

  see you again?”

  “Soon, Laura,” he answered. “I’ll give you a call. I promise.”

  “I need to get to class,” informed Laura hesitantly. “I’ll talk to you soon, you promised.”

  “Count on it.”

  Laura ran back up the hallway towards her class. Todd watched her intently as she

  departed. She dressed differently than Heather, much more modestly. Her beauty seemed more

  natural, and he could hardly tell whether she wore make-up or not. She still couldn’t hide her

  cute little figure from everyone, even with the unflattering attire.

  Laura walked into the classroom a few seconds after the bell had rung. Her teacher

  looked up at her with a slight glare of anger in his eyes. His expression changed slightly as the

  surprise from her tardiness shocked him. It was very uncharacteristic of her to come late to class.

  She walked to the other side of the room and sat down beside Heather. Laura felt much

  more at ease now, regaining her composure. She leaned over towards Heather and whispered

  quietly as her instructor began writing on the board.

  “Guess who I ran into in the hallway,” remarked Laura as she tapped Heather on the

  shoulder.

  “Who?” questioned Heather, trying to avoid upsetting the teacher further. She could tell

  by the tone of Laura’s voice that it was important.

  “Todd.”

  “You mean he didn’t run away this time?”

  “I don’t think he’s afraid of me,” suggested Laura.

  “So what did he have to say?”

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  “I told him you weren’t interested in seeing him anymore.”

  “What did he say to that?” asked Heather. The teacher stopped writing for a moment as

  he waited for silence in the rowdy classroom. Laura had to whisper over Heather’s shoulder.

  “He didn’t say very much, but he seemed really upset.”

  “It figures. He’ll be crawling back to me in a matter of days.”

  “Don’t worry, Heather,” assured Laura. “I’m sure by then you will have forgotten all

  about him.”

  The teacher turned to face his class and Laura looked down at her book. He informed the

  class they would begin now, and the students started to settle down.

  Laura tried to concentrate on the word’s her teacher spoke, but found herself drifting off

  into a dreamy state of euphoria. The appeal of a boyfriend had never seemed like as good of an

  idea as it felt right now. Her excitement overcame her and she had lost her sense of reality. She

  felt like the luckiest girl in the world. She had everything, and her future looked promising. She

  had never wanted anything more than a chance to go to college, which she still greatly

  anticipated. The sudden allure of dating a wonderful guy had clouded that objective. Only one

  thing mattered to her right now, and she could only wait to hear from him.

  Dr. Raymond Drake jumped when he heard the doorbell ring. He sat in the living room,

  lost in his thoughts when the noise interrupted his trance. Ray hadn’t accomplished much since

  receiving the call an hour earlier. He did not expect the call and he had sat around anxiously

  awaiting the arrival of his old roommate.

  As he sat there, trying to recall the last time he had seen the man, he finally recalled the

  event in 1967. Eight years had passed since then, and he had almost given up on ever seeing the

  friend again. As he waited, a great longing had come over him. The memories of those careless

  days they spent in college reminded him of how old he had become. He wished he could revisit

  those days, even for a moment, and retaste his youth. He would get the chance now, as he

  climbed from his seat with a flare of excitement.

  Ray hurried down the hall and opened the front door to find his familiar old friend. The

  contours of the man remained the same, though many small wrinkles now appeared on the

  matured man’s face. Ray’s face lit up with a smile at the sight of the man.

  “Hello Edward,” welcomed Ray. “I have to look twice and make sure it’s really you. It’s

  been a long time. Please, come in.”

  “It wasn’t too hard to track you down,” replied the man as he walked into the large

  entryway. He followed his host down the hallway and into the large living room. Ray and his

  wife had furnished the room elegantly.

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  Edward looked around the room with some interest while Ray fixed a couple of drinks.

  He sat on one of the two large couches in the room. A beautiful Japanese rug with soft colors lay

  at his feet. The comfortable sofa reminded Edward of the furniture the two men had in college.

  Ray had furnished the room in a manner that made it perfect for reading.

  A large fireplace held a soft flame to add a hint of heat to this region of the house. The

  lightened shades of the room gave it a calming, earthy feel and the room contained many small

  handmade crafts and collectibles. The opened blinds allowed a slight amount of sun inside to

  brighten the room.

