The End of the Feast
Click.
In the hallway outside the VIP suite of Presbyterian Hospital, Al Capone lit a cigar. The rich, heavy aroma of the finest Cuban tobacco leaves filled his head and nostrils, but it could not soothe the burning in his gut.
In his mind, the words of the doctor he had grabbed by the collar yesterday kept looping endlessly.
"...It's impossible."
"Damn it, and they call that a doctor."
If he had known he would hear such drivel in a hospital that supposedly gathered the best doctors in Chicago, he wouldn't have wasted so much money. He had only left those damn doctors alone because he needed to keep Rita’s life hanging by a thread for just a little longer; otherwise, they would have been tossed into the Chicago River as fish food long ago.
"Hoo."
Capone stared blankly at the wisps of gray smoke dissipating into the air. To him, the way the smoke vanished felt like watching his own life slip away.
'Money, power... they’re all useless at a time like this.'
His opponent didn't take bribes, didn't fear guns, and didn't bow to power. It was simply, slowly, but surely driving his daughter to her grave.
'Is there really... no way?'
Capone’s gaze drifted to the painting hanging next to the suite door. Watching the image of Jesus, who wore a benevolent smile amidst white sheep in a large frame, Capone chewed on his cigar.
'Hey, I’ve donated so much money, are you just going to watch? If you have any conscience, you should do your part for what you’ve taken.'
Naturally, there was no answer. 'Damn god...'
Staring at the portrait of Jesus, who offered only a mysterious smile in the silence, Capone simply exhaled more gray smoke.
Ding!
It was then that the elevator at the end of the hall chimed. As Capone turned his head, someone emerged from the elevator.
"Lee?"
His son-in-law, Rita’s husband. Lee Jun looked like a wreck. His eyes were hollow from lack of sleep, and his hair was a mess.
"Damn it, where the hell have you been? Rita is right now..."
Capone barked at his son-in-law, who was walking toward him listlessly, clutching a bottle filled with red liquid and a dropper.
But then.
"...I’ve finished it."
"What?"
'What did he finish?'
Creak.
Capone understood the meaning of those words only after Lee Jun opened the door to the VIP suite and stepped inside.
"...What are you saying? You’re going to inject a drug you don't even know? Are you trying to kill the patient?"
"You said there was no way, and since you don't know the method, I brought it myself! Move aside, now!"
"I cannot allow that! Do you even realize that what you’re about to do is murder?"
"The murder is what you people are doing right now!"
Capone’s gaze darted between the doctor and his son-in-law arguing inside the room. He realized instantly that this was a moment for a choice.
The doctor who was supposedly the best in Chicago, yet could do nothing. And the son-in-law who had always shown him results that defied logic.
Choosing which side to take wasn't difficult.
Having made up his mind, Capone looked at his bodyguard standing nearby, Frank Rio. His mouth opened.
"Help Lee."
Rio nodded silently and entered the room with the other men.
"Aaaah!"
"Let go of me! Do you have any idea what you’re doing? This is a hospital!"
To the shouts of the nurses and the doctor, who were quickly pushed aside by Rio and his men, Capone replied briefly as he stepped into the room.
"I am Al Capone."
Having said that, his eyes turned to his son-in-law, who was dropping the red liquid he had drawn into the dropper into his daughter’s mouth, one drop at a time.
'Lee, I’m trusting you.'
He placed his hope once again in the faith that had never betrayed him.
"No... no way. How could this..."
How long had I been unconscious?
When I opened my eyes in a corner of the hospital room, accompanied by the faint smell of disinfectant, the first thing I heard was the trembling voice of that damn doctor.
"The fever... it really went down? The streptococcus is all gone, too. What on earth is this..."
...Judging by what he’s saying, it seems I managed to hand over the drug to the organization members properly before I passed out.
I was worried I might have misspoken the dosage, but it seems I don't need to worry about that.
"Ugh..."
As I struggled to lift my exhausted body, the doctor, who had been checking the thermometer, turned to look at me with a look of pure astonishment.
"You..."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"A day, no, two days... no, that’s not what’s important."
The doctor shook his head as if he had just come to his senses, and his words continued.
"Where on earth did you get this medicine? What is it that can kill off all the staphylococcus? This is nothing short of a miracle..."
He was screaming about murder just before I passed out. My, isn't his change of heart a bit too fast?
"Shh."
Before the doctor’s voice could get loud enough to leave the room, I pressed my index finger to my lips. I then spoke to the now-silent doctor.
"First, I apologize for my rudeness last time."
"No, it is I who should..."
"And, I would like you to keep your mouth shut about this."
"Pardon?"
"Not just you, but everyone who knows about this."
