"You did?" I asked again to be sure.
Few minutes ago I had thought I ended up at the end of the road with nowhere to turn to but this gave me hope at the last minute
"She was one of the nursing assistant but she worked part time. She was still in nursing school at that time so she wasn't a permanent nurse yet. I think that was why they didn't know about her. One of the nurses then probably gave her the job to assist herself in school so she definitely wouldn't be registered as one of their staff". Sarah said
"Good for us then, did you find out where she is now, her address or where she works" I asked eagerly
"She has her home address on her school form, we could start by checking there" Sarah suggested
"Okay, send the address to me."
I paused for a second
"I know you don't owe me any of this Sarah and you are in danger right now because of me, thank you" I continued
"Hey, remember when I said you have to let me use you? This is me using you to kick those assholes. Please be careful out there and call me if you need anything" she said
"Be careful too, I'll call you" I said lastly as I aborted the call
I ran out of the warehouse,into my car. I couldn't stop getting anxious as I was driving. This lady was my only hope. If I couldn't find her I'd be stuck till God knows when.
"Let me find her please" I mumbled quietly
After driving for over thirty minutes, following the google map, I found myself in front from an old bungalow. It had a little garden at the left side of the entrance with a low fence made with woods. It seemed like a building no one had used in years but the flowers in the garden were surprisingly in full bloom. This gave me hope that someone was inside the house.
I opened the small wooden gate, entered, walked towards the door and knocked gently on it.
"Hello, is anybody in?" I said with a low voice
I knocked again,asking the same question. I finally heard a voice from inside.
"Who's there?!" She shouted
She sounded like a woman in her 40s. I immediately assumed she must have been in her 20s when the incident happened. All along it never occurred to me that the lady would be fifteen years older. I still pictured a young woman in her 20s in my head until I heard her voice. I hoped she would be able to help me out with what I came for.
"I'm Alex ma'am,I'd like to discuss something with you. Can I have a minute ma'am?" I responded with a loud voice trying to peep in through the window beside the door.
"I am not expecting anyone neither do I have any interest in your discussion please leave!" She shouted again in a very hostile voice.
If spending the whole day in front of this woman would make her open the door I was ready to do it. She was the last person that could help me and there's no way I was giving up on her.
"I mean no harm ma'am, just a minute of your time please" I said again
"I have no business with you,leave before I call the police!" She said again.
There was silence for few seconds and then I spoke again
"Fifteen years ago, you worked at Betterlife Nursing home as a nursing assistant. I don't know if you remember a man named Mr Joseph Reel. He volunteered at the home then." I said to her hoping she would respond.
It was my last card and I could only hope it worked. There was silence again until I saw her sliding the curtain by the window gently to the side peeping slightly from her window.
"Who are you?" She asked with curiosity
"I am Alex, Mr Joseph's son
There was silence again
"What was your favorite sport back then?" She asked out of nowhere
"Basketball" I answered feeling confused as to why she asked that all of a sudden. I heard the door being opened from inside and I leaped for joy.
"Come inside" she said still holding the door from behind
"Thank you" I said in a cool voice
She locked the door back immediately.
"Please sit, would you like a cup of coffee?" She asked
"Yes, thank you" I said as I sat down looking around the house.
The sitting room felt cozy, it had a fireplace, an old radio on the shelf with a table clock beside it. Some old pictures were also hanged on the wall.
I suddenly saw a picture that had my father in it. I stood up to take a closer look.
"You really are your father's son" she said from the kitchen.
She brought a tray with two cup of coffee and placed it on the coffee table as she sat down. I went back to my seat.
"You really grew up well" she said with a smile
"Looks like you knew my father well" I asked
"Of course, everyone knew him at the home then. He always boasted about his smart son and how he loved to play basketball. That was why I asked that question the other time. I knew only his son would know."
"Oh, I see" I replied
"Now that you are sitting close to me, I see you really look like him. He always carried your picture around then and showed everyone. He really must be proud" she said again
"I really do hope so" I said nervously
"But what brings you looking for me. I'm sure you didn't know about me or any of us then"
"Actually, I didn't until recently. I searched for people who worked at the home at that time and I could only find you. What happened at the home fifteen years ago?" I asked
After a short pause
"I never knew a day would come that I will have this conversation with anyone. Like I said earlier, your dad was well known among the nurses and patients. Most especially, the patients, they really loved him. Because of this, he fed most of them and gave them drugs. Even those who didn't want to eat or take their drugs would do so after spending time with your dad. I was just an assistant then so we were always together.
One day, the director brought these new drug and he said it worked for patients with stage 3 diabetes. Of course everyone was happy and we started giving the drugs to the patients. However, they started having the same side effect of vomiting. We complained to the director and he said it was just the side effect and nothing more but this didn't sit right with your dad and I overheard him having an argument with the director about it. He insisted the drug should be taking to other labs for testing and all but the director refused saying Genaid Pharmaceutical donated it to the home" she explained
"You still remember the name of the company?" I asked, surprised she remembered after so many years.
"How could I forget the company that made everyone disappeared and made me miserable. I've lived in hiding for fifteen years always looking behind my shoulder because of them. I always feared they would hunt me down one day and make me disappear like the others. That is why I've lived like a ghost all these years.
After the argument that day, I never saw your dad anymore. Only for us to hear later that he was murdered, God bless his soul. Shortly after that, some strange men came into the home one night and set the place ablaze. Some people escaped, some died, and some disappeared. I wasn't in duty that day because I had exams. I only heard the story later. I was scared and I ran for my life. I dropped out of school and came back to this town. This house used to be the orphanage I grew up in until it closed down. I came back here and I've been living in hiding since then."
"You really went through a lot. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." I said in a consoling voice
"The 2006 Typhoin disease, came from Genaid Pharmaceutical." She declared