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As soon as they were out of the car, Aelin was reaching for Aedion and lacing their fingers together. Lysandra appeared on her other side, arm looping through her own as they surrounded her as a steadying force. Aedion pressed a kiss to her temple, murmuring that he would be right beside her the whole time. It felt silly, needing so much support to walk into a house, but it was support that she couldnât be without today.Â
They stood in front of the manor, the place she had grown up. Her home. Aelin had still failed to go inside, but she wanted to visit the grounds before bringing Rowan back to go through her fatherâs study. The primary concern was that if she didnât, she would have some sort of a breakdown over the whole affair.Â
The manor itself was massive. When theyâd pulled up to the front, they circled the large fountain before parking in front of the stairs that lead to the main entry. To her right, the green house jutted out slightly, the large dome of the glass ceiling sparkling in the sun. Stone banisters curled around the greenhouse, snaking around the back of the manor. Nearly all the window panes were covered in ivy, even the main portion of the house that leaned on being more gothic-style in architecture with spires reaching for the clouds.Â
Banisters lined the flat roof, a place Aedion and Aelin had spent many nights pointing out constellations and dozing under the cover of the moon. When they got older, Sam had joined them, too. Itâd always been something special, something soothing when things were rough. Part of her wished desperately that she had let herself grieve her parents and Sam with Aedion up on that roof, shielded by the dark blanket of the night. But it was a little late for that now.Â
Exhaling slowly, she released Aedionâs hand to begin her ascent up the stairs. She was careful to avoid the icy patches on the steps that had yet to completely thaw under the mid-morning sun. With her support system behind her, she couldnât help but feel her stomach twisting at how odd it felt to be going home at long last. It was familiar, it was home. But somehow it felt foreign and cold.Â
Aelin pulled out the key and unlocked the door, a heavy exhale dropping from her lips as the door swung open to reveal the grand staircases on either side of the entry. In the center was an abundant floral arrangement on a large marble table. It was opulent and every bit the home youâd expect a Lord and Lady of Terrasen to live in.Â
Down the hall to the left, sugary confections were being made in the kitchens. The smell made her stomach grumble and tugged her toward it, begging her to go see, to go taste. If sheâd missed anything about life at the manor, it was Marion Lochanâs baking she had so often snuck down to the kitchens for in the middle of the night. She followed the smells, taking in the sight of the manor that remained, for the most part, completely unchanged.Â
When she reached the door to the kitchen, a voice was humming along to a song and she knew immediately who the voice belonged to. Pushing into the room, she received a double-take from both women behind the counter before the younger of the two was bounding across the room and throwing her arms around her neck.Â
âOh, Aelin!â She breathed, squeezing her tightly. Aelin melted into her embrace as Marion joined them, kissing Aelinâs head and running a hand through her hair. It was impossible to resist melting into the embrace, to feel a motherly touch after so long of living the way she had been. Her life the last few years had been hard, by no oneâs fault but her own, and she sorely regretted not coming back to this sooner. Her eyes instantly teared up as she shifted to hug Marion tightly, her face pressing into the matronâs neck.
Marion was the head of household. When her parents were away, she had often been in charge of Aelin and everything that entailed. As a young girl, sheâd played and tutored with Elide constantly. When Elide had grown older she had become Aelinâs hand maid. However, they were so much more than servants or people that worked in the house. They were family, and that was that.Â
Marion was like a second mother. Not in the sense that Evalin Ashryver had ever for a second been inadequate in any way. In fact, her mom was the best mother in the world, sheâd wager. But Marion had always been a steady constant in her life, had always been there if Evalin was out of reach. Marion and Evalin had been the best of friends, sisters of sorts. Elide had quickly become the same to Aelin, someone that had become like a little sister that sheâd never had. Elide had harbored all of Aelinâs secrets like a sister, never once selling her out for sneaking out her bedroom window to spend nights on the lake with Sam.Â
âWelcome home, my love,â Marion said softly against her hair, hands running soothingly over her shoulder blades. She pulled back slightly, wiping the tears from Aelinâs cheeks. Elide, however, was beaming.Â
âAedion mentioned you were due to come by today. Weâre making your favorite.âÂ
âChocolate hazelnut cake!â She exclaimed, having known as soon as the front door had opened what would be awaiting her down the hall. âThank you. Really, you didnât have to.â
âGo finish having a look,â Marion insisted. âIâll call for you when itâs finished.â So following instruction, Aelin nodded and left the kitchen to explore the house that had built her.