Sulfanilamide itself is a common raw material for dyes in this era, and Prontosil, which I synthesized to be easily absorbed, is also originally a red dye, so it’s not difficult to make. But since it will be years before it’s revealed that this can be used as an antibiotic, I can't just let it slip into anyone else's hands.
If we’re going to make it, our company needs to file for a patent first, obviously.
"Instead, I will compensate you handsomely, separate from the medical fees. You’ll be able to buy at least another house in Chicago."
"I, I cannot accept that. With this medicine, I could save dying patients..."
Mister, you said it was murder last time.
Your tune is changing quite a bit, isn't it?
"You must continue to care for patients in the future, mustn't you? Now that you know a new medicine is coming, you should work even harder."
With those words, I pointed to Mr. Rio, who was still guarding the room. Only then did the doctor seem to understand the meaning of my words, and his face turned deathly pale.
"O-o-okay. I understand."
My, there’s no need to be that scared. Have I been tainted by spending too much time with my father-in-law?
Leaving the doctor behind, who nodded vigorously with a drained expression the moment he heard me, I approached Rita, who was sleeping.
Unlike last time, when she was sweating profusely with a feverish body and face, she was sleeping with a much more comfortable expression.
Perhaps because I adjusted the dosage to be as weak as possible, matching the LD50—the median lethal dose, usually based on lab rats—of drugs like Tylenol from my past life, there were fortunately no signs of the side effects or toxicity I had feared.
Damn it.
I thought it would be fine since they were disinfecting things as a matter of course in the hospital, but I was a fool to trust them. Now that it’s come to this, I need to expand into the pharmaceutical field, if only for the sake of my family.
I don't know much about modern cutting-edge drugs, but wouldn't my lifespan increase by 20 years just by making basics like antibiotics or insecticides?
Money aside, this is a matter of survival.
As for the budget, there’s a copy event next month, so I’ll figure it out somehow.
I looked at Rita, sleeping soundly, and made a resolve for my future plans.
"Ugh..."
It was then that Rita slowly opened her eyes.
"Rita!"
"...Honey? Where am I..."
"It’s the hospital. Don't you remember?"
"After I collapsed from the fever... not at all..."
"How are you feeling?"
"Hmm... I feel quite refreshed. Is it because I rested for a long time?"
"Thank goodness..."
Yes, I’m glad it’s resolved for now. Because there won't be another incident like this in my life ever again.
Fortunately, Rita was able to be discharged the day after she woke up. Having recovered her health, she sat in the position I had arranged for her—managing the distribution of SMC, which I had set up by talking to Ralph—so she could participate in the organization’s work again, even while watching over our child, Jay, with the nanny.
Meanwhile, I was nearly finished preparing to face the storm that was about to arrive.
"As you said, Mr. Lee, we converted most of the organization’s assets into cash by yesterday. One-third of that was sent to a Swiss bank, and about half of the remaining money was used to short the stocks you mentioned."
"Good."
Hmm, it was handled well. It would have been a shame if we were even a day late.
When Goo-jik handed me the documents, I scanned them briefly and nodded with a satisfied expression. Goo-jik’s reaction, however, was still sour.
"But... I’m not sure if this is really okay. Even if things have cooled down a bit, shorting in this boom period... people will think we’re insane."
"Money is meant to be made by going the opposite way of others. If people call you insane, that means you’re on the right track."
Of course, if I hadn't known the future, I wouldn't be spouting such nonsense. I was betting on America’s collapse only because I was seeing the 1% that others couldn't.
If you go against everyone else, you have a 99% chance of dying, so why would I do that unless I was a moron?
"Heh... that’s not wrong, but even so, the risk is just too..."
"Hmm, hold on a second. It’s almost time."
Let’s see... it’s 11 o'clock now, so that’s 10 o'clock New York time, right? The market should be opening soon.
Static-!
After checking the time on the clock hanging on the wall, I turned on the radio sitting on a shelf in the office and tuned it to NBC.
Soon.
-...We are interrupting our regular programming to bring you a special breaking news report.
As soon as the music flowing from the radio stopped, the anchor’s urgent voice burst from the speaker, filling the office.
-According to the AP in New York just moments ago, an unprecedented volume of sell orders has flooded the New York Stock Exchange, which opened at 10:00 AM today. As a result, major stock indices are plummeting and...
"N-no way."
-We repeat. Wall Street is currently in chaos, and it is reported that the exchange’s stock ticker is delayed by over an hour, unable to keep up with the actual trading speed. We will bring you more details as they come in...
"Mr. Lee, you... how on earth did you know this?"
To Goo-jik’s cry of astonishment amidst the anchor’s urgent voice, I replied briefly.
"What do you mean? This is only the beginning."
The long feast known as the Interwar period was finally coming to an end.