THE SWORD AND SICKLE 

PART ONE

CHAPTER FIVE

PRESS DEBRIEFING

"In what way is my husband different?"

"I can't get into the diagnostic aspect. The doctor will have to do that. What I can tell you is your husband will look much older than you remember him."

"How old does he appear?"

"In your husband's case, he appears to be in his early nineties, give or take. The aging has stopped, and he is holding his own, but he will never return to his true age."

"What happened to him?"

"No one knows why he is aging, but I can address other aspects. Do you know what telomeres are?"

"I watched an Oprah show once that they are like the tips on shoelaces, but that is all I remember about them."

"That is a good analogy. These ends are called telomeres, and they are in every cell of our body, and they tell the cells to duplicate. As long as the caps or ends are encased, the body reproduces the cell exactly as before. But about the age of thirty or so, the tips begin to unravel ever so slightly, and the body begins to age, because the new cells are different, and the effects on the body are wrinkles and such. By the time you are over forty, they have frayed enough that our tendons are no longer as elastic as they once were, and they begin to tear instead of stretching and rebounding. When the caps become completely frayed, the telomeres tell the body to stop reproducing cells, and that is the last set of cells for reproduction to happen in the body, and we die. Your husbands, telomeres, for some reason, started unraveling at an extremely fast rate. He has suffered an extreme shock to his entire system. We have now stopped the unraveling, but they cannot return to their original state. I am afraid the damage done to his body is permanent, and your husband is aware of this. He is ready to retire from office."

The first lady, Glenna Hammett, held back her tears and said, "What is going to happen to the country when they find out about this? What is going to happen to the children and me? Where will we go? What will I do?" She collapsed into Angela's open arms and sobbed.

"Your husband asked, "What would I do if I knew the world was coming to an end. And I told him that I would not change a thing. I will continue to do the things I have always done. I cannot tell you what to do in this situation. I can only tell you that your husband is a fighter. Despite facing what seemed like certain death, he was thinking of the welfare of others. The country will be fine, and that is my fervent hope. The people are resilient and can handle this; I am certain. "

The First Lady pulled out a tissue from her jacket and wiped away the tears. "May I ask you your full name?"

"I am Nurse Angela Bailey, and I am honored to be of service. I only wish I could tell you more. Now, I need to give your husband his morning meds. I will contact you when the doctor is in the building; he will tell you more about his diagnosis.

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