Very excited! My new novel, Thawing A.C. Nielsen, is now up and available for "pre-sale" (just $2.99 for Kindle or other ebook format, then price goes up before the holidays) on Kindle here:
http://amzn.to/2bULRD1
Selling like crazy- please go to that link and consider ordering the ebook or at least sharing the info with other book enthusiasts! It's already hitting top 100 various genre lists on Amazon!
Newly posted there-- a 5-star review from one of the top reviewing companies! Until it goes "live for sale" there won't be any customer reviews or samples-- that happens Oct. 18th. There will also be a paperback version up soon. Check it out and please spread the word. I need all the publicity help I can get since I am not giving away my book to a mainstream publishing house!
I am wondering if any of you would consider reviewing the book. It will be released on Amazon/Kindle on October 18th. I need reviews from regular folks posted to amazon on the release day, if possible. You get a FREE pdf, word.doc or .mobi (Kindle ebook file) copy and plenty of time between now and mid-October to read it. Let me know, friends!
In Chapter 23 Mr. T, the amazing guinea pig, is way healthier than anyone could expect!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The next morning Kate, Amman, Ritika, and Edouard began their day with a visit to their furry little patient. Chrissy was fussing over him as he sat in his cage chewing on some shredded carrots, wiggling his little nose and whiskers. She was assigned to chart his health and behavior and had been with Mr. T almost nonstop.
“Look, y’all, he’s such a sweet little guy.” Chrissy smiled, obviously very happy with her new pet.
“You might not know this,” Edouard said, “but in much of South America, guinea pigs are served up grilled or roasted on a spit, Chrissy. A low carbon footprint source of protein. You’re not hungry right now, are you?”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Edouard,” Amman advised. “You can’t tease Chrissy. You’ll never get a rise out of her. Believe me, I’ve tried since the day I got here.”
“That’s right. And if you try to roast Mr. T, I might roast all of you,” Chrissy said, sticking her tongue out.
“Okay, everyone—relax,” Amman said. “We just want to look him over. Do we have your permission?”
“Yes, of course.” Chrissy stepped back from the cage.
Amman stepped forward to watch Mr. T for a while. He took him out of the cage and checked him over. He seemed satisfied. “As soon as he poops we’ll be looking at that. He’s been eating a lot, right?”
“For sure,” Chrissy answered. “Don’t worry, he’s gonna have some little pellets for you sometime soon.”
“And we’ll draw blood now. I also want to hook him up and see that EEG again. We’ll do a few more tests, too. Say about one p.m., okay?”
“So what do you think of him, Amman, now that he’s been with us for a day?” Kate asked.
“Well, I definitely think he’s a guinea pig, just not as cold as before. That I’m pretty confident of. So he was on that TV show in the 1980s, right? The A-Team? I’ve never seen it, though. What other animals were on that show?”
“Very funny, Amman, very funny!”
“Kate, do you have a minute?” Amman asked, stopping by her office later that afternoon.
“Sure, what is it?”
“We’re running a full battery of bloodwork tests. Also, our guy pooped. We’ll be able to look at his blood chemistry, enzyme levels, and lots more. Now it’s our turn to digest things, sift through the info he’s giving us. Lots of good stuff going on. So, you’ve got the old charts and info on this animal, right? Cause of death back in 1987? Can you pull all those files back out for me? Also, bring me all the documentation Chrissy made—especially the X-rays she took right before we revived him. I think maybe what your charts say about this guinea pig and what I just noticed when I examined him don’t match up.” Edouard was passing by and popped into the room to join them.
“Here, Amman, here’s everything. It’s been on my desk all week.” Kate waved the binder that held everything they had on Mr. T.
“That’s everything? Right there? And you’re sure it’s this animal, correct?”
“Yes, it’s him. Here’s a photo. His markings are pretty unique and it’s his gosh darn file, I’m sure. It’s all right here. What on earth are you up to?”
“There’s film here, right?” Amman asked. “X-rays of tumors? Let’s look at them again.”
Kate dug into the file and pulled out six X-rays taken a day before Mr. T’s cryo procedure in 1987. They walked into the lab and threw the first one up on the illuminator.
“Okay, look, tumors, a bunch of them as described in the file in that horrible scrawly handwriting,” Amman said. “Look at them—big, little—scattered all over the abdomen.”
“Yes, so what?” Edouard asked.
“Throw the next one up, Kate,” Amman said impatiently. “Okay, now here is the best view of the tumors on the spine, see? Also described in the file. Look—one, two, three in a row. Then a gap and then that large one there, see?” he asked, pointing them out for Kate.
“And the other X-rays?” Edouard asked.
“They’re just slightly different views of the two you just saw,” Kate said. “These are the two best views of the tumors. I’m not a doctor, but believe me, I’ve looked at these a lot. Don’t forget, I’ve been here months longer than you guys.”
“Kate, hand me the X-rays that Chrissy just did. Let’s look at them.” Kate gave Amman the X-rays and he threw them up on the illuminator. “See here? Nothing! He looks totally normal. All the tumors are gone. Every single one of them. Do you see?”
“That can’t be,” Kate protested. “I know this is Mr. T and these are his files. Can either of you detect anything that would tell you that we’re looking at the wrong X-rays from the past? That the old film is a different animal?”
“Actually, comparing them I would say without a doubt that it is the same animal,” Edouard said.
“Look here, Amman. He had a broken tibia at some point. Agreed?” Amman nodded. “It’s the same on both sets of film. It healed kind of weird, notice? It’s clearly the same animal.”
Amman scurried toward the lab with Kate and Edouard following. “Good timing. He’s asleep. All right, Dr. Radelet, gently palpate this patient and please update the status of the tumors we just looked at. These tumors right here,” he said, shaking the film from 1987 and jabbing at it with his index finger.
Kate unhooked the top of the cage and lifted it off, which allowed Edouard access with both hands to the drowsy guinea pig. He methodically felt Mr. T’s abdomen, attempting to find the tumors they had seen on the X-ray.
“They’re gone, I think, Amman,” Edouard declared, shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t find a single one of them, and from the film it looks like they should be easy to find. Some of them near the skin surface should even be easy to see.”
“Right!” Amman said. “They’ve vanished. They’re all gone!”
Kate whistled, and Amman shot her a look. “Don’t whistle near the patient, Kate. Remember the Preyer reflex?”
“Sorry, couldn’t help it.”
“What’s going on, you guys?” Chrissy asked, approaching the group. “Is there something wrong?”
“Chrissy, something is right, but it makes no sense. Watch,” Amman said. “Now, Edouard, the spinal tumors. Those you should easily be able to feel since there’s no fat there to get in the way of locating them, right? That big one we saw on the film—if that’s not there I’m going to faint.”
“Right.” Edouard began probing along Mr. T’s spine. Mr. T kept slumbering through all the pushing and prodding. “Lord in heaven, Amman, there’s nothing there, absolutely nothing,” he said, dumbfounded. “All the tumors are gone. Amazing! But how?”
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