by Anson Barber
By midnight I was hungry again, and there was nothing on TV so I went down to get a snack and choose a movie from the large collection in the living room.
Suddenly I heard the sound of smashing glass. Instinct had me running down the hall toward the noise, gun drawn.
In the lab, Emery was crying. A pile of glass lay on the floor against the wall below a dent in the once pristine drywall. She had thrown something, but aside from the crying she seemed fine.
I holstered the gun and retreated from the room, but not before she heard me.
“Dillon,” she called.
“Sorry. I heard the glass…” I shook my head. “I’ll go.”
“Dillon, please?” I stopped but didn’t turn. I felt I needed to say something, but I couldn’t look at her.
“I made the arrangements with your father before I knew you. I felt that if I was going to break someone out of OBX, the only way I could square that with my conscience was if I had them under supervision. If I didn’t, and something happened, I’d blame myself.”
She said nothing, so I continued. “I know you’re not a danger to anyone. I just don’t want you to be up here alone. If you want me to leave, I will. Just have someone you trust come to take my place and I’ll go. I told your father I’d give you three months before I took you back, but you don’t need to worry about that. Not anymore. And, I would never, ever expect…” I started walking again. I didn’t want to talk about that.
“Dillon,” she said again. “Wait!”
I stopped and turned on her, ready to be angry now. “I can’t believe you think I was only interested because… What have I done that would cause you to think the worst of me? Because I kissed you? I backed off when I saw you were uncomfortable. I don’t get you!”
“I want to apologize.”
“You can’t just say you’re sorry, Em. That wasn’t a misunderstanding. I could see you believed I was capable of—”
She moved toward me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I tried to back away, but she squeezed tighter.
“Please don’t go. You’re the only person I trust besides my dad. I’m sorry. I just can’t figure you out. You treat me like I’m normal, but I keep thinking that’s got to be some kind of twisted kink, not that you actually see me that way.”
“Was that your idea of an apology?” I asked.
She released me and looked up into my eyes. I smiled a bit to let her off the hook. I couldn’t stay mad at her. She had every reason in the world to be angry and scared. But she said I was the only person she trusted and that got to me.
“It’s not good enough?” she asked, her black eyes glistening.
“Do you still think I’ve got some kind of twisted kink?” I asked.
“I’m still not sure what your intentions are,” she said with a shake of her head.
“You know for a smart person you’re pretty stupid.”
She frowned at the floor. “Yeah, this isn’t the first time I’ve realized that.”
“My intentions…” I stood up straighter. “…are to protect you, and keep you company while you work on a cure. And if you find yourself ingratiated enough to name it after me when you’re done, so be it.” I gave her a wink and she smiled. “I won’t even demand royalties. Just an honorary doctorate, maybe.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I’ll beg you to stay if you want. You’ve earned some begging.”
“In just the bra?” I joked. She looked away in embarrassment. “Hey, I’m kidding! I’ll take a rain check on the begging. I’m guessing you have these little episodes a lot so I’ll wait for the next one.”
She nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. I’m sorry I’m such a pain.”
“You are under a lot of pressure, Em. I’m not surprised you snap sometimes.”
“Still, I shouldn’t snap at you. That’s not fair. I’m truly sorry.”
“I’m the only one here, so unfortunately the responsibility of being snapped at falls solely on me.”
“I’ll try to direct it toward an inanimate object next time.”
“Like whatever you threw against the wall?” I raised a brow.
She covered her face again. “Yes. Like that.”
I went to the kitchen to get the broom and the dustpan.
“I can do that.” She quickly took them off me as I followed her back into the lab. “In my defense it was already broken when I unpacked it so it wasn’t like I wasted anything useful.”
I smiled. She didn’t need to justify a mismanagement of financial resources to me. I could easily be considered a freeloader.
I looked around at the clean white walls, ceiling and floor. “This room is so white. It’s a bit off-putting. It’s no wonder you feel like snapping.”
“I wish I didn’t need to sleep so long. I used to be able to work around the clock when I was developing something. Now my brain shuts down whether I want it to or not. It’s so frustrating.” She continued unpacking and setting things up. “Thank you again for staying. I am sorry you have to share a house with a crazy person. I thought you would want to go home. Or maybe you had another job waiting.”
“No,” I answered steadily. “I don’t.”
“You don’t what? Want to go home or have a job waiting?”
“Hunters work for Homeland Security, but we’re independent contractors. I can take as few or as many jobs as I want. As far as anyone’s concerned, I’m on vacation.” She smiled a little.
“It will be nice to have company.” She smiled a bit more.
The lab was mostly set up by the time she started to wind down. She gave me a few projects to finish while she was sleeping, after asking me several times if I minded. I didn’t.
The next night she went to the lab as soon as she was awake. Everything was to her liking. I could tell the way she inspected my work and thanked me over and over.
