Page 23 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
Vir didn’t reply.
“Vir?”
“I could feel it.” He drew another unsteady breath. “I—I can sense people’s emotions when I’m near them. I’ve been able to since I was a kid.”
“You’re saying you’re a mind reader?”
“No.” His eyes closed, but he kept talking. “I can’t read minds. I don’t know what people are thinking. I can feel what they’re feeling almost as if those are my own emotions. It can get… overwhelming at times.”
It was a lot to wrap her head around. “That sounds rough.”
“I—I think I wasn’t careful earlier,” he whispered, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps. “I don’t feel too good.” And he slumped in his seat.
“Vir!”
Reaching the cottage, Nori sprung out of the car and circled around to his side.
‘Vir, wake up! Wake up!”
When he didn’t respond, she dragged him out and heaved his limp body on her back to piggyback him inside. Her leg protested in agony, the entire time promising her she was going to need more stitches—or a new appendage—after her brilliant feat in gymnastics.
She laid him on the living room rug before propping a cushion under his feet to elevate his legs. Something seemed to have triggered an anaphylactic attack, causing his system to likely reject the mites. If it rejected the chip as well—
“WAKE. UP.”
She jabbed him with a dose of epinephrine and p-biotics together. Then sat on the floor beside him with the number for medical emergency typed on her phone and her finger hovering over the dial button, and waited.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please…”
If that didn’t work, likely nothing else would. But she’d still call an ambulance and give him a chance. And go to jail for murder.
She swore under her breath, tasting metal and rust on her bottom lip as seconds ticked by. And slowly, finally, Vir’s breathing eased.
Once Nori was sure he was okay, she draped a blanket over him. And a moment later, she fell to the floor, her hands trembling as the gravity of what had just happened—and almost happened—began to truly sink in. She wrapped her arms around her knees before crushing her fists to her eyes, willing herself to stop shaking.
It’d been a close call. But he was okay. She’d known this was a possibility, and she’d been prepared for it.
Then why?She choked back another sob.
Minutes later, when she thought she was calm enough, Nori dragged her t-shirt sleeve over her face and cleared her throat.
Her gaze lifted back to his face, and the sight of it sent a wave of fresh sobs racking through her, consuming her, drowning her.
Vir
Vir woke up in the middleof the night, every muscle of his body aching as if it had been chewed and spat out by a human-sized food processor. Twice. He forced his eyes open and squinted into the semi-darkness of the dimly moonlit room.
The weight of a thick blanket pressed on him where he lay, on what seemed like the shaggy wool rug on the living room floor. There was something else crushing his leg. He craned his neck to figure out what it was and found Nori’s head resting on his thigh as she lay curled beside him on the uncarpeted floor. He tried to lift his hand and realized hers were wrapped around it in a vice-like grip, even in her sleep.
“Nori?” he whispered, feeling her shiver against him. She didn’t move. He tried lifting himself up on his elbows, only to rise a few inches off the ground before slumping back down, exhausted.
“Nori…” he croaked, scooting awkwardly to the side to make room for her on the rug.
Nori shivered again, grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt, and squirmed closer to him in her sleep. Covering her with the blanket and wrapped an arm around her, willing some of his body heat into her.
Her grip on his t-shirt tightened as a frown appeared on her brow, and he sensed fresh spikes of worry. Sadness. Fear. He stroked his palm against her back, and slowly, she began to relax.
As Vir lay there, waiting to drift back to sleep, it hit him. The realization: he had almost died. He had woken up for now, but he might not tomorrow. Or the day after.
