Kyle lifted his chin with a grin. “That’s right. You don’t think I’m crazy.”
“That’s borderline at this moment given that you want me to drink more water, but…okay, I’ll do what you say…Doc.” Alex lifted the water bottle to his lips, downing a few more sips.
“How’s that sitting?” Kyle asked.
Alex slid his eyes closed, licking his lips. “Not too bad, actually. My head feels a little better. The headache is subsiding, and so is the mind fog.”
“Dizziness?”
“All good as long as I don’t move at all.”
Kyle drank more of his water, nearly finishing it. “Good. You’re improving. A few more sips, and you may be able to stand.”
Alex waited a few minutes, his mind drifting to Ava again before he forced down a little more water. “Okay, I’m going to try to stand up. Don’t let me hit my head, okay?”
Kyle climbed to his feet as Alex slowly sat up. “You good?”
“So far.”
Kyle held a hand out, and Alex accepted it, climbing up and stumbling back a step.
Alex clapped a palm against his forehead. “Oh, whoa.”
“No good?”
He sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes closed for a minute until he no longer wobbled. “Okay, I’m good. I can make it. We need to get to StoneCorp and find Ava.”
“Okay, ummm, where is it again?” Kyle asked.
Alex took another few sips of water before he wiped at his wet lips with the back of his hand. “I’ll show you.”
They stepped out of the building into the darkness surrounding them.
“Dark already?” Alex asked. “Come on. What did he use? Industrial strength?”
“We’re going to feel this tomorrow,” Kyle said. “We need to drink plenty of water overnight before we essentially have a horrible hangover tomorrow.”
“There’s plenty of water at StoneCorp. I’ll down another bottle once we’re there. We need to find Ava.”
“Do you think he’ll make it that easy?”
They threaded through the streets of the city as Alex shifted his gaze to the man. “No. But you know what…I’m a tech genius, and it’s time I proved that.”
Kyle clapped him the shoulder. “Good. Let’s do this.”
They rounded a corner, and Alex headed toward the skyscraper marked with his name. He strode up to the building and tugged the handle, finding the door locked. “Seriously?”
He wrapped on the door, alerting the security guard at the desk across the lobby. The man hurried over, shaking his head. “We’re closed, man.”
“Open the door. This is my building.”
The man crinkled his forehead, staring at Alex. Alex dughis wallet from his pocket, slapping his ID against the glass window. “Alex Stone. Your boss.”
The guard’s eyes went wide as he hurried to grab his keys, shuffling through them so fast that he dropped them once before he found the right one, shoving them into the lock.
“Sorry, Mr. Stone. Didn’t recognize you.”
“No problem,” Alex said as he stepped through the door with Kyle in tow. “I’m not here very much.”
