― André Malraux
Illusions
We put the drug trial on hold while we tried to sort things out with Sylvie. It was the sensible thing to do, besides, Nigel was exhausted from spending all night by her bedside and wouldn't have been able to perform his duties anyway.
I couldn't believe though, how much damage had been done by Sloane Kettering, not only in my life but also in Sylvie's and God knows how many other innocent people affected by his malignant narcissism.
It seemed most of my adult life had been spent doing damage control trying to manage the fallout from Sloane's constant harassment. Why he hated me so much I had no idea but it seemed he viewed me as more than a rival―he wanted to replace me and perhaps, ultimately become me.
He was obsessed about stealing everything precious from my life.
As I drove back to my office in the Old Medical Centre I was wondering how Paige would react to my news about Sylvie. It's really hard to see past a person's sins and understand their deeper motives. Would Paige be able to see past Sylvie's bad decisions and grasp her underlying angst?
I wasn't trying to excuse Sylvie's actions, but I did understand how desperate she was to find out who murdered her sister. Unfortunately, she made a pact with the devil when she joined forces with Sloane and spied on me.
How Paige would respond was hard to predict because she was protective of Nigel and took offence to Sylvie continually trying to manipulate me.
But I was wise enough to keep my distance because when two beautiful women fight over territory, it's lethal to get in between them.
Still, despite my fears, I underestimated Paige's tolerance and compassion. The horror was plainly written on her face when I told her the details of Sylvie's sister being murdered and the way Sloane exploited it to use Sylvie against me.
She was trembling with emotion.
"The man's not just criminal but evil," she exclaimed. "I know I said Sylvie needed to be stopped, but it was really Sloane who was the puppet master, secretly pulling all the strings."
"I agree. So what do you think we should do with Sylvie? She says she wants to confess to Nigel― claims she really cares for him but doesn't want to hurt him and she's also ready to surrender to the police and face the consequences of her actions."
She went silent for a few moments, and then finally seemed to come to a conclusion.
"Much as I want to spare Nigel's feelings, I think Sylvie should be honest with him. There's no future for them if she lies. And if she really does love Nigel, I can see him forgiving her."
"You're right," I said, "and I also sympathize with Sylvie needing to bring to justice her sister's murderer. This may sound crazy, but we could admit Sylvie into the drug trial and see if she might be able to recover her memory of that night and perhaps help the police catch the killer."
Paige nodded. "It's not a crazy idea at all―it's exactly what we need―a target event to focus on that could produce real societal benefit if it helps witnesses in court cases recall events more accurately."
I probably shouldn't have been surprised by Paige's depth of grace and humanity. After all, she stuck with me all those years when everybody else turned their backs on me.
I had instructed Sylvie before I left to call me when it was a good time for us to talk again. She phoned and told me she had persuaded Nigel to go home and sleep and she was free for the rest of the afternoon.
I closed my cell and informed Paige.
"I'm going to see Sylvie and relay what we decided. Hopefully, Nigel won't be too devastated when she finally discloses to him what she's been up to and how she feels about him. Regardless of how that turns out, I'll tell her about our proposal and give her the option of joining the trial."
Paige put her arms around me. "I know this is going to be hard, but what about Sarah and Ross―shouldn't they be informed about this?"
"I'll tell them what we learned, but it's up to me whether or not to press charges against Sylvie, and frankly, at this point, I'd rather she cooperate with us and help take down Sloane Kettering. That would be real justice."
Paige didn't argue with my reasoning. I think we both knew who the real enemy was who had been hindering us.
It's a funny thing about suffering―we want to bubble-wrap ourselves to insulate ourselves from pain and when that fails, we want to shield the ones we love.
Ironically, the best thing we could do in either case was to face the pain directly and deal with the reality. And if Paige was willing to come alongside and support me, that was all I could ask or expect.
I knew I had that relationship with Paige―I could only hope Nigel might find that with Sylvie.