"Well it is quite strange, I might add, but it appears they found small traces of polonium in his blood. It was almost microscopic but still traceable."
I stared at the doctor with wide eyes. Had I heard right? "Polonium?" I asked. "Isn't that some sort of radioactive material?"
"I'm not an expert on chemistry, but yes it is. Normally, radioactive polonium is almost impossible to detect because - forgive me if I get a little technical here - it does not emit gamma rays. Therefore it doesn’t show up when using gamma ray detectors as you'd normally do in the lab if it is suspected that a patient has been exposed to radioactive material. But someone in the laboratory was clever enough to try and test your dad's blood for alpha-emitters using special equipment. Apparently the test was positive. What we found in your father's blood is far below a deadly dosage, keep that in mind. But still enough to be able to cause damage to the tissue and we believe now that it has caused the blood to clot in his leg."
I was staring at the doctor in great disbelief. "What are you saying?" I said while shaking my head slowly.
"That your father somehow has been exposed to a radioactive material. We will need to test you and your family as well to see if any of you have been exposed to this as well. It is very deadly if a person is exposed to polonium in a higher dose than what your dad has been. Especially if it is ingested or inhaled."
"But having it in the blood, will that kill him eventually?" I felt my heart racing rapidly now. What the hell was going on here?
The doctor shook his head. "We don't believe it will. The dosage is - as I said - very very small."
"But you don't know," I stated.
"No. We don't know the long term effects of this. It might give him other health issues like more blood clots. Radioactive isotopes are absorbed via respiration and with food and water. These very small particles are transported throughout the body via the blood and lymph systems. While in contact with the lining of the vessels – and incidentally the gut – the isotopes cause damage to the cells via release of radiation. Whether that will happen to your father or not, I don't know. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. But we need to find the source of this and I have contacted the proper authorities. They will begin an investigation as soon as possible. The center for radiological protection, SIS, will be here soon and will check all of you for any exposure and determine if they need to check the place you live. I believe you're only here on vacation, right?"
"Yes," I said not believing a word the doctor was saying. So much information at once that was hard to comprehend.
"The authorities need to make sure there hasn't been a spill somewhere. There is radioactive material in many things in our lives. Like smoke detectors, chemistry labs in our schools and even here in this hospital and so on. Maybe something was spilled into the water around here, if so they need to detect it so no one else is exposed to it."
"So what are you telling me?" I asked.
"We have to keep your dad for a few more days in the hospital and you need to stay here at the hospital too until SIS arrives and tells you what is going to happen. They'll take it from here."
"Do we need to be afraid?"
Dr. Philipsen exhaled. "I don't know Rebekka, I honestly don't know."
CHAPTER 34
SOREN SEJR STARTED with the girl from the railroad station. She had been locked in the isolation room for three days now and it was time to break her. He had been listening to her kick and scream on the other side of the iron door. He knew she would eventually become quiet. They all did sooner or later. This morning as he walked towards the dining hall to eat his breakfast, he realized that the time had come. He hadn't heard a sound from her room. She had gotten tired and now it was time to start breaking her down.
There was a fuss at the camp since they realized that one of the church members had gone missing during the night. Mette Grithfeldt, one of the members of the leader group that Soren Sejr was also a member of, had vanished from her room. Rumors went that she had escaped; surveillance cameras had shown her climb the fence ripping her arms and legs on the barbed wire. How she had managed to get out was beyond Soren's understanding. But he knew that it would only be a matter of hours before the search group found her. They always did.
Like they had done with Soren Sejr when he tried to escape once. Then she would be punished just like he was. Like it was proper for someone who tried to bail on the rest. They had to be punished, to set an example. At least that was what the Priest had told Soren when he had tried to get out of there.
Only twenty years old Soren Sejr had first met Anders Granlund at a get together for UFO aficionados in Hamburg, Germany. Anders had brought enlightenment to Soren's life. He had invited him to his hotel room where he stayed during the convention. They came here every year, he told Soren Sejr. "To find the lost people and bring them back to their purpose in life." Anders explained that his group believed that people like Soren who were fascinated by UFOs and anything extraterrestrial had "lost their way and needed help to get back on track." There was nothing wrong with believing in these things or being fascinated by them, he told him, because they didn't know what they were doing. That was why Anders was there, to teach the lost souls that God wanted them to come back to him, He wanted them to know that it was the devil putting up obstacles - or distractions - so they couldn't hear God's voice, God's guidance in their life. Soren had thought Anders was a nice guy and listened to every word he had told him thinking it made perfect sense. Later he had said goodbye and Anders had given him his card. "Stop by our camp anytime, even if you just need a place to spend the night," Anders had said. Soren had kind of liked that but never thought he would actually use the offer. Not until two years later when he found himself on the street after a bad break-up with his girlfriend that ended in financial turmoil. Not knowing where else to turn, he found a phone booth and called Anders Granlund asking him if he could 'spend a couple of nights' at his place.
