Paradise

Raoul sipped on a fruity vitamin shake and watched the Med Boat pull into the bay. The clones were unloaded, some in wheelchairs, others able to walk, aided by the medics. Simone joined him, her hair still wet from her morning swim.

“Why do you watch them? It’s so depressing.”

“I don’t know. I guess they fascinate me. Can you imagine living your whole life on the mainland, working 40 hour weeks in those polluted cities, never knowing when you’ll be called in?”

Simone shuddered. “It’s too awful. I wish they at least took better care of them. They always seem so sickly when they bring them in.”

“I guess life on the mainland is hard. Still, makes you value what we have, doesn’t it?” He drained his glass and stood up, enjoying the warm sand as it sifted between his toes.

The Med Boat was pulling away from the dock now, it’s hapless cargo delivered. It would return in a week, taking them away again, in hospital beds this time. They were always too weak to walk when they left the island. He reached up and touched his own heart locket, grateful for all that he had, his elite lifestyle.

Back in his villa, there was a message from the clinic.

“Time for your annual check-up. Dr. McKintyre will see you at 2pm.”

He frowned. Surely it hadn’t been a year already? He tried to remember when his last appointment had been, but it was hard to picture. The weather on the island barely changed with the seasons, so it was easy to lose track of time. He considered blowing it off, going for a walk along the clifftops instead. But then he thought of his parents, taken before he was even old enough to remember them, lost to cancer and a heart attack. No, he’d attend his appointment. He always did.

Doctor McKintyre sat behind his sturdy oak desk, making notes on a palm screen when Raoul walked in. He looked up with a warm smile.

“Ah, Raoul! It’s been too long, my friend. You are well, I trust?”

“Yes thanks, I feel fine. Probably don’t need this check-up at all,”

“Haha, you’re probably right. But you can never be too careful when it comes to your health, that’s what I always say. Anyhow, one of the nurses will take you down to do your lab-work and scans, we won’t take up too much of your time, I’m sure you had a busy day planned.”

“Nothing special, just a walk over the cliffs to see the puffin nests. It can wait.”

“Excellent, excellent. Well, I’ll see you back here in a few hours.” He pressed the buzzer on his desk and a pretty young nurse came in.

Raoul noticed she didn’t have a locket, that was a pity. Elites didn’t mix it up with the regular folks, interclass relationships were frowned upon.

The tests were tedious and a little uncomfortable. He tried to imagine the ocean as he lay inside the CAT scan, picturing the gentle waves lapping on the shore. He had five vials of blood taken for testing, and was poked and prodded like a piglet on market day. Samples of every imaginable bodily fluid were taken away, and he was getting somewhat grouchy by the time he returned to the Doctor’s office.

Dr. McKintyre looked grave as he glanced at the sheaf of test results. “Raoul, I’m sorry to tell you this, but your liver seems to be failing. Your numbers are all over the place, have you been experiencing any unusual pain in that area recently?”

Raoul was shocked. “No, I feel completely healthy! Is it bad, Doc?”

“It’s not ideal. I’m afraid we will need to book you straight in for surgery, and remove your liver completely. Don’t worry though, we’ll arrange a transplant from your clone. You’ll be back to surfing again in no time at all.”

“Wow, if you really think it’s necessary. Will the clone be okay, though? I feel bad, we only have one liver, don’t we?”

“Yes, but don’t worry about that. The liver is brilliant at regeneration – we won’t take his whole organ, just enough so that we can cure you. In about 6 weeks it will have grown back to normal size, good as new.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Okay, well when do you want to do this, then? Should I schedule it soon?”

“Oh, we’ll be doing it immediately, Raoul. No time to waste, I’m afraid.”

Raoul was confused. “Won’t it take time to bring the clone over to the island?”

“No, in a stroke of good fortune your clone was already here for his own check-up. So we can go right ahead with it today.” He pressed the buzzer and the nurse returned, this time pushing a wheel chair.

Raoul sat down in the chair, somewhat puzzled at the speed of events. He hadn’t even called Simone to let her know. He hoped she wasn’t worrying. The nurse gave him a shot of some sedative, and he found himself drifting away, his eyesight blurring. He was vaguely aware of someone opening his locket, reading off the numbers inside it. Then darkness swallowed him, dragging him under.

Two weeks later Raoul was sitting on the beach again, drinking a metabolizing smoothie and watching some young Elites play with a brightly colored kite as they ran along the waterfront. It was scorching hot today, the sand radiating heat despite the shade of the large parasol. Raoul longed to jump into the cool water, dive down and swim alongside the fish that darted and flashed silver in the bay. But he was under doctor’s orders not to get his stitches wet, and besides, his side still ached. He felt worse now than he had before the operation, but at least they had caught it early on. He considered himself lucky, to have gone through liver failure without any of the symptoms and discomfort.

Simone joined him, rubbing sun cream into her long, tanned legs. “The Med Boat’s back again, I see” she commented, nodding towards the long dock where custodians in white scrubs pushed the sickly clones back onto the boat.

“Yeah, those poor buggers. I bet they wish they could stay here. It must be so tough, leaving paradise to go back to their miserable lives on the Mainland.” He scanned the dock, wondering which of the patients was his liver donor.

“I doubt they understand, really. I heard the clones don’t experience pain and emotions like the Elites do.”

“I guess you’re right.” Raoul took another sip of his smoothie, and watched as the Med Boat pulled out of the bay, heading into the unknown world beyond.