Chapter 3: A Glimpse of Hope

Oksana found Matthew on the floor just before the morning. After calling the ambulance, she also called Cathy. Oksana noticed the news on the screen of his laptop and gasped. Matthew was taken to the hospital immediately. He opened his eyes at the hospital for the second time.

He saw Oksana taking lunch boxes out of a big bag. She gave one to Cathy.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice cracked, making it hard for the others to listen to his entire question.

“What is it Matthew?” Cathy leaned on him slowly. Her voice was tense.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered.

Cathy knew that Matthew was close to the computer when he was found. She knew what he was talking about.

“I couldn’t.” She tilted her head with compassion while wiping her tears.

“Everything, Cathy. Everything in my life is ruined. I am ruined.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cathy said, caressing his messy yellow hair. Matthew held her hand tightly. They were crying while looking at each other’s eyes. They didn’t need to talk more. Their eyes were sharing their sorrow, and that was the only thing Matthew needed.

“I’m not ready to die,” Matthew whispered after a few minutes of pure silence.

***

There were no other visitors. Oksana went to take her daughter from school for a while and came back after dropping her home.

“You should try this lasagna, Matthew. I did it just for you.” Oksana held the little plastic box in her hands.

“I’ll take a bite, just for you,” he tried to smile and straightened up a little. It was delicious like always. Oksana smiled while watching him eat.

After spending the night at the hospital and having several nightmares, Matthew went home with Cathy. While taking his medicines, he tried to learn the numbers and the level of seriousness of the situation his company was in. It was worse than he expected.

“They are like piranhas now. I’m trying to call it quits with them,” Cathy sounded highly angry while talking about the ex-clients. Because they were driving her mad at the moment, demanding their refund.

Matthew knew that there was nothing much to do for the company when everyone took a vow to burn it in the ground.

“What will you do after all this?” asked Matthew palely. He just wanted Cathy to be okay.

“I’m not sure. But thanks to my savings I can start again in a small neighborhood in Virginia, my hometown,” said Cathy while watching the carpet. Then she leaned back and took a deep breath.

“Good luck with the snakes,” Matthew said with a playful tone. They laughed.

Oksana came in while bringing cocktails and sat down with them. They casually talked about a TV show.

“Oh, I forgot, a friend of yours called you, Matthew. I’m sorry,” said Oksana. She just remembered it when she saw someone talking on the phone on the TV.

A call from a friend? He truly needed it. But he didn’t want to be the one who called first, so he didn’t contact anyone. He wanted to see who would ask about him, and wanted to be there for him.

“Who was it?” asked Matthew excitedly.

“Robin. He said that he needed to see you urgently. He left me a number.”

“Robin… I can’t remember,” Matthew casted his mind back, but couldn’t remember the name.

“Well, I can’t hear his surname because of all that noise at the hospital,” she said.

“Okay, give me the trace and I will follow,” Matthew continued watching the show. But he got curious about Robin now and couldn’t pay that much attention to it anymore.

The next day, it seemed like the right time to make the call. The call was picked up shortly after.

“Sorokin Manor, hello?” asked a young woman.

“Hi, I am Matthew Reed.” He sounded suspicious.

“Oh, please hold on, sir. Mr. Sorokin was waiting for your call.”

After a few seconds, a man talked.

“Matthew?” The mysterious man sounded pretty confident. Like they were pretty close.

“Uhm, hello. You must be Robin.” Matthew still wasn’t sure how to sound. He was pretty confused and touched his own hair impatiently.

“Yes, indeed. I bet you didn’t remember me.”

“Well, I would be lying. Sorry.” He laughed a bit. But he felt relieved after he got it off his chest. He didn’t want to pretend.

“Don’t worry. I will introduce myself properly, my friend. Would you like to meet me at The Valley today at 9 p.m.? That restaurant is in high demand, I’m sure you’ll like it.” Matthew thought he was being assertive a little. He didn’t ask Matthew to set the date. But Matthew would follow his lead for this time.

