You were very conscious of your left arm all day. Thanks to the long sleeved uniform it was only your hand that showed. The changes were not obvious on your hands. A casual observer would not notice. The black hairs had turned to shorter light coloured, ones and you skin was softer. It was not as if you suddenly had sprouted long painted fingernails. All the same you ate lunch by yourself in a corner pretending to be concentrating on reading the newspaper.
Carrie came past several times, she seemed very excited about the date. You tried to act normal but you found yourself at a loss for words when she suggested you meet a little earlier so that “We might have time to have dinner at McDonald’s before the movie”
Your initial reaction was to say no. The longer she was with you the more likely she would be to discover that you were a freak. In the end you stammered “That would be great” The date was quite possibly a once off. The longer the better. “I’ll just see if I can knock off early” That shouldn’t be a problem. Your boss knew about the impending date and you were owed time. You hoped Carrie put down the awkwardness of your reply to nerves.
Carrie went home early as well. At 4 she came past and said “See you later” as she clocked off. That was enough for your boss to send you home as well.
You had purposefully not looked at the spread of your skin changes all day. Nervously you arrived home. Neither your mother or sister were waiting for you so you immediately headed to your room. You wanted to see the extent of the changes for yourself before heading down to the lab. Also you needed to shower and get changed for your date.
Apprehensively you removed your shirt. Your ‘soft skin’ area had grown. Essentially your whole arm to the ball of your shoulder had changed. To be honest you were a little relieved. The changes had not accelerated. You showered before heading down to the lab to see if your family members had made any progress.
In the shower you had checked the rest of your body. You saw nothing obvious but the spots/freckles on your legs seemed faded. They were less obvious than normal. It had you worried given what your mother had said.
You tried to forget about your worries and dressed for your date, putting on your best pants and what you hoped was a trendy shirt. You selected that shirt specifically as it had long sleeves. Only once you were ready did you head down to the basement.
Both your mother and sister were there. You mother on the computer while you sister was doing something with test tubes. Neither said anything as you entered. You broke the silence “Any progress”
“You had better tell him what you found in the blood samples” your mother said to your sister.
Your sister picked up her lab book and read from it. “Blood sample from left arm: 5% of red blood cells have two X chromosomes. The remaining cells are XY. 4% of platelets have XY chromosomes The remainder are XY. For white blood cells the % of cells with two X chromosomes for granulocytes is 4%, at this stage I have not distinguished between neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils or monocytes. For lymphocytes 16%. For the sample I took from your right arm the % of cells with the XX combination is not significantly different for any category of blood cell”
“Um can you tell me in English what that means?”
“Your gene changes have spread into your bone marrow where your blood cells are created. All types of you blood cells are affected and both samples were the same from ”
You were still confused “So is that good or bad news?”
“I would err on the side of suggesting it’s bad news. Roll up a sleeve. I’ll take another sample. We shall see which type of cell is winning the battle for your body”
“Which arm?”
“Doesn’t matter”
Afterwards you mentioned about your fading freckles. You had to take off your trousers and show your mother. She was concerned. You sister opened up some of the pictures she had taken earlier in the week on the computer monitor. There was a stark contrast even to your untrained eye.
By the time they were finished with you it was time to leave if you were going to meet Carrie on time.