Not a single thing had changed, even when she got to her own bedroom. It had been kept tidy and clean, nothing out of place and no dust bunnies in sight. Her school books were still stacked on her desk by the window, her bed was made with all nine pillows overflowing the plush duvet. The book shelves that covered half the room remained color coded and as pristine as sheâd left them. Her fingers traced the letters down the spines of some of the titles. Some of them were first editions of classics worth tons of money, and she felt guilt rising up in her chest for leaving them unattended for so long.Â
Pausing near the window, she touched the white gossamer curtains and frowned. The purple, silver, and white color scheme somehow didnât fit her anymore. As soon as she was back downstairs, she made a mental note to request a change of color scheme to better suit her tastes now.Â
From the curtains, her gaze shifted to the desk where a photo of her and Sam was perched front and center. Immediately, her chest was squeezing and contracting, her throat burning with tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Her lips were pressed to his cheek and he was smiling in a wide, goofy grin. Their hair was sprinkled with snow, their noses and cheeks nipped with cold. Aelin glanced over her shoulder at Aedion, who took a few steps toward her.
Instead of speaking, Aelin shook her head to halt him as she moved to her closet. Dress after dress lined the left side, so many of them unworn. All of her casual clothes had been packed up by Lysandra and were at her apartment now, so the right side of the closet remained mostly bare. She stepped back into the main room, not bothering to glance at the bathroom before exiting back into the hall and turning toward her parentsâ rooms. Aedion walked beside her down to the west wing, his hand a reminder that he was there as he rested it on her lower back.Â
When she pushed open the doors, her hands began to shake because everything was perfect.Â
Perfect, like they would be coming home any minute. Her mother would be home to take a hot bath and slip into more casual clothes, her dad would disappear into his study until dinner. After dinner, theyâd watch a movie while she studied for exams, or go downtown to the antique shops they frequented every week.Â
When she stepped into the closet, she was nearly brought to her knees. Everything was so perefectly preserved that she swore she could smell their perfume, their cologne. Harder her hands shook as she picked up the bottle of perfume on a shelf and sniffed, tears falling down her cheeks in white hot streaks that she couldnât stop. When the sobs began, she couldnât stop them. The bottle slipped from her hands and shattered all over the marble floor. Small pieces of glass grazed the skin of her ankles in the explosion, drawing blood and stinging as the perfume settled into her skin. The scent was overwhelming as she dropped to her knees, sobbing in the mess until Aedion scooped her into his arms and carried her from the closet.Â
âIâm sorry,â she cried. âIâm so sorry, Mama. Iâm so sorry.â The confessions poured out of her, that she was sorry for not finishing school, for disappointing them. That she was sorry for wasting her life. She even turned her face up to Aedionâs as he held her and apologized to him, too, for all the trouble sheâd given him over the years. With her entire body shaking, she pressed her face into his shoulder and sobbed.Â
There, curled up in Aedionâs lap in her parentsâ old bedroom, she wept and wept until there were no more tears to cry.Â
~*~
âAce, you know I hate this creepy ass building.â Aedion had a look of distaste curling his lip as she walked them into the mausoleum. Eyes rolling, she pulled open the gate and gestured for them to get inside.
