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“Do you need anything else?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m okay.”

I patted her head softly and sighed. Just then, I felt my phone vibrate. I glanced at it, seeing it was Derrick. He was likely calling for an update about what happened.

“Do you need to answer that?”

I shook my head. “I can call him back later.”

“But he’s part of the Council. I’m sure he would like to know what’s going on.”

I nodded. “He is, but he isn’t my top priority right now. You are.” I held her closer. “And if you need me to lay with you in a fully lit room, then that is what we will do.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

I kissed the top of her head. “Of course.”

I glanced at the TV that sat across her room. “Do you mind if we put something on?”

She shook her head, and I grabbed her remote, popping the TV on. I sank into the sheets, relaxing and planning to stay until Katie fell asleep, but before I knew it, I was drifting off myself.

Chapter 11 - Katie

I glanced across my lab, finding Henrik sitting at a smaller desk. His eyes were on his laptop as he typed quickly. His fingers moved fast, and his eyes tracked each movement he made.

My mind traveled back to the other morning and Henrik's phone call. It was only nine in the morning, and I was sitting at the island working on my coffee. I had finally gathered the courage to go back to work, but the council expressed their concern about me being alone.

Henrik came into the kitchen on the phone. “No, she doesn’t need a shit ton of people standing in the way of her at the lab. That’s not the solution.”

I glanced away from my coffee as Henrik stopped near the fridge. He ground his jaw together, and his nostrils flared. “No! I’m putting my foot down. I will be going, end of discussion.” He hung up, tossing his phone onto the counter.

I raised my eyebrows at him as he sighed heavily. “Who was that?”

“Derrick. He said that the Council wanted to have a group of security personnel to watch after you while you were at the lab, since you're a big asset and they can’t have anything happen to you. I argued that it wasn’t going to help. You already have a small enough lab, and if you put a bunch of people in it, you're going to lose focus on your work. He argued with me that your safety came first, which I understood, but so does all the work you do.”

I was a little surprised that he argued with them so easily. I agreed that I didn’t want a bunch of people in my lab, but Henrik couldn’t do it either. I would lose focus.

“But why did you say you would do it?”

“Because I’m going to.”

I shook my head. “Henrik, you have an entire pack to run. You can’t just sit and watch me at the lab. It’s a complete waste of your time.”

“No, it's not. I do a lot of work on my computer, and in any meetings, I can just be remote. This is for your safety, after all, Katie. Once this is handled, we can go back to what you want, but for now, this is what we are going to do.” He softened his gaze. “It’s just for now.”

I sighed, staring at Henrik as he shifted around in his chair. He had taken up a corner of the lab I hardly used, so it wasn’t like he was in the way. I hardly noticed he was there, minus his typing, or if he was on the phone.

I found myself glancing at him every once in a while, wondering if he was regretting everything. Any normal person would be considering how much he had to protect me now.

“Do you need anything?” I asked, setting my test tubes down.

Henrik shook his head and glanced up from his laptop. “Nope, I’m good right here.”

“Well, it’s about lunchtime, and I was thinking of running down to the cafeteria. Do you want to go with me?”

“Yeah, let me finish this email, and I’ll join you down there. Should only take me a few minutes.”

I pulled my goggles off and slipped out of the lab. I headed down the stairs until I was back on the first floor and headed to the cafeteria. It was as busy as I had expected. I made my way to the salad bar and started getting everything I always ate.