Thicker Than Blood | Page 8

this time." He
grimaced. He was thinking about the accident. "How did they find me?
I don't remember finding my cell phone." "The explosion." Joe felt the
hairs on his body stand on end. "The explosion?" He abandoned any
hope of repairing his car. "I guess you were unconscious before it
happened. Your car sent a fireball into the sky." "The explosion?" Joe
repeated in a gravelly voice. "Oh, wait. It was on fire." "A state trooper
saw the explosion from his speed trap up the road. He saved your life,"
Teressa said. She drew close to his face. He thought she looked worn.
"If your car hadn't exploded you would be dead." Joe stopped worrying
about his un-fixable car. "Do you think the explosion damaged my
eyes?"
"It's possible." She reached for her pen light. She shined it in his eyes
and squinted. "So, you are having trouble with your eyes? Can you
see?" She shined the light in his left eye. "I see little pepper specks
everywhere." "It might be," she paused, "hmmm." "It might be what?"
"The nanites." Joe looked confused. Then his face lit up. "I have
nanites in me? Cool!" Joe almost shouted, his eyes widening. Joe felt
excitement and dread at the same time. A huge fear campaign had been
aired on TV over the past year. Government commercials talking about
the unprecedented risks of unbridled nano-size machinery in the hands
of terrorists. On the other hand, they're tiny robots, Joe thought. What's
better than that? Who cares about the three letter agencies anyway?
"You'll be sad to hear I have to shut them off, daredevil," Dr. Graceland
said with a straight face. She reached for a wheeled machine and pulled
it toward her. She flipped a switch on its top. "They're still on?" Joe
asked in amazement. All of sudden it all snapped into place. The
nanites must have had some responsibility in Joe's good fortune. That
conversation in the hall with the angry man was about the nanites. Aunt
Teressa must have taken a big chance to keep him alive. Joe's smile
faded. "I'll be right back. I need another machine." Joe's aunt walked
out of the room. Joe forced his guilt aside and began to search around
for something that could hide some of his blood. I have to get some of
these to Mark, Joe thought. He heard his aunt's shoes squeak as she
approached. Joe laid back down, trying to copy his original position.

His aunt was carrying what looked like a small old laptop with a cable
dangling from a port by its hinge. "We have never had a conscious
subject before with active nanotech. That might be what is causing the
distortion of your vision. The nanites are more dense than natural blood
components. There may be other side effects too." She plugged the
laptop into the device. A small light on the device began to flicker. "So
what do the nanites do?" Joe asked hoping to find out more. Joe's aunt
continued plugging in wires and booting the laptop. She pulled Joe's
tablet off the end of the bed.
She faced him and tried to look serious, "You need to rest now. I'll tell
you more later." With that, she turned and left the room. Joe wondered
why she didn't answer his question. Maybe, she's still fuming about that
man, he thought. Joe's head was starting to swim, but he was
determined to save a little of his own blood for later. He spotted his cell
phone on the nightstand. He groaned as he reached behind his head. He
pulled the phone closer by the extended antenna. It beeped as Joe
pushed the outside cover off. He pulled the fuel cell from the back of
the phone's exposed innards. He turned the fuel cell upside down and
poured the alcoholic contents under his pillow. The strong smell was
making him more tired. "I hope this works," Joe mumbled to himself.
He held the empty cell container to the wound on his other hand. He
pulled the bandage away and aggravated the cut underneath with his
fingers. Only a few small drops of blood dripped into the cell. I must be
loaded up with coagulants, Joe thought. Joe snapped the fuel cell back
into it's compartment. He dropped the phone on the distant stand behind
him, wincing in pain with the awkward movement. He was tired. He
lay still with his eyes closed, waiting to hear his aunt return.
Chapter 4
"You can't wake him up." "Why not? He's already been awake. They let
us in here." Was this a dream? Joe heard middle eastern accents all
around him. "Do you want to make him sicker?" "No, I guess you're
right," Mark uttered. I know that voice, Joe