Some edits and updates

Doctors Bastien & Harper

and

The Unforgettable Woman

Doctor William Harper was a solitary young man, much to the disappointment of the professors and colleagues who often attempted to seek his company. For as introverted as Dr. Harper was, he was undeniably brilliant, and this alone garnered him the endless attention of the medical community. However, despite the mountain of party invitations that eternally cluttered his desk, Harper only truly took refuge in one other human, a friend and former classmate by the name of Edouard Bastien.  

It was an evening in late September and was as uneventful as every other evening Harper and Bastien had spent in one another's company. The time ambled by pleasantly as Bastien told animated and exaggerated tales about his life while Harper listened thoughtfully. Tonight's tale was full of cloaks and daggers, as Bastien allegedly helped a friend smuggle research out of the country so the government could not suppress his findings. Of course, Bastien could not reveal the identity of this friend or what the nature of his research was, he could only assure Harper that it was of the utmost importance.

“I’m telling you, Harper, a new day is coming. The world of medicine has been stagnant for too long, and they want to keep it that way. The old ways the old traditions, they are scared of us, Harper, scared of the revolution we are bringing.”

Harper laughed softly, “What revolution? I’m not aware of joining a revolt against anything.”

“Don’t laugh, Harper, I’m serious. You better than anyone should see the cusp of power we stand on. You are the youngest and most ingenious brain surgeon of our time. You are breaking the rules and pushing the boundaries, not yet willing to settle for the way things have always been done.”

Harper waved his hand to dismiss Bastien's misplaced affections. “I don’t know where you get these ideas from, you make it sound like I’m doing miracles instead of surgeries. I wouldn’t, in fact neither of us would, be where we are without the the old ways, as you put it. These traditions are the foundation of the entire medical field.”  

“And it is time to crush those foundations, don’t you see, they are only holding us back. For example, right at this very moment I am conducting a radical study, the ethics board almost didn’t approve it.” Bastien conspiratorially leaned closer to Harper, warming to his theme. “The others are held back by outdated morals, but I’m willing to take the risks. I believe that this new therapy will revolutionize neurophysiology.”

“What new therapy?” Harper asked cautiously.

“Electroconvulsive therapy, it's largely untested, but I’m ready to change all that.”     

Harper couldn't help his audible intake of breath and Bastien seized the moment to plunge on with his pitch.

"I see you have heard the rumours about it, they have been doing trials in the prison systems for years. But it's time to bring this dirty secret of medical science out into the light. I intend to be the one who makes it an honest and respectable treatment."

"Who could possibly be desperate enough to volunteer for this study, Bastien? I'm hardly surprised the ethics board tried to turn you down, the mortality risk is huge and the success rate suspect at best."

Bastien quieted for a moment, his next words were solemn and lacked his previous charisma.

"We have a group of volunteers, they are all prone to intense chronic seizures. Many of them will die within the year due to the increasing severity of the seizures... in fact one woman, my current patient, may not survive this week. Her seizures have become so frequent and so violent that, well, let's just say this therapy is her only option left. She understands the risks, but without this therapy she will die. I know I can save her, Harper, I can save her and so many others..."

After a moment, Harper's face softened and he conceded. "I'm sure you will, Bastien, I have never met anyone as maddeningly optimistic and driven as you."

___________________________________________________________________________

Harper wandered aimlessly through his empty house, absorbed in the book he held a few inches from his nose. He had all but forgotten his conversation with Bastien earlier in the week. Bastien had been that way since he knew him, idealistic, passionate, almost obsessive. None of this was new, and while he could sympathize with Bastien's drive to cure all ills, Harper was also aware how impulsive and extreme Bastien's methodology was.

After thinking very little of their meeting, Harper was more than surprised to hear a sudden desperate banging at his front door. In fact, Harper didn't immediately recognize the sound, it had been storming all day, and for a moment, Harper could almost convince himself it was only thunder. With loath footsteps, Harper went to his door.

On opening the door he found his friend. Bastien had obviously been in the storm for a while, his clothes were soaked through and his hair was damp and windswept.  Initially, all Harper could do was stand there, taking in the strange scene. Because it wasn’t only Bastien standing on his doorstep, on his shoulder he supported another human, equally bedraggled as himself.  

In his shock, Harper attempted to start several sentences, but couldn’t quite gather his wits to form anything intelligible.

“Good God, man, let us in!”

Bastien’s shouting brought Harper back into the moment and he hurried to usher them inside.

Harper quickly assisted Bastien in moving the other person, a woman who looked to be in her earlier twenties, onto his sofa. He fetched a towel for her and offered Bastien access to his closet, which Bastien gratefully accepted.

After little more than an hour, Bastien’s boots and wet clothing were drying near the fireplace and the woman sleeping on the sofa was wrapped in her own weight worth of blankets and towels.  

“How long has she been unconscious?” Harper’s attention was focused on her now.

“A few hours...” Bastien sat in a chair near by, despite the change of clothing he still looked haggard and unwell. “I didn’t know where else to take her.”

“Well a hospital may have been a better choice, if I’m being honest.”

Bastien shook his head, “I couldn’t take her there, it had to be you- you’re the only one I trust.”

Harper didn’t respond immediately, he looked at Bastien and then at the young woman.

“I will do what I can, but tomorrow you will explain exactly what this is all about.”

Bastien nodded, relief flushing his features. “Yes of course, tomorrow I will tell you everything. Thank you, William.”  

Harper knelt down next to the woman, he took her wrist in his hand and studied his watch carefully, timing her heartbeats.

_____________________________________________________________________

Grey morning light filtered through the thick curtains of Harper’s sitting room, gently illuminating its sleeping occupants. Bastien had simply fallen asleep in the chair where he sat, bodyparts precariously balanced, threatening at any moment to topple him onto the floor. Harper was a few feet away on the floor, his head supported by the sofa. He had been awake most of the night, periodically checking his patient's breath and pulse. Even in his sleep, his hand was still wrapped around her wrist.

Eventually the early morning light roused Harper to life, and for a few moments after he couldn’t piece together last night's events.