Lucidutek

!!! ATTENTION!!! IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH COVID-19 YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO FINANCIAL COMPENSATION. COVID-19 IS A VIRAL AIRBORNE DISEASE WRONGFULLY MISCOMMUNICATED, MISHANDLED, AND MISTREATED BY THE CDC DURING THE 2020 PANDEMIC. PLEASE DON'T WAIT. CALL 1-800-COVID-19 FOR A FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION TODAY!!! 

The narrator blares on and the screen blinks through medical images of CT scans, medical devices, and old women with coughing. 1-800-COVID-19 flashes across the screen, big and bold. All you want to do is watch the damn video. 

“Those Youtube ads are getting pretty grim”, you hear Celine say from behind you. She walks over to the kitchen and starts panning the inside of the fridge.

 “Where are they gonna get all this money from?” She continues on, “Do they not realize how many people were affected? There are small nations with populations less than the number of people that keeled over here due to the pandemic. “

“It’s all a scam anyway” You shoot back.  

 You hear your ringtone go off and you turn your gaze from your computer to the smartphone next to it. The phone is vibrating and the screen turns on. There’s no caller ID.  

Hm. It’s not anybody I know. I almost don’t want to answer it.

“Hello?” Your greeting sounds reluctant. Who could this be?

You hear a woman’s voice through the line.

“Good evening, is this Mrs. Sondra Griffin?” The woman speaks professionally.  

“Yes. This is her,” you say back.

 “Hello, I am Dr. Patel and I am calling from Phoenix Labs about a body- um, I mean...a family member...whom we had preserved 2 years ago. I am talking about Mr. Nolan Griffin? ”

 “Oh...Yes.” You stand up from the sofa and start making your way upstairs.

You hope that thud of your feet against the steps muffles the conversation. You hope that Celine sees you leave the room and dismisses this is as just another call from the bank, or work, or a friend...and not somebody from the cryogenic storage facility.

Dr. Patel goes on. “Following his advanced directive, we preserved Mr. Nolan Griffin around Thanksgiving of 2023...after he was pronounced clinically dead from the effects of the coronavirus. Since then, our team has created a treatment plan for patients like Mr. Griffin.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last week, we started the thawing process and he tolerated it well. He is currently undergoing a round of medication meant to regenerate the lung tissue that was overtaken by the disease. I am looking at his most recent chest x-ray and it is showing a marked improvement from the baseline.”

“Oh. That’s nice....” was all you could say.

Dr. Patel changed her tone. “Mrs. Griffin. I would like to show you his most current state.”

 Your phone is held up next to your ear. From the corner of your eye, you notice the screen light up and hold it forward. 

 [INCOMING VIDEO REQUESTED]

 Your finger trembles as it slides across the screen.

You see Dr. Patel now. She is a woman in her 50’s, with dark hair and olive skin. She switches the camera view so that it faces Nolan instead.

 Suddenly, everything feels surreal.

You haven’t seen Nolan since the day you dropped him off at the hospital’s emergency room. Now, his head lay slumped on the pillow positioned just below his neck. His mouth hung open while a nurse next to him used a device to suction out the saliva that seemed to pool endlessly out of his cheeks. All you could see from his gaze were the whites of his eyes. His face looked gaunt and pale. From his throat emerged a large plastic tube that pumped air into his recovering lungs. There were a series of colored intravenous access lines that seemed to be plugged into the nape of his neck. Dr. Patel explained that Nolan’s heart and consciousness were dependent on the medication running through these lines.

“Nolan....” you say out loud, as you try to choke back your tears.

Nolan doesn’t respond.

Not that you should have expected him to. Was this really still Nolan? This man who lay before you..... who was mostly dead and slightly alive. Where did technology draw its line?

“Dr. Patel, can he hear me? Is he still there?” You ask these questions, hoping for a miracle.

Dr. Patel pauses for a moment before she speaks.

She starts slowly. “When we removed Nolan from cryogenic storage, we started these medications to keep his body going. His heart pumps, his lungs expand, and his brain has shown evidence of functional activity. We have him on Lucidutek to ease any suffering. It is a new medication designed to keep his serotonin levels elevated...theoretically, this induces a state of pleasure and well-being for Nolan. He doesn’t look well, I know, but the medication makes him feel good. It is also known to cause hallucinations as if he is dreaming.”

Your silence urges her to keep speaking.

“Sondra.... in a perfect world, I could guarantee you that Nolan will be able to make it out of the lab someday, as good as new. With the current technology that medicine has to offer, Nolan’s systems are now functional. We have a chance to work with him again if you let us take him off the Lucidutek...but it would be an uphill battle. His mind needs to think and his muscles need to work again, and it’s not for certain they will come back to full capacity either. He needs to be brought back into reality first but this means pulling the Lucidutek.”

“Dr. Patel, can you call back in a few minutes? This is a lot for me right now...”

You click the side button to hang up the call and collapse backward onto your bed.

You want him back. You would give anything to go back to the way things were.  

But you also imagine what it must be like to be Nolan. Trapped in a state of pleasure where he is mentally safe, medically corralled away from the disappointment that this world has to offer. To take away the Lucidutek was to roll the dice on his behalf. Could he bear being awake, living the rest of his natural life so dependent on all that medical machinery to keep him going? Could you bear living the lie that this is still Nolan?

What a life worth living, you think.

You feel the phone vibrate among the sheets.

“Hello?”

“Sondra. It's Dr. Patel.”

“Doctor...keep him how he is. I don't want him to suffer.”

Click. 

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