“You have all seen a strawberry before, right?” Eva folded her arms across her chest. “You’re going to extract some DNA from them, using things you’d find at home.”
Lily watched as confusion turned to interest, Eva easily captivating their attention as she ran through the procedure and let them loose. The rest of the hour flew by, Lily preoccupied by this different side of Eva she was seeing. She seemed lighter when she was teaching, happy to answer any questions directed her way—sometimes with a smile. Eva was the polar opposite persona to the one Lily had been subjected to, and she marveled at the difference.
All the kids left with a smile on their face, chattering about what they’d done. Once they were alone, Lily helped Eva tidy everything away.
“I hope that was useful to you,” Eva said.
“Yes, thank you, it was interesting.” Both the subject matter and the insight into the secretive Dr. Thomas. “You’re good with them.”
“Why do you sound so surprised?” Eva moved to her desk, tossing her glasses onto it and rubbing her hands over her eyes. “It’s not like I’m new at this.”
“I know. You used to be a professor, right?”
Eva eyed her warily, and Lily wondered if she was about to be accused of stalking again. “I did.”
“Must be different, going from college kids to high schoolers.”
“In some ways. In others…not so much. Regardless, my role is the same—to make sure they have the knowledge they need to get to the next stage of their lives.”
And Eva was good at it, too. Alisha had said Eva was the best in the department at what she did, and Lily could see it now. Not that she was going to tell Eva that—she didn’t need her ego inflating any more than it already was.
“If that’s all,” Eva said. Lily could practically see a shutter going down, Eva closing off any further questions, “I have to get going.”
“Right, of course. Thanks for…everything.”
Eva grunted in response, and Lily fled from the room, feeling like they’d had something of a breakthrough. Sure, they weren’t going to be going for after-work drinks together any time soon, but they’d managed to spend a whole hour together without ripping each other’s throats out.
Lily counted that as progress.
* * *
Silence greeted Eva when she opened her front door.
Frowning, she stepped inside and heard Franklin’s claws skittering on the wooden floor of the landing as he raced to the top of the stairs before bounding down them to greet her. “Hey, buddy,” she said, giving him a pat when she met him halfway up. “You keeping Mom company?”
He followed her back up the stairs, and Eva knocked lightly on her mother’s ajar bedroom door. She was curled up in bed, the TV playing low, and Eva could tell from one look at her it hadn’t been a good day.
Still, she tried to put on a brave face. “Hi, sweetheart. How was work?”
“Fine.” Eva kicked off her shoes and padded inside, weaving around her mother’s wheelchair as Franklin launched himself onto the bed and snuggled into her mother’s arms. “How long have you been in bed?”
“Most of the day.” Of all the symptoms her mother suffered with, fatigue was often the most debilitating. She could adapt to the walking difficulties, muscle weakness and vertigo with the help of her chair, but it was hard to overcome anything when climbing out of bed required herculean effort.
“Have you eaten?”
“Not since breakfast.”
“Mother.” Eva ground her teeth. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because you had your club, and I know you’d have rushed home. I’m fine, Eva.”
“You’re not.” Admitting needing help didn’t come easy to the Thomases, but at times like this, Eva really wished it did. “I’ll make you something. What do you want?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Tough.” Eva adopted her best teacher-voice. “You have to eat.”
“Take Franklin out first.”
