The Tour Guide

[Kaelan]

Kaelan was an efficient and intentional phlebotomist. He took great care to wrap the tourniquet around Liam’s bicep. Then he palpated the crux of Liam’s elbow for the fleshy worm that others took to be a vein. He looked up from the narrowed position with a slim smile for success when he found what he sought. There was no chit-chat as the needle slid into the young man’s skin. He was fascinated by what trickled through the attached line, but readily swapped out vials as each one was filled in turn.

Then they were done. The tourniquet popped and he pressed gauze over the puncture. “Hold pressure on it for a minute,” he turned away to secure the precious samples in a nearby refrigerator.

After tidying up, he spoke as he dropped gloves in the trash can. “You’re right about the swab, but I want to try something special. I’ll show you what I find when its done. It will take a few days.”

They would have the initial read outs within six hours, but Kaelan was being truthful about the timetable. He couldn’t do what he really wanted to try until he was alone, and even then, it might take several nights of attempts.

He smiled reassuringly. “I do need to get started though. It’ll take an hour to get the processing accounts all set up. Thanks for getting me back up here, and come visit any time.” He spoke politely, but insincerely. Liam was the boss’s son after all.