Page 115 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“Ugh!” She clutched her head with both hands as the pain rapidly bloomed into a migraine from hell.
“You don’t have to—” An invisible sledgehammer ground her skull and all its contents into paste, as she stumbled through the house, barely making it to the nightstand in her room.
She found the painkillers and washed them down with some water while resisting the urge to throw up. Her heartbeats pounded directly into her eardrums as she curled up on the bed and pressedher knuckles into her eyes.
“Please,” she whispered, begging for it to stop. “Please shut up.”
It didn’t stop. But the voice shifted.
“You don’t have to ask me again.” Another echo, but this one was whispered. It seemed to be coming from somewhere far away. From another memory, another time.
Surely, it was someone else’s memory, not hers.
“You don’t have to ask me again.”
“Please…”
“You don’t have to ask me again.”
“SHUT UP!”
Nori…” A hand smoothed her hair.“Nori.” It felt so good. She wished it would never stop.
More.
“Nori, wake up.” Something nudged her shoulder.
No.
“Nori!” The nudging grew rough. “Wake up! Nori!”
She groaned.
“Oh, thank god!”
Nori forced herself to open her eyes and Vir’s concerned gaze came into view, making her lips curve into a wobbly smile despite the dull throbbing in her head.
“What happened? Are you sick? Are you hurt?” His palm pressed to the side of her face, cool against her clammy skin. “You weren’t answering calls.” His thumb stroked her temple. “The door was wide open when I got here. Please tell me you’re okay.”
“Hmmkay,” she mumbled, burying her face in his chest. He pulled her into his arms, and with a deep exhale, she relaxed into thethump thump thump thumpof his heart. “Headache,” she added after a while, her voice hoarse.
When she tilted her chin to look up at him—terrible idea—the action instantly made her head spin. She lunged off the bed and ran to the bathroom. He was there beside her before she started dry heaving into the toilet.
“Go away.” She pushed him weakly with her elbow. But he refused to budge.
Vir held her hair back till she was done. Only to continue hovering while she washed up at the sink. As she reached for the towel, her gaze fell on the strange woman in the mirror, and she froze.
This blurry, gaunt reflection of Nori had shorter hair, dead eyes, and looked like absolute crap. Vir, too, stood behind her—not the Vir she knew, but an extremely pale, skinny version of him. He was glaring at her in terrified silence.
She blinked, and the haunting scene vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
Vir took the towel from her before grabbing her hand and leading her to the living room, where she slumped on the couch with her eyes half closed.
“You need to eat something,” he said, walking away. He reappeared moments later with a plate of lightly toasted bread and brought a small piece to her lips.
“No…” she groaned, turning her head away.
“Just a little bit.” He brought it to her lips again. “You skipped dinner, too.”
