Page 19 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“Nori!” a familiar voice called out, and her hammering heart gave a loud, startled thump before fluttering to a reasonable pace as relief slowly washed over her.
Her grip on the bottle loosened, and it landed at her feet; its thud drowned out by the loud pattering around her.
“Vir!” she yelled over the rain, her relief morphing into disbelief as Vir reached her, thoroughly drenched. “Can’t you read? I told you to stay back!”
Vir picked the abandoned backpack off the road without answering her, then grabbed the two bottles as well.
“Let’s go,” he said, breathless.
“Give me that. You shouldn’t—” She snatched a bottle, trying to pry it off him, when her foot slipped again and she landed on all fours. “Argh!” Something sharp jabbed into her shin.
Vir appeared beside her. “Nori! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She swore internally, reminding herself that her career depended on keeping him alive for the time being. She’d been doing perfectly fine on her own before he had to come out of nowhere to rescue her.
“Are you hurt? Nori—”
The panic in his voice fizzled some of her annoyance.
“I’m fine,” she repeated, wincing as she pushed to her feet. “Just a graze. STOP. RIGHT. THERE.” Her voice turned icy at Vir’s attempt to pry the remaining bag off her, too.
His hands dropped to his sides before he quickly grabbed the bottles again. She limped beside him in annoyed silence the rest of the way home.
Once inside, Nori dropped her bag on the living room floor and pulled off her dripping sweatshirt. She hobbled into the bedroom, her teeth chattering from the cold as she slid the closet door open. It was mostly filled with hergrandparents’ old stuff that she hadn’t been able to part with, besides her own limited wardrobe.
Her grandpa had been an awfully tall man. She was sure his clothes would easily fit Vir. She threw him a towel with a long-sleeved tee and a pair of soft fleece pajama bottoms. “Th-there are new under g-garments in the b-blue backpack. Th-they’re in p-plastic—should b-be dry. Please ch-change.”
She grabbed her own clothes and limped into the bathroom, remembering too late the latch on the sliding door was broken. She hadn’t bothered with it while she’d been on her own earlier, but she’d have to fix it first thing tomorrow.
She slipped out of her clothes and into the clean dry ones before rolling up her pajama bottoms to wash her scraped leg. Her fingers brushed against her shin and came off sticky. The faint rusty smell immediately made her queasy. Blood.Ugh.
She stretched her leg under the faucet, sighing in relief as the freezing water numbed some of the pain. She was glad she couldn’t see the wound or it would’ve made her gag.
Vir knocked on the door, and his muffled words sounded like he was asking her something. Maybe the clothes didn’t fit.
She turned off the faucet and asked him to speak louder. It was hard to hear against all the ringing in her ears. She took a step towards the door, but then she was floating. Right before the door slid open and something hard and warm slammed into her.
Asharp pain pierced through her skin,tugging on her leg where it hurt. But she was too tired to open her eyes.
Something cold touched the side of her face briefly. Fingers. A palm. Then it was gone.
Nori woke up mumbling about eyelasheson kittens when something coarse pressed against her lips. Delicious scent of bitter chocolate wafted up her nose, and instinctively, she opened her mouth to bite off a small piece. Dark chocolate granola bar. Not too sweet. She liked it.
With a hungry sigh, she opened her mouth again, and the bar was waiting for her there. She bit into a bigger chunk this time.
Wait.Her eyes flew open to find a warm orange glow reflected off a pair of dark orbs hovering too close to her. She blinked, and they moved away.
Vir’s face came into focus, with his concerned gaze boring into hers. He brought the granola bar back to her mouth and she reflexively bit off another piece before taking in her surroundings. She was in her bed, wrapped snuggly in her blanket. In the master bedroom—the only bedroom—dimly lit with a cluster of her grandma’s old jar-candles nestled together in a tray.
“Eat. Please,” Vir croaked, bringing the granola bar towards her mouth again.
“Do you feel sick? Did you eat? What time is it?” She pushed herself upright.
“No. Yes. And a little after midnight.” He nudged her back. “Please, relax. Eat this.”
“Are you still in pain?”
“No, I feel fine. Just tired.”