âI need to show you something.â
âWhat could she possibly need to show me in a crypt?â He grumbled to Lysandra, who elbowed him roughly in the ribs. Once inside, Aelin unlocked the secret door. The look on Aedionâs face was priceless as it crumpled with complete and utter confusion at the whirring and churning sounds coming from the walls. When the wall jutted out, his jaw dropped open, but his complaints about the crypt didnât stop. Not even when Aelin had revealed the hidden space that Rowan, Fenrys, and Aelin affectionately referred to as the Bunker.Â
Aedion had as many questions as Aelin, and she didn her best to explain. It was easy to see that this was as much a surprise to him as it had been to her; Aedionâd had no idea what her father had been up to down there. It seemed heâd only ever been trained in the family businesses, not whatever this was. She watched him carefully as he took in all the writing on the walls, as he traced a finger along what could only be described as the conspiracy wall.Â
âWhen did you find all this?â
âA few weeks ago. That day I found that note in your desk. Fen has been helping. Dr. Whitethorn - Rowan - he thinks that they were murdered. And I think heâs right.â Aelin was twisting the hem of her shirt in her hands anxiously. Aedion let out a whoosh of air like it had been knocked clean from his lungs, and as his eyes fell shut he quietly said, âTell me everything you know.â
~*~
Friday rolled around quicker than she had expected. She was down in the bunker, packing up every bit of information that had been left behind. They had spent the last two days organizing all the information into a foolproof system that would make it easy to find anything they sought out. After taking multiple photos of the conspiracy, they began to dismantle that, too, so they could later rebuild it at a different location.Â
Aelinâs hair was braided down her back, stray strands around her face sticking to the slight swear sheâd managed to work up while heaving boxes around. She had just finished packing another when she heard her name being shouted from outside. Lysandra immediately opened her mouth to make a snarky comment, but Aelin cut her off. âHeâs my doctor. And a friend. And heâs helping.â
âHelping you orgasm?â Aedion snorted at his girlfriend while Aelin threw an old passport at her like a frisbee. Her friend hissed in response.Â
âNo, thatâs what Fenrys is for,â she countered, sticking her tongue out as Rowan descended the stairs looking criminally good in a leather jacket.Â
âFenrys is for what?âÂ
âNothing,â Aelin said, the same time Lysandra said âAelinâs orgasms.â The blonde shot an incredulous look at her friend, putting the lid on the last box and moving it to sit by the stairs. âIâm going to kill you.â Rowanâs face looked indifferent, but there was something about the way his mouth tensed at the corners.Â
âWhy are you packing everything up?â Rowan took the box from Aelin and carried it up the stairs behind her. Once outside, her eyes shifted from the snow-capped mountains in the distance to Rowanâs face. She chewed on her bottom lip as he deposited the box into the back of a moving van. âYou donât want my help anymore?â
âNo. I mean, yes, I do want your help. I was going to talk to you about it in the study.â Rowanâs fingers grazed the outside of her elbow and she turned to face him. âI think I need to go to Rifthold. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how often my family went to Rifthold. Sam went on weekend trips all the time and I always thought it was just to do with seeing his motherâs grave but now Iâm not so sure.â Their breath mingled between them, hanging in the air and drifting away in little clouds. With his cheeks and nose flush from the cold, he looked younger somehow.Â
âIf youâre going to Rifthold, I -â
âI know you canât help me from here. Not easily, but I thought -â
âWould you let me speak without interrupting?â He quipped, a brow arched. Aelin pressed her lips into a thin line, frustrated that he wouldnât let her finish. She needed - âIf youâre going to Rifthold⊠Iâll have to sort out some things first but Iâm going with you. I respected your father too much to let you do that alone. It could be dangerous, and I wouldnât ever forgive myself if something happened to you.â He said it so bluntly, like it was the obvious choice, that without thinking she threw her arms around his neck. Rowan seemed surprised at first, but after a moment his hands braced against her back. When they finally separated, she looped her elbow through his and nodded toward the house.Â
âLetâs go sift through the study.â
~*~
Fenrys was lounging on her bed in the manor while she dug through the formal gowns in her closet. It had been a week since Rowan agreed to go to Rifthold. Ever since, getting there and sorting out what her parents had been so hell bent on uncovering was her top priority. It seemed, based on all the research in the bunker, that her parents thought it had something to do with magic. Doing so would require going to some parties to mingle with the Royal family, so she was neck deep in her most expensive gowns at the moment.
