CHAPTER 11
It took Dr. Williams two days of discreet inquiries to learn Sheila Goodman’s schedule well enough to drop in on her unannounced. She had not wanted to call her in advance, for fear that she would discuss it with Burton Ramsey first and either refuse to see her or have her mind already fixed against her before she could say her first word.
Sheila received her in her consulting office in the Methodist hospital. Sheila’s first knowledge that the doctor in the lab next to her soon-to-be ex-husband’s was coming to visit her had come when her assistant had buzzed to say there was a Dr. Williams to see her, and that she only needed a moment of her time. Her first inclination had been to say no, for fear of angering Burton by appearing to be interfering in his business. But then curiosity got the better of her and she told her assistant to send the doctor in.
Sheila’s first impression of Williams as she came through the door was that she could certainly see why she and Burton didn’t get along. They were very unalike in both speech and in mannerisms. Where Burton was brusque and abrasive to most people, Dr. Williams was quiet and self-effacing . . . almost shy. She was the complete opposite of Burton Ramsey, and this was a case where opposites most certainly didn’t attract.
She walked into the room, took a second to look around, and then stuck out her hand to Sheila. “Hello, Dr. Goodman. I am Dr. Kaitlyn Williams, but I hope you’ll call me Kat like all of my friends do.”
Sheila grinned as she shook the doctor’s hand. “And are we to be friends, Kat?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
Kat shrugged, blushing. “I sincerely hope so, Dr. Goodman.”
Sheila waved her to a seat. “Come now, Kat. If we are to be friends, you must learn to call me Sheila.”
“Okay, Sheila,” Kat said hesitantly.
“Good. Now that we’ve got that settled, would you like some coffee, tea, or perhaps a soft drink?”
Kat smiled ruefully. “Some coffee would be great. I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.”
Sheila punched a button on her intercom and asked her assistant if she would bring them both coffee, then she looked up at Kat. “Working late on something earth-shattering in your lab, I suppose?”
Kat looked surprised. “Has Dr. Ramsey said anything to you about my work?”
Sheila hesitated, then she shook her head, not wanting to repeat what Burton had told her about Kat trying to steal his formula. “No, not really. I just assumed that if you’ve been missing sleep over it, then it must be very important to you.” But that wasn’t what you wanted to see me about.”
Before Kat could answer, Sheila’s assistant came in with a carafe of coffee, two cups, and a small bowl of packets of creamer, sugar, and artificial sweetener.
After she put the tray down on Sheila’s desk, Sheila poured them both cups and gestured toward the bowl on the tray.
Her eyebrows raised and she grinned when she saw Kat add four packets of sugar to her cup.
After Kat took a deep draught of the coffee and sighed contentedly, she glanced up at Sheila. “You are right, of course, Sheila. I didn’t come here to talk about Dr. Ramsey, but about what I think we have stumbled upon.”
Sheila pursed her lips. “And that is . . . ?”
“Of course, it’s much too early to tell, but I believe we’re on to one of the most important discoveries in medical history.”
Sheila looked at her blandly, with a slightly skeptical expression on her face. “Then, what is the trouble?”
Kat swallowed, then she drank down the rest of her coffee in one long gulp, as if to give herself courage to go on. “There seems to be a personality conflict between your husband and myself. In fact, he refuses to even discuss the matter with me.”
“Do you blame him?”
She shook her head. “No, not really. I’m afraid I abrade Dr. Ramsey. And I haven’t been particularly honest with him. We got off to a very bad start, most of which was my fault.”
She looked up, locking her eyes with Sheila’s. “But, Sheila, I cannot overemphasize the importance that Dr. Ramsey and I reach some degree of cooperation. The combined results of our serums could be stupendous.”
Sheila sipped her coffee and stared at Kat for a moment. “Why don’t you tell me how you happened to come to this remarkable conclusion, Kat?”
Kat took a deep breath and began. “Some short time back, about ten days, I happened to come into possession of twelve of your husband’s rats that had been injected with a blood serum I believe he’s been working on.”
Sheila cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. “‘Happened to come into possession of’?”
Kat bowed her head and blushed crimson. “Yes . . . I mean, no. My assistant forgot to order replacement rats for our lab, and since it was during the weekend, I borrowed some from Dr. Ramsey’s office without asking his permission, fully intending to replace them the following Monday. I knew he rarely worked on the weekends, and I didn’t think there would be any harm done.”
“But,” Sheila said, “Burton found out about your ‘borrowing’ his rats and if I know him, it infuriated him.”
Kat nodded quickly. “Exactly. And to make matters worse, not knowing Dr. Ramsey’s rats had been inoculated with his serum, I injected six of them with a neuron accelerator I’ve been researching for three years. The results have been nothing short of phenomenal.”
“Oh? How so?”
“It appears that there is a symbiotic relationship of a very positive kind between his serum and mine.”
Sheila leaned back, looking at the younger woman. She could see how Burton would take an immediate dislike to her, and she wondered if Kat was subduing her normal personality to gain her acceptance. Once a neurosurgeon, always a neurosurgeon. She doubted if Kat could maintain this humble approach very long if she was being dishonest. But Sheila didn’t have a cruel streak, and she could very easily guess why Kat had come to see her.
“And you want me to bring you together with Burton, is that it?”
Kat stared at Sheila for a moment. “I believe I read that you are a specialist in internal medicine?”
Sheila nodded. “With subspecialties in endocrinology and geriatrics.”
Kat reached into a leather portfolio she had in her lap. She withdrew a sheet of paper with a long list of names on it. She glanced at it, and then she handed it across to Sheila. “Dr. Goodman, if Dr. Ramsey and I could pool our research, I believe we have an excellent chance of curing every one of the previously incurable diseases on that list.”
Sheila read down the paper and handed it back, impressed in spite of herself. “That’s quite a page full.”
“There’s more.”
“More?”
Kat looked down at the floor. “All of the test results so far—and you realize we are talking about laboratory experiments only on rats—indicate that the dual serums seem capable of retarding aging.”
Sheila stared at her in disbelief. “What?”
Kat was still looking at the floor. “Perhaps even reversing it.”
She had spoken so softly Sheila wasn’t sure she’d heard her correctly. She leaned toward her across the desk. “Did you say ‘reversing’ aging?”
“Yes, I did.”