Just Do It

Samantha spent the week following her ordeal in the hospital, with more to come, surely. She didn’t recall getting to the hospital, but the nurses said someone signed her in and paid for the medical bill. They didn’t really press her about where the multitude of burns and lesions came from, which she was thankful for; she didn’t really have good answers for them.
 
Samantha stared at the notepad at her bedside. She had been taking some notes from a small text chain with Meredith about the missing women, but being stuck in bed wasn’t conducive to investigation. A task for later, she thought. She spied a slip of paper sticking out near the back. It was a sketch of some spider that Willard encountered in his workshop. He had been curious if it was something Reece saw in his visions of madness. She knew it wasn’t though. She saw them for herself.
 
The light from her cellphone cast a harsh glare on her face in the dark room. It was late, but John’s and Jameson’s words still clung to the back of her mind, festering unpleasantly. She’d need help sooner or later, and Willard was the closest to one of those tasks mentioned. She huffed, swallowing that familiar cold anger building in her chest. She dialed his number.
 
“Willard. It’s Sam.”
 
“Ms. Miller. How are you doing this evening?”
 
“The spiders don’t match. Figured I would get that out of the way. I wanted to talk about what we discussed, if we could call it a discussion, last week.”
 
Surprise in his voice, he says, “They don’t? I’m not sure if I should be more or less concerned. Wait. Have you changed your mind. About the other thing?”
 
A long silence hung on the line, punctuated by a sigh. “Yes. I would like for you to do it. He… Would like for you to do it, I’m sure.”
 
“I’m glad you’re okay with this. I owe him my life. After writing his memoirs in that mine… I was concerned you would look into it and get yourself into the same trouble. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this way is safer than the alternative.”
 
“I already have looked into it, sort of… Well, someone else did, I should say… But it got me answers, more than I would like. Whatever John saw when he died… If this works, I would just prepare yourself. I don’t think it is going to be pleasant.”
 
It was Willard’s turn to pause. “I’m not sure what you’re telling me. How do you sort of look?” Willard’s voice was a mix of both concern and interest.
 
“With help. Let’s just say I owe Jem a favor… and her friend a bigger one.”
 
“I suppose this is one of the cases where owing Jem is a better option. I won’t pry.”
 
“It’s fine, I’m just not quite ready to get into what I saw yet. I’m still adjusting.” Another pause came through the line. “I’m sorry for snapping… Well, I’m not, but I could have handled it better. The thought of… doing that is upsetting to say the least. It just made me question some things, like what we’re doing as a whole. Like, Contingent as a whole. I’m not sure what you’ve been up to lately, but we just… We just let people die on our last mission. And I am not really sure what I could have done to stop it, other than to not meddle like we did. And now we’re slapping people’s brains onto our own? Hell, what would the public think if that got out? I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but here I am, asking you to do it!”
 
“Ms… Sam, I can’t say I didn’t deserve it. I knew it was a conversation that could wait, but I pushed. I think we all have questions about the Contingent. I can’t for certain say that everything we do is morally right. I don’t even know sometimes. It seems like we are doing what is best for people, but what is the right thing to do when we are dealing with ghosts, vampires, werewolves, fae and who knows what else. The damn sensitivity class I took told me one thing, but I can’t… I don’t know. What I do know is if the grafting works it something that could help people. Even if we don’t get all the answers you need the prospect of possibly curing any number of neurological brain disorders open up. Can you imagine having a cure for Alzheimer? This could also be the first step towards finding a cure for ALS? We will be helping people, that’s more than I can say for the hand full of dealings I’ve had with werewolves or vampires. I wouldn’t compare what I… we are doing with that.”
 
“Yeah, I suppose. Just give me a heads up before you go through the procedure. There’s some more to share with what you’re looking for, I just need to organize my thoughts first. And maybe think it over before you commit. That doesn’t sound like something you can just undo.”
 
“Okay. I just want to assure you I’m going through the proper channel. Dr. Sandoval had to sign off on it. I’ll make sure to let you know before it happens.” Willard pauses before saying, “If we don’t find what we need this way, we will try the next thing and keep trying till we save your brothers. I need you to know that.”
 
Sam smiled. “That’s appreciated. Just think it over, Willard. And take care.”
 
“Bye, Sam.”
 
—
 
Willard ended the call with Samantha.
 
He looked around the large space which would be the future location of his new Buss Institute laboratory. He was all alone surrounded by boxes, a fancy glass desk and the pallet where he’d been sleeping most nights the last few months. He avoided his apartment in Upper West Side Manhattan. He had his reasons. The lab had some basic wardings up already, and the rest would be in place in the next couple of weeks. This was the safest place in NYC for him other than Contingent Headquarters. He was pretty much splitting time between the two recently. Meredith and Eileen’s and his therapist were the only other places he’d been in weeks. Going over the planning for the lab and his Contingent research had been the main culprit, though, not the only reason. The latter was something he tried not to think about.
 
Sam’s approval was an important step in moving forward with his research, but it was more than that. He needed her to believe that he was doing it for the right reasons. He didn’t know why, but it was. He curled back up on the pallet he had been struggling to sleep on before Sam’s call and, after a few minutes, was fast asleep.