She wouldnât be going to Rifthold as Aelin Galathynius, it had been decided. It was too risky if her family had genuinely been murdered. If she was found in Rifthold she could meet a similar fate and she wasnât too keen on that happening before she figured out what was going on. She hadnât seen any of the royals since she was thirteen, and she liked to think she looked quite a bit different as a mature, young woman. She also planned to dye her hair when she got there, making her even more unrecognizable.Â
âThis one?â She stepped back out into her rooms, holding a black velvet dress to her body. After a moment, she turned it to show him the back and Fenrys gave her a low whistle.Â
âWhitethorn would lose his mind if he saw you in that,â he said, shaking his head. Aelin paused and looked over her shoulder at him.Â
âWhat?âÂ
âWhat?â He repeated, brows raised.
âWhy would -â
âI mean, I certainly would. Why wouldnât he?â The grin on his lips was sheepish and his eyes dropped to look at the cream sheets he lay on. Soon, all the gowns would be packed up and hung in the back of the moving van, all ready to go for Rifthold. With narrowed eyes, Aelin walked over to Fen and plopped onto the mattress beside him, wiggling to tug the nightgown sheâd been wearing when he showed up down her thighs.Â
âAre you nervous?â Fenrysâ weight shifted and she turned her head to look at him properly. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
âIâm tired is what I am,â she sighed. It was the truth. Mentally, emotionally, physically, the girl was completely wiped. Sleep didnât come as easy as it used to. Lately, her nightmares of the accident had started back up again. Not to mention the nightmares she had of her parents being murdered right before her eyes. Dreams of Sam pulling her onto a dance floor, wedding dress swirling around her feet only for blood to start oozing from his chest. Yes, she was very tired. Perhaps the most tired sheâd ever been in her life.Â
So when he made the offer to wear her out so she could sleep like a rock that night, she let him roll on top of her and claim her mouth with his own.Â
~*~
Life was changing at a rapid pace. She had been stagnant for two years, letting herself waste away. Now, she had a purpose, a reason to wake up and keep living the life that she had been given a second chance for.Â
Her heart was fluttering in her chest viciously as Rowan and Aedion closed up the door of the trailer. Aedion and Lysandra were supposed to be moving her down to Rifthold, but some things had come up at the company that Aedion flat out couldnât get out of. It ended up okay because Rowan didnât work this weekend and offered to drive her down himself after recruiting Fenrys and another cadre member, Lorcan, into helping. Aelin was still unclear just on what role Rowan and Lorcan seemed to play in her father's arsenal. Though she could assume they were the brute force of the bunch just by looking at them.Â
âIâll be down next week, so if you need anything from home let me know.â Aedion said, reaching out to brush her hair behind her ear. He looked like a nervous wreck and part of Aelin understood the feeling. After his mom died he had moved in with them, and theyâd not been separated since. Even when he was mad at her, they saw each other usually twice a week. They had always lived in Orynth together, never too far apart, and now she was moving five hours away. Aedion was a protector, and she knew it drove him mad that he wouldnât be around the corner at any given moment if she needed him. But she also needed him here, taking care of the company because for all their secrets, they loved their work. Aelin needed her cousin running the business, keeping everything normal and even though he hated being away from her he would do it. So when he pulled her into a bone crushing hug, she let him and squeezed just as hard back.Â
âI love you so much,â she whispered into his shoulder, and with a kiss to her head he returned the sentiments. Aelin moved to Lysandra then and hugged her just as tight as she tried not to cry. The last few years had been rocky because of her issues, but Lysandra was still her best friend.
