All The King's Horses: A Tale Of Eternal Love (16 page)

“I had no idea you had such a beautiful singing voice,” Christy said, after they had tiptoed out to the lounge. “I’ve never heard you sing before.”

“If you thought that was good you should have heard my Mum. Nobody had a voice to compare with hers.”

“You sounded so professional.” She looked at him in a way she done so for a long time. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you. I just can’t seem to help it.”

“It’s alright,” he assured her, “it’s just the drug doing it to you.”

She smiled grimly. “That makes me sound like I’m a junky. I wish it didn’t make me so crabby.”

“You’re under a lot of strain at the moment. But we both need to focus on the end result.” He held out her arms to her and she immediately melted into them, tears streaming unchecked down her pale cheeks.

♥

“It’s good news I’m pleased to say.” Don was smiling from ear to ear as he sat opposite Kent and Christy in his cramped office. “The cancer cells are in retreat. FK14B is doing its job.”

A little sob burst forth from Christy’s throat.

“It’s okay to cry, Christy,” Don said gently. “It’s a normal reaction for most people who’ve just been told they’re going to live.”

“So where to from here?” Kent asked hopefully.

“We’ll keep Christy’s dosage at the current level for another three weeks, and if the cancer cells are still retreating we’ll be able to lower the dosage to maintenance levels.” He transferred his attention to Christy. “That means any side effects you’ve been experiencing should gradually disappear.”

Kent cleared his throat. This happy piece of news was making him emotional. “Will the drug eventually cure her of the cancer all together?”

“It’s too early to say. Early indications are that it will, but we’re not prepared to count our chickens just yet. We need more case studies before we can be so bold as to claim that.”

“But it will stop the leukemia from spreading?”

“This is off the record you understand,” Don said somberly, “but yes, I think we can say that it will.”

Leaning back in his chair and drawing in a deep breath Kent then leisurely exhaled. It was the answer he had been hoping to hear for so long. His wife was not going to die. She was going to grow old beside him, and hold her grandchildren in her arms.

He could the relief on Christy’s face too. She hadn’t smiled once the whole time she had been here but she didn’t need to. It was the sweet relief he knew she was feeling that was the overriding emotion now, and the one that would bring her the most pleasure.

Talitha squirmed in her mother’s lap, and as Kent watched her he thanked God that his little girl would grow up with a mother to love her.

“Will it mean I’ll be able to have another baby?” Christy asked, finally finding her voice.

“It would be foolish to attempt to conceive before you’re off the drug.”

“But I may never be off the drug,” Christy pointed out. “I want to give Kent a son.”

Don looked to Kent for support.

“Your life is much more important to me than having a son, Sweetheart,” Kent said tactfully. “Besides, what I think Don is trying to say is that if you get pregnant FK14B may harm the fetus.”

She immediately looked to Don and he nodded his head. “You have a very high risk of either miscarriage or serious birth defects while on the drug.”

“And if I wait until the drug has killed off all the cancer cells? Would it be safe for me to conceive then?”

“Yes, I believe it would be, provided you had been off the drug for a few months.”

She closed her eyes. “And how long do you think it will be before this drug has killed all the cancer?”

“If it does actually kill everything, and I can’t guarantee that it will, then about eighteen months.”

She opened her eyes and gave a slight nod of her head. “I guess I can wait that long.”

“To make this whole business easier for you I think it would be best if we send you back to New Zealand when we lower the dosage.” Don looked from one to the other. “It’s not strictly following protocol but I think in your case I can get them to bend the rules. I’ll get in touch with your doctor and bring her up to spend on how to administer your treatment.”

“That would be great, Don,” Kent said enthusiastically. “Three weeks, Honey,” he said to Christy. “We’ll be home in three weeks.”

“Now the drug will cost quite a bit I’m afraid. There are certain protocols we have to go through to get it shipped to New Zealand etcetera, but it should work out less expensive than you living over here in the States for the next eighteen months. And of course, you can go back to work and earn a living again, Kent.”

