Power Play (Book 2)

Chapter 16: Decisions Made

Recap: Brandon refused to help one of Samsara's "clones" find his father, instead insisting to see his friend Ryan. Ryan had been in a coma since the battle in Las Vegas and had developed a serious brain hematoma that Samsara could not treat. Samsara offered to rewrite Ryan's DNA with nanobots, turning him into one of the clone-like duplicates or to transport him to a local hospital that specialized in neurosurgery. Brandon had to decide whether to rewrite his friend's DNA without his consent or to risk his life in surgery.

Winning Choice: I understand the risks are high, but regardless of what I think I cannot make that decision for him. That's a choice that only he could make. So get him ready and let's get him to the hospital.

I look down at Ryan's face and know deep in my heart that he would not want the treatment. Even if he did, I can't make that decision for him. Maybe he would be okay with the new face and super-powers, maybe he would hate them. I know the betrayal I felt when it was done to me, and I didn't have my entire appearance changed as part of the deal. Bottom line, this is his decision to make and nobody else's.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything I can to help him.

"You're not going to give him your treatment," I tell Daley. "Let's get him to the hospital."

Daley looks disappointed for a moment, then nods to Lau. Lau strides off, shouting orders in Chinese. The place explodes in a flurry of activity and people in lab coats swarm around Ryan's bed to prepare him.

Daley taps something into her tablet, not looking up as she talks with me. "I am notifying Queen Elizabeth Hospital of our arrival and sending over his medical records. It will look like a patient transfer from another hospital. Your friend will get the help he needs, but they will figure out the deception at some point. I suggest you be gone by the time they do."

"Let me worry about that. I'm getting good at dealing with people who are mad at me," I tell her.

She looks up at me. "You are making a mistake, Mr. Stamp. Sometimes you need to make tough decisions for people that they cannot, or will not, make for themselves."

"You let people make their own decisions, then live with the consequences. Even if that's a hard thing to do," I tell her.

"Living with the things you don't do is often worse than the things you do, Mr. Stamp," she says. A look of sadness crosses her face for a moment as several doctors wheel Ryan's bed out of the room towards the elevator. I follow them up to the same room where we entered the facility just a short time ago. Miguel pulls out the uncomfortable soundproof bag and looks at me.

"I assume you want to come with us, yes?" he asks. "It's either the bag again, or you stay here under guard."

The whole procession has come to a halt. I hate that bag but they're not going to open the outer doors until I am secured, so I nod and bend my head down to make it easier for Miguel.

They lead me out in silence and darkness. The engines from the helicopter rattle through the soles of my feet, but it feels different than before. Noisier. More powerful.

The vibrations thrum through me as the copter lifts off, and I wish I could see Ryan. Miguel is blaming me for all that's happened to him, but that's insane. Right or wrong, Ryan made his own choices. Unfortunately, knowing that in my head doesn't stop my stomach twisting in knots that I may be making the wrong call now.

Ryan told me once that he joined my fight because he wanted to make a difference; he wanted to have an impact. Now he's dying far away from home, surrounded by strangers. Would he have still made that choice if he had known?