Page 21 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
Nori nodded, pointing a thermometer at him next. She appeared satisfied at the reading. “The soreness might get a bit worse before it gets better as your body gets used to the mites. I might need to tweak the script based on your data later. Come, I’ll show you.” She took his hand and led him to the small white dining table by the window, where her laptop sat with its screen divided into quadrants, each showing rows of data being input remotely.
“It’s all being transmitted by the mites in your body. I’d assumed they might take a day or two, but it’s already started. If you survive, I have big plans for this baby.”
“IfI survive?”
Her gaze shot up to his arched brow. It lingered there for a moment before she cleared her throat and met his eyes again. He sensed a hint of irritation.
“I meantwhenyou’re cured,” she said. “Even though I know what to expect based on all my previous studies, I alsodon’tknow what to expect, if youknow what I mean. Oh, and once the mites are fully settled in, I won’t have to manually take your vitals every few hours.”
Vir watched her soft brown eyes slowly widen till they were brimming with raw, unfiltered excitement.
“The data seems to be lagging by about fifteen minutes right now. I never had that happen with any of the mice, but I’m sure I can figure out a way to reduce that. It could be because—if I reconfigure this part here—” Nori cut off to start aggressively typing on her keyboard. Soon she was mostly talking to herself and no longer bothered to complete her sentences out loud. “—alerts of course, and to map them on—”
Vir scratched the back of his head, wondering if there were things left over from dinner he could eat. He hadn’t realized it before, but he was starving. Before he could look around for the backpack with food, his stomach rumbled loudly.
Loud enough for Nori to halt what she was doing and fix him with a blank stare. “Food!” She blinked. “Right. I forgot. Sorry!”
Minutes later, they sat at the dining table with a stack of peanut butter and jam sandwiches between them, and a cup of chai for Nori and milky sweet coffee for Vir.
“The car should’ve finished charging by now,” Nori announced once they were done. “I’ll head out for a bit and get some real groceries. And diesel for the generator, just in case the power goes out again. Do you need anything?”
Nori
Of course, Vir had to tagalong, despite Nori’s repeated requests for him to stay back and rest. But in the end, she decided some light movement wasn’t going to kill him after all.
The navigation on her phone pointed to a gas station and a local market a few miles away, in the opposite direction from where Ryan and Fehim had gone last night. She drove to the gas station first and paid for two large diesel containers at the store.
She picked the first container by its handle and immediately let it thud back to the ground, wincing at the fresh pain that shot up her shin.
“Can you please save the heavy lifting till after your leg heals?” Vir interrupted her tirade of inward curses. “I’d prefer not having to re-do your stitches.”
He reached over and took the container from her before carrying it to the car with relative ease. While she stood there like a useless bum, chewing on the inside of her cheek. There was nothing she despised more than asking for help. Or admitting that she needed it.
No, there was. Pity. She hated pity the most.
Once both containers were in the car, Nori caught him notice her wincing again as she walked awkwardly towards the car, while trying her best not to limp and failing miserably at it. She’d thought she didn’t mind all the staring, but maybe she did. Especially when he was supposed to be the patient, not her.
Take your stupid lashes and point them somewhere else.She mentally scowled at him before glancing down to scowl at her feet.
“Do you mind if I drive?” Vir asked. “I haven’t driven an electric model before. It seems fun.”
Her gaze lifted to his, then quickly moved away. “Sure.”
Vir
At the market, Nori beelined towardsa busy looking clothing store where they each bought a winter jacket and some clothes for Vir. After ditching their sweatshirts in the car, they put on their new jackets before circling back for groceries.
“Is it guava season already?” Nori mused as they walked into the street lined with produce stalls on either side, her face lighting up at the sight of the pale-green fruit.
She picked one up and brought it to her nose. Her throat bobbed as if it was the most deliciously tempting aroma she had ever smelled. That, combined with the burst of joy Vir could sense emanating from her, almost made him reach for a guava, too.
But as he moved, Nori put the fruit back and shifted her attention to the next cart.
“Aren’t you getting those?” Vir asked her, confused.
“No. I hate the seeds getting stuck in my teeth,” she replied, stacking boxes of bright red strawberries in her arms. “Grandma used to scrape those off for me. Haven’t had one since she passed.”
“Why don’t you do it?” It was a simple enough step if she liked guavas that much. “Remove the seeds?”
