Lucky Man
Northern Oregon University, Physics Lab
Tuesday, 2:14 p.m.
Gianni entered the lab, walking very fast, and dropped his bag over the balcony in the corner.
"Hey, Miranda"
"Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Declan asked me if I could help you. He said you were busy, concluding some experiments."
"So?"
"So, he needs his tests done A.S.A.P."
"Right. And what are you going to do? Finish my experiments for me?" she sounded cynical.
"I will do some experiments, but not yours. I'm going to test the electrical reaction in human tissue".
"You mean the human tissue reaction when submitted to a certain electrical flux"
"Whatever", he replied setting the cathode and anode meters. "Anyway, can you give me some samples?"
"What kind of samples?"
" Tissue samples. Blood, skin, you know..."
"Why don't you take yours?" Miranda acted defensive.
"I will. But I want to perform the tests in tissues coming from at least two different persons, so I can be more sure of the results"
"Why don't you check it with the Biology department? They must know all about people hit by electrical rays"
"Peggy will take care of it. Right now I want to do some tests and see, with my OWN eyes, what happens. So, can you help me?"
She sighed and looked around before answering.
"The thing is... I hate needles"
"Ha ha ha", Gianni laughed and Miranda felt like a fool.
"What?" her voice sounded a bit angry.
"I hate needles too" he smiled sympathetically. "But, please, give me the sample. I'd like to get rid of this by the end of the day".
"Fine".
She left her computer and helped him set all the material to collect blood.
"Who's first?"
"I learned that ladies are always first" Gianni replied with a smile.
Miranda sat on the chair and stretched her arm over the support. She looked a bit scared. Gianni tied the latex rope around her left biceps and started "looking for a vein". He pressed two fingers on her pulse a little and passed it along her forearm. He repeated that a couple of times until a vein finally came up. He took the injection and introduced the needle in the vein, trying to be as careful as possible. His hands were sweating a little. After all he didn't want to hurt Miranda.
"Too painful?" he asked when he was done.
"Not really. You've got pretty soft hands" she almost smiled.
"It's the least I can do, after three years practicing"
"What do you mean, three years practicing? You studied Biomedicine?"
"No. I did Clinical Pathology. You see, it's different from here. It's a technical course you can take while you're in High School"
"Cool"
"Yeah, it is"
"Ok, here we go" Miranda said before introducing the needle in Gianni's arm.
He closed his eyes, trying not to scream. God that hurt!
"Ouch" he whispered.
"I've never been good in Arts"
"I figured" he smiled.
"OK. Done"
"Good. Let's get some epithelial tissue now"
"How do you intend to get that? Cutting your own finger?"
"I'm not that stupid, Miranda"
Gianni grabbed a little spatula and approached his partner.
"Can I...uh... get it?"
"Oh, sure"
Miranda opened her mouth a little so Gianni could scratch the inner part and collect the epithelial tissue.
"Thanks" he smiled.
"You're welcome" she replied in her usual monotone.
"Your turn now" he handed her another spatula, after taking her tissue to the lamina and name it. She did the same with him.
"Thank you very much, miss Fielgstein. You've made the world better"
"Yeah, right" she smiled a little.
So Gianni started the tests. He studied the situation that Mr. Bailey had been submitted, finished his report and went after Miranda. Now, he wanted to convince her to help him.
Declan's office
Thursday, 5:42 p.m.
"Hey, Declan"
"Hey, dude. Come on in" he replied with a smile.
"Here's your results" Gianni handed him the papers.
"Where's Miranda?"
"In the lab. She's kind of moody today"
"Oh, I see... women" Declan grinned.
"Yeah" Gianni replied.
"So, what you got for me?"
"No miracles this time, man. Sorry"
"What happened, then? That guy was fixing a high-tension row and suffered a 10.000 volts shock! How come did he survive?"
"The answer's simple as it can be" Gianni sighed. "You know when birds stand over these high-tension rows on the streets? I bet you never saw any of them dying electrocuted"
"Yeah, I never saw one. It happens because the bird doesn't have contact with the ground... the earth, you know. He's totally suspended in the air. The only surface he touches is the row"
"But how come Mr. Bailey didn't touch the ground if he was fixing the damn row?"
"Simple. Using much lower voltages, Miranda and I simulated the accident yesterday, after talking to Mr. Bailey. He said there was a strong wind blowing when he stumbled and the stairs went down. We all know he didn't fall with the stairs. We know he hold the row"
"So he jumped..." Declan said.
"Exactly! In less than an eye blink, the man jumped out of the stairs and hold the row before an electrical impulse hits him"
"This guy's damn lucky!"
"If he had tried the lottery, he would be rich by now"
"Just a question... how did you and Miranda simulated the situation? And where?"
"In the parking lot. We built a small prototype with the same electrical flux, but lower voltage. Then I jumped and hold it. She did it too, but nothing happened to any of us"
"You two are crazy" he smiled.
They heard a knock on the door.
"Excuse me Mr. Dunn"
"Sylvia? What are you doing here?" Gianni asked.
"Let's go, mom's gonna call"
"Ow... you two are related?"
"She's my sister"
"Really?"
"It's not my fault, I swear!" Sylvia joked and everyone laughed.
"Cool. Really cool" Declan smiled.
"We gotta go. See ya, Declan"
"See tomorrow, professor" Sylvia smiled.
"See ya later, guys".