“Thanks, Don. We really appreciate everything you’ve done for us, and when you’re in New Zealand next please come and visit us.”

“I’ll definitely do that, Kent.”

“And of course, any time you want to do a spot of fishing I’ll take you out in the Bonnie Lass free of charge.”

Don grinned. “Then I’ll definitely be coming back to New Zealand.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Christy held out her arms to Talitha. “Come on, Darling, come to Mummy.”

Talitha left the protection of Kent’s legs and took three shaky steps towards Christy before falling over.

“Oh, Kent, she’s almost walking.”

“She’s come a long way since we came back from the States,” he said. “She’s doing well to walk at ten months old.”

“You’re clever like your Daddy aren’t you,” Christy said, smiling adoringly at her baby.

Talitha bounced up and down on her bottom at the mention of her Daddy.

“She thinks the world of you.”

“That’s because I sing to you, isn’t it, Pumpkin,” Kent said, scooping the little bundle up into his arms for a cuddle.

“She loves that Humpty Dumpty song you sing to her.”

“She’s rather fond of the ‘Man in the Moon’ too.”

Christy looked at him. “I don’t think I know that one. How does it go?”

Kent burst into song. “The man in the moon looked out of the moon and this is what he said…tis time that now I’m getting up all babies went to bed.”

Talitha chuckled excitedly as she recognized the tune.

“Of course I do a few actions with it to make it a little more exciting for her,” Kent admitted. “But that one and Humpty Dumpty do seem to be her favorites.”

“You are a wonderful father, Kent,” Christy said sincerely. “I was right to choose you to be the father of my baby.”

“But I’m not her father,” Kent said seriously.

“What?” she looked at him as if he had gone mad.

He grinned at her confusion. “Sir Wally is her father.”

“Kent…” she couldn’t help grinning back at him, “”don’t you ever go telling her that, she’ll get confused.”

“I can just see her on her first day at school,” Kent joked. “The teacher is asking her the names of her parents, and she answers, Christy and Sir Wally.” He chuckled. “You can just imagine the look on that teachers face.”

“As soon as she can walk I’d like to teach her to swim,” Christy said thoughtfully. “I think it’s important seeing as we live by the sea.”

“And we don’t want her swimming as badly as her mother does now, do we?” Kent answered with a wink in his wife’s direction.

“Oh, Kent,” Christy put a hand to her cheek as the memory came back to her. “I’d almost forgotten about that.” She looked down at Talitha. “If you hadn’t stopped me from doing that stupid thing I would have missed out on all this.”

“Yes, you would have, and so would I.”

Her eyes flicked back to his. “That’s right, you would have too If only we thought of the consequences of our actions before we bowled blindly ahead and did them.”

“It would certainly stop a whole lot of unhappiness that’s for sure.”

“Thinking about that has made me feel quite grateful for what I’ve got,” Christy confessed. “We are so fortunate you and I. We’ve got a wonderful life together.”

Kent held out his free arm for his wife to snuggle under, and as he held Talitha in the other he felt as contented as any man had a right to be. “Let’s make sure we keep it a wonderful life,” he murmured to his wife as he tenderly kissed her on the top of her head. “If not just for our sakes but for Talitha’s as well.”

♥

“Christy…Christy… look at this.”

Christy walked down to the water’s edge to where her father and Kent were teaching Talitha to swim.

“She’s doing it on her own,” Jack said proudly. “My little princess is swimming.” He took his hands away from Talitha’s stomach and the little girl splashed the four yards through the water to the waiting arms of her father.

Kent picked her up and gave her a wet cuddle.”You’re a clever little girl aren’t you?”

Christy clapped her hands in delight. “She’s going to be very athletic. Seventeen months old and swimming already. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s surfing in another six months.”

