Make Me Yours: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (9 page)

“
Oh
I know that, but the citizens don’t. And that’s why
they’re worried. They think you’re breaking poor
Samantha’s heart.”

“
Poor
Samantha my ass. Hasn’t that chick found some new boy to toy
with yet?” Dean’s lip curled in annoyance and Smith
laughed.

“
You
talk like her now, have you noticed?” he said.

“
Talk
like whom?” Dean asked getting whiplash at the twists and turns
this conversation was taking.

“
Meaghan,
idiot,” Smith said.

“
Oh…no
I hadn’t noticed,” Dean said and smiled.

Smith cocked his
head to the side. “You look happier though,” he said
thoughtfully.

Dean’s smile
widened. “Man, you have no idea,” he said spooning some
rice into his mouth. Just then his phone rang and he glanced at it to
see the caller ID. Normally he didn’t answer while at a meal
with someone unless it looked like a father-related emergency type
call. This time though, his smile became a grin when he saw who was
calling.

“
Speak
of the devil…do you mind if I answer?” he said.

Smith made a
generous ‘go ahead’ gesture with his hand and Dean
reached for his phone.

“
Hi,”
he said.

“
Hi,”
Meaghan replied. “I hope I’m not disturbing you?”

“
No.
I’m having lunch…with Smith. He says hi,” Dean
said.

“
Hi
Smith,” Meaghan said but she sounded distracted.

“
What’s
up?” Dean asked a frown marring his brow.

“
Well
I’ve just come out of a CME at the hospital,” Meaghan
began.

“
CME?”
Dean interrupted. “I don’t know those words.”

“
Oh
sorry, it means continuous medical education. Anyway we were
discussing aids to facilitate people who are developmentally
impaired,” she said.

“
Uh
huh?” Dean said wondering where the hell this was going.

“
There
is some great technology out there,” she said sounding a bit
hesitant and Dean had no idea why.

“
And?”
he prompted. He was sure she must be going somewhere. It was in her
tone, in the reluctance of it like she was afraid of his reaction.
Was she moving away to study these things or something?

“
Aand,
well you told me how hard it is the fact that you can’t
communicate properly with your dad and I just thought that you might
like to try this machine,” she said getting the words out
quickly and breathlessly like it would reduce the impact of what she
was saying.

“
I
mean this stuff works; it basically takes brainwaves and transforms
them into speech or movement. Yes it might sound a bit like
terminator or whatever but many patients have benefited from its
usage and at least your father would be able to articulate whatever
he likes rather than relying on people around him to just guess.”

“
Meaghan,
I need you to slow down and explain to me what you’re getting
at. No scratch that. When does your shift end?”

“
Three
o’ clock. But then I have to be at the Shelley Project probably
until seven maybe later.”

“
Okay
then I’ll come by there around seven and we can talk okay?”

“
You
don’t have to I mean-“ Meaghan began.

“
I
want to,” Dean interrupted. “See you then.”

He hung up and
looked up to see Smith smiling at him.

“
You.
Have got it. Bad.” he said.

*****

“
The
Brain Lab was one of the first to demonstrate that a person can
control a robotic arm and a wheelchair with brain signals,”
Meaghan said as they walked through the clinic. It was Dean’s
first time at the Shelley project and Meaghan was giving the tour as
she explained about her idea.

"It’s
possible to literally influence the wiring of the brain, rewiring the
brain, so to speak, to allow them to make new neural connections, and
hopefully to restore movement to a paralyzed arm." She continued
looking at Dean to see if he understood what she was saying.

“
It
was developed to help people with various types of paralysis. Now
your dad can’t speak and this technology might help. Patients
with locked-in syndrome consist of a smaller subset in need of such
technologies. This is a rare neurological disorder where patients
feel, think, and understand language, but cannot move or speak --
they are "prisoners in their own bodies, just like your dad,”
Meaghan explained.

Dean nodded his head
to show that he understood. He was listening intently.

“
For
example you might have heard of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who became
locked-in after a stroke, and wrote the memoir "The Diving Bell
and the Butterfly" by blinking to indicate individual letters.
Imagine that your dad might be able to move and communicate using the
same technology.” Meaghan said clutching at Dean’s arm in
her enthusiasm.

“
There
has been a lot of activity in brain-computer interfaces to help such
people.”

“
So
why haven’t his doctors recommended it?” Dean wanted to
know.

“
It’s
all very new. It’s actually at the pioneering stage right now.
A research group laboratory for a guy named Miguel Nicolelis have
shown that a rhesus monkey in North Carolina could, using only its
brain, control the walking patterns of a robot in Japan. In 2011,
they got a monkey to move a virtual arm and feel sensations from
it! Can you imagine? The possibilities?” Meaghan enthused.

“
And
that’s what you were learning about today?” Dean asked
watching her face with affection.

“
Yes,”
Meaghan replied beaming at him.

“
So
how does it work exactly?” Dean asked.

Meaghan explained to
Dean that one technique that was used was to harness brain signals;
known as functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The technique would
involve shining a light into the brain to discern how much activity
there is, and examining the corresponding oxygen level. Then light at
a specific wavelength is beamed into the brain, and the oxygen
present absorbs some of that light. This allows scientists to pick up
on small differences in the blood's oxygenation. She gave the example
of the Brocca’s area which is a part of the brain that is
crucial for language and is activated when a person talks inside
their head or counts silently. The researchers had used oxygen levels
linked to this to create a system that allowed the person to say yes
or no just by thinking ‘no’.

“
So
is all this technology available here?” Dean asked infected by
her enthusiasm.

“
The
original hardware for a device that utilizes this technique was
developed by Hitachi, and it allows a person with locked-in syndrome
to say "yes" or "no," Meaghan replied. “But
that’s not all; the same people also developed technology that
can help restore movement in people who have paralysis or partial
paralysis in a limb. So your dad could be trained to use robotics to
move his arm and maybe even his leg.”

