Rescue - Roman Godfrey

Chapter 45

"Have you found anything else?"

"No," Ochoa tells me through the phone and my heart sinks. "Right now, I'm sort of at a dead end."

I continue to pace back and forth. "I'm not paying for you to be at a dead end," I hiss. "I need you to find out where Olivia Godfrey was that night."

"Why?"

"God, why do you always ask so many questions?" I groan in frustration. "Just do it, please."

Ochoa is silent for a moment. "Is there anything I should know about this Olivia Godfrey?"

"Just that she is a crazy and manipulative psycho bitch," I say through gritted teeth. Olivia really brought out the worst in me. She made my blood boil and I hated her more than anything.

"That doesn't really help," Ochoa mutters and I roll my eyes.

"Oh, trust me, it does."

The door opens, revealing Roman. He was wearing a hospital gown that was far too short for him and he seemed groggy. After Roman had his little seizure, we took him to the white tower. Here, Dr. Pryce was able to determine that it was a concussion and he suggested that Roman stay overnight for observation. It was the next day and I had been sitting with him while Annie and Dr. Pryce looked at the creature who attacked us.

I quickly hang up the phone. "Roman, hey," I whisper. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," he assures. "What happened? Where is Dr. Pryce?"

"You hit your head," I frown, reaching up to push some of his messy hair away. "He is in the lab. Are you sure you're okay?"

He nods. "Yeah, can you just help me down there?"

I grab his arm and we go down the hallway. The farther we went, the better he got. When we reach the lab and walk down the metal stairs where there was something underneath a sheet on the lab table.

"Why are we in here?" Roman questions after Dr. Pryce checks out his pupils.

"Oh, because Annie, before becoming a registered nurse, clearly was a girl scout," Dr. Pryce smiles. "She was worried you had gotten bit during the attack and she knew the rule that all girl scouts know," Dr. Pryce walks over to the table. "Bring the doctor the thing that bit you."

He then pulls back the sheet, revealing the creature. I was slightly taken back. It was completely disgusting, the bones prodding against the skin that was a yellowish color. Its eyes were almost popping out of the sockets. It definitely wasn't a human, or at least it wasn't anymore.

"Autopsy time!"

After putting on lab gowns and gloves, Dr. Pryce grabs a scalpel and cuts into the chest. He removes the whole rib cage so we are left with only the organs and tissue. I stand close to Roman, feeling uneasy. I felt like we haven't had any time together and I missed him, even though he was standing right next to me.

"Well, that's interesting," Dr. Pryce mutters after observing the chest cavity. "Gray-mottled, highly vascular mass with extensions to the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and the bass of the neck."

"I have never seen a tumor this big," Annie says in awe.

"That's what makes it interesting," Dr. Pryce smiles. He digs the scalpel further into the chest and it starts moving. Roman pulls me away.

"Jesus Christ!" He shouts. "Is that alive?"

"The corpse isn't, by definition," he begins. "As for the tumor, highly differentiated structures reminiscent of a string of ganglia, suggesting higher nervous system function."