Chapter Three
Gabriel groaned as he shuffled into his new lab space, wishing for the hundredth time that he’d been confident enough to ask Reid to put tape on his legs, too.
He’d been embarrassed enough about the state of his body that he couldn’t bear to take his pants off. He’d never been overly muscular, but he also hadn’t looked like he was wasting away before, his vertebrae sticking out along his back and his ribs showing as though he’d been left to starve for three weeks.
Gabriel had never cared all that much about his body until he’d abused it to the point of pain. He couldn’t have avoidedallthe muscle loss, but he regretted not taking the risks—and the consequences—as seriously as he could have.
Reid had been kind about it, and Gabriel believed him when he said it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be put right, but at the moment, it hurt to walk, stand, or sit. Even lying down in one position for too long was hard. He hadn’t gotten a full night of sleep since he’d gotten back, tossing and turning to find a comfortable position every twenty minutes.
It was exhausting, and he really hoped Reid could fix him.
“What happened to you?” Alice asked from her own desk, peering up at Gabriel as though he’d walked in with his head under his own arm.
“Space happened to me,” Gabriel said, heaving himself into his chair. He’d resisted the college’s attempts to replace it with an ergonomic one, and he suddenly regretted that decision. It wasn’t supporting his back or his thighs at all.
It was nice to take most of his weight off them, though.
He’d only known Alice for a few weeks before he’d left for his trip, but she seemed nice. Enthusiastic, hard-working, and like him, too young to be so accomplished in her field. Gabriel liked her, and he was thankful he’d been asked to share his space with someone he could get along with.
“Wow. I had no idea it was so brutal,” she said, pushing her chair away from her desk to stop beside Gabriel’s.
“Until I went, neither did I. I mean, I was briefed on all the risks and what it would be like, but… if I’d reallyunderstood, I might not have gone.”
“Yeah you would,” she said. “I’ve read your doctoral thesis, remember? Space was your dream. How does it feel to accomplish it?”
“Right now?” Gabriel sighed. “Sore. But… peaceful. I definitely recommend following your dreams.”
Alice didn’t need to hear that while Gabriel was glad he’d managed to see the Earth from above, like he’d always wanted to, it had left him with a hollowness he wasn’t even sure how to fill.
Going to space had been his dream, and now he’d accomplished it. But he had no one to share that with. No one to join in his joy, nothing to look forward to from here on out.
Considering how bad he was with women—people in general—he didn’t expect that to change, either.
Loneliness had been fine when he’d had a single-minded focus on getting to go to space someday, but now that he’d done it, it was unbearable. The moment he’d gotten back to his apartment, he’d burst into tears.
Alice didn’t need to know any of that. No one did.
“I also recommend actually doing the exercises you’re supposed to, if you ever go,” he added. “It turns out muscles aren’t just for bodybuilders. You actually need them to walk and stand and sit up straight.”
“You’ll get them back,” Alice said. “It was worth a little pain, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Gabriel said.
It was worth the pain. It was worth everything, all the work, all the late nights, maybe even the part where he’d put the entire rest of his life on hold while he’d worked on his goals, but…
Connor had a family.
Lucia had not just children, butgrandchildren. She was so proud of them, she never stopped talking about them the whole time they’d been on the shuttle.
They were both much older than he was, but he’d had no one to talk about. Gabriel had wanted his mom to be proud, and that was it. He didn’t even have siblings. It had always been just him and his mom, except that now it was just him, because she still lived back home.
It just would have been nice to have someone to go back to.
“So are you seeing someone about the muscle thing? A physical therapist, or…?”
“Oh, yeah. I saw him yesterday and I have another appointment tomorrow afternoon so he can give me a personalized recovery plan. He seems good. I’m covered in tape, which I guess is holding all my muscles together. It helps a little.”
“Good,” Alice said. “Because I want to trade you coffee and cake for your help in looking over some new data I have.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Your concern is appreciated. Show me what you’ve got, and I’ll let you buy me coffee later,” he said, happy to be of use to someone.
Things would go back to normal once he got over the emotional rollercoaster that fulfilling his life’s dream had put him on. In the meantime, he had plenty of work to do.
