Louisa to eat, and Tom had fallen asleep. Elizabeth decided that the news about her and the girls could wait.
'I missed you,' Decker said softly, as he held his wife close.
'I missed you,' she responded.
'I never knew how much you meant to me until I didn't have you. I thought of you every hour. Constantly. When we get back, I'm going to tell Hank Asher that I'm not taking any assignments where I'll have to be away from home for more than three days.'
As the night waned on, the couple went outside and sat under the stars. Elizabeth listened quietly, holding her husband's emaciated body to her as he recited the poetry he had composed for her over the past three years.
Two days later, Decker was told that he would be released from the hospital the following morning. Tom was to remain for continued observation and more tests. Apparently he had developed some serious problems with his back and kidneys while in captivity. That night Decker was able to leave the hospital for dinner so he and Elizabeth shared a romantic candle-lit dinner in old Jaffa.
'Elizabeth,' Decker said at one point when the mood grew quiet, 'I'm sure you must remember all the times I've said that I've never really felt there was any one place that I could call home. I guess it's just that I've lived so many places.'
Elizabeth remained silent but nodded affirmation. Decker reached across the small round table and placed his left hand over hers. With his right hand, he reached over and softly ran the back of his fingers along the smooth form of her face.
'Over the last three years I decided that if I ever got home to you, then that's where home would be. Elizabeth, I've decided that home is a state of mind,' he said, his voice changing in tonal quality to sound slightly professorial but not lecturing. Elizabeth recognized the tone. It meant that her husband was about to share what he believed to be a jewel of wisdom for which he had paid a high price.
'Home is where you decide to make it, and I've decided that when we get back to Washington we're going to make that home, whatever that means and whatever that takes.'
A single tear came to Elizabeth's eyes. Having Decker back had kept her emotions at a fever pitch since he first called her from the U.N. outpost. It had been a constant struggle not to cry. Now, the intensity of Decker's feelings, though she didn't fully understand them, nudged her gently and briefly over the edge, and she wept.
Decker and Elizabeth finished their meal, then stayed at the table to talk. They did not speak of their time apart but rather of good times they had spent together in years past. As Elizabeth spoke, Decker looked across the table admiringly at his wife, watching her every move. Elizabeth noticed the attention with no small amount of enjoyment. Finally she mentioned it to him.
'Decker,' she whispered in feigned embarrassment, 'you look like you're undressing me with your eyes.'
'Oh,' he responded with a smile and a gleam, 'I'm way past that.'
Decker was feeling much better.
Derwood, Maryland
The Hawthorne family arrived at Dulles Airport outside Washington early in the morning and were surprised to find a limousine waiting there to pick them up – courtesy of Hank Asher. For the next three days Decker, Elizabeth, Hope and Louisa spent time getting to know each other again. They bought jumbo steamed blue crabs at Vinnie's Seafood and went to a small park they knew at one of the C &O canal locks. They stayed around the house and just talked. They cooked steaks on the grill. They went shopping. They drove around town so Decker could get reacquainted. They just did whatever they wanted to do.
At about noon on the third day the phone rang and Decker answered it. It was Professor Goodman.
'Decker, we need to talk,' Goodman said with what seemed to Decker to be a bit of self-important urgency.
'Sure, Professor. I want to follow up on that story we talked about, anyway. How about some time in a month or so?' After three years as a hostage, even the 'biggest story since Columbus discovered America' could wait a few more weeks.
'Not soon enough.' Goodman's voice gave no indication he was even aware that Decker had been gone.
'Well, I'm really not in any shape for a long trip,' Decker responded. 'I've just gotten back from three years in a small room in Lebanon and I thought I'd take it easy for awhile.'
'Yes, I know all about that,' Goodman said. 'I do read the newspaper, you know. You're quite a celebrity. But you don't have to go anywhere. Martha and I are in Washington. In fact we're here in Derwood, at the German restaurant two blocks from your house.'
'What are you doing here?' Decker asked in surprise.
'I came out for a scientific conference. Martha had never seen Washington and insisted on coming along. Christopher is staying with a friend from school. So can we come over or not?'
Decker quickly talked it over with Elizabeth and they agreed to have the Goodmans come over, but Decker insisted that the professor promise it would take no more than an hour. Harry and Martha Goodman arrived in just minutes. Elizabeth had never met Martha Goodman and both women felt a little uncomfortable – Mrs. Goodman for imposing, and Elizabeth about being imposed upon.
Professor Goodman made it clear that the subject of the conversation was for Decker's ears only, so Elizabeth suggested that Mrs. Goodman go for a walk with her and the girls.
As soon as they left, Goodman began.
'I'm sorry to barge in on you but it isn't really for my welfare that I'm here. There are a thousand other reporters out there who would love to get an exclusive on what I'm about to tell you.'
Decker realized that Goodman was probably right. He just hadn't planned on getting back to work quite so soon. 'Of course,' he said. 'It's just that I really need to spend some time with my family.'
'I understand that. But what I'm about to tell you will change the world forever. Forgive me, I just thought you might be interested,' Goodman added with mild sarcasm.
Decker's once overpowering curiosity had lain dormant for nearly three years. Deep inside he felt it stir again. 'I don't want to impose any more than necessary,' Goodman said, 'so I'll leave a copy of my notes for you to study later. Right now, I'll just give you a summary.'
Decker retrieved a fresh yellow legal pad and Goodman began.
'First of all, you remember that the last time we talked, we discussed the methodology I used for creating the viral cancer antibodies, and I told you that it would probably also work on AIDS and other viral strains? Well, that work has continued with some outstanding results. But as important as that work is, all that I could really ever hope to accomplish with that methodology was to use the C-cells as an agent for producing antibodies. That seemed to me to be little more than running a 'pill factory.' Well, I didn't want to just make 'pills.' Even if they could cure cancer or AIDS, it still seemed to be such a waste of potential. What I really wanted to do was to figure out some way of altering the cells of living people to enhance their own immune system.
'For a long time it just ate at me. How could I ever hope to alter the genetic structure of every cell in the human body? You can make changes on a few cells in a laboratory. With C-cells it's even possible, as we both know, to create a totally immune individual like Christopher. But how do you give that immunity to someone else like you or me? That had me stumped.'
Decker listened quietly, nodding when appropriate. Goodman was going to tell his story the way he wanted to tell it, and the best thing to do was just listen.
'Then I had an idea. Decker, do you know how the AIDS virus works?' Decker thought he had a pretty good idea, but before he could answer the question, Goodman continued. 'All around the outside of the AIDS virus are tiny spikes which are made of glycoproteins. These spikes are imbedded in a fatty envelope which forms the outer shell of the virus. Inside this envelope are RNA strands, each with a quantity of reverse-transcriptase enzyme. The spikes bind the AIDS cells to healthy cells of the immune system, called T-cells, by establishing an attractive link with certain receptor molecules which occur naturally on the healthy T-cells. The infection occurs when the virus is absorbed into the interior of the healthy cell. Once inside the T-cell each individual strand of RNA material in the virus is converted into a complementary strand of DNA by the reverse-transcriptase enzyme. Enzymes which occur naturally in the cell duplicate the DNA strand, which then enters into the nucleus of the cell. That strand then becomes a permanent part of the heredity of that cell!' Goodman paused for Decker's reaction.