Northern Oregon University, Physics Lab
Tuesday, 2:14 p.m.
Gianni entered the lab, walking very fast, and dropped his bag over the balcony in the corner.
"Hey, Miranda"
"Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Declan asked me if I could help you. He said you were busy, concluding some experiments."
"So?"
"So, he needs his tests done A.S.A.P."
"Right. And what are you going to do? Finish my experiments for me?" she sounded cynical.
"I will do some experiments, but not yours. I'm going to test the electrical reaction in human tissue".
"You mean the human tissue reaction when submitted to a certain electrical flux"
"Whatever", he replied setting the cathode and anode meters. "Anyway, can you give me some samples?"
"What kind of samples?"
" Tissue samples. Blood, skin, you know..."
"Why don't you take yours?" Miranda acted defensive.
"I will. But I want to perform the tests in tissues coming from at least two different persons, so I can be more sure of the results"
"Why don't you check it with the Biology department? They must know all about people hit by electrical rays"
"Peggy will take care of it. Right now I want to do some tests and see, with my OWN eyes, what happens. So, can you help me?"
She sighed and looked around before answering.
"The thing is... I hate needles"
"Ha ha ha", Gianni laughed and Miranda felt like a fool.
"What?" her voice sounded a bit angry.
"I hate needles too" he smiled sympathetically. "But, please, give me the sample. I'd like to get rid of this by the end of the day".
"Fine".
She left her computer and helped him set all the material to collect blood.
"Who's first?"
"I learned that ladies are always first" Gianni replied with a smile.
Miranda sat on the chair and stretched her arm over the support. She looked a bit scared. Gianni tied the latex rope around her left biceps and started "looking for a vein". He pressed two fingers on her pulse a little and passed it along her forearm. He repeated that a couple of times until a vein finally came up. He took the injection and introduced the needle in the vein, trying to be as careful as possible. His hands were sweating a little. After all he didn't want to hurt Miranda.
"Too painful?" he asked when he was done.
"Not really. You've got pretty soft hands" she almost smiled.
"It's the least I can do, after three years practicing"
"What do you mean, three years practicing? You studied Biomedicine?"
"No. I did Clinical Pathology. You see, it's different from here. It's a technical course you can take while you're in High School"
"Cool"
"Yeah, it is"
"Ok, here we go" Miranda said before introducing the needle in Gianni's arm.
He closed his eyes, trying not to scream. God that hurt!
"Ouch" he whispered.
"I've never been good in Arts"
"I figured" he smiled.
"OK. Done"
"Good. Let's get some epithelial tissue now"
"How do you intend to get that? Cutting your own finger?"
"I'm not that stupid, Miranda"
Gianni grabbed a little spatula and approached his partner.
"Can I...uh... get it?"
"Oh, sure"
Miranda opened her mouth a little so Gianni could scratch the inner part and collect the epithelial tissue.
"Thanks" he smiled.
"You're welcome" she replied in her usual monotone.
"Your turn now" he handed her another spatula, after taking her tissue to the lamina and name it. She did the same with him.
"Thank you very much, miss Fielgstein. You've made the world better"
"Yeah, right" she smiled a little.
So Gianni started the tests. He studied the situation that Mr. Bailey had been submitted, finished his report and went after Miranda. Now, he wanted to convince her to help him.
Declan's office
Thursday, 5:42 p.m.
"Hey, Declan"
"Hey, dude. Come on in" he replied with a smile.
"Here's your results" Gianni handed him the papers.
"Where's Miranda?"
"In the lab. She's kind of moody today"
"Oh, I see... women" Declan grinned.
"Yeah" Gianni replied.
"So, what you got for me?"
"No miracles this time, man. Sorry"
"What happened, then? That guy was fixing a high-tension row and suffered a 10.000 volts shock! How come did he survive?"
"The answer's simple as it can be" Gianni sighed. "You know when birds stand over these high-tension rows on the streets? I bet you never saw any of them dying electrocuted"
"Yeah, I never saw one. It happens because the bird doesn't have contact with the ground... the earth, you know. He's totally suspended in the air. The only surface he touches is the row"
"But how come Mr. Bailey didn't touch the ground if he was fixing the damn row?"
"Simple. Using much lower voltages, Miranda and I simulated the accident yesterday, after talking to Mr. Bailey. He said there was a strong wind blowing when he stumbled and the stairs went down. We all know he didn't fall with the stairs. We know he hold the row"
"So he jumped..." Declan said.
"Exactly! In less than an eye blink, the man jumped out of the stairs and hold the row before an electrical impulse hits him"
"This guy's damn lucky!"
"If he had tried the lottery, he would be rich by now"
"Just a question... how did you and Miranda simulated the situation? And where?"
"In the parking lot. We built a small prototype with the same electrical flux, but lower voltage. Then I jumped and hold it. She did it too, but nothing happened to any of us"
"You two are crazy" he smiled.
They heard a knock on the door.
"Excuse me Mr. Dunn"
"Sylvia? What are you doing here?" Gianni asked.
"Let's go, mom's gonna call"
"Ow... you two are related?"
"She's my sister"
"Really?"
"It's not my fault, I swear!" Sylvia joked and everyone laughed.
"Cool. Really cool" Declan smiled.
"We gotta go. See ya, Declan"
"See tomorrow, professor" Sylvia smiled.
"See ya later, guys".