  “Is anyone else home?” Edward asked, noticing the enticing smell of freshly baked food

  emanating from the kitchen.

  “My wife is upstairs taking a nap,” answered Ray. “She should wake up in a little while

  and I’ll introduce you again. I think she’s only met you once before, and we didn’t have a chance

  to talk very much.”

  “I would enjoy that.”

  “So how long has it been, Edward?” asked Ray.

  “The last time I saw you was at your graduation from medical school,” answered Edward.

  “That was over eight years ago. Looks like you’ve done well for yourself.”

  “As long as people keep having children, I�
��ll be in business.”

  “Business must be good. This is a beautiful home. I noticed pictures of children along the

  walls. I assume they’re all yours.”

  “Yes,” answered Ray with a smile. “My wife Alice and I have two small children. Frank

  is three and Helen is only three months. Just a young family, we waited several years before we

  started having any kids. They’ve been a wonderful addition to our family. How about you,

  Edward? I think I remember you having a couple of children the last time I saw you.”

  “Yes, my wife and I have three children now. They are all older. Alan, our youngest, is

  six. We decided we wanted children a few months after we were married. I think three is our

  limit. Alice has her hands full and wanted to quit.”

  “I understand, Edward. I think we’ll wait a few years and have one more. We need to get

  the second one out of diapers before then.”

  Edward continued to survey his surroundings, interested in his old friend’s home. His

  home seemed remarkably quiet, especially with two small children in the house. At this time in

  the afternoon, they had probably joined their mother in a nap. Edward felt glad for the time alone

  with his friend.

  “Boy, you look so different,” noted Ray. “It really has been a while. What are you doing

  these days? You were still doing research the last time I heard from you.”

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  Ray walked over and handed the drink to his old friend. He remained unsure of the

  reasoning for the sudden visit. He felt nervous seeing his old friend again after all these years.

  An ambiguous sense of bewilderment made Ray feel weary that something had happened, and he

  anxiously awaited to find out what it was.

  Edward took a small sip and closed his eyes as he savored the taste. Ray knew the

  wondrous flavor of the drink inside the glass. The warm sensation it gave as it worked its way to

  one’s stomach was a sensation he remembered well. He joined his friend in savoring the flavor

  of the drink.

  “Ahhh, the taste of fine brandy,” remarked Edward.

  “You didn’t think I would forget,” spoke Ray. “It was all we drank in college. Some of

  the bad habits you pick up in school you just never can break. I still enjoy a glass of brandy once

  a day.”

  Edward looked up at his old friend. In his late thirties, Ray looked remarkably well. He

  had taken good care of himself and had a wonderful home. Edward couldn’t spot a strand of gray

  in Ray’s dark brown hair, and he envied his friend’s youthful appearance.

  “Its been so long since school,” reflected Edward. “Things have changed an awful lot the

  past few years.”

  “How so? You’re still involved in your research, aren’t you?”

  “Oh yes,” answered Edward without haste. “I’ve just chosen a new path in which to

  study. I’m trying to break out of the old grind and try something new.”

  “Aren’t you still working with Dr. Evans?”

  “Dr. Evans passed away about a year ago,” answered Edward.

  “I’m sorry, Ed, I hadn’t heard a thing,” remarked Ray as he sat down across from Edward

  on the other couch.

  Edward looked extremely tired, and rather worn for his age. His ambition had always

  driven him to succeed at his ventures, and Ray felt quite certain that the years of painstaking

  work and effort had taken some toll. Edward’s small frame and sharp, rough looking face hid the

  warm character that Ray had known so well through college.

  “It’s not a big deal. He was an old man when we were in college. I never expected the

  man to live forever. His death wasn’t a surprise, he had been diagnosed with cancer several years

  earlier and slowly gone downhill. I needed to break away from his work eventually. This has

  given me the chance to work with some of my own ideas for a change. The opportunity has been

  most rewarding to me. Now it’s time for me to move on and make my own name.”

  “Well,” began Ray hesitantly. “I don’t mean to sound so uninformed, but what exactly

  were you involved in with Dr. Evans? The last I heard he was still studying biological pathways

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  of the human fetus. Forgive my ignorance, but I don’t know where he was headed with his

  work.”

