Page 8 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

“I’ll get it.” Hina grabbed Nori’s arm, roughly pushing her to the side as she reached for the glass vial. “Sorry, go on in. They’re about to start.” Hina jerked her head towards the door. She hastily stashed the vial into her pocket before sprinting away without waiting for a response.

“That was weird,” Fehim mumbled. “You okay?”

Nori nodded. “Are you coming inside?”

“No, I think I’ll wait downstairs.”

Nori gave him a curt nod, reaching for the door again. As her hand grabbed the handle and turned, she froze.

“She wouldn’t…” She took an unsure step back. “No, she wouldn’t dare.”

“Nori?”

And she was running again.

“What’s wrong?” Fehim called after her.

“She wouldn’t dare!” She ran faster.

Her office was in the adjacent building. By the time she stood in front of her door, wheezing and fumbling with her keys, her lungs burned, trying to suck in enough oxygen while she tried not to pass out.

“Here.” Fehim took the keys from her before swiftly unlocking the door.

The small space looked exactly as Nori had left it in the morning.

While nothing seemed out of place, standing in the middle of the tiny room, she knew.

The white floral notes of Dr. Hina Mohan’s obnoxious perfume still lingered in the air.

How had she gotten into Nori’s office? Nobody had been allowed access, not even a cleaning crew.

She swore, grabbing her keys from Fehim. She reached for the locked storage space in the corner, unlocked the door, and took out the small black box that lay tucked inside. Spilling its contents over her desk, she swore again .

“Nori, what’s wrong?”

Fehim’s concerned expression came into view as she looked up from the neat little vial rolling back and forth on her desk.

It was a clever replica, the exact shape, color, and label, but the viscosity of the fluid inside gave it away.

As she picked it up, it felt lighter than her serum, too.

This was why the vial Hina had dropped earlier had looked suspiciously familiar.

“Hina took my mites.” She sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers curling around the fake piece of trash in her hand. “The vial she dropped in the corridor earlier. I don’t know what she’s replaced it with, but this is a fake.”

“What? How do you—?”

“I know.” She handed Fehim the vial. “The density and viscosity are both wrong. The stench of Hina’s jasmine perfume is all over the room. It’s giving me a headache.”

Fehim opened and closed his mouth, staring blankly at the vial in his hand. “What’s even in this thing?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t want to find out.” Nori bit her lip. “Once the chip is inserted, Vir’s heart will go into failure within hours without the mites. They know this. They’re willing to kill a person, just to—”

“We have to get it back—” Fehim started towards the door.

“No.” Nori grabbed his arm. “She must’ve hidden it by now. Or thrown it away somewhere. She’d just deny everything if we confront her.”

“Are you going to let him die, then?” He jerked her hand away. “How could—?”

“Of course not. I have a backup.” She lowered her voice, her eyes darting to the door. “You think I would come all the way from Calgary with a single vial of the stuff my career depends on? Be reasonable.”

“Oh.” Fehim blinked, looking mortified at the dumbness of his assumption. “Right. What are you going to do now? If we don’t have proof, reporting them won’t work. They’d probably try other ways to sabotage this. Vir could ask for security but—”

“No. That intern was in on this,” Nori interrupted. “Hina easily got access to my office and to the mites. Clearly, asking for security won’t work. The experiment is at risk as long as Vir stays here. ”

“What now—you’re not going to sneak him away to Canada, are you?”

“Good idea.” Nori said, already flitting around the office to gather her things. “But I have a better location in mind. Are you going to help?” She paused to stare at him.

“Of course. Do you have to ask? Tell me what you need.”

“A set of men’s clothes for Vir. Something loose and comfortable.” She zipped her backpack shut. “I saw a bag in his ward earlier. Take that with you and wait for us in the parking lot. I’ll sneak him out as soon as he wakes up from the anesthesia.”

Vir

S omeone pried one of his eyes open, and a bright beam of light stabbed right into it. “Vir…”

“Argh…” He jerked his head to the side.

“Wake up.” The same someone patted his cheek.

The bright light was gone when he squinted through his heavy lids.

“Go away,” he breathed into the small hand.

“You can sleep in the car. We have to go. Now,” Nori whispered urgently.

“Noree?” He forced his eyes open. He wasn’t in his apartment. It was… the hospital room he’d spent the previous night in. “Wahh…ter.” His parched tongue grated over his teeth, the inside of his mouth tasting like moldy mashed cardboard—a feeling both familiar and heavily despised.

