| General Fiction posted April 6, 2025 | Chapters: |
...49 50 -51- 
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Epilogue
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 51
by Jim Wile
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 50: After Woody has been shot and killed, Fran is able to revive Johnny with a shot from an EpiPen and with his inhaler, properly administered with a spacer. The paramedics arrive, as well as Brian and Julia, who are ecstatic to see Johnny.
Fran also calls Lou to send out a team to investigate. He is angry with her for not calling for backup but secretly delighted she brought a successful end to the case.
Fran drives back to Brian’s house and drops off an exhausted and aching Marie after complimenting her highly on her contribution that afternoon. Fran and Dana then go out to Bubba’s Barbecue for a well-deserved meal, and Fran tells Dana how much she enjoyed their partnership.
Epilogue
Six months later
December, 2026
It had been a full year since the team of Fran, Brian, Abby, and Patty began work on the mission to stop Dipraxa. It was a complete success, and Dipraxa was nowhere to be found. The economy bounced back in a big way, and many who had quit working had found employment again, often in the same job they held before the scourge. Many employers were sympathetic to the plight of their employees’ sudden addictions once they understood the nature of them.
The team was invited to a private ceremony at the White House, where the President thanked each of them personally for their contribution toward protecting the nation against economic ruin. The President gave Fran a Presidential Certificate of Commendation for her excellent leadership role. He also gave Certificates of Appreciation to Brian, Abby, and Patty for their roles in developing the anti-Dipraxa spray. In addition, he gave the team one million dollars to be divided up as the team saw fit.
Fran recommended a split of $100,000 for herself and $300,000 for each of the other three, but they wouldn’t have it and insisted on an even $250,000 each. They convinced her in the end.
Brian continued with his phase-2 testing of Glyptophan with excellent interim results. Because it is a medicine for chronic pain, it requires a long-term use assessment, which will extend this phase for another year. Phase-3 testing will begin on the heels of that. It would be at least another three years before the drug would be approved by the FDA if the testing continues to be successful. Signs were looking very good at this point.
When the family had first arrived in New York, they took a taxi from LaGuardia Airport to the Empire Hotel, where they would stay for a week in a luxury suite. This elegant old hotel is located adjacent to Lincoln Center, where the NY Philharmonic Orchestra plays, and is also within a short walk of Marie’s Upper West Side apartment building.
After settling into their suite, Julia phoned Marie to tell her they were just leaving for her apartment and would arrive in 15 minutes.
When they arrived, Marie met them in the lobby. She had come down to greet them and to introduce them to Cedric.
He held the door open for them as they came in, and Marie bent down to welcome Johnny, who came right over to her. She wrapped her arms around him and said, “Hi, Johnny. How’s my favorite grandson?”
“Hi, Gramma.”
“Wow, listen to you talking so clearly. Hi, Sweetie.”
After a few kisses on the forehead, Marie stood, but with some difficulty. After a false start accompanied by a grimace, Cedric gave her his hand and helped her up.
“Mother, are you okay?” asked a concerned Julia.
“Never mind that. Just a little back spasm. It’s so great to see you, Julia. I’m so glad you could come to spend Christmas here with me.”
They hugged, and Julia said, “We were really excited about coming. I haven’t been back to New York for a long time, and I’ve forgotten how beautiful the city is, especially at Christmas time.”
Marie had a hug for Brian too, then she said, “I’d like to introduce you all to my excellent violin student, Cedric. He’s making such wonderful progress, he may rival you one day, Julia.”
“Oh, Ms. Schmidt. You’re just teasing me. I could never come close to the world-famous Julia Kendrick.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Cecil. You keep practicing the way you have, and you just never know.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you folks,” said Cedric as he shook Julia and Brian’s hands.
Julia said, “It’s nice to meet you too, uh… is it Cedric or Cecil?”
He looked at Marie, and they both smiled and said, “Whatever.”
After showing the family her apartment, she joined them on a walking tour of New York at Christmas time. They bought roasted chestnuts from a street vendor and strolled along Fifth Avenue, looking at the marvelous animated displays in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue and other stores.
They visited Rockefeller Center, saw the giant Christmas tree, and watched the skaters at the skating rink it overlooked. They even took a subway down to the Empire State Building on 34th Street and viewed the city from the observation deck at the top.
On the subway ride back, they exited at a stop near Central Park and took a short stroll around the southern end of it. During this stroll, Julia decided to break her good news to Marie.
“I just wanted to tell you that I’m pregnant again, Mother. You’re going to have another grandchild.”
“Oh, Julia, that’s wonderful! That news is the greatest Christmas present you could give me. I’m so happy for you and Brian. Another Who down in Whoville for me to enjoy. Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”
“I’m sure it will be.”
“Smartass! Oh, I’m so happy about this.”
They continued walking. Johnny was pushing his stroller around, but it looked like he was running out of steam and would probably need a nap soon. Marie, too, was starting to get quite fatigued.
“Julia, I’m afraid I’m about done in by all this walking, and I need to get back and lie down. My back is killing me.”
“Mother, I’ve been hearing you mention a sore back for several months now. Have you been to the doctor to get it checked out? You might have a slipped disc or something.”