Less than half an hour later a van had parked next to the phone booth and two people stepped out of it with huge smiles on their faces. One was Anders, the other Hans Christian Bille. They had greeted Soren and told him he would never have to be alone anymore. They were going to take him in and help him get back on his feet again. He was to consider them as more than friends, they said. They were family now. Soren had liked the sound of that. He needed friends and he desperately wanted a new family. He had turned his back on his own many years before. Tired of them always being drunk and never taking care of anything, least of all him. He was sick of being their doormat that they used in any way they wanted. Tired of being the only grown-up in that house, tired of never having had any childhood, tired of being embarrassed by them and living a life scared to death of coming home from school to a house full of drunks who would amuse themselves by slapping him around or ordering him to go and get more beers and cigarettes.
Now Soren Sejr had found a new family and they would never treat him like that, he remembered thinking on his way to the camp in the white van.
Soren Sejr touched the iron door where he knew the young girl was waiting for him on the other side, waiting for him to enter and begin her training. She was his now, his slave and he would make her do whatever he told her to, he thought laughing to himself while humming the lyrics to Hotel California.
"You can check-out anytime you like," he sang while finding the key to the door in his pocket.
"But you can never leave."
CHAPTER 35
"RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL? In your dad's blood?"
Sune stared at me like had I told him I had just seen the Pope walking around in his underwear. He simply didn't believe a word of it. I had asked him to come out of the room and told him what the doctor had told me. Now he was shaking his head in disbelief. "How? Why? What about our kids?"
I shook my head as well. "I don't know, Sune. The doctor told me he didn't know much either. Only that the lab had detected polonium in my dad's blood sample and that it might be the ca
use of his blood clot."
"You've got to be kidding me," he exclaimed. "So now we're all exposed to it, I guess?"
"That's what they need to find out. SIS is on their way here to start the investigation. I guess they'll check our blood as well."
"Well that's just perfect, isn't it?" he said stretching out his arms resignedly.
"Hey we're all in the same boat here," I said.
Sune looked at me. "Yes, well that's just the way it always is, isn't it? Your boat, your problems. You always drag the rest of us with you into all your trouble without even asking us if we want this, if we want things to be like they are. Maybe, just maybe people want something different than you do," he said. Then he turned around and went back into the room.
I was shocked. Mostly by his reaction. So much for that calm always positive-thinking guy that I was in love with. Who was this?
I wondered if he was going to tell everybody what was going on or if he wanted me to do it. It wasn't exactly a pleasant message to have to deliver to your family. How was I supposed to do it without scaring the kids senseless? I sighed deeply and rubbed my forehead. It was moments like these we were supposed to stand together, I thought. As a couple we were supposed to support each other in difficult situations. Not fight about it looking to blame each other. I felt tired. I stared at a clock on the wall. It was past noon. I needed to get away from my family for a little, away from Sune.
I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
Dr. Wad wasn't easy to locate, but with a little help from several nurses I managed to find him sitting in the waiting room talking to some poor relatives who were waiting to hear news about a loved one. I waited till he was done then I approached him.
"Dr. Wad?" I said.
"Rebekka Franck," he answered and shook my hand. "How is the head?"
I felt the bandage from yesterday. I had to admit I hadn't thought about it all day. "Great," I said.
"Good."
"How is the woman?"
Dr. Wad nodded slowly. "Stable," he said. "Or more like status quo. Still unconscious but we managed to stop the bleeding. We still can't seem to figure out what is wrong with her."
"Will she make it?" I asked feeling slightly nervous about the answer.
Dr. Wad shook his head. "I don't know. My hopes are not high. But I do know that if she doesn't make it then you hitting her with your car has nothing to do with it. I already told that to the police. They told me they will not be investigating this any further. This woman was already sick when she ran into you. It might be something she has eaten. She kept throwing up even after you brought her here and she has some kind of internal bleeding that we can't seem to stop. We hope to know more once the lab is done with her blood work. But being hit by a car couldn't have put her in this condition. That's the only thing I'm certain of in this case."
I felt huge relief in my entire body. I was still worried about her and felt somehow connected to her, but now I had the doctor's word for it. It wasn't my fault. It really wasn't.
"Have you identified her yet?" I asked.
"As a matter of fact we have," he said. "Well the police did. Dental records helped them. Her name is Mette Grithfeldt."
"Is she in any way related to the late Asger Grithfeldt?" I asked.
"The finance mogul, yes. It's his daughter."
"I thought she disappeared many years ago. I remember they searched for her everywhere and even had a reward out to anyone who would bring information about her to them. That was back in the beginning of the nineties."
Dr. Wad nodded. "Yes that's her. Her parent's lawyer managed to find her when the parents died and she inherited all their money. The police talked to him earlier today and explained the situation. They asked him if she had any relatives that we needed to inform, but he said they were all gone except for a few distant cousins that she had no contact with."
"Did she live at the camp?" I asked. "Is she a member of ’The Way’"?
Dr. Wad looked at me with surprise. "As a matter of fact she is," he said. "How did you know that?"
"Just a hunch."
CHAPTER 36
THE SIS ARRIVED later in the afternoon. Men wearing heavy suits and masks entered Dad's room where we were all waiting. They examined us, using small hand held detectors and taking blood samples. They took our clothes off and put them in sealed containers, after giving us a bath they gave us hospital clothes to wear.
