Free Blood Legacy: The Story of Ryan by Kerri Hawkins Page A

also, was a welcome addition.
    There was much gossip about the village at his return. It was whispered that he may have escaped punishment on earth, but would surely face punishment in the hereafter. The boy did not care. He did not share his story with anyone, not even his mother. She did not ask.
    Few in the village would have anything to do with the boy, but again, he did not care. He was more than willing to spend his time alone. Only the small girl would approach him, and only she was allowed to intrude on his thoughts. She did not smile or speak, but she would bring him water when he was thirsty, and fix him food.

CHAPTER 10
    SUSAN EXAMINED THE MARKERS in the blood panel in front of her. After ensuring the blood sample from the lab downstairs would be destroyed, she obtained a new sample from her patient. She confirmed the presence of both the enzyme and the antibodies, and made several interesting discoveries herself.
    The woman had no detectable levels of testosterone or estrogen. Her GH, or growth hormone, levels were off the record. She had glutathione present in unbelievable levels, and blood creatine present in staggering amounts. Any one of these things would have been strange, but together they began to form an astounding picture.
    Susan had no explanation for the woman’s accelerated healing, but if she wanted to create a person with such an ability, an abundance of easily obtainable, self-generated vitamin C would definitely be the starting point. Vitamin C aided in the production of collagen, a type of biological “glue” that held everything in the body together. That could begin to explain the repair of the skin. Glutathione was another antioxidant with disease-fighting properties similar to those of vitamin C.
    Growth hormone and creatine were more involved with strength than with healing, although theoretically they would aid in that as well. Under normal circumstances, the purpose of growth hormone was pretty straightforward: it made children grow. In adults, it was regenerated primarily in sleep and was responsible for muscle hypertrophy, or an increase in muscle size. Susan had heard of bodybuilders and athletes using GH to build muscle or enhance performance, sometimes with horrible side effects. But she had never seen anyone with the levels this woman had. Creatine had a similar strength-enhancing function. It was crucial in converting ADP to ATP, an energy conversion process responsible for all muscle contraction.
    In short, the woman was a pharmacological wonder and had a blood profile the most expensive steroids in the world couldn’t buy.
    Susan could see the body out of the corner of her eye. She glanced up, staring at the patient through the window. Nothing about the patient seemed different, so she glanced back down at the work in front of her. Something was nagging at her, however, and she peered through the window at the still body. She stared for a long moment, unable to discern what was attracting her attention.
    And then her heart stopped.
    The sheet covering the woman’s chest very slowly rose then settled once more. Susan wasn’t certain what she had just seen and held her own breath until she saw the sheet begin to rise again. She glanced over at the monitors. They had started registering respirations a few moments ago.
    Susan very slowly stood up. She was frightened, but not certain why. Wasn’t this what she was waiting for? Wasn’t this what she had been working towards? Isn’t this what she should have expected?
    She stared through the window. “Waiting” was one thing; actually getting what you were waiting for was quite another. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her irrational fears.
    Almost like a child daring herself, Susan moved to the door. She hesitated only a brief moment, then unlocked it and stepped into the room beyond.
    The quiet in the room was eerie. Susan had been alone in the control booth, but it had been filled with the hum of the monitors, the