THE IMMUNITY BREAKTROUGH

As Mia cautiously shook his hand, I began to explain calmly “Mia, I need to take a small sample of your blood to help understand how you survived the virus attack,”

Mia’s eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen, her gaze flicking uncertainly to Agatha, who offered a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Mia,” she said softly, “it will be a small prick and then it will be over”. Mia ran her tongue over her dry lips and gave a hesitant nod. She closed her eyes and tried to take calming breaths, she walked over to me and took my hand as we all went back into the infirmary where Adam had carefully set out the materials on a small table next to the bed for Dr. Volkov.

Mia nervously tightened her grip on my hand as we entered the infirmary, and I carefully placed her onto the bed.

“Mia, I’m going to do a blood test on you to see if there is anything special about your blood,” Dr. Volkov said in a gentle voice. “It won’t hurt much, I promise.”

I held her hand and Mia nodded silently, her eyes still wide with apprehension, and Dr. Volkov began to sterilize the area around her upper arm. He then tied a tourniquet tightly around her arm before taking a small, sharp lancet and making a tiny incision in her skin. A single drop of blood appeared and Mia winced in pain, squeezing my hand all the while. Dr. Volkov quickly collected a small sample of her blood in a glass vial before untying the tourniquet and setting aside his equipment. He then used a piece of cloth to gently apply pressure to the incision to stop the bleeding. As he did so, he kept a close eye on Mia, making sure she wasn’t in any pain or discomfort.

Once the bleeding had stopped, he looked at her with kindness and spoke softly, “All done now, Mia.”

Her face lit up in relief and excitement as she smiled back at him.

He held the vial up to the light, examining the colour and consistency of the blood. He then carefully added a few drops of a special reagent to the vial, which would react with any virus particles that might be present in the blood.

Dr. Volkov carefully made an incision on Mia’s finger and collected a small sample of her blood in a glass vial. He then used a piece of cloth to gently apply pressure to the incision to stop the bleeding. As he did so, he kept a close eye on Mia, making sure she wasn’t in any pain or discomfort.

Once the bleeding had stopped, he looked at her with kindness and spoke softly, “All done now, Mia.”

Mia’s face transformed, her eyes glimmering with relief and joy as a wide smile spread across her cheeks. She turned to me, her voice filled with exhilaration, “Aunty Al, I was brave and it didn’t hurt at all!”

“Yes, you were!” I exclaimed, my heart bursting with pride. “Now why don’t you go see what Grandma Agatha is up to? I heard she made some yummy chocolate chip cookies and since you were so brave you just might get some!”

Mia’s eyes twinkled with delight, and she dashed out of the infirmary, her pigtails bouncing in rhythm with her steps.

Once Mia was out of the room, Dr. Volkov held the vial up to the light, examining the colour and consistency of the blood. He then carefully added a few drops of a special reagent to the vial, which would react with any virus particles that might be present in the blood.

Minutes passed as Dr. Volkov watched the reaction in the vial and Adam and I watched him in anticipation. At first Dr. Volkov’s eyebrows creased together watching the vial but then his eyes opened wide in shock.

“Interesting,” he murmured, adjusting the focus. “I can see something different about her blood, it has a high concentration of antibodies.”
“What does that mean” Adam asks, and we both look at Dr. Volkov intently.

After a few minutes of careful observation, Dr. Volkov sat back and looked at Adam and I. “Mia has a unique immunity to the virus,” he said, a look of wonder on his face. “Her body has developed its own way of fighting it off.”

“How can you tell?” I asked inquisitively.

Dr. Volkov pointed to the vial in his hand with a cloudy blue solution. Bits of what looked like red dust floated around the edges, and he slowly rotated his wrists stirring the mixture in the vial.

“The reagent has reacted with the virus particles in Mia’s blood, indicating that she was indeed infected,” he said. “But as I continued to observe the reaction, something strange happened. The virus particles seemed to be breaking down, almost as if they were being destroyed by the reagent.”

My eyes lit up with excitement and I grinned at Dr. Volkov in amazement. “That’s amazing!” Adam and I said in unison, our voices filled with awe. “Does this mean we can find a cure?

Dr. Volkov nodded and his face lit up with hope. “Yes, I think we can. We just need to figure out how to replicate the immunity in others, but this is a huge step forward!” He pointed to Adam and said, “Adam, we need to document this—this could be a major breakthrough to finding a cure for the virus!”

“I’m on it” A look of determination crossed Adam’s face before he quickly dashed out of the infirmary.
Dr. Volkov sealed the vial securely into place and zipped his black leather bag closed. “Please let me know if you need any more help” I say eagerly.
He smiled at me and said, “I’m going to do some experiments and see what works and what doesn’t, but I will let you know if I need anything else” and with that he left.