I thought they were exaggerating and was worried about how much they scared the kids. I managed to explain to Julie and Tobias that we were going to be checked out to make sure that we weren't sick, but that there was nothing to be scared of. Julie knew me way too well to fall for that. She looked at me with frightened eyes.
"It's going to be just fine," I repeated to her. "They're just checking us, like the doctor checks you up every now and then," I told her.
It didn't calm her down. Once they were done with her examination she ran to me and hugged me tight. She was crying silently not wanting to let go of my leg.
"They took samples from my hair, Mommy. I'm scared. Are we going to die? Are we Mommy?"
"Shh, it'll be all over soon, sweetie," I said while stroking her hair. "Don't worry. It'll be just fine."
I sincerely hoped I was right.
We were told to stay in Dad's room to wait for the results. The SIS told us they would go to our vacation rental next and search to see if they could detect the source there. While we waited I did what any sensible worried mother would do. I grabbed my iPhone and started searching radiation exposure and how it affected the human body. It wasn't exactly calming to put it mildly. Sune sat next to me and read over my shoulder.
"Loss of hair, brain damage," he started reading out loud. "Radiation kills nerve cells and small blood vessels, and can cause seizures and immediate death."
Sune sighed and looked away. I felt how afraid he was, it was almost like he was struck and paralyzed by the fear inside of him. Still, he kept reading out loud, feeding the fear growing in all of us.
"Data from Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that symptoms may persist for up to ten years and may also have an increased long-term risk for leukemia and lymphoma. Intense exposure to radioactive material would do immediate damage to small blood vessels and probably cause heart failure and death directly. The radiation will begin to destroy the cells in the body that divide rapidly. These including blood, GI tract, reproductive and hair cells, and harms their DNA and RNA of surviving cells. Wow. That's festive," he continued. "If it doesn't kill us now it will give us a slow and painful death, like cancer or leukemia instead."
I sighed and looked at him. He was scared. Naturally. I was too. I grabbed his hand. I looked into his eyes. "It'll be fine," I said with my most reassuring voice. "You told me it will, remember?"
Sune scoffed. Then he smiled. "Yeah. I know. Sorry about that. I'm just panicking slightly."
I squeezed his hand. "I am too. But we're in this together. We need to keep it together - for them," I said and nodded in Julie and Tobias' direction. "We need to be strong and not lose it for their sake, alright?"
Sune exhaled and nodded. Julie and Tobias were holding hands while sitting quietly on Dad's bed. He was trying to cheer them up by putting on a puppet show with a pair of socks. It made me chuckle. If Dad was not panicking then there was no reason for us to be, I thought. So far he was the only one we knew for sure had been exposed to anything and that was such a small dosage that it might not affect him further at all. This was not a time to panic. I looked at Sune again. He was pale and scared. He suddenly reminded me of a little child. I stroked his cheek.
"It will be fine," I repeated. "Trust me."
He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "I sure hope you're right. I really truly hope you are."
On my phone I Googled 'polonium' thinking I remembered hearing about it somewhere before. I was right. In November 2006 the former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB and KGB - Alexander Litvinenko - was alleged
ly killed by polonium poisoning. According to the article in Wikipedia Litvinenko "suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. He died three weeks later, becoming the first confirmed victim of lethal polonium-210 induced acute radiation syndrome. According to doctors, 'Litvinenko's murder represents an ominous landmark: the beginning of an era of nuclear terrorism.' "
Furthermore polonium was suspected to have killed the French scientist Irène Joliot-Curie. She was accidentally exposed to it in 1946 when a capsule exploded in her laboratory. Ten years later she died from leukemia.
Rumors also had it that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's clothes had unusually high concentrate of polonium, but that was never confirmed.
I looked up and stared at Julie and Tobias. This thing could have long term effects like it had on Irène Joliot-Curie. If Julie had been exposed to it could it cause health issues for her later on in life? I couldn't bear thinking about it. It was obvious that none of us had suffered from any short term affects, so I wasn't scared that we were about to all die here and now, but what was this going to mean to all of us in the long run? I felt a pinch in my stomach, a pinch of fear.
CHAPTER 37
SOREN SEJR LOOKED at the young girl in the corner. She was curled up, staring at him with fierce eyes, a fierceness he would soon get out of her. He always did no matter how long it would take.
Soren approached the girl, she was trembling, hissing trying to keep him away, covering her face with her arms. He kneeled in front of her and reached out his hand. He put it on her arm. She pulled it away with a loud hiss.
"Let me out of here," she groaned. "You have no right to keep me in here."
Soren Sejr smiled. Like he always did in this situation. Smiled with compassion and empathy, but not without displaying authority and letting them know that they were at his mercy, and he was the one to decide what would happen to them. He liked them like this, just before they were broken down. It was these moments he enjoyed the most, when they still believed they could fight him, when they still thought they could resist and get away, but knew deep down inside that they would eventually cave in and give up. They all came to that point when they realized that it was no use fighting this. Once they gave up he could begin to fill their minds with the right thinking. The kind of thinking that would make them obey his every word.