The Ties That Bind Read Online Free

away.”
    Megan still looked a little shell shocked.
    "So they just gave her an injection of your blood and it removed the tumor.”
    "Yes.”
    "Why aren't you out there helping other people or over at the Children's ward saving sick kids. Imagine all the good you could be doing.”
    "Because we don't know exactly what all it does, yet. This was a Hail Mary pass to save Mrs. Bell, but it could have serious side effects. We already know my DNA has corrupted and has started changing the base biology of Zoe, Vicki and Tami. But we don't know the extent or the side effects, yet.”
    "Vicki said it made them smarter and stronger.”
    "It seems to, but there could be other complications. Those three were affected before we knew that could happen. Mrs. Bell was an emergency. I don't want to do anything else until we learn if there are other, less desirable, side effects. You can understand that, right?”
    "Yeah, I guess. I was toying with asking to borrow you from your girls. I could really stand to become a super woman, too.”
    "Let's not joke about this. I am actually really concerned, and still a little upset about what I did to the girls. I am scared this will all have some massive side effect on them. That would crush me.”
    "Sorry, I was just teasing ... well, kind of. But I get it. Can I still be part of your cabal?”
    I snorted, "It's hardly a cabal. We are just trying to figure out what to do about all of this. But yes, when we have family meetings about it, you are welcome to join us. I have always valued your opinion. But please, don't tell anyone. Not even your sister.”
    "I won't, I promise.”
    I looked down at Zoe who was still clutched to me.
    "Are you going to be okay?”
    "Yeah. I was just so scared. Thank you for saving her.”
    "All I did was sit there and be some kind of medical milk cow. Okay, enough weepiness! It looks like we are out of the woods. Let's dry our eyes. Your mom should be back, soon.”
    "Where's Tami?”
    "She went with your mom to hold her hand.”
    We were all sitting around, trying to chat about happier subjects when Mrs. Bell was rolled back in. Tami walked quickly over to Zoe and pulled her into a tight hug.
    "So what's the word, Doc?”
    She waited until the orderly got everything sorted and left.
    "The tumor isn't gone yet, but it has shrunk by almost a third. If I had to guess, by the end of the week, it will be totally gone.”
    "Man, that's great news.”
    "We need to get her checked out, tonight," she looked down at her watch, "or I guess I should say tomorrow since it's already after midnight. I am going to try and work on her file a bit, to keep the other doctors from realizing she has had a miraculous recovery. It'll be best if she weren't in the hospital.”
    "Is she safe to travel? I don't want to have Mom's health put in danger just to protect my secret. She comes first.”
    Both Zoe and her mother noticed my choice of wording. Zoe looked over at me with an odd look, while Mrs. Bell had a slight smile. Doctor Chang seemed as oblivious as ever.
    "She should be fine. From everything, I can tell, your blood is going to make her pretty much immune to every virus and bacteria I have thrown against it, and it is going to shut the tumor down, cold. I will take a few samples now, and some more in about a week for comparison to her original samples, just to make sure. But, I am betting she'll feel totally fine by the time she gets home. The hard part is actually getting her out of the hospital. She has been here for just over eight hours. If I just discharged her, now, my colleagues would get really curious. What we will need to do is have Angela refuse further treatment. That has the added benefit of stopping further testing on her, and hopefully making the other doctors less interested in her case.”
    Of course, all that was easier said than done. There was paperwork and a lot of waiting, but eventually, we got to escape the hospital. We all piled into Megan's suburban. Tami sat