Chapter 1

1

Easton

The office was empty as I entered, too quiet for my taste, but it's a Thursday, and most employees like to get out of here early. Not me. Routinely, my ass was in my chair or in the lab by eight o'clock every day and rarely did I get home before nine o'clock at night. This was personal, and I couldn't handle it if anything went wrong on my watch. The trials started and have been going well so far. My grandma might not have won her battle, but with this possible cure, I could save so many lives. Prevent other families from losing their loved ones from the awful disease.

Time constraints left no room for anything else. My life was very strict, and it made me a successful scientist. The steam from the hot coffee rose as I sat it on my desk and removed my jacket. I still had at least a couple of hours left before I could call it a day.

Back in my college days, between taking extra classes and tutoring for tuition money, coffee became a necessity in my life. Even now, I was an avid drinker of three to four cups a day. Others drink after work, but I've never been an alcohol lover. Guess that's why I never went to any parties in college. In fact, my roommate used to mock me for doing nothing. His words were college was a time to branch out and have fun, but he didn't know a thing about my life.

I was the first person in my family to graduate from college and I had to work my ass off to do so without a crippling amount of student debt. It was not a completely pleasant experience and there were difficulties along the way. I want to clarify that my admission was not facilitated by any financial support from my family. My high school transcripts and entrance essay had to speak for themselves. High school for most kids was fun, but it was nothing but stressful for me. Every single thing I did was under a microscope. I couldn't have too many volunteering hours and always entering new clubs to broaden my interests on paper. I was going from sunup to sundown every day. So, even in my adult life, it's the same. I'm used to it.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" Michael asked. "Let's go get a drink and leave this day behind us. It's been a nonstop shitshow."

He was always trying to get me to go out with him after work, but the answer was always the same. "I'm good. Still have reports to go over before I can leave. Maybe next time."

"Yeah, okay. One day, you're going to say yes. You need to get a life, dude. This can't be your everything."

My hand rubbed the back of my neck. "You don't know shit about my life. I'm doing just fine. This project is important to me and I need to stay on top of it."

Michael groaned a bit. "My project isn't any less important to me, but at some point, you're gonna have to learn to balance work and personal. And from what I can tell, I've never seen you even smile."

Why did it matter what I did in my personal life to him? Staying guarded was a natural inclination for me. My whole life had always been about this result. Now that I was here and doing what I aspired to do, I couldn't let anything get in the way. "Fuck! You need to chill. I don't need you in my business. Go grab your drink. Seriously, I need to go through these reports."

Michael flicked his wrist toward me. "Whatever."

He was the closest thing I had to a friend. Sure, we didn't ever hangout outside of work, but he had invited me more times than I could count. Although I appreciate his concern, I don't have any plans to get drunk tonight. I grabbed the manilla folders on my desk and opened the first one.

The papers inside showed the progression of the medicine during the trials. We had a clinical trial going on for a potential cure for Parkinson's. We were up to seventy percent having a reduction in symptoms. It had taken me ten years to get to this point, so many tests, but this was the first time I had gotten as far as being approved to run the clinical trials.

Nothing could go wrong. This had to work!