“Yeah.”
He cracked the door open. Nora was lying back on the bed next to a sleeping Tilly. “Do you need anything?”
“No . . . just gonna . . . sleep.”
“Okay. Call out if you do.”
“Okay, Simon.” Then a second later. “Thanks.”
He closed the door, leaving it not only unlocked but open a crack as the sun fully set and the night deepened. Simon checked on them multiple times as they slept, and checked outside as well, where the drone still hovered every time he opened the door. He sat at the table, waiting for morning, and felt as unsure as he did when he first hid away in that yogurt shop so many, many years ago.
Chapter twenty-six
Nora
Noradidn’twakeuntilwell in the afternoon. When she did, she rolled over and frowned, unsure what she was hearing. She was listening to music? And was Tilly laughing?
I was so sick last night.She gripped her stomach, still in knots.How is it Tilly is already up and feeling fine and I’m still barely recovering? Kids and their stamina.She rolled over to her side, trying to get comfortable as she stretched out.This day is just gonna have to wait a bit.
Nora watched the light cast shadows on the floor as she listened harder to the sounds coming from the next room. Her eyes closed in concentration to try to hear better.Is that Simon? Singing?
He was. He was singing a whole bunch of nursery rhyme songs and silly phrases that Tilly was copying, laughing in the background and stomping her feet. Nora listened in wonder, her cheek pressed hard into her worn pillow.I never heard half of those tunes he is singing.
Simon’s voice was not entirely his own; it was almost like he was playing a recording from a song from his memory. He sounded like the tunes from the radio, only clearer and definitely more interactive as he matched Tilly’s pace and sang in a deep, melodic voice.
Nora lay there, closing her eyes against the light shining through the window. The mix of how awful she felt with the sweet, simple nursery rhymes brought tears to her eyes as she pressed her cheek even harder into her bed.
She lay like that, just listening, until she saw Simon peeking in on her from the doorway.
“Good morning,” she said, lifting her head up off the bed and propping it on her arms. She winced from the movement, her head swimming from the sudden action. “Or actually, good afternoon. Or whatever time it is.”
A smile came across Simon’s features when he saw she was awake. It affected her in a different way than her stomach churning. She hadn’t even locked the door the night before in her hurry to lie down.Not that I need to. Simon’s okay.It was a bizarre feeling to know she trusted him like that now.
Simon disappeared and came back again a second later with a glass of water and a ration bar, walking up to the bed and sitting on the edge of it next to her. He placed both on the bedside table. “Oh, I’m glad you’re awake. You slept a long time. It worried me.”
“Just a tummy bug.” Nora sat up and Simon attempted to help, bringing his hands close to her and pulling her arms toward him.
“I can do it.” She brushed him off much like he did the first night he booted up and refused her help to stand.
He wasn’t deterred though, as he leaned forward to pull her body toward him before he put more pillows behind her, sending a jolt of heat all over her. He spoke briskly as he easily moved her body. “Yes, but I want to help. Let me help.”
Nora let his assistance happen, marveling at his efficiency in moving her. “Woah.” Her cheeks reddened, knowing he could probably feel her body warming from him touching her. He didn’t stop until every pillow on the bed was behind her, pushing her almost too far forward. She grabbed one and held it to her front as well, feeling awkward and confused.
“Do you want a shirt?” he asked, looking up and down her body.
Nora frowned at her bare torso. “Oh.” She had forgotten that she took off the tank top in the middle of the night because of her illness and was wearing just her bra band. She rubbed her hand across her stomach and nodded, feeling too crummy to be self-conscious.Besides, he’s just an android.But that thought rang hollow.I don’t care what he is anymore. “Yes. Sorry.”
Simon didn’t react to her apology but instead went and grabbed a basic gray tank top and brought it back. He leaned over Nora and attempted to slip the shirt over her head. His attempt to dress her made Nora laugh as she pushed his hands away.
“Okay, no. Stop for real now. I’m not that weak, Simon.” She chuckled, taking the shirt from him and slipping it over her shoulders herself as he watched, then pushed her hair behind her ears and swallowed audibly.
He looked at her closely, as if that would tell him the state of her being. “You were very sick last night.”
“I know. I felt it. I’ll be good by tomorrow.”
“I didn’t like seeing that.”
“I bet it’s easier being an android, huh.”
