Ms. Gibson's Journal:
I remained seated, still stunned motionless, as the emergency personnel took Elizabeth to the hospital. All I could think, horrified, was, I killed her. I didn't mean to do it. She told me to press the button. I wish I could take it back. It was supposed to be me. I killed her...
I don't know how long I sat there, but I jumped nearly a foot when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Jack.
“Hey,” Jack said softly. “Don't tell me you've been sitting there all this time.”
Without looking at him, I mumbled, “I killed her. I killed Elizabeth. I swear, I didn't mean to.”
Jack sighed and patted my back. “Gabby, she's alive. They told me she's in a coma, and they don't know when she'll come out. But she's still alive.”
“It doesn't matter. I did this to her.”
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
“When... if... when... she'll never forgive me. I hurt her... and I've set back our work I don't know how much.”
“I'm sure she won't take it personally, Gabby,” Jack replied. Then, reaching out to wipe a tear from my face-- a tear I hadn't even realized was there-- he added, “And as for the research... maybe there's another way. I'll see what I can do.”
“What do you mean?”
Jack shrugged. “I'll figure something out.”
_________________________________________________________________
Angela's Journal
Society likes villains. In fact, it thrives on their existence. If you think about it, the so-called “bad guys” provide a service; they are someone to unite against. Someone to make everyone else feel more “human.” At the end of the day, your average Joe can say that, at the very least, he's not a serial killer or criminal. Without these villains, society could very well break down.
And as I think on this more, I cannot help but wonder something that could very well be described as blasphemous. Where would Christianity be without Judas? Would things have gone differently if Jesus had died peacefully in bed? Maybe... just maybe that betrayal, the whole thirty pieces of silver thing... maybe that's what was needed.
This is what I tell myself to justify what I know must someday be done.
_____________________________________________________________________
Ms. Gibson's Journal
A few days later, I attended the weekly lab meeting. Dr. Brown, the head supervisor, mentioned the recent incident.
“Elizabeth is more or less stable,” Dr. Brown explained, “but it is still uncertain how long she will be in a coma. There have been some concerns regarding the projects that she was associated with. However, there is a solution.”
Jack entered the room. He was dressed more sharply than I had ever seen him; he had even gotten his hair cut and had it brushed out of his face.
“Ah, there you are,” Dr. Brown continued. “This is Jack Soleil, Elizabeth's designated partner. He has quite a bit of a scientific background and has volunteered to assist in the laboratory until Elizabeth is able to return to work.”
She brought Jack around the room, introducing him to everyone. She finally got to me and said, “And this is Gabrielle Gibson. She was working directly under Elizabeth; I'm sure she'll be able to explain what projects were going on.”
Jack smiled and held his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Gibson.”
I smiled, holding back my laughter, and shook his hand. “Likewise, Mr. Soleil. I look forward to working with you.”
“Gabrielle,” Dr. Brown said, “why don't you show Mr. Soleil around the lab and brief him on the last few projects.”
“Yes, Dr. Brown,” I answered. To Jack, I added, “Right this way, Mr. Soleil.”
As soon as we were in the laboratory and well out of earshot, we both began to laugh.
“Told you I'd find a solution,” Jack chuckled.
“You weren't kidding,” I replied. “How in the world did you manage it?”
“Explained a short version of it to my boss and added that Elizabeth's government work would be set back quite a bit if someone couldn't be found to assist. Given my background in science, it was no trouble convincing the lab people to take me on as a temporary replacement.”
“Very clever.”
“I was also thinking...”
“Yeah?”
“We can figure out what was supposed to happen. I think that if we start on the lowest possible power and work up...”
I nodded. “I see where you're going with this.”
“Obviously, a coma wasn't supposed to happen. And we can't really ask Elizabeth what changes, if any, have occurred. At least, not for a while.”
“You know that if we test this on you, we might not even have any results, right?”
“Huh?”
I passed him some of the paperwork. “We're looking at the results on people who might already have a genetic predisposition to--”
“Yeah, I got that from the stuff you gave me to read a while back. Still, it's worth a shot. Maybe I won't show results quite as strong as you would like, but it'll be something. Right?”
“Right.”
Jack shrugged. “Worst that'll happen is I'll end up in a coma, too.”
“That's not good.”
With a smirk, he added, “At least I won't have to go to work.”
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