HOOKED ON ZERO

L

into my bed. Memories of the day before assailed me and

ain. All around me, traces of Aretha had all but vanished. The matching golden filigree bedside lamps she bought, the two gilt high backed chairs in front of the be

eminder of what was m

when they fell

would agree to have su

, that

hade of yellow. It had to be the exact shade of the su

aused a headache to flare up. I opened them once again and they settled on the backdrop behind the curtain

choice, y

had t

d, changing to another backdrop. I smiled as I saw the replacemen

's b

a few minutes, and it was back t

up, Ar

of eighty pounds of steel, Aluminium and Kevlar, equipped to carry on a conversation of hum

n I say it did

tea from the cook,

Alex." She replied

ually a gift for her. She would spend hours talking to it about anything and everything.

the third person. I was shocked to know she had given the robot h

The robot appeared by my bedside,

t become t

ught to notice her arrival. It held a tea c

it's hand and threw it to the other side of the bed. I didn't need to see my face splashed all over the

it h

ill standing by my bedside and

that seemed to see straight into my soul

l it to go to hell. "I don't want t

lex, bottling up your feelings wi

ply to the bed. It was only a robot made to converse. It was just doing what it was m

d was peace. I also needed to be left alone. I got up and opened up a section

" It said befor

, already exhausted

placed on the bedside table. I didn't

ic and told him to bring the car to the front. I

k jaws and open mouths assailed me. Most of the

ging through me. "Is there no one here who h

man standing close to me started. "We wer

ly why he had said it but I sti

if he d

morning filled the air. I nodded and walked off towards my office.

t's t

and draped it on it before addressing th

uld be at home mourning your wife

ll doing hanging around and giving me

say it's not right for you to be h

save thousands of people from an untimely death, so I need to make sure it's perfected and up to standard. Aretha is already dead and buried, I don't need to moon around for the d

fferent, but no one except me knew ho

ures. "This is not you. You've become

walked out of my office, ban

d through security, nodding curtly as they stammered out greetings. Luckily, no paparazzi had assailed me at the gate. That'

ainting me as a reckless, heartless

ted me j

d against the door

what they were doing and gaped at me, shock lining every corner o

d approached me. "Good morning, M

of my hand as I kept walking towards the section of the lab wh

n on his checks but it quickly faded. "As you know, we changed the other compound which was u

thing I don't know." I stopped directly in front o

, then I had on my hands a miracle working drug that would beat cancer in the

nd it had stopped the growth. Next, we tried it out on monkeys who had been

we already had ten men willing to be injected with the solution. They had been diagnosed wi

he other reasons, I l

fe. You did this, baby, but you're no

Mr. Moore, can

e came into view. "Yeah. . . yes, I heard you, I just. . .good work, S

f Thymoquinone keeps behaving itself, two weeks, tops, and

d hired him. His expertise as head molecular biologist wa

ow I had messed up last week with the Departme

, startling me out of my thoug

said the DEA will give you a second chance. In hi

aise at the end of the month." B

tc