Page 31 of The Restoration Program

Nicole cupped her hands around her mouth. “Ryan!” It did no good; they couldn’t hear her.

She steeled herself with a breath and moved toward the hall, bare feet catching in the carpet fibers. It was terrifying to face someone else from her past like this, but if she didn’t act now, Ryan was going to shut the door in Darlene’s face and send her off with her tail between her legs. And who knew when she would be back again, if ever? She might decide Nicole was no longer worth the hassle.

“She’s doing good,” Ryan said, “but she’s still processing a lot. I’ll let her know you came by. She’ll appreciate it.”

The door began to close but Darlene edged to the side. “I heard—well, I heard a lot of things. Like she was…differentnow.”

Ryan’s tense pause was palpable. “Like I said, I’ll let her know you stopped by.”

As Nicole rounded the corner, she finally caught a glimpse of Darlene’s distressed expression. “I’m sorry, I should have called. I feel like an idiot. Please just let her know I’m thinking about her. A lot.”

Nicole took off at a sprint. She reached Ryan’s side just as he was beginning to push the door shut. She lunged for the only part of him she could reach, grabbing fistfuls of his jeans and pulling hard.

“Ryan,wait!” Finally, she was noticed. Nicole craned her neck, breathless in her demand. “Let her in. She’s a friend.”

Darlene gasped. Nicole blushed deeply, looking up to meet Darlene’s wide eyes. She must’ve looked like a shy child, peeking out from behind her father’s leg.

“Oh,Nicole.” Darlene shuddered. “Y-you’re…. Oh my god, oh mygod—” She stopped herself and took a breath to feebly compose her slack-jawed expression. “How are you?” she squeaked out.

Nicole opened her mouth, but Ryan crouched down and grabbed hold of her protectively.

“What are you doing?” he whisper-shouted. “What did wejusttalk about?”

“Should I send a smoke signal next time?” She shoved his