Chris shuffled forward to stare out the large windows at the ocean roiling below. Gizmo bared his teeth at Chris,letting out a tiny growl. “How many times am I going to have to apologize for that?”
“There’s no apology for it,” Alex answered as footsteps entered the room.
“What are you doing to my dog, Chris?” Ava asked playfully as she sidled next to Alex and lifted Gizmo into her arms.
Chris grimaced at the tiny animal. “That’s not a dog, Ava, it’s a rodent. And I didn’t do anything to him. He just doesn’t like me.”
“That makes two–” Ava clapped a hand over Alex’s mouth before he could finish the statement.
“Did Alex give you the bad news?” she asked.
“There’s bad news? Now what? Are you worse? Did The Board do something else?”
“I’m not worse,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “I hope I’m better. Kyle figured out what’s causing this, and we’re working to counteract it.”
Chris studied her for a moment, his fingers stretching toward her before he tugged them back. Alex’s chest tightened, his jaw clenching. He knew he shouldn’t let it get to him, but the fear gnawed at him. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to stop himself from saying something he shouldn’t.
Every moment that Chris spent in this house was difficult for him–a constant worry that for some reason, Ava would suddenly fall back in love with her former fiancé.
What if everything they had was just a side effect of the Neuroprisol-X? What if the real Ava—the one who wasn’t being chemically manipulated—didn’t love him at all?
It was ridiculous, and he hated thinking that of Ava, but she’d just been chemically altered by some experimental drug, so crazier things had happened.
He shook the thought away, but it lingered, festering. Hecouldn’t lose her. Not to Chris. Not to anyone. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, but the doubt still gnawed at him.
Alex’s muscles tightened as his leg hopped up and down.
“Is it, uh…is it good news or bad news with what’s causing this?” Chris asked.
Alex swallowed the bile creeping up in his throat from the concern clear in Chris’s voice.
“Good news,” Ava answered, seemingly undisturbed or unaware. “It was some sort of experimental drug from a Board-run pharmaceutical company. Apparently, that was the cause of these blackouts and the strange behavior.”
“Blackouts?” Chris asked. “I thought you were getting hot flashes and stuff.”
“Those turned into blackouts which turned into me acting bizarrely while having no memory of what I was doing.”
Chris’s lips parted as he stared at her. “What did you do?”
“Never mind,” Alex said, wishing the program would spit out some results so they could change the subject.
“I burned Miranda’s house down. And then, I thought I killed her. Turns out, someone else did that, and I tried to save her life. But she didn’t make it. I’m sorry, Chris.”
Chris shoved his hands in his pockets, his gaze flicking out the window again. “Yeah, thanks, umm, it’s not really a big loss to me. But I mean, I do feel bad that she’s dead. I’m surprised you tried to save her life after everything she’s done to you.”
“I didn’t want her dead either,” Ava answered as she stroked Gizmo’s soft fur. “I just wanted her to leave us alone.”
“Miranda couldn’t do that,” Chris said with a shake of his head. “But on the upside, I guess at least this takes some of the pressure off of you. Now, you only have one enemy to face.”
Ava bobbed her head as Kyle strode through the door, rolling up his sleeves. “Hey, how you feeling?”
“The same way I was feeling when I left you five minutes ago, Doc.”
“Yeah, well, you just got pumped full of drugs, and side effects can appear very quickly.” Kyle reached to her wrist to take her pulse.
“No side effects so far,” she answered. “And I hope no side effects ever and no blackouts.”
“Yeah, I think we should monitor you closely, just in case,” Kyle said.
