AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A while before their car accident, my mother had been suffering from some bad headaches. I remember her going to the doctor about it. She had issues with dizziness and fatigue, but she said it was because they put her on medicine to prevent migraines. She never gave any indications she was seriously ill.
That can’t be true. Surely I would know, right? How could they keep so much from me? My mind spirals while I stare at the records.
“Hey, look at this.” Micah pulls out pamphlets for an all-inclusive cruise. “Oh damn, the tickets are still in here.” He holds them up, four tickets because my parents had insisted Micah come with us.
My eyes sting and fill with tears. That trip was meant to celebrate graduation. Was she planning on telling us the truth then? I feel like I missed so much, like I didn’t know my parents at all.
Micah puts his box aside and scoots closer to me, taking my hands in his. He doesn’t speak or push me to talk, he just sits with me while I try to process. I’m not sure how much time goes by. Eventually, Micah notices something on one of the documents laying on the table.
He scoots forward, picking up the file. “The drug they got- ‘Hyposerum 256’- they both had the same one, around the same time.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Do you think it’s possible it’s all connected? Their medical problems, I mean. Your mom’s tumor, my dad’s dementia?”
My gaze snaps to his, my mind spinning. “Jackson’s mom’s depression maybe, too. A friend of mine did their thesis on the connection between dementia and depression. It’s possible they could all be linked.”
“So… your mom, my dad, Jackson’s mom…”
“We need to get all of this back to the house and show them what we found.”
Everything is starting to come together, and it isn’t pretty.
Luis
After hours of rifling through every sheet of paper, old receipt, and photo in this house, we have found nothing useful. There is nothing here about BioCere, a vaccine, or anything that could be related.
Nada.
Jackson is going through the same boxes- again. Meanwhile, I need to try and get information about my mom if I can. My “Uncle Benny” is the only family I have, and the only person who knew my mom. I dial his number and he answers, but it sounds like his mouth is full of food.
“Hey man, I catch you at a bad time?”
“Nah, you’re good. Just having some breakfast.”
“It’s after noon.”
“You gonna keep judging me or you gonna tell me what you need? The last time you called me out of the blue was when you got arrested. What’s up, Luis?”
“I wanted to ask you about my mom, actually. Did she ever mention getting me vaccinated or anything?”
“I mean… probably not, man. You were lucky if she took you to the doctor when you were sick, I doubt she did any of that ‘regular checkups’ stuff. I wouldn’t really know though, I got locked up right after you were born.” His voice breaks a little, and he clears his throat. “I would have taken care of you, you know.”
“I know you would’ve, but it’s not about that. I found some stuff, and it’s looking like she might have gotten paid to do some kind of vaccine trial. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.”
“It’s possible. I’m not trying to speak ill of the dead, and like, she was your mom… but Izzy was a junkie, dude. She did a lot of things for money, if you know what I mean. She cleaned up her act a little after you were born since she stopped hookin’ and stuff, but in some ways, she was worse after.”
“What do you mean, worse?”
“I don’t know, like, even when she was high back then she was happy and lively, she liked to party. But around the time she got pregnant with you, she changed. After you were born, she was too high on the wrong stuff. I think that john set her up with some bad stuff maybe.”
“What john?”
“She had a lot of… you know, customers. But there was this one guy, she said he was real rich and was gonna take care of her. She started acting weird though, didn’t want to go nowhere anymore, she just laid around, too high to move. Then she ended up pregnant and it all went downhill from there. If you want me to be real honest man, I’m surprised she lived as long as she did. She was wasting away.”
“You know anything about the guy? The john?”
“Nah, never met the guy. All I know is he was rich and she was fucked up after she messed with whatever he had.”
