The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [129]
“We certainly had hope this treatment would…uh, work, but it has far exceeded our expectations,” the little man said in the halting style Joe remembered from the one antagonistic conversation he’d had with him before Sophie began the study. “Of the seventeen patients starting P.R.E.-5 treatment just, uh, two months ago, normal kidney function has been restored in two of them, and all the others have significantly reduced their dependence on dialysis.”
A pediatric nephrologist from Children’s Hospital took the podium, and Joe recognized him as one of the many physicians who had, at one time or another, consulted on Sophie’s medical treatment. He was one of the doctors, as a matter of fact, who had tried to dissuade Janine from enrolling Sophie in the study.
“I will be the first to admit that I had no faith in this unorthodox treatment,” the doctor said. “But as of this time, having examined fifteen of Dr. Schaefer’s patients, I have to say that their improvement is not only astonishing, but it also seems to be accompanied by very few, if any, side effects. It’s time that we took a more serious look at P.R.E.-5, and move this ground-breaking research to a larger scale.”
Other speakers took to the podium, but the message was the same in every case: amazement that P.R.E.-5 was working, admiration for the unassuming little man they thought to be its creator, and a readiness to move forward with the next stage of the research.
Joe was literally shaking by the time the footage was over. His body felt out of his control, and somehow Paula knew. She hit the mute button on the remote, knelt next to him on the sofa, and wrapped her arms around him.
He let his head fall against her shoulder. “It was going to work,” he said through his tears. “Sophie really was getting better. She would have been all right. She would have…” He shook his head, unable to speak any longer. Lucas had been telling him the truth. His tangled web of lies had been woven for a noble purpose. And he’d risked everything to be able to have Sophie in the study of a treatment he believed in.
“God,” Joe said, “the grief I gave Janine over this!”
Paula held him tightly, as if to stop his shaking. “You didn’t know,” she said. “Who could have? You operated on the best information available. You took the recommendations of Sophie’s doctors. What more could you do, Joey?”
“You yourself thought I should give the herbal stuff more credit,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t know, Joe,” Paula said. “I can truly understand why you would think that strange little guy had no idea what he was talking about.”
“He doesn’t.”
She leaned away from him. “But you just said—”
Joe loosened her arms from around him and shifted away from her so that he could look into her eyes. “You wondered why I’ve been so quiet today,” he began.
“Yes.”
“Well, I had a long visit with Lucas this morning.”
She looked puzzled. “And…?”
“And it turns out that Lucas is the brains behind the study.”
“Lucas? What do you mean?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Joe stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “Lucas is the brains. And he would have been Sophie’s savior, too. Just like he’s been Janine’s advocate against me, and against her parents. Against us blockheads. And my big contribution was to stand in Janine’s way and make her life miserable. You said it yourself. She got her support from Lucas. She got jack from me.” He groaned, pressing his hands to his temples. “I can’t believe all the things I’ve misinterpreted!”
“I’m lost,” Paula said. “What are you talking about?” She sat on the sofa, staring up at him, the expression on her face one of both confusion and worry.
He sat down next to her again. “You know that Lucas has renal failure,” he said.
“Yes, and I still think that’s a weird coincidence that he—”
“He’s not actually a gardener.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s a botany professor,” Joe said, “and I guess he played around with some herbs