Page 95 of Perfectly Naïve
Vicki’s head pops up when I walk in. She chuckles. "Couldn't stay away either?”
The table against the wall is covered in paperwork. I find a good place to set my purse down and join her, a line cutting across my brow. “Any progress?”
“They’re less aggressive than they were yesterday...” She trails off and gestures toward the large plastic cage. The rat she’s observing is gnawing at the door to the tunnel. Dammit. This was not what I was hoping to see.
“Do you ever hate how long this all takes?” The acidity in my tone doesn’t go unnoticed.
Vicki glances at me. “Is everything okay?”
Exhaling, I scrub my hand over my face, wondering if I should cross the line of professionalism and burden her with my problems.
“I won’t push, but I’m here if you need someone to talk to, Olivia.”
Vicki might be the only person in my life who truly understands how I feel. She knows how close, but how far away we are, all at the same time. “My,” I begin, voice thick with emotion. I clear my throat. “A family friend is sick. One of her alphas died last year and she’s getting worse.” Tears prick my vision, and suddenly, I’m enveloped in a hug.
“I’m so sorry.” Vicki rubs my arms and pulls back, studying me. “What can I do?”
“Can you make these preclinicals go at hyperspeed?”
“No, but I can show you the data. Maybe that will help.”
I don’t know how. The data in my head tells me that Emeline may not have time. Vicki leads me to the computer and pulls up some data.
“On day four of Batch 16, the rats were getting progressively worse. Batch 25 did nothing. 36 was promising, but it didn’t work.”
None of this is helping.
She gives me a look and nods, as if understanding my thoughts. “But look at this formula. Even on day four, we’re seeing a fifteen-percent reduction in aggression. Fifteen percent! We’ve only ever achieved five percent in pastpreclinicals.”
Hope sparks in my chest. That’s triple the amount of progress. “So, it’s working?”
“I won’t say yes and give you false hope, but I can tell you that I’ve never seen results like this in any of the formulas we’ve tested. This is promising, and you were a huge part of why it’s working.”
Nodding, excitement slowly replaces fear. “What’s the earliest we can do clinicals?”
“We can’t start human trials for at least six months. We have to make sure there are no fatalities or irreparable harm in the short term. Once we reach that point, the risk of fatality drastically decreases due to the nature of the medicine.”
“Can I add a prospective omega to the top of the list?”
“Of course you can, but we’ll need her pack to sign off when the time comes.”
I nod. Six months isn’t too long, but I’d want to make sure that everything is safe before sharing the news with Nigel. If things go wrong, Emeline’s under no obligation to go into clinicals, but provided there are no terrible side effects, she could get in on the first round of clinicals.
That’s the best news I could hope for.
“Thank you,” I tell Vicki. “Are you staying much longer?”
She shakes her head. “No, I better call it a night. You should too. It’s nearly nine.”
“See you tomorrow.” Grabbing my things, I head out of the lab and toward my car, mind racing with the possibilities. Hope is fluttering around inside my chest. I have to share this news with someone.
I’m tempted to show up at the guys’ house, but Cici is still staying there. I don’t want to wake her, and most of them start work earlier or close to the same time I do in the morning, but Wilder should still be working.
Before I pull out of the parking garage, I shoot off atext.
Are you awake?
WILDER