  “Dr. Evans was deeply involved in late stage pregnancy growth,” explained Edward. “By

  studying the reactions taking place in the unborn child, he hoped to extend the medical

  boundaries in maintaining premature children. His work was highly acclaimed.”

  “It sounds very interesting.”

  “It was incredibly interesting,” assured Edward. “Much of what we learned is already

  applied in enhancing the environments for children born prematurely. We know many of the

  compounds needed by the young child to finish the cycles of growth that should have taken place

  inside the mother. We were able to finish many of the developments that needed to take place to

  ensure healthy babies. The wonder of it was that we could do this after the child had been

  delivered. We did extensive work with underdeveloped organs. It’s incredible what you can do

  with the right environment to stimulate growth.”

  “You were working at a hospital back west with Dr. Evans, right?”

  “Yes, we ran a special trauma center that treated premature children. Dr. Evans helped

  work with the doctors at the center to apply much of what we learned in our research. He was

  truly a leader in his field. I worked side by side with many of these small infants and their

  various physiological problems. It was very rewarding work, but it had heartbreaks also. You’re

  involved in obstetrics, aren’t you, Ray?”

  “Yes,” answered Ray. “I kept to the course through medical school. Now I live my dream

  of bringing new children into the world and working with mothers throughout their pregnancy. I

  still find myself mystified by the whole experience. Nothing could take me away from that. It

  sounds like you didn’t falter to far off the path from working with children.”

  “Birth is one fascination of mine that I couldn’t let slip away. Ever since college, it has

  been the focus of my research. Bringing children into the world and extending the limits where

  premature children might safely come into the world is my passion. I think I’ll keep myself

  specializing in that part of research for many more years to come.”

  Ray stared over at his friend. The man looked older, but he could still remember the days

  of their youth, and it came back to him in a flurry. The awkwardness of the visit had already

  subsided, and he felt as if he could talk as openly with his friend as they did in college. They

  were the best of friends once, and a common bond still existed between them. Ray wanted to

  know what had happened in his old friend’s life.

  “So what do you do now?” questioned Ray. “Do you still work at the trauma center?”

  “No,” answered Edward. “I’m not a certified physician. I never finished medical school.

  Dr. Evans performed the procedures with the specialists at the center. I was in charge of the

  research end of our work. Dr. Evans applied what we learned from our work in the laboratory for

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ett Barney Remember Me?

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  use by the medical community. There was no longer any work for me there with him gone. I had

  offers from several other physicians to stay on and begin work with them, but it wouldn’t be the

  same. I don’t want to have to work for anyone else anymore. So I left the trauma center about

  eight months ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like you really enjoyed your work, not to mention you

  probably were working with some really nice medical equipment at the center. Most labs aren’t

  as technologically furnished as modern trauma centers. I often wish that we had some of the

  fancy equipment they have. That must be devastating to have your life’s work drop out from

  under you.”

  “Not really,” answered Edward. “It’s given me the opportunity to return to the lab and

  continue the work I wanted to do in the first place. You see, once Dr. Evans made the

  breakthroughs in the field of late fetal development, he wanted to go into the hospitals and apply

  what we had learned. I wanted to remain in the lab and continue the research. We were just

  beginning to learn about what was going on and there was so much more we could have

  uncovered. Now with him gone, I’ve been able to do that.”

  “Where do you get your funding from?” asked Ray.

  “I get limited funding through some of the organizations I worked with in the past, but

  even they want me to do specific work, and it isn’t what I want to do. I transferred out here to a

  hospital upstate. I’m a medical technician in their trauma unit and I help the coroner perform

  some of his autopsies. They pay me pretty good money and I don’t mind the work. I do my

  research in my free time.”

  “Do you use the technologies at the hospital for your research then?”

  “No,” answered Edward. “I work out of my own home. Most of the instruments I worked

  with while I was with Dr. Evans were his own that he had purchased with special grants.

  Towards the height of his career, he never even stepped into the laboratory. I was the only person

  operating the instruments. I took care of everything and managed all the maintenance. When Dr.

  Evans found out he was dying of terminal cancer, he made out his will to leave all the equipment