Malik was walking to the patient waiting area to lock the door for lunch when the door opened and Chance Domagk from Confidence Biotech walked in.
“Dr. Patel is in with a patient right now,” Christine said. “If you want to see him, then you’ll have to come back at the end of the day.”
“I’m here to see him.” Chance pointed at Malik. “Do you have a minute?”
Malik looked at Magaly and shrugged. He locked the door and walked back around the receptionist desk to the glassed-off delivery window.
“How’s it going?” Chance asked as Malik approached the window.
“I’m all right,” Malik said. “What can I do for you?”
“My boss, he’s a real fan of that pen of yours. He’s a fan of antiques, and he wants that pen.” Chance pulled out his phone. “He’s willing to pay a lot of money for it. Name your price.” Chance had his cell phone and fingers ready to make a transfer.
“My pen?” Malik asked. “It’s not for sale. It’s my lucky pen.”
“One thousand?” Chance proposed.
“No, thanks.” Malik shook his head.
“Okay, ten,” Chance tried again.
“Ten thousand dollars?” Malik was floored. His heart raced. It’s my lucky pen, but…
“What’s so special about this pen?” Magaly asked as she pulled it out of Malik’s jacket pocket. Malik felt chills when Magaly’s hand brushed against his chest.
The smile left Chance’s face momentarily, but he recovered quickly. “There weren’t many of them made. It’s an antique with intricate detailing, and it uniquely stores ink. My boss wants to own the entire collection.”
“So is he willing to pay, say…” Magaly pretended like she was thinking hard. “I don’t know, one hundred thousand dollars for it?”
“Tough negotiator,” Chance said, and seemed to reassess the situation. He returned his attention to Malik. “Dr. Patel mentioned you were doing research here. You were an intern at Confidence Biotech. I know you wouldn’t have been allowed to enter it, but I assume you remember our incubator program?”
“Sure, why?” Malik asked, wary of where this was going.
“In exchange for the pen, you could enter a project in our program for funding. If it passes the early assessment, then we could fund the development of it.”
Malik’s eyebrows shot up. Was this for real?
“Hello, Chance, what brings you here?” Dr. Patel interrupted.
“I was just talking with Malik here.”
“Talking to Malik about what?”
Chance was silent. The smile left his face once more. This time, it didn’t return.
Malik stepped in. “Mr. Domagk said that if I trade him my lucky pen, then Confidence Biotech would offer me a chance to submit a project for funding and development.”
“Is that so?” Dr. Patel asked.
“That is, if Malik has a viable project,” replied Chance. “It would have to go through the program like anything else. No promises, but it’s a pretty good deal if you ask me.”
“Malik,” Dr. Patel said, “you can drive my car to pick up lunch if you’ll put that box that Jordan brought in it.”
The Jag? Malik couldn’t hold back a big grin. “You got it.”
Malik looked at Chance. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to pass.” He turned and left to grab the box out of his office when he heard Magaly shout, “I’m coming too.”
Malik and Magaly rode in silence to the restaurant. Malik thought hard about what to say, but nothing came to him as his sweaty palms gripped the steering wheel. He made brief eye contact with Magaly and then quickly looked away. Magaly motioned to the box in the backseat. “What’s that?”
“It’s some stuff that was left in a storage unit that Dr. Patel shared with another doctor,” Malik said.
“What doctor?”
“I think he said it was Dr. Wen Shen.”
“No way! That stuff must be from way back.”
“You know who she is?”
“She’s the one who started this practice a long time ago. She used to work for the CDC. She was a pulmonologist who was ahead of her time in the field of virology. Dr. Patel used to talk about her all the time. She taught him everything he knows about mitigating viral infections.”
“What happened to her?” Malik asked.
“I’m not sure. Dr. Patel said that she traveled back to her village in China every year to offer free medical care. One year, she never came back.”