Something tips the scales

It was during the worst of the massive **** spiral that had befallen my life when a lifeline was thrown. My phone buzzed to life one dark and gruesome night when Crystal Minx’s latest video had hit the internet. I practically flinched at the call, shell-shocked and spooked by the avalanche of horrors that had come my way. But when I put the phone to my ear and mumbled a broken “Hello,” a familiar voice answered me.

“Tim?” Came the voice of Dr Saunders, “Tim Connors?”

My throat had gone dry, but I managed to answer. “Ah, ah yeah, Doc, it’s me.”

“Thank God, it’s been a nightmare to get hold of your father…”

I didn’t want to tell him that my dad had been hitting the bottle pretty hard lately and had largely disconnected himself from the world in a **** attempt to escape the humiliation.

“But listen to me, son, it’s imperative that we meet up. I’ve been doing some testing, going over your mother’s condition and I might have found something that can you.”

The excitement I felt was unreal, a jolt of ****, hungry hope that had long been smothered by Crystal Minx’s cruelty. I almost didn’t hear Saunders when he told me the plan and asked for him to repeat himself about the time and location. Grabbing a jacket and the keys to my car, I practically fell over myself on the way out.

It was dark out, and the diner was mostly abandoned save for the grey haired doctor sitting in a booth, nursing a cup of coffee. His eyes lifted and brightened when he saw my approach, his hand waving me into the seat.

“So what do you have for me, Doc.” My voice was shaking, perhaps a little raspy with concern and irritation. “I’m really not in the mood to be jerked around.”

He winced as if struck. “I understand, considering the circumstances,” he sighed and examined the dark contents of his cup. “I got into medicine to help people. It’s all I ever wanted. What I did to your mother…well, I thought I’d be helping salvage one life from certain ****, but I see now I’ve only mutilated two lives.”

“More than two,” I corrected hotly. “My whole family have been ruined by this. My dad, my siblings…Crystal’s destroyed our lives and reputations and she’s tormenting my mom!”

Saunders looked around, hoping that your outburst hadn’t attracted attention. But he nodded sadly, wearing a hangdog expression. “Yes, it’s been appalling….”he looked up and there was a tiny glimmer of light in his eyes, “but I’ve found something…a way to fix things, of a sort.”

I sat back, crossed my arms. “Go on.”

“When the shift of personalities happens in your mother’s brain, certain neural pathways light up. Because of the damage these shifts happen without rhyme or reason, though obviously Crystal is the dominant. I’ve a degree in psychopharmacology and though it’s been a gruelling process, I think I’ve found a way to induce the shift…and…potentially keep your mother in the driver’s seat.” He dug into his pocket a produced a bottle of pills. “Two of these, every twenty four hours. Your mother’s brain chemistry will be set and Crystal Minx will be suppressed.”

I stared at the pills, heart racing. This was a miracle, it was hope in a little plastic bottle. But caution was a constant companion. I looked up at Saunders and studied his face carefully. “How do you know these will work?”

He blanched. “Doctor Kerry and I…we’ve had other patients. None with a condition as **** as what your mother’s suffering through, but the medication has had an effect.”

“And it’s completely harmless?”

“Some hormonal changes,” he conceded. “But nothing life threatening. Tim, I promise you, this is the best chance you have at saving your mother’s life.”

It might have been an eternity I sat there, staring at the outstretched hand and the bottle of pills. But eventually my **** drew me forward. I took the pills as though they were the most precious thing in the world.

Saunders nodded and stood up. “Good luck, Tim.”