âPhone call away. Thatâs all I am,â Lys said. âAnd weâll come down as often as we can, hell Iâll come down even when he canât.â She pressed a kiss to Aelinâs cheek and she stepped back and appraised the last of her family.Â
Rowanâs hand fell to her lower back and she knew it was time, so she headed over to the passenger side of the van and climbed in. Lorcan and Fenrys were packed into Aelinâs car ahead of them, already looking ready to kill each other. It brought some sort of joy, enough to make her laugh despite the steady stream of tears falling down her cheeks.Â
Aedion and Lysandra waved until the gates swung closed behind the van and she couldnât see them anymore.Â
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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So it seems that one of the major questions surgeons have to ask before removing cancerous tissue is 'What's cancerous and what isn't?' because obviously it's important to know whether you're removing the right thing or not.
Now it's understandable that it's difficult to visibly distinguish between cancerous tissue and normal tissue, especially when working with things like lymph nodes which are tiny at only half a centimetre in size which makes them difficult to distinguish from the surrounding tissue during surgery. And even when lymph nodes can be located, the fact that they are unable to distinguish between cancerous and normal tissue means more lymph nodes than necessary are removed which then results in a hindered immune system, right?
'Wait...what are Lymph Nodes??'
In short, Lymph Nodes are small nodules, located throughout the body which serve as filters that contain immune cells to fight infection and clean the blood.
When cancer cells break away from a tumor (metastasise), the cells can travel through the lymph system and hide in these Lymph Nodes.
The point of their removal is to determine if a cancer has spread.
All clear?? Ok, good.
So this is where a team of surgeons and scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine come in. They have developed a new technique which will allow surgeons, during surgery, to determine which tissue is cancerous so that healthy tissue can be saved, e.g. non cancerous lymph nodes will not be removed thus preserving the effectiveness of the patient's immune system.Â
'So what exactly is this technique and how does it work??'
This new technique is essentially just molecular targeted imaging whereby fluorescently labelled molecules are injected and the tissues which 'take up' the fluorescent molecules and fluoresce are cancerous whereas those that don't are normal. Simple right?
This pioneering technique eliminates not only the unnecessary removal of lymph nodes, but also eliminates the need to have said removed nodes (and other tissues for that matter) sent off to the labs for pathological examination to determine whether cancer is present which makes detection of metastases and determination of the presence of cancer a lot faster and more accurate.
This technique is an improvement over traditional sentinel node mapping, which only allows the detection of the location of the lymph node but gives no information on actual cancer involvement.
Nguyen, director of the facial nerve clinic at UC San Diego Health System is quoted as saying "The range of the surgeon's visual field is greatly enhanced... so that no tumour is left behind."Â which goes to show just how much potential this technique has.
'The details'
The technique involves the use of Ratiometric Activatable Cell-Penetrating Peptides (RACPP) which contain Cy5 (a far red fluorescent donor) and Cy7 (a near infra-red fluorescent acceptor).
The Cy5 and Cy7 work in the way that when the intervening linker between the 2 is cleaved, either by tumor-associated matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 or elastases (found in cancerous tissues and tumours) the Cy5:Cy7 emission ratio is increased almost 40 fold.
This then triggers the retention of the fragment of the RACPP which contains Cy5 by the tissues thus causing the cancerous tissues to fluoresce making them easily distinguishable from normal tissues.
'Conclusions??'
Seems like this technique will be extremely beneficial in terms of reducing the time in which metastases is determined as well as improving the accuracy of tissue removal, both which can only benefit patients.
I personally look forward to seeing this technique being implemented, especially as I know how stressful unnecessary surgery and testing can be on cancer patients as my mother was subjected to it on countless occasions throughout her treatment. So anything which can benefit patients and put them even at the slightest of ease and reduce the stress they're under is a win in my books!