Chapter 5 - The Patient

The village was in a valley, and the house that the doctor spoke of was at the edge, at the bottom of a hill by a creek. The airship stopped over the street in front of the house.

"We'll take it down low," said XL, "so that we can use the elevator. We're too high to lower it from here." XL sat at the console.

There were several manual controls, including a steering wheel and some levers. He grabbed a lever that stuck out from the side of the panel. It was at mid-point, and he pushed it down part way. "This is the up-down control," he said.

The airship slowly descended. When Saucer-1 was almost down to the rooftop height, XL released the lever. Then he pressed a green button. "Saucer-1 will hold its current position now," he said. "Let's go."

XL, Beeba Boeboo, and Dr. Melcher got into the elevator and descended to the ground. They could see the house and yard well due to the full moon, which reflected off of the snow that was round-about. It was a bungalow, made of brick, with a garage attached to the side. XL zipped up his coat and stepped out of the elevator, followed by Beeba and the doctor.

The snow crunched under their feet as they walked toward the doorway. The sidewalk was covered deeply in snow, and there were no snowbanks next to it. Apparently nobody had shovelled the sidewalk in a long time.

It was still early evening, but dark nevertheless. No lights shone through the windows, but the doorbell button was lighted. Dr. Melcher stepped up to the door and pressed the button. They waited a full minute, but there was no sound from the house and it remained dark.

"Considering the urgent message I received, I think I have an invitation to enter," said the doctor. "Sometimes in the country, people leave their doors unlocked." He turned the doorknob, and pushed open the door.

It was dark inside, so the doctor switched on the hallway light. The hallway had closed bedroom doors on the right, and an archway to the living room on the left. Lying in a large reclined chair in the living room, was a middle-aged lady. There was a walker beside the chair, and not far off there was a wheel chair.

The doctor switched on the living room light, and they could see her more clearly. She was slim, and frail looking. He arms were thin and boney, like pictures XL had seen of starving people in a land of famine. She had long brown hair with streaks of white draped over her shoulders, and her eyes were open. But those were not the features that were most striking about her: she had the biggest, widest smile on her face that XL had ever seen.

"Mrs. Rose" said the doctor, but she did not respond. He walked up to her and touched her shoulder, but she did not move. He shook her a little but still there was no response. The doctor picked up her hand in his, and checked her pulse. "She has a normal pulse for someone relaxing, but I do not think she is sleeping," he said.

"What's the matter with her?" asked Beeba.

"I'm not sure," replied the doctor. "I last saw her a couple of months ago, for a check-up. Her legs were badly injured in a car accident a few years ago, and despite our best efforts at rehabilitation she can barely walk. Other than that, she had no maladies."

"Look at this" XL interrupted. He was standing at a small table at the back of the living room, holding a small bottle in his hand. Another similar bottle stood on the table, along with a glass half-filled with water and an empty jug. XL read the label from the bottle in his hand. "It says 'Instant Happiness. Experimental Research. Use only under supervision.'"

"I had nothing to do with that," said Dr. Melcher "and nor have I heard of any such thing!" he added.

"It's almost empty." said XL, and then "There are some ingredients listed on the back." He handed the bottle to the doctor.

The doctor examined the ingredient list for a moment, and then he pulled out his cell phone. He frowned. "I was going to check a medical web site" he said, "but my data indicator is showing no signal."

"Probably the nearest transmission tower is a long way away," said XL. "Remember that we are in the country, and in a valley. Cell access requires a straight line to the tower, so it must be blocked. But if we go up into Saucer 1, maybe it would work."

"Let's try" said the doctor, and then he turned to Beeba. "Can you please do me a favor? While XL and I go to the airship, stay here and check around for other clues. And if she revives, come to the door and shout. We'll come immediately."

The doctor and XL left the house, leaving Beeba looking around the living room. There was a sofa in the room, a bookshelf, and a TV. He didn't notice any other medicines, except what they had found on the small table.

He decided to quickly explore the house. The back of the living room led to the kitchen, so he entered the kitchen and turned on the light. "Perhaps she took some other medicine too" he thought to himself, "and the interaction between them has affected her." In order to check what else she might have taken, he quickly opened all the kitchen cupboards, but he saw no medicines. He checked the fridge too, because some kinds of medicine must be kept cool and perhaps she would have stored some there. But all he found in the fridge was some mouldy bread, some mouldy cheese, and a bottle of milk that was dated to expire two weeks ago.

The other end of the kitchen joined the hallway, so he entered the hall. There was a bathroom across the hall, with the door open. Beeba entered the bathroom and checked the medicine cabinet. There was toothpaste and a bottle of headache pills, but no other medicines. The headache pills were a common over-the-counter brand, and apparently unopened.

Beeba looked into each of the bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms were filled with boxes, and the third had a bed and dresser. There were no medicines anywhere the he could see.

Apparently this lady lived a simple life. Apart from the TV and a telephone, he didn't find any computer or other electronics in the house. He returned to the living room and took another look at the second bottle, which was still in his hand.

He looked at the dosage, which read "1 pill every 4 hours; maximum 4 pills daily." He also noticed that the label said that it held 60 pills. The bottle was still sealed around the top; it had not yet been opened. He set it back on the table where XL had found it earlier.

XL had said that the first bottle, which the doctor took with him, was almost empty. "So," thought Beeba, "she has consumed about 2 weeks' worth of this medicine. I wonder if she took it all at once, or over the last two weeks."

Beeba knew that it could be very dangerous to take a lot of medicine at once. If she took it all at once, she would probably be dead, he thought--not sitting in a daze with a big grin on her face!

This led to another thought. It was late afternoon when the doctor got the distress call. What if she took a pill at that time, because she was feeling badly? That was a bit more than 4 hours ago! The pill may be wearing off.

As if to confirm his thought, the lady moved. She squirmed in her chair, and groaned a little. He turned to her, and then suddenly she sat straight up on her reclined chair.

Beeba thought she might be upset to find a stranger in her home, but if so it wasn't her first concern. "Oh my goodness!" she cried out, in a raspy voice, "I am no longer happy!" She looked around rapidly to each side.

She turned her head toward Beeba. "Do you have my pills?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "I am with Dr. Melcher. You called him. He just stepped out for a moment, but he will be right back."

"I can't wait!" she exclaimed. She pressed a button on the side of her chair. The back lifted to a vertical position, and the seat began to lift. She reached over to the walker with one hand, and pulled it in front of her. The walker was a standard aluminum frame walking assist, but with wheels on the bottom so it could be rolled. She pressed a brake leaver on the walker, and proceeded to stand, grasping on to it.

Then she turned, and with slow, very shaky steps, she began walking to the table where the second bottle stood.

Beeba wasn't sure what to do. He walked to the table and stood between her and the table.

"Please let me by," she said. "Those pills are wonderful, like you can't imagine!" she said. "Let me have one, and you can have one too! Everyone deserves the right to be happy!"

Reader, click to recommend what Beeba should do:

Choice A	Tell the lady that she must wait for the doctor. Pick up the pills so that she cannot take them; then go to the door and call the doctor.
Choice B	Don't stop her from taking another pill, but run to the door and call the doctor.
Choice C	Beeba should help her to the table so that she can take a pill, and he should take one too.

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