by Andrea Ring
I force my body to produce that protein. It floods my brain, and I gasp out loud. All the signals my body is sending out are traveling at super speed, and I’m on sensory overload.
I shake my head to clear it, but I can’t get rid of the proteins yet. I have to…do something. I have to send them into Vivian.
It takes me a few minutes to get used to the onslaught of signals. And it leaves me light-headed. Feeling faint but purposeful, I gather all those proteins in my brain and send them on their way along my nerves. Down my neck to my spine. From the spine to my arm. Down my arm to my hand. Down my hand to my finger. Down my finger to Vivian.
The next part is the trickiest. I can sense the nerves I’ve connected to, but the rest of Vivian’s body is a mystery to me. I do not have a direct connection to her brain. So I simply follow the network of nerves. It’s like following a rope in the dark. Hand over hand, you let the rope guide you, but you have little idea of where you are unless you reach a hand out to feel. So that’s what I do. I follow the nerve in her hand until I come to another one. I sense it. I’m in the meaty part of her palm. I follow that nerve down until I come to another at the top of wrist. I continue on, following and sensing.
When I hit a nerve connected to the muscle in her forearm, the monitor beeps loudly. I ignore it. I find that outside stimuli are becoming easy to ignore. I process them so fast that they are barely a blip on my radar.
I notice that my breathing has become shallow and labored by the time I reach Vivian’s brain. I’m sensing a good portion of her body, the left side, at least, and besides the pain I have caused and the lack of proteins, her body is healthy. As I penetrate the brain, I begin to sense her mood. It is curious. She knows something is happening, but she can’t yet feel what that is. I probe deeper into the frontal lobe, and Vivian and I both gasp aloud.
The pain overwhelms her. I had a build up of it, and I knew what was happening and what to expect. Vivian did not. But she’s a seasoned Dweller. Before I can say a word, Vivian shuts down the nerves in her hand and arm.
She opens her eyes and slowly rolls them in my direction. “Who?” she says.
I’m in her brain. I know what she wants to say.
“I’m Thomas Van Zandt, Michael’s son.”
She tries to speak again, but her tongue is too dry.
“I’m not…” I start to say, and then I realize that Vivian doesn’t know anything about what she’s been through. Her memory stops back at the Attic when Dad was still with her. I can’t explain everything to her now, and she shouldn’t hear it from me even if I could.
“I’m your son,” I say, confirming her belief. “I’m trying to help you. You were lacking the protein necessary to come out of a coma. I’m giving you the protein.”
Vivian nods in her head. You’re adorable, she thinks. Perfect. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you.
Tears fill my eyes. I cannot believe that her first thoughts would be for me. Or her child.
You look like Mikey, she thinks.
“People tell me that,” I say, and my vision blurs.
Vivian must be able to sense me, as well. She is suddenly alarmed. You’re sick, she says. Where is Michael?
“Around,” I say, trying hard to remember where Dad is.
You need to eat, she thinks. You need to eat now. Please. Call someone. Where is Dr. Sykes?
“I don’t know,” I say, my words slurring at the end.
Cut the connection, she screams in my head. Cut it now!
I fight to remember what I’m supposed to be doing. “I’m not there yet,” I say. “Almost there. Need to get to the cerbllm.”
My mouth isn’t working right.
Vivian shuts down more of her nerves, but the process is slow. Her brain is not responding as quickly as she wants it to. But she’s making it difficult for me to work. I’m like a salmon fighting to swim upstream.
I can no longer speak. So I think to her.
Let me help you.
No! she thinks. Not for me. Please! Not for me. She is sobbing in her head.
I finally reach her cerebellum and repair the deadened parts of her brain. Some kind of chemical had saturated her brain cells and essentially numbed them. I regrow them. I restore them. I give her the power to create the protein on her own.
I bring Vivian back to life.
“No!” she screams out loud.
And my heart sto….
FAQs
Do you have a website? Visit me at www.andrearing.net. If you comment on my blog or send me an email, I will answer.
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Have you written any other books? Yes! For the latest list, visit my website or Amazon.
Is Thomas dead? Find out in Book Two of The System Series, Systematic.
How many books are in the series? There are five books in The System Series.
1 – Nervous System
2 – Systematic
3 – Operating System
4 – Honor System
5 – Systems Go (to be released in late October 2015)
Note to my readers: Thank you for reading! As an independent author, I rely solely on my readers for support. I’d love to hear from you! Send me an email. Sign up for my newsletter. Write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Comment on my blog. You’re the reason I write, and I’ll never forget that.
Book Excerpt
Read a chapter from the next book in Andrea Ring’s The System Series,
Systematic
Systematic
Wait…if I give you an excerpt, then you’ll know the answer: Does Thomas die?
Does Vivian revive him? Does the nurse? His dad?
Is he able to heal himself?
Or is he dead and gone, and Book Two is about Tessa learning to develop his abilities herself?
Maybe Thomas comes back as a ghost, whispering in doctors’ ears to tell them how to heal.
Maybe he comes back as a vampire, a zombie, a soul in search of a body.
I’ll give you a hint: One of those things happens.
Dedication
To my children, who are extraordinary, even if they can’t grow new body parts.
About the Author
Andrea Ring was born and raised in Orange County, California. At age eight, she wrote an essay proclaiming she wanted to be an “auther” when she grew up. It only took her thirty years to realize her dream.
She enjoys beating her four children at Boggle, reading science fiction and fantasy, and eating bacon. She hates to exercise, but loves taking walks with her family through Old Towne Orange. She's lucky to be married to the love of her life.
Her favorite ride at Disneyland is Indiana Jones.
Her favorite movies are The Princess Bride and Better Off Dead.
She thinks every book should contain a love story.
Did we mention her love of bacon?
Visit her website at http://www.andrearing.net.
Copyright Page
NERVOUS SYSTEM Copyright © 2013 by Andrea Ring
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Originally published in 2013 by Square Gorilla Press. http://www.squaregorilla.com.
ISBN 978-0-9893825-6-4
Cover art and design:
Jay Walsh, http://meanoiche.blogspot.com
Acknowledgements
To my talented cover artist, Jay Walsh, you have an otherworldly gift. Thank you for being professional, and passionate, and hard working. And thank you for sharing your gift with my readers and me.
g, Nervous System (The System Series Book 1)