“No, not yet, but I don’t think I can put it off much longer. I promise to go visit the doctor right after the New Year.”
“Good. No sense putting up with a lot of pain if there’s something you can do about it. Please go and get it checked out.”
“I second that,” said Brian. “As one who has suffered from extreme back pain, I know how debilitating it can get. There are all kinds of things that can be done for it, and if nothing much works, I could always slip you some Glyptophan.”
“Why, yes,” she laughed. “I hear that’s a new miracle drug.”
They escorted Marie back to her apartment. Before they left, Marie said, “I have rehearsal tomorrow morning, but here are three tickets to tomorrow night’s Christmas concert. And make sure you come backstage after it’s over. I want to show off Johnny to everyone.”
It was a Christmas Pops concert with lots of families with small children. The fact that Johnny was antsy and started squirming and fussing and had to be taken out by Brian for a while so he could run around wasn’t unusual.
They came back in for the last part of the performance, though, and, as Marie had requested, they sought her out backstage when it was over.
Marie picked up Johnnie, who didn’t object, and carried him around showing him off to other members of the orchestra. She was a very proud grandma.
When the week was up, and it was time to say goodbye, Julia made Marie promise again to call the doctor and make an appointment. She kept her word and saw her primary care physician first, who referred her to an orthopedist. She didn’t see her until February, and the pain was quite bad by that time. She took the maximum dose of Advil each day.
The orthopedist ordered an MRI of the spine, and at Marie’s next appointment they reviewed the results. They were inconclusive, so the doctor ordered a second MRI with contrast to gain a clearer picture.
At her next appointment, the doctor said, “Marie, I’m sorry to tell you, but the second MRI confirmed my initial fears. It appears you have metastatic disease of the spine, and I’m going to refer you to an oncologist.”
“Is that a fancy way of saying I have cancer?”
“Yes, it is, but I’m not certain about the origin. It may be in the spine, but that’s relatively rare. The origin is probably somewhere else, but the oncologist will be able to determine that. I’m very sorry.”
Marie said nothing to Julia until she’d seen the oncologist and gotten the bad news. The cancer had originated in her breast and had metastasized to her liver as well. By definition it was stage IV at this point. With this grim diagnosis, she finally called Julia with the news.
“Oh, Mother, no! It can’t be. It isn’t fair.”
“No, Julia, it isn’t. Just when I’ve started to enjoy my family and my life, I… But I’m going to fight it for as long as I can. I’ll be starting chemo and radiation treatments shortly, and I should still have a few years yet.”
“Mother, I’m so sorry. Why the devil did this have to happen?”
“Nobody knows the answer to that. I think you’re right when you mention the devil, though. He has many disguises. Whether it’s cancer, or an addictive drug, or a big company trying to destroy its competition, devils have a way of fighting back when they are threatened. But we have to return the fight and not let them win. I’m going to fight it. I want to live to be a good grandmother and to see my next grandchild and the next one after that if there are to be more. And I want to finally be a good mother to you too, for as long as I can. I love you, Julia.”
“I love you too, Mother. I’ll be with you every step of the way. I don’t want to lose you, now that I’ve finally found you.”
The End
 Recognized |
To all of you who have shared this journey with me, I thank you most kindly for your wonderful reviews filled with encouragement, good suggestions, terrific analysis, and lots of speculation about what will happen. That was very gratifying to me because it showed me how invested you were in the story.
On January 30, 2025, I read an article in the NY Times and several other places about a new drug called Journavx that was just approved by the FDA and has recently become available for use. It is a non-addictive painkiller for acute pain that uses the same mechanism--sodium channel blocking--that was used in Dipraxa and Glyptophan as its method of action. I knew that pharmaceutical companies had been working on opioid replacements for years, but I knew nothing about the approaches they were taking. I got the idea to use sodium channel blocking purely from a recent visit to the dentist to have a crown replaced, in which he used lidocaine to numb the area.
To my knowledge, Journavx is only approved for acute pain, so it may not work for chronic pain, but I'm confident that scientists will one day come up with a good, non-addictive replacement for opioids for chronic pain too.
Marie's cancer diagnosis has inspired me to begin writing a third novel in the series, tentatively called Beating the Devil. It will involve the invention of an early cancer-detection system and will feature old and a few new characters. I will be posting a different novel next, but look for it following that one.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. On January 30, 2025, I read an article in the NY Times and several other places about a new drug called Journavx that was just approved by the FDA and has recently become available for use. It is a non-addictive painkiller for acute pain that uses the same mechanism--sodium channel blocking--that was used in Dipraxa and Glyptophan as its method of action. I knew that pharmaceutical companies had been working on opioid replacements for years, but I knew nothing about the approaches they were taking. I got the idea to use sodium channel blocking purely from a recent visit to the dentist to have a crown replaced, in which he used lidocaine to numb the area.
To my knowledge, Journavx is only approved for acute pain, so it may not work for chronic pain, but I'm confident that scientists will one day come up with a good, non-addictive replacement for opioids for chronic pain too.
Marie's cancer diagnosis has inspired me to begin writing a third novel in the series, tentatively called Beating the Devil. It will involve the invention of an early cancer-detection system and will feature old and a few new characters. I will be posting a different novel next, but look for it following that one.
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