“Yeah, it sounds good.” He scratched his head.

“All right. See you soon, my friend.”

“See you, Robin.”

After a couple of hours, Matthew started getting ready. He wore his black suit without a tie. He was excited. He was about to meet someone he couldn’t remember. Also, he was doing this in a period of his life where he wouldn’t go out properly. For a really long time, he only talked to Oksana, Cathy and the doctors.

I hope I didn’t forget how to talk, he thought. He brushed his hair and got in the car.

The restaurant was crowded. As soon as he stepped in, a young waiter came to greet him.

“Welcome to The Valley, sir. Do you have a reservation?”

“I want to see Robin Sorokin, please.”

“Oh, follow me.” The waiter smiled more.

Matthew saw Robin Sorokin, wearing a black suit like himself, watching the people around his table. His face was thin, he had a stubble beard on his tan skin and looked confident. Then, his eyes met Matthew’s.

He stood up quickly and immediately smiled. “Matthew! Thank you for coming, my friend.”

“Hello, Robin. I must admit, I am really curious right now.” He laughed. Robin’s voice and gestures made him relax.

“Don’t worry. We’ll talk about everything. Shall we order first?”

Matthew ordered steak while Robin was asking questions about how the chef prepared the duck. He seemed a bit obnoxious for Matthew but he could handle it for the sake of satisfying his curiosity.

Robin decided on a duck. Then he laid back and inhaled.

“I know you from college. I studied Computer Engineering. But we had a class together. Sometimes we would have small talk.” Robin remembered those memories with a smile.

“Statistics?” Matthew almost remembered him.

“Yes. We would sit in the back. You weren’t doing great on that course, my friend,” Robin laughed.

“I didn’t like numbers that much.” He remembered those days clearly. He could imagine a young boy, sitting next to him in class, talking about computers. “I remember you. You would always talk about computers and stuff.”

“That was my job, yeah. And I helped you with finals, remember?”

“Oh, yes! I was flunking,” Matthew was really happy. He wanted to thank Robin for bringing that nostalgia with him.

They talked and laughed a lot while eating. Then, Robin started talking about how Matthew was important to him.

“I helped you with finals. You did a really good job thanks to me. And then, I needed something. But no one helped me.”

Matthew began to understand.

“You were my last chance. I lost my girlfriend’s and family’s trust at that moment. But you helped me.” He leaned over Matthew a little. “You gave me $150.000 for a crazy project, Matthew. It was ride or die for me. And luck was with me,” Robin laid back. “You did it for me. You were crazy as much as I was.”

“I remember. But I just wanted to help you,” said Matthew with honesty.

“Yes. And that’s why I will help you today. I needed something crazy, a thing no one could give me. You wanted to help. Now, you need something crazy. And I will give it to you.”

“What do you think I need?” Matthew was getting nervous. He didn’t want anything in return. What was he talking about?

“Your health,” whispered Robin.

“Look, I talked to the best doctors around the world. They can’t heal me.”

Robin smiled. For a second, Matthew thought he was mad.

“The present-day doctors? They can’t.” He shook his head. “But the doctors in the future?” He smiled again. He looked like a crazy man.

“What?” Matthew was angry. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. That is why it is so beautiful.”

“What is beautiful?!” Matthew forced himself not to stand up and leave.

“The opportunity of waking up in the future. Cryolife can give you that! Think about it, they are freezing your body and you wake up in the future and they heal you!” He was trying to whisper, but his excitement raised his tone a bit more than he meant to.

“You’re messing with me, Robin.” Matthew couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and left while Robin shouted, “Call me Matthew! We’ll talk about it! It’s real!”

Matthew walked out of the restaurant and went home with the most complicated feelings. Could Robin be right? How crazy did he sound? He felt ashamed while a little part of him was questioning the possibility of those things being true. He couldn’t destroy that part. He already started to grow a little hope in his consciousness and it felt good.