The Greater Good

The Early Experiments: Gone Right

Andi waits patiently outside her father's office door as she listened to him come downstairs and approach her.

"Alright, let's get this over with" Darron mutters with a sigh.

He pushes open the door to his office, leading Andi inside with his hand on her shoulder and pulling a book out from one of the many bookshelves that lined his office, the bookshelf opened revealing a secret doorway. This doorway was no secret to the family thought, as Andi would often be lead through it and down to the medical lab in the basement of the house.

"Is there something for me to do down there this time?" Andi whines

She sulks slightly as she leans against the neighboring bookshelf and hesitating to walk down, but only for a split moment before her father re-placed his hand on her shoulder, gently encouraging her to walk onwards as he replied.

"let's go down and see!" Darron said with a deceptive enthusiasm.

Sweet four-and-a-half-year-old Andi was a simple-minded creature that would fall for that enthusiastic tone from her father every time.

"Okay!"

Said Andi excitedly before descending the stairs, shortly followed by her father, Darron once he had closed the door. The bottom of the stairs leads you to a doctor's examination room/laboratory, with a rather large one-sided mirrored window against one wall which allowed you to see into the adjoining room, but not out. Andi ran over to the window, cupping her hands around her eyes to try and see into the dark room while her father began his usual routine of putting on gloves, sterilizing the area, gathering equipment etc. Dr. Ray was a very methodical and structured man, especially when it came to his line of work in medicine. He had barely managed to finish his beginning routine before Andi whined slightly.

"I can't see anything, it's too dark"

Darron simply shook his head slightly as he finished gathering his items and moved over to the patient bed in the corner of the office, pulling a paper sheet over the bed and tapping.

"You know the drill Andi, come on." Darron said somewhat impatiently before continuing "The sooner we do this the sooner you'll see what's in there" he teased.

"Ugh, fine" Andi sighed.

She slumped over to the patient bed and hopped up onto it, presenting her arm and gazing off into the tinted window of the next room as her father began prepping to draw her blood.

"You're getting your hopes up, you shouldn't do that. How are you going to feel if there's nothing in there?" Darron said sternly.

"Sad" mumbled Andi as she lowered her head.

"exactly" said Darron as he precisely injects the needle into her forearm.

He reaches for the small tube container beside him and attaches it to the needle which allows it to start filling with blood, he watches it carefully as he continues in a berating tone.

"And why, because of nothing?" he sighs "you can't let your mood be dictated by 'nothing'"

Andi remained still with her head lowered, really thinking about his words before mumbling.

"I just really want there to be something new in there"

Her father sighed once again as he removes the now blood-filled container aside and grabs a cotton ball, placing it over the top of the needle in Andi's arm as he pulls the needle out, Andi instinctively uses her other hand to take over holding the cotton ball down over the injection site, she had been doing these experiments since before she could remember.