“Hungry?” I held up a bag. “There is a stash in this little refrigerator here.” I pointed under the counter. “At least until you need it for something else.”
“Thank you,” she said yet again.
“So what do you normally do when you’re trying to come up with something?” I asked, wanting to help. “You know, a big idea?”
“Aside from staying awake, I used to take long baths. I also ate lots of junk food.”
Baths were easy enough. Junk food? Not so much. “What else inspires you?”
“When I came up with the base for Zentricol I was getting my hair cut. I left the salon with my hair wet. I was still wearing the cape.” She laughed at the memory and then turned sad. “Can’t do that either.” She shrugged.
“No. We can’t leave, and trust me, you really don’t want me cutting your hair.”
She sat on the stool and put her elbows on the counter.
“We’ll think of something,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?” she raised her eyebrows. “I’ve been worrying about it since I had to dig myself out of the ground.”
I nodded, feeling stupid.
“I wish I had the notes from my hotel room.”
I frowned. “I didn’t see a notebook or I would have packed it.”
“They weren’t in a notebook. I have a kind of organic chaos process when I’m following up an idea. They were cross connected on the walls.”
“Damn! I totally forgot.” I pulled my phone from my back pocket. “I took pictures.”
“Are you serious?” she seemed excited.
“Yeah. I didn’t know what it all said, but I thought it might be important.”
She laughed when she looked at the screen then started writing down some key notes in a notebook. Later we could print off the lot of them on the lab’s printer. “Well that’s a good place to start. You are amazing, Dillon!”
I tr
ied to hide my embarrassment. I stayed for a few hours while we talked about non-science related subjects. What classes I liked in school. How many grades she had skipped because she was so freakin’ smart. It was a lot.
We also talked about how much trouble we got into. I wasn’t surprised to learn she had been grounded a lot.
She was laughing at a story about my first dog when the new cell phone her father gave her rang. I watched as she checked the caller ID and the smile fell from her face.
“Damn it, Daddy!” she huffed, but didn’t answer the call. “I guess I need to get ready for sleep.” She was winding down, even though she seemed to want to ignore the feeling. She was so stubborn.
“Yes,” I nodded, checking my own phone for the time.
When I walked into her room later to make sure she was sleeping safely, I saw her phone lying on the stand next to her bed.
Part of me wanted to see who had called and upset her, but I didn’t want to betray her trust after I had finally earned it. Besides, I had a feeling I already knew.
I also wanted to sit next to her, but once again the trust thing kept me from doing what I wanted. This was a job. We had to be professionals.
I sat out on the deck and eventually trudged up to bed to go to sleep. It was becoming my new routine.
When she woke up, Emery had sent me to town with a list of ingredients. She thought compiling a three course meal might spark an idea.
“It’s all about letting the mind wander,” she said as she worked in the kitchen. If she was as much of a powerhouse in the lab, she really was a genius.
I felt guilty eating the amazing meal she’d prepared when she couldn’t enjoy it with me.
“Go ahead and eat,” she prodded while pointing to the salad and homemade rolls. “Don’t worry about me.”
I was about to dig in when my phone rang, startling me.
“Yes?”
“Dillon?” Corey’s voice came through.
“Yep.” I looked at Emery who glanced over at me. “What’s up? You okay?”
“I need to ask you something and I want you to tell me the truth,” he said.
“Okay. There is no Santa Claus. Sorry, but that’s the truth. Pretty sure there’s no Tooth Fairy, either. Jury is still out on the Easter Bunny.”
“Shut up.” He didn’t even laugh.
“What’s wrong?” That was gold. He should have at least chuckled.
“You remember the last time you were here?”
“Yeah.”
“You asked me to talk to someone on the street.”
“Right.”
“Well, I went to find her the other night. Maybe put in a good word for you. She’s gone.”
“I see.” I didn’t know if I would need to keep this a secret from Corey. “What kind of good word were you going to put in?” I asked.
“The point is she’s not here anymore. I asked a guard and he said she probably baked herself on the beach, but I’m not sure.”
“If the guard thinks that’s what happened to her then that must be what happened,” I said.
“You’re sure? I mean, you didn’t…”
“I don’t know what I can say.”
With that, Emery came over to the table and took my phone.
“Hi, Corey. How’s the rash?”
“Oh my God!” I heard him shout while Em laughed.
Shit. That was not smart. What if someone was listening?
“Don’t worry about Dillon. He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“I didn’t think he would. I just…”
“Sure. Take care of yourself.” She handed my phone back with a wink.
“Does that answer your questions?” I shook my head as I got back on the line. What was done was done.
“You dog!” he chided me.
“It’s not like that.”
“Wow. I have never wanted to be a hot, blonde chick more than I do right now.” He snickered.
“It’s a job,” I said with a wince. “She’s a doctor. She’s giving us hope.” Not that I could say what that hope was.
“I didn’t really think you would have done anything bad to her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thank you.” Such high expectations I was living up to.
