Page 12 of The Hollowed

Luci and Alex settled themselves on the couch, the dim yellow glow of the lamp shimmering across their faces while Doc paced the length of his living room with the papers in his hands. He whispered to himself as he read, scribbling corrections and cross checking equations. Every so often, he paused, furrowed his brow then scribbled something else.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he dropped the pages onto the coffee table.

“Well done, Dr. Castillo,” he said as a genuine smile spilled across his face. “Exceptionally well done.”

Luci swallowed hard, blinking against the tears rising in her eyes. There weren’t many things in her life she felt proud of but this…this was everything.

“Thank you,” she stammered. Alex reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “What happens next?”

Luci could hardly believe what she’d discovered, but she was overwhelmed with a sense of hope. She couldn’t allow herself to feel relief just yet, but at least now she knew she had leverage to use against the plans Prometheus had made without her consent.

“I’ll call an emergency meeting first thing in the morning,” Doc replied without hesitation. “I imagine they’ll want to reward their top scientist for this breakthrough.”

“She wants out of the reproduction program,” Alex added before Luci could open her mouth. His tone was firm, making it clear it wasn’t a request.

Doc’s expression softened with understanding. “I’ll make sure that’s the first thing on the agenda,” he promised. “You’ve more than earned that.”

He gave them both a gentle look. “Now, go get some rest. Whatever comes next, it’ll wait ‘til morning.”

The halls of the upper levels were quiet as Luci and Alex made their way back down. The hospital was sleeping, but they could still hear the soft humming of the lights and the occasional creak of the floor beneath their feet. Neither of them said much, but there was an energy between them that wouldn’t let them rest even if they tried.

When they reached her apartment, Luci unlocked the door with a grin that hadn’t left her face since Doc had praised her. “There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep,” she admitted, kicking off her shoes.

“Me neither,” Alex said, leaning against the doorframe with hisarms crossed against his chest.

She moved to the tiny kitchen in her apartment and grabbed a dusty wine bottle from the top shelf in one of the cupboards. “Think this qualifies as a special occasion?” she asked, holding it up by the neck. “I’ve been saving it for a miracle.”

Alex chuckled. “If this doesn’t count, I don’t know what does.”

They sat cross legged on the floor, sipping straight from the bottle between them as they talked about their life before, about Doc’s reaction, about how close Luci had come to giving up. Laughter filled the room, light and genuine, and for a moment it felt like the outbreak had never happened.

“Thank you,” Luci whispered softly.

“For?”

Luci couldn’t help but chuckle underneath her breath. Did he really not know how his encouragement and belief in her had led to this?

“For not letting me give up on myself,” she replied.

Alex shook his head like he didn’t deserve any gratitude, making Luci’s smile soften as she turned her gaze to his and let it linger. The wine had left her cheeks flushed, and she could see that there was something unspoken sitting just behind his eyes.

Slowly, she leaned forward and let her fingers brush his jaw before her lips followed.

“Luci…” he whispered, gently pulling back, his hand resting on her arm. “You’ve had too much.”

She blinked, confusion flooding her face before she retreated. “Right. Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean — ”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Alex said quickly. “Trust me, I do, but not like this. Not when you might not remember it in the morning.”

Luci looked down, brushing imaginary lint from her pajamapants. “It was the wine,” she said quietly, though they both knew that wasn’t entirely true.

Alex stood and offered his hand. “Come on. You need to sleep.”

She let him lead her to her bed where she climbed in without protest. He pulled the blanket over her and knelt beside her for a moment, brushing a stray curl from her face.

“You did something incredible tonight,” he whispered. “Sleep well, okay?”

As he turned to go, Luci rose slightly and asked, “You’re not mad?”