Nori’s face hovered above his, the face he was used to seeing in his dreams. But the expression was all wrong. Worry lined her features, and she kept glancing away from him. He didn’t like that.

Look at me.

She helped him sit upright and thrust a water bottle in his hand before pressing his fingers closed around it. “Small sips, okay?”

He drank slowly, not wanting to puke it back out, while Nori walked away, only to reappear with an unmarked brown paper bag a moment later. She shook out the contents on his bed—a plain white t-shirt, a pair of boxers, and black baggy pants.

“Do you need help to change?”

Despite the residual disorientation from the anesthesia, the tips of his ears grew hot. “Nope, I’ll do it.”

Nori padded away from him to keep a watch at the door while he slipped into his new clothes.

“Okay. What now?” he asked, exhausted but awake.

“Now, we get the hell out of here.”

“Wha—?”

Ignoring his startled expression, she pulled him towards the only window in the room.

It slid open to reveal a small green courtyard outside, connecting the hospital wing to the research center, faculty building, and service areas on three sides.

She poked her head outside, glancing around carefully before ducking back in.

“Are we filming a spy movie or something?”

“You climb out first. Be careful.” Nori ignored the question, nudging him forward. She hopped out after him before immediately reaching for his hand.

As her fingers closed around his, a surprising trickle of warmth seeped through his chest, sending a blanket of calm over him. Calm that was in stark contrast to her insides—a raging, anxious ball of knots that he itched to reach and unfurl somehow. Only he didn’t know how.

She seemed oblivious to the exchange as she pulled him across the courtyard and through a narrow service corridor into the laundry room that led to the rear exit of the building. She let go of his hand, signaling for him to wait before cracking the door open a few inches to peek outside.

Vir rubbed his hands against the raised bumps on his arms. The air was getting colder. He found the dryer in one corner and pulled out a baggy looking sweatshirt from the pile inside. Nori motioned for him to hurry, and he grabbed another one before heading out after her.

As they neared the parking lot outside, Fehim and Ryan waved towards them from inside a black SUV .

“Hurry,” Nori mumbled under her breath. “But don’t run and don’t make eye-contact with anyone.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Vir tilted his head in a mock bow, keeping up with her brisk pace. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are we sneaking out like some criminals?”

“I’ll explain later.”

Fehim already had the engine running and drove them off campus as soon as they’d settled into the backseats.

Turning to face Nori, Vir quickly draped the extra stolen sweatshirt over her shoulders.

“What are you—?” she started to protest.

But before she could finish, he pulled her arms through the baggy sleeves and zipped the front closed.

“Uh… thanks,” she said, rubbing her arms while he leaned back in his seat.

Maybe he should’ve looked around for something warmer.

“I have to give him the shot, Fehim. Drive steady,” she said, fumbling inside one of the two backpacks on the seat beside her. “We’re a little over the two-hour mark, Vir. I can’t delay anymore.” She turned towards him.

“Go ahead.” He dragged down the zipper on his sweatshirt and pushed the neckline of his t-shirt aside to expose his left collarbone.

“Okay, breathe,” Nori said, inhaling a deep, nervous fill of air herself before she poked the needle somewhere above his clavicle.

Vir gasped, doubling over as pain shot through the spot the serum went in.

It exploded like wildfire, searing through every vessel in his body.

It was a terrible idea. He’d ask for a refund if he could breathe.

Even though he hadn’t technically paid money to be burned alive like this.

Nope, he wanted the beach vacation instead.

He wanted to go back in time and punch himself in the throat before the younger version of him could agree to this torture.

He was pretty sure such chemical warfare was against basic human rights. And he was a basic human, dammit .

Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, the pain began to subside.

It dimmed into a tolerable throbbing with each labored thump of his heart, before a dull soreness took its place, making him feel at least a hundred years older.

And like he’d just run a marathon, collapsed, and had been trampled on by a horde of wild elephants.

As he leaned back in his seat again, exhausted, his eyes fell on Nori’s small hand wrapped around his before they flickered up to her face.

Her chapped bottom lip was bleeding, and she kept chewing on it as thick spirals of guilt rolled off her.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and relief partly softened the guilt.

“Rest now. I’ll wake you once we’re there,” she spoke so low, it was almost a whisper.

He didn’t need to be told twice; his eyes fell closed almost instantly. He didn’t care where they were going as long as he could sleep now. Unbothered and for a few years, preferably.

The last thing he was aware of before passing out was Nori’s hand still closed around his in a vice-like grip while his fingers twitched in a feeble attempt to hold on.