“So no Santa, huh? That’s harsh.”
“Sorry to break it to you.”
“Well, have a good time with the doctor.” I gave up. There’d be no convincing him there was nothing going on here. “Guess I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later.” I disconnected the call and picked up a roll. “That wasn’t smart, but thanks for reassuring him,” I said to Emery as I pulled off a piece of the soft, warm bread and popped it in my mouth. “At least he’s not thinking the worst.”
“He looks up to you. We couldn’t very well have him doubting the ethics of his hero.”
“I’m no hero.”
“You’re not a hero or a prince? What are you, Dillon McAllister?”
“Not much. Just a guy with a van.” I shook my head and looked down at the table.
She raised her brow. “I don’t believe that.”
Before I was finished with my second roll, the baked ziti came out of the oven and was placed on the table. I watched as she put a berry cobbler in the oven next.
“Em, I feel bad.”
“You don’t like ziti?”
“It smells delicious, though I’ve never had it before. It’s just hard to appreciate it when you can’t eat it too.”
She laughed at me. “I don’t want any of this. I just enjoy cooking it. I sure don’t want to go to all this effort just for it to be thrown away. I’ll enjoy watching you enjoy it.”
I tilted my head. “Join me.”
“I can’t—”
“No. I know. I mean, with something that is more appealing to you.”
Emery made a face. “I can’t drink blood in front of you while you try to eat your dinner. That’s disgusting.”
“It’s not disgusting, Em. I’m fine with it.” I shrugged and looked at the dish. “Please eat with me so I can enjoy my amazing meal without the guilt.”
“Oh, fine!” She threw her hands in the air and went to the refrigerator. She got out a bag and then retrieved a wine glass from the cabinet. After pouring the blood into the glass she came to sit with me.
I got an extra plate and put it in front of her with some food on it, and then served myself.
“What is this?” She pointed down at the plate in front of her.
I smiled. “That’s my seconds. You’re just looking after it for me.”
“So, sitting with someone who isn’t eating bothers you, but this,” she tapped her wine glass, “doesn’t?”
“That’s right.” I dug in. I didn’t even try to suppress how good it tasted.
“I can’t tell you the last time I’ve had food that hasn’t come from a fast food joint or a microwaveable box. This is spectacular.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“So… Any big ideas yet?” I almost whispered.
“Nope!” The “P” came out like a popping sound.
“Maybe we should try again tomorrow?” I suggested. “Maybe steak would be more inspiring.” I raised my brows, making her laugh.
We talked for a while as we cleaned up from dinner.
“I’d better go do some work,” she sighed once the kitchen was clean again.
“All right, good luck.” I looked around the living room for something to keep me occupied.
“Do you want to watch?” she asked sheepishly.
“I won’t be in the way?”
“In the way of what? I haven’t done anything yet.” She snorted and started back down the hall. “Though you do take up a lot of room.” She looked me up and down. “Y
ou’re big.” She pointed out.
“Slightly larger than average,” I corrected.
“Uh huh.”
I took her up on her invitation to sit with her. After-midnight television sucked anyway.
I pulled one of the stools over to the wall and sat out of the way while she chuckled and shook her head. It might have seemed silly, but I sure didn’t want to be the reason three hundred thousand people didn’t get a cure.
She washed her hands with antibacterial gel, put on gloves and laid out a thick paper towel. She opened a drawer, pulling out a few more things. I couldn’t really see from over by the wall. I probably wouldn’t have known what it was anyway.
She wrapped a large round rubber band around her left biceps and pulled it tight with her teeth. Uh oh.
I sat up straighter, and looked at the counter. A needle.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking a fresh blood sample so I can study the alien fluid. Despite what you might have heard, it’s not all alien—there are traces of human blood left throughout the ichor. We think it’s used as a kind of map to let the fluid mimic key functions in our organs.”
“Does it have to come out of your body?”
She made a show of looking around the barren room. “I don’t see any other candidates. However, I could use some of your blood too if you don’t mind. Tons in the fridge, but fresher is better.”
“Uh… I guess so.” She pulled the needle out once the syringe was full of dark black goo.
She arranged another set of supplies and turned to me with a fresh needle and syringe.
“Your turn.” She twitched her finger for me to come closer. I cautiously obliged. “I’m a doctor, Dillon. Relax. It’s not going to hurt.” She tied the tourniquet around my arm.
“That’s a lie right there,” I mocked. “It’s a needle, going into your skin. Of course it’s going to hurt.”
“You’re done.”
I looked down to see her holding a cotton ball over my tiny wound. The syringe in her hand was bright red. “You big baby.”
“Huh!” I said in surprise as she rolled her eyes.
I went back to my stool and watched as she prepped a few slides and put them in the microscope.
She stood up and looked at the ceiling as if the answer was written on the tile. I even looked up to make sure it wasn’t.