“Oh yes, you’re going to make your Daddy proud of you aren’t you?” Kent lifted her onto his shoulders and waded out of the sea to join his wife on the beach.

“She’s a real water-baby that’s for sure,” Christy said, as she lifted Talitha off Kent’s shoulders and wrapped her in a warm towel. “Let’s take her for some ice cream.”

“Did I hear someone mention ice cream?” Jack asked, as he trudged dripping wet across the sand towards them. “I’d love a boysenberry cone.”

“Do you remember my friend Mark?” Kent asked, as they sat on the beach afterwards licking their ice creams.

“The one who owned the tin shack you lived in before I rescued you from poverty?” She bit into her ice cream so he wouldn’t see her grinning.

“Cheeky monkey. Yes, that’s him. He owns the farmlet that the shack was on. Anyway he told me if I want to get Talitha a pony we can graze it on his property.”

“Isn’t she a little young for pony riding?”

“Maybe at the moment, but in another year or so she’ll be big enough. I’d closely supervise her.” He tried to gauge her reaction out the corner of his eye. “So what do you think?”

“If you can promise me you will keep her safe then I have no objection.”

“I’ll watch her like a hawk,” he promised. “I’ll start looking around for a suitably quiet pony then.”

Talitha had finished her ice cream and was helping Jack build a sandcastle.

“He’s besotted with her,” Christy said, nodding in her father’s direction. “To him she can do no wrong.”

“I hope he’s not going to spoil her rotten,” Kent said. “I don’t want one of those ‘only children’ who make their parents lives a misery.”

Christy looked at him as if he had gone mad. “Daddy spoil her? Kent, you’re the one we should be worried about. You spoil her every chance you get.”

“What…me? I do not!”

“Oh please!” Daddy’s going to buy you a bikie when you’re bigger. Daddy’s going to buy you a pony. Daddy’s going to buy you a convertible when you’re grown up. I think you’ve even chucked a trip to Disneyland into the mix on more than one occasion as well.”

Kent looked at her indignantly. “I may have promised her a few things, but I don’t think I’ve promised more than most fathers’ do.”

“Hah. I’ll agree most fathers’ would promise their kid a bike. A few might promise them a pony. But there ain’t too many who’d promise their little darlings a brand new convertible. You’re definitely digging your own grave there, Buster.”

“I’m planning to buy the bike and pony and work my way up from there.” He looked a little offended. “She is the only child I’ll ever have you know.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you forgotten I come off my treatment in three months time?”

“No.” He looked puzzled. “What of it?”

“That’s when you’re going to get me pregnant again, so Talitha isn’t going to be your only child.”

“We need to discuss this second child business you’re so keen on,” he said quickly, “I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”

“If you’re not prepared to get me pregnant then I’ll get Sir Wally to do the job. He came through for me last time.”

“It’s not a joking matter, Christy,” Kent said sternly. “I’m pretty sure it was having Talitha that made your cancer come back the way it did. That pregnancy weakened your immune system.”

“That’s absolute nonsense, Kent! The cancer came back because I was merely in remission, not cured. It was just biding its time before it reappeared.”

“The pregnancy helped it reappear earlier than it otherwise would have then.” Kent wasn’t letting this go. This drug had worked wonders. But if she tried to get pregnant too soon after coming off it then maybe the cancer could stage a comeback. She had been given her stint on the trial and she wouldn’t be given another one. “It takes two of us to make this decision, and I’d feel happier if we waited a few years before trying for another baby.”

She screwed up her face. “I don’t want my children born too far apart.”

“Better that then you being dead.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Kent. You have a tendency to do that from time to time.”

He frowned at her. “And you have a tendency to pop a little insult in here and there when things aren’t going the way you want them to.”

“If you didn’t frustrate me so much I wouldn’t be tempted to do it.”

“Arguing back and forth isn’t going to get us anywhere,” he pointed out. “We’ll discuss it when you come off the drug.”

