155 The Demise of the Dedicated Researcher

Dr. Aijohn's voice sounded hoarse when he first spoke into the microphone. He was fighting with the urge to cry as this long awaited day finally came. He recalled all the struggles and exhaustions. The many failures in which each of those was his another platform to push forward. He was a strongly determined person. Whatever he started should be completed, whether a success or a failure.

He recalled Hailey, their friendship, and their mutual dedication to this project. It was so sad to think that she could no longer witness the fruit of her labor. She could no longer see the realization of her ultimate dream for him to be recognized by the world. In fact, it was she who discovered that plant though the rest of the process were both their concerted effort.

He thought of the many painful things before it was launched. The loss of Hailey, the death of their driver who served the company from the day it was inaugurated and the injuries of their dedicated farmers.

His thoughts, also, went to his days of lament and how he was made to stand and endure through it all.

He, then, thought about Grace, whose unexpected appearance in his life caused the rebirth of his heart. And now, his joy was completed by the appearance of his childhood bestfriend whom he owed his life with, and the birth of his twin precious gems!

He looked around before he started and his eyes fell on Mr. Wayne. He was amused to himself but thankful that the event brought him a change of heart. He could have been honest with himself and could have talked out his own desire to be the host of the launching. Mr. & Mrs. Ybañez would have understood. He would have not resorted to his bestfriend's troubles and pain. But all of these had reasons why it happened. There was always something good amidst the storms. There were always lessons to learn to let them make better decisions in the future.

"A blessed day to everyone of us!" He looked around again as he greeted everyone before he continued.

"My heart swells with gratitude to the Almighty for being able to see this day wherein, I and the rest of my team as well as all the important people who made everything possible, would be able to present to you the solution to one of humanity's greatest destructor.... the

CANCER disease..."

As he went on with the presentation, his voice became clearer as he fluently detailed every features of Hailey's Pill. While some people never missed every word he said as they gaped while looking at him, some did not understand everything he said for being too overwhelmed.

All that was in their minds was the fact that cancer cure was something their hands could now grasp.

The research team was bombarded with many questions, some sincere, some derisive. Some just wanted to show the world their unsolicited intelligence.

Nevertheless, the team did very well in addressing their every doubt and confusion, not letting any one went home discontented. Only to know later that these scientists were patent holders of many discoveries and inventions beneficial to the humanity.

As the finale of their presentation, they played a video of the people who consented to be the subject of the research and the comparison of their diagnostics and laboratory results. Then, for the most believable testimony that they could present, Mr. Phyllis Wayne, the group of hospital's biggest shareholder, stepped forward.

The people went wild again in their response. Mr. Wayne, the legendary name whom they only heard through tabloids and news portal, the owner of the biggest hospital in the city, appeared before them to give his personal testimony?

His introduction was, "the greatest regret that I have at this moment while standing before you, is my inability to see my granddaughter being born today..."

The crowd laughed. They wanted to share the joy and excitement of this frustrated grandfather who missed to see the first cry of her grandchild because he needed to be here. Jim felt like crying, as well, when he heard him. No one knew how long had he wished for his father to feel the importance of family. How long had he wished to let him feel the joy of being with a family to share your joy and sorrows with. To let him feel how wonderful it was to play with a grandchild.

Mr. & Mrs. Ybañez felt very excited as well as they couldn't wait to show the world their beautiful twins...

Soon, a video of him wheeled in to the emergency room appeared in the big screen. He was grumbling some incomprehensible words, his other cheek drooping down. Then, a CT Scan result of a 50 cc bleed in the pontine area floated on the screen. All those who had medical background knew that complete recovery was impossible.

Yet, in just few months, he was now standing before them in vigor of great health!

The crowd was greatly amazed! Why did this treatment take so long to be discovered? Why did it take too many generation to pass before these intellectuals were born?

The conference was closed by Dr. Jim introducing and thanking the investors of this great and amazing research, the Ybañez family. If not for their faith and willingness to pursue despite the vagueness of this project at the start, if not for their dream to lead researchers into the discovery of anything beneficial to humanity, this project would have not been realized.

As a response, Mr. & Mrs. Ybañez walked together forward giving their short closing remarks as the video of their twins was played in the background.

Everyone was happy but the three grannies were the happiest in the face of the earth.

During their thanksgiving dinner later which was attended by all the dignitaries who seemed to have no plans of leaving, someone raised a question that caught Dr. Aijohn offguard.

"Dr. Sphere, Hailey is a woman's name. May we know her significance as to why these amazing discoveries are being named after her? "

The rest of the crowd's consciousness was opened. Right, it was a woman's name. Who could she be in the life of Dr. Sphere as the team leader?

The Ybañez couple smiled but they looked into each other's eyes. They were afraid that their son-in-law 's answer would hurt their daughter. Dr. Jim looked at him, as well, seemingly nervous of his possible answer. Only Mr. Wayne smiled happily, he was clueless of their status.

To their amazement, Dr. Aijohn quickly replied. No trace of any hesitation in his expression. Perhaps, he was preparing ahead for this.

"Dr. Hailey was one of the team. During the harvest of the plants which fell during the rare typhoon occurence in Palawan three years ago, she lost her life. Our truck lost its brake and it fell on a cliff together with her and the farmers. " He paused as fought back the lump that settled in his throat.

"Her death was about her dedication towards this project. She knew very well the danger of doing the harvest on that day. But because of the said dedication, she pushed through with it, afraid that the plants would be destroyed. To give her the honor, we decided to name it after her. If not for her bravery, the launching would not have been today. "

The audience was dumbfounded. It was painful to accept that the glittering success of the project to save millions of lives had cost the demise of a dedicated researcher.