Thicker Than Blood | Page 2

free to share your corrections.
v0.27 2/21/2006 - supplemental -- Sorry about the long delay between versions, I was working on the web site.
v0.26 1/29/2006 -- So now I wield a grammar checker Moo ha ha! It seems that a program called Language Tool works with Open Office 2.0. I had to check one chapter at a time but it caught lots of errors. I have a whole edited manuscript from Bobbie Peters and some edits from Giselle I want to fold in, but I thought I'd release this version for now.
v0.24 1/22/2006 -- Fixed some grammar errors submitted by Simon. Looked for some subject ownership errors document wide. Ran another pass with the spell check. I learned three grammar rules today. It's sad, but this is what happens when things like books and people are flying at your head in English class. On the bright side, I know them now. I am trainable.
v0.23 1/15/2006 -- Had to finish a few more CK stragglers. Looked for some style points, another spell check and a couple of specific grammar errors. Rewrite of an unclear passage in chapter 1.
v0.22 1/15/2006 -- Chris Knadle handed me a bucket of changes. Including line by line changes for the entire book, and three repeating grammatical errors. (Hey at least I'm consistent) Thanks for saving me Chris, only I could misspell a word I made up. *hangs head*
v0.21 1/13/2006 -- Regenerated the .pdf file with the courier font and novel style chapter breaks. This totally changed the page numbers. Caught a time-line error, in chapter 28.

License
Please See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ for the full text of the license. Copyright 2005,2006,2007 M. A. Newhall

Acknowledgments
Special thanks to my mom Christine, Brad and Jeannine Dillon, Brian MacEllwee, J Vallati, Rich Seckel, Joe Wood, Vinny Vallati, Pat and Jeannie Boyle, Shirley, mama Ketty, my sister Janet, Ribal, Phil and Seth from animal-57, the folks from FLAT, especially Tony Santiago, Tom Rothemel, Pete, and Lori, Everybody from LILUG, especially Matt Suricco, Jim Browne, Tim Sailer, Chris Knadle, Jason Katz, Mark Drago, Jeff Sipek, John Palmieri, and Peter, all the folks at BNL especially, Ian, James, and Akin, Michael Lee from ULS, all my great coworkers at CSHL, especially, Simon Ilyushchenko, Carlos Gomez, Derek Johnson, Bart and Janine Mallio, Myke Malave, Gerald Mccloskey, Elizabeth Cherian-Samuel, everybody from the VMC especially Bob Piacente, Lee Wilbur , Slashdot, everyone at Foresight.org and nanodot, the EFF, nerds at large, Everybody at "The Cup" coffee shop in Wantagh, Dawn Zacharakis, Wes Roepken, the guys from Korn, Hatebreed, Disturbed, Static X, and Slayer for writing great music to write to, Mayor Bloomburg, Benjimin Franklin, Linus Torvalds, Martin Luther, Jesus, Mohammad, Abraham, Buddha, and especially Shotgun Trucker, wherever you are, you saved our asses that day. Special thanks to Chris Knadle, Bobbie Peters, Simon Ilyushchenko, Giselle, and Jason Katz for their heroic editing efforts. Extra special thanks to Jeannine Dillon who is systematically agonizing over every word in the book! And to any friends, family, Linux nerds and coworkers who have either given me a place to write, given me feedback, or even just listened to my insane rants who I have forgotten, I'm not being a jerk on purpose. Just poke me in the ribs and I will include you. Seriously that's the best part about not going into print right away.

Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife Giselle Newhall. For her endless feedback, infinite patience and boundless love.
Chapter 0
Sergio Vallone stared at his reflection in the small mirror over the sink. I look terrible, he thought. His pale face was contrasted by his sunken eyes. His face was swollen from a lack of sleep. A dark shadow covered his jaw. He splashed water over his face. The muscles in his forehead and cheeks felt taut against the cool liquid. He opened the bathroom door. "Mr. Vallone?" Sergio felt his stomach wrench. He reached his hand to the wall to hold himself upright. He turned to his sister in law, Teressa. She looked horrified. Oh God this is it. She's finally gone. Sergio hadn't cried since he was a boy. Now he was crying so hard he couldn't speak. Teressa was holding him. She was wearing one of Monica's favorite perfumes. It made him cry harder. He imagined her as he had for years, on their honeymoon. She seemed so beautiful it was unreal. Teressa led him by his hand back to the gray and brown folding chairs. Sergio felt stronger after he sat down. He looked up and noticed the woman doctor had gone. She had delivered her message without saying a word. He looked at Teressa through his tears. She looked angry. "Why couldn't they save Monica?" Sergio paused, "She was so young." Teressa's fury was growing. She was scowling. "I don't know Sergio, medicine can only do so