"Case Study"

Our Terminology professor gave us all a writing assignment for Friday--use ten words from the last two chapters of our Term book (dealing with the skeletal system and its components), and write a case study. If we had a real one that had happened to a pet or a friend's pet, we could use that, or we could invent one. I asked if I could make it fun, and she said yes. So here is my attempt to use ten veterinary terminology words in a vaguely interesting way, and also make my English degree not a complete waste of time.

Enjoy.

“Case Study”

(The Wanderer, 1818, by Caspar David Friedrich)

Brandon stood upon the crest, overlooking the natal grounds. He clasped and unclasped his hands behind him, pausing at times to check his pocket-watch. Today was the day. Since his brother, Ambrose’s discovery Brandon had put all his wealth to work for them, sure that no number of antique cars would equal the worth of what they were attempting to bring to life.

Ambrose had unearthed ancient osteoblasts in the stomach of an engorged mosquito, legs akimbo, frozen in time in a drop of amber. A hapless ant was also curled in death in the golden-orange jewel, but she contained no exciting discoveries for the brothers. Brandon realized, distantly, still lost in memory, that he was suffering from an anxious tetany, perhaps linked subconsciously to the spasms working inside the wonders below him.

Suddenly, he saw a movement. He hastened down the slope, almost losing his footing in the loose soil, and collapsed, kneeling, beside the large, multi-faceted ovoid before him. The sun hit his face and reflected his visage perfectly a thousand times over in the tiny, smooth areas of the egg. He saw some new wrinkles on his brow, but noted them not--they no longer mattered.

Ambrose was beside him in an instant--his equipment had also picked up the movements in the egg, and summoned him to his brother’s side. Brandon’s myalgia was becoming more intense, and Ambrose murmured close beside him that it was nearly time. Brandon fell back into his reverie, remembering the ups and downs of the last fifteen year’s work.

By far the worst time was when an intern, quivering and sweaty, had come to them and squeaked that he’d found evidence of epiphysitis in the extremities of the diamond-egg tenant. They’d woken experts in their field across the globe and flown them, bleary and cross, to the brothers’ labs. Realizing what was at stake, the experts had set to work with lasers and prayers to correct the issue, and had withdrawn, satisfied, leaving only faint seams in the developing limbs to remind the men, in xrays, what almost happened. Now they were about to witness the results of their work.

Now the egg twitched, moved from inside, and a spine shoved roughly through the egg’s membrane and impossible outer shell. It slashed away at its holding cell, and then momentarily stayed still. The brothers held their breaths, fascinated. The spike seemed to be made of the same substance and beauty of its encasing shell, multi-faceted, clear, and perfect, yet incredibly thin and strong. The amniotic fluid seeped out of the rend in the shell, and a long muzzle, attached to the other end of the spike, shoved its way out and made a whuffling sound. Suddenly, with a heave, the occupant pushed the rest of its shell aside and slithered out onto the grass, gracilis, long legs tangled together like a newborn foal’s.

“Looks like the osteoclasts did their work,” Ambrose breathed. Brandon could not yet reply in words. He reached out and gently felt up and down each leg and tiny, cloven hoof. The seams were invisible now. He grasped the forleg nearest him and firmly bent it in and let it extend again.

“Flexion’s good,” he said. “I think they did.” The brothers fell silent, watching the new life. A light, late afternoon breeze rustled between them, and roused the bundle of silken hide and slim bones lying in the grass; the little creature began scrambling against the ground, bringing its long legs underneath it. It succeeded, took a tiny breath, and heaving itself up, it whinnied.