She decided to let it go for now. She would get him to see sense when the trial was over and she was cured. He wanted another baby just as much as she did. It was just that he was so frightened for her welfare, and she loved him for that. But she wasn’t going to let his fear get in the way of giving him a son.

♥

Kent put the phone down and with a face drained of color walked shell-shocked through to the kitchen.

“What’s the matter, Kent?” Christy left the pots she was juggling on the stove and walked over to join him.

Kent placed both hands on the back of a chair to steady himself. “That was Don Nelson on the phone. They’ve pulled the funding on the trial.”

Christy stared at him blankly. “Pulled the funding?”

“Don said the drug company has decided there’s not enough profit to be made out of FK14B and so they’ve cancelled the trial.”

Her jaw dropped open. “But we’ve only got a couple of months to go before the drug has killed the last of the cancer cells off.” She began to panic. “Can’t Don do something? Can he at least send enough of the drug out so we can finish the trial?”

Kent shook his head. “He says he can’t. The company is adamant that everything is to be wound up. They’ve quarantined what stocks of the drugs are left. Don said they’re going to destroy and all the research.”

“But why…?”

“It costs much more to manufacture the drug than they expect to make back out of it. It only works on certain cancers like yours.” He slammed his fist down hard on the table, “the lousy, greedy, bloodsuckers. Where’s their compassion?”

“There must be some way around it,” she said desperately. “Surely Don can do something.”

“He’s just told me that the scumbags have barred not only him but all the others who were working on the project from the laboratory.”

“So he no longer has access to his research notes?”

He looked at her and she could see the pure fury in his eyes. “He no longer has access to anything to do with FK14B. And if he talks about it to anyone they’ve threatened him with legal action. He was taking a risk just phoning me and letting me know.”

“There must be something that can be done, some sort of legal action against them pulling the plug on the trial.”

“By the time any legal action could be taken the drug company would have destroyed all the research as well as the stockpiles of the drug itself.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense. Why would they do that?”

“Fear, they fear some other company will get a hold of the research or even some of the drug itself and analyze it. That company may figure out how to manufacture and distribute the drug cost effectively.”

“And that’s bad?”

“As far as the drug company Don works for is concerned it is. They don’t want to lose their global share of the drug market. If someone else is selling an affordable cancer cure then it is highly probable consumers the world over will buy most of their drugs from that company.”

“So the drug company that Don works for wouldn’t be turning over the same profit as before?”

“That’s about the size of it. They couldn’t care less about you or the other cancer sufferers in the trial. You’re all just cattle to be experimented on and then tossed aside when it suits them.”

Christy turned it over in her mind. Her doctor only had two weeks supply of the drug left. Her last blood test had shown up very few cancer cells, but they were still there. Two weeks supply wasn’t going to cut it.

Tears had come into Kent’s eyes. “I so thought we had this thing beaten. I can’t believe anyone could do this to another human being. What kind of world are we bringing our daughter up in?”

She went to him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. “Maybe my body will be able to do the rest. There’s very little of the cancer left now.” She could hear his heart beating against her ear like she had heard it so many times before. Only, this time it was beating so much faster, and she knew it was because of the fear that was gaining control of him. “Everything will be alright,” she assured him, looking up into his brown eyes and attempting a smile, “you’ll see.”

He lost himself in her emerald eyes for a moment. “It had better be, Christy. I’d be less than half a man without you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anybody, and that includes Talitha.”

“Leave me to tell Daddy. He’s going to take it very hard, so it’s best if it comes from me.”

He drew her in and held her tight, and she knew he would be desperately thinking of a way to get enough of the drug so she could be cured. He was a man of action so he couldn’t help himself. But this was one time she knew that there was nothing Kent London could do. As impressive a man as he was there was no way he could go up against the might of an international drug company and win. Besides, he was right when he had said the drug company would have destroyed everything before they could get an injunction. So there would be nothing left to salvage.