Page 55 of Hollow State

"You can tell her that I'm doing better than could be expected in this situation." Darwin and Liam, as close as they were, had never really discussed Darwin's relationship with Sarah. The conversation could've been awkward, considering.

Liam and Darwin had built their friendship separate from Sarah. They’d both wanted to protect her feelings. "However, I need you both to know—to believe—that I didn't do any of what I'm being accused of."

"I should be insulted that you're even saying that?" Liam leaned forward. "Sarah's worried. She knows how much your work means to you. And how much it matters to the medical world. Not to mention, we both get how you internalize things that aren't your fault," he said, running a hand across his mouth. "We're sorry about Prewit. He was an excellent doctor and a great man."

"That he was." Darwin didn't want to have this next conversation, but he’d told Wynn he would. "I hate that I'm putting you in the same position that got Prewit killed."

"I'm a grown man who makes my own decisions," Liam said. "And all you've done is ask me for help. I'd be looking for ways to do that whether you came to me or not. This is a witch hunt."

"I appreciate that. But Prewit and everyone at the institute got caught in this war between me and Finch. I don't want that to happen to you, so I need to ask you a very important question." Darwin swallowed. "Have you been approached? Has anyone threatened you? The kids? Sarah?"

"No. And if they had, we wouldn't play their game. Not on their terms. I'd make sure my family was safe and still find a way to help you." Liam stood. "This isn't your fault. It's Finch's." He tapped his fingers on the keyboard and the screen lit up. "Now, let's talk about the John Doe that was airlifted to this hospital." He turned the screen and stepped out of the way. "I literally just got the labs back, and I haven't done anything with them yet."

Darwin pushed from the sill, pulled out the chair in front of the desk, sat down, and studied the toxicology report.

"I wasn't on the mission with the team, but this doesn't make sense to me. These levels aren't what I'd expect in a man who was basically acting like he was on steroids. But that's not what's most disturbing to me." He glanced between the screen and Liam. "Why did you look for VKR-1 and KTH-1? That's not a basic tox screen. Who told you to do that?"

"I didn't. These are the labs that I ran." Liam lowered his chin. "I was told the order was changed, and the request came from Chief Superintendent Hank Burn."

"When did you find out about the change?" Darwin asked.

"Before I got the results back," Liam said. "It was communicated to me and my staff that they believed you’d used this man in some way in conjunction with the explosion at the institute and then tried to dispose of the body."

"I'm curious as to how they made that conclusion."

"I asked," Liam said. "And I was told that this was a police investigation and they had warrants, paperwork, and all I needed to do was follow directions."

"I take it John Doe was still alive when that directive was handed down?"

"Alive is a relative term, but yes."

Darwin went back to the chart. "So, these first numbers were taken when the patient was still breathing."

"On a ventilator, and all signs pointed to little or no brain function. Not to mention he'd gone into total organ failure. I was shocked that his heart was still pumping blood."

Darwin tapped his finger on the screen. "The levels that this tox shows of VKR-1 are incredibly high, but it wouldn't cause this chaos—not at this rate. Not this quick. Even with the lack of KTH-1. Now, if the patient had been given this for months, without a flush of KTH-1, sure, I can see it causing brain swelling and organ failure. But all the other tests you ran don't support long-term dosing."

"No, they don’t."

Darwin scrolled through the chart. "To be honest, none of this really supports my approved formulas being the reason this man's bloodwork looks like this." He lifted his gaze. "There's no way that man was taking my drugs in the doses used by the military. If he were, he wouldn't have been able to do the things my team described. Those sound like the result of juicing. Finch and I theorized about enhancing human performance, and I worked on synthesizing VKR-1 and KTH-1 into TTN-3. One dose of both drugs. No flush. No worry about how long VKR-1 would last or when it might start adversely affecting the body. But the problem was I could never balance the two. Together, it was unstable and unsafe. But I think Finch started using it anyway. And what you have in the morgue is the result."

"I remember you wondering if it could be done based on AXS-1," Liam said. "And I have to agree with you." Liam picked up the file from the table. "Whenever I've worked on a John Doe, or a case that involved the police, I run two sets of labs."

"You'd get along with my girlfriend. She needs to double and triple-check everything."

"You have a girlfriend?"

Darwin cracked a smile. He hadn't meant to talk about Wynn in those terms. He hadn't ever voiced that word out loud. Hell, he hadn't even really thought about Wynn like that. But it was how he felt. "I do," he said. "Or, at least I think I do. We haven't defined it."

"Sounds like you," Liam said. "Does she know what's going on with you?"

"Her name is Wynn. She's a combat medic and part of the team that's in the bunker with me."

"At least she understands the situation." Liam set the file on the desk. "This set hasn't been checked through the system. It's not protocol, but five years ago we had a murder case where files were tampered with. So, being department head gives me a little wiggle room with how I do things."

"Does anyone know you ran a second set?"

"My team, but no one would question that I did." Liam flipped open the file. "But I never approved the charting. Nor did anyone on my team. Regardless, someone tampered with the results." He pulled out three pieces of paper and laid them across the desk. "Whenever I run two tests and there are questions or discrepancies, we either run a third, or I make the call. Those first results were put in and pushed out as absolute findings and handed to the authorities."