“
It
all seems too good to be true,” Dean said in bemusement, a
small smile appearing and disappearing on his lips like he was
unaware of it.

“
Yeah
I know it is. But researchers really are looking at a rehabilitation
robot called an exoskeleton, which is a device that a person sits in
to be able to move limbs that they wouldn't otherwise. The robot can
detect the brain signal corresponding to a person thinking about
moving an arm, and then move the arm,” Meaghan said.

“
There
is also a wheelchair that a person can drive by using brain signals,
rather than moving a joystick or pressing buttons. Your dad would
need to wear an EEG cap to measure brain signals, but setting one up
is very complicated,” Meaghan continued.

“
Complicated
but possible?” Dean asked hopefully.

“
For
you? I’m pretty sure it would be. Would you like me to make
some inquiries for you?” she asked turning to face him as they
came to the state of the art lab.

“
I
would be grateful beyond words,” Dean said.

“
Consider
it done then,” Meaghan replied.

Dean swooped down
and kissed her thoroughly, uncaring of the people bustling around
them in the corridor. Meaghan stiffened slightly but then let him
have his way with her mouth. It was some big news.

“
Thank
you,” he said softly as he let her lips go at last.

“
Don’t
thank me just yet. We’ve yet to get answers.”

“
That’s
not why I’m thanking you,” Dean said watching her with
soft eyes and an affectionate smile.

“
Oh?
Why then?”

“
Because
you cared enough about a man you don’t know to find out all
this stuff that might improve his quality of life; just because he’s
my father.”

Meaghan gave him a
twisted smile. “S’no big deal,” she said quietly.

“
Oh
trust me Meaghan, to me, it is.”

*****

“
I
have some news for you,” Meaghan said calling Dean early in the
morning as she left for work.

“
Good
morning to you too. And how did you sleep last night?” Dean
replied.

“
Great,
now you wanna hear my news or not?”

“
Wanna,”
Dean said.

“
I
got you an appointment to talk with some people about that technology
we discussed the other day. They would be interested to work with you
on this; kind of see how well the technology does ‘in the wild’
as they say.”

“
Really?
That was fast. I expected that it would take a lot longer to convince
anyone to speak to us.”

“
Nah,
they’re really interested in trying out their technology. It’s
just that it’s a huge and expensive undertaking that medical
insurance really isn’t willing to pay for.”

“
And
we don’t have that problem right?” Dean said wryly.

Meaghan shrugged
although he couldn’t see her. “The perks of being a
millionaire.”

“
Excuse
me, that’s billionaire my girl,” he said.

“
Whatever
man. So you’ll tell your father?” she asked.

“
Actually,
I was thinking that maybe
you
should tell him.”

“
Excuse
me, what?” Meaghan asked wondering when Dean had gone off his
meds.

“
You
should tell him; it was your idea after all and it’s about time
you two met anyway.”

Meaghan was silent
for a good long while.

“
Megs?
You still there?” Dean asked.

“
Dean,
I didn’t do this as some kind of play to-“ Meaghan began.

“
Of
course I know that – idiot,” Dean interrupted. “I’ve
been thinking about it for a while. This just seems like an
opportunity too good to pass up.”

Meaghan sighed.
“Nothing has really changed Dean. Your dad is still ill and
your company still needs the stability of right perception.”

“
Yes
well luckily for me, I’m a guy so having a woman at my side is
not totally crucial to my being taken seriously. And I think I’ve
built up enough of a reputation in the past nine months to be
perceived as fairly level headed and intelligent.”

“
Having
the ‘wrong woman’ at your side could change that
perception.”

“
Look
Meaghan, I’m not saying we put out a full page ad in the paper
announcing our engagement although frankly I don’t see what’s
so wrong with being with a future surgeon general…I’m
just saying meet my father. Let him know your name and that you exist
and that his son loves you.”

Meaghan sighed in
trepidation. “Are you sure?”

“
I’ve
been
sure.
I’ve just been wondering
how
to do this in a way that no-one suffers any heart attacks.”

“
Okay
then, when?” Meaghan asked.

“
Have
dinner with me and we’ll strategize,” Dean said.

“
I
can’t tonight, its Thursday,” Meaghan protested.

“
Oh
Megggsss! Can’t you postpone just this once?” Dean
complained.

Meaghan smiled. “No
I really can’t. We can do dinner tomorrow. Breakfast too if you
want, I’m free this Saturday.”

Dean huffed in
contrived annoyance. “Fine. If it’s all I can get. Tell
Bain I hate him.”

Meaghan laughed.
“Hey you know you and Daniel could set up a play date for
tonight…you’re both such sulky bitches.”

“
Don’t
tease me,” Dean said.

“
I’m
not, pinky swear,” Meaghan replied still laughing.

“
Yes
you are and I will get you for it,” Dean threatened.

“
I
look forward to it,” Meaghan said as she came to the train
station. “I gotta go; talk to you later.”

“
Yeah
okay. Have a good day my sweet.”

“
You
too honey bunch,” Meaghan replied and hung up.

She
was still smiling when she got to the hospital where a string of
emergencies sucked up her day and spit it out mangled and chewed up.
Two gunshot wounds, one, a child not more than eight years old; a
case of domestic violence where the woman’s septum had been
crushed when her husband almost strangled her to death, her infant
daughter screaming and crying continuously as they took her mother
away to surgery. Child services had to be called because there was
no-one to take care of her; three cases of broken bones from a
particularly aggressive high school rugby game…it was one
thing after another. By the time she fell into the seat opposite Bain
at
La Trattoria
her
brain felt fried.