Page 25 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“Ow.” She paused after a while, unable to ignore the pain in her shin any longer, and hobbled a bit further down to lean against the rocky hillside. She didn’t want to go home just yet, but pushing her luck wasn’t a good idea with the state her leg was in.
She wrapped her arms around her torso and let out a deep wistful sigh at the scene before her. Shoja was a breathtaking place. Peaceful. Mostly untouched and away from the touristy chaos and crowds that most nearby hill stations had too much of.
She missed her grandma and their leisurely walks together. Grandma always had the best stories to tell. And the best advice to offer.
“What do I do, Grandma?” she whispered into the breeze as it caressed her crusty, puffy face while she imagined the warmth of Grandma’s palms on her cheeks.
Vir
Vir leaned against a purple wroughtiron gate, one hand clutching the phone inside his jeans’ pocket, while he resisted the urge to call Nori. She’d told him to ring her if he needed anything. He needed to know she was okay.
Maybe he should’ve asked about the clashing spikes of worry and shame he’d been sensing from her all morning. But he’d thought it better to not pry.
She might hurry back if he told her he was sick again…
Brilliant. He must’ve grown some special, genius level brain cells overnight.
“What are you doing?” Nori’s voice called out from a few feet away, catching Vir mid eye-roll with his irises drawn so far back, he must have looked possessed. Or in the middle of a particularly nasty stroke.
“Nothing.” He ducked his head.
As they walked back inside the house, Vir felt for shifts in Nori’s mood. She seemed better already. Calmer. There was almost no trace of the earlier turmoil.
“How are you doing now?” Nori asked.
“Seems weird, but I feel a lot better than yesterday.” Vir shrugged. “No surprise bruises or fever either.”
Nori nodded, pensively. “Fortunately, yesterday’s incident didn’t set us back. Instead, the p-biotics epinephrine cocktail seems to have shocked the mites into nesting with your cells faster. This wasn’t a possibility I had considered; I have to admit.”
“So, everything’s good?”
“Everything’s good.” The tiniest of smiles peaked through her stoic features. And as it grew into the most magnificent grin Vir had ever seen, it pushed her eyes almost fully closed.
He was staring again, for far longer than he should have, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away. He wondered what her laugh would look like.
“The data is still being transmitted with a fifteen-minute lag, but the acclimatization is complete. The mites are settled in, and they’re sending all your data directly into the algorithm. The chip’s functioning optimally as well.”
Vir nodded, impressed.
“And now, let’s discuss sleeping arrangements,” Nori said, padding towards the bedroom and motioning for him to follow. “We should’ve talked about this first thing, but… anyway. This place used to have two bedrooms, but Grandma had one converted into her study a few years ago. Now this is the only one left.”
“We’re not that close, Nori.”
Nori rolled her eyes before she pointed to the storage above the closet. “I said only bedroom, not only bed. There’s a spare mattress up there. And extra blankets and stuff. We can set it over there. Unless you prefer the couch? I don’t. It nearly destroyed my back the night before.”
“Mattress is fine, thank you.” He reached up and slid the storage door open.
“There’s a ladder out back. Let me bring”
Before she could finish her sentence, Vir pulled down the rolled mattress, before promptly unzipping the polyester cover it was stuffed in. She helped him push the bed to one side and set up the mattress in the remaining space beside it. Complete with sheets, a blanket, and spare pillows.
“When I said there’s a mattress, I didn’t mean you’ll be sleeping in it. I’ll take it. You get the bed, since you’re the patient.”
“The patient,” he repeated, tightly. He hated being called that after having been one for well over two decades of his life. “I’m not the one who tripped and nearly bled out and has seven stitches down his leg, am I?Technically, you’re more of apatientthan I am.”
Two bright spots of pink rose high on Nori’s cheeks. “So, you don’t like the word, do you? Well, you’re in luck, becausetechnically, you’re not my patient, you’re my lab rat.”
There was a moment’s pause where they stood glaring at each other in silence while the air between them crackled. Of course, Nori didn’t seem to be aware of it at all, but the charge simmered and glowered and rolled off Vir’schest, making him hyper aware of the gap, and how easy it would be to close it with just a small step to—warmth rushed to the back of his neck.
