The Littlest Giant

Part 1: Introducing Wilder

ONE

The buzzer on the microwave indicated Janessa's coffee from last night had been temporarily reenergized. She only hoped the stale beverage would do the same for her.

"Mama, please." Janessa juggled her cell phone while removing the paper cup from the microwave. She silently chided herself for not checking the caller ID before answering. The 6:52am call had caught her napping in the hospital break room. "Don't worry yourself. We both know Mr. Gupta is a windbag. I've already taken care of it."

Janessa held the steaming cup of reheated coffee beneath her face in effort to clear the fog of sleep. "He won't bother you until next month, I promise." She took a delicate sip, burned the tip of her tongue, and nearly dropped her phone. By the time she pressed it back to her ear, she caught the end of what sounded like guilt-induced motherly concern.

"Me? I'm fine." Janessa set her coffee down and attempted to tidy her file folder of clinical trial applicants. She had narrowed the replacement patient down to three before falling asleep.

"No, no. You just caught me on the way out the door, that's all." She shoved the folder into her messenger bag. "The trial is going good, real good. Phase two is just under way."

Janessa removed her cosmetic kit and studied the bags under her eyes in the tiny mirror. "Yes, this is the toughest phase." Rather than attempt the impossible, Janessa closed the mirror and put the kit away. Luckily, her ocher skin concealed exhaustion better than most people's.

She absently continued the conversation with her mother while bringing her mind online for the new day. "At least another year. I know it seems like forever, but the research is payed for." Janessa threw her bag over her shoulder, snatched an energy bar and a yogurt from the fridge, and headed for the door. "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. I promise."

She was half-way to the gym before realizing she'd left her coffee on the table in the break room. She swore under her breath but didn't turn back. She wanted to squeeze in a workout before any of her candidate's scheduled therapy appointments. "Mama, don't be ridiculous. I'm not trying to get rid of you. I'm trying to take care of you, of us both."

Janessa instantly regretted her words. "That's not what I-I know you can take care of yourself. You're not a burden." Janessa tried to counter her mother's words before they could be spoken. "You know I would never think that. You've taken care of me for so long, let me do this. I want to do this."

She rested her forehead against the glass doors of the gym. Finally she and her mother arrived at the awkward crossroads they had arrived at during every phone conversation they'd had over the last fifteen years-the one where they silently recognized the gaping hole her father's death had left in their lives.

Janessa's mother never made the transition from nurturer to provider. Janessa had been forced to take over the head of household while her mother had mourned the loss of her husband and the father of her children. Janessa's brother had promptly gotten himself thrown in prison.

Everything Janessa had done since then had been for her family. Most of all, for her father. His condition could have been prevented. She would prevent it in thousands of other men going forward. She would name the cure after her father.

"Mom, I have to go." Janessa used her badge to scan open the doors. "I love you, too." Gratefully, she killed the connection and slipped her phone into her bag while making sure the doors closed behind her.

"A little help." An unexpected male voice startled her.

Janessa turned to find a young man pinned on the bench press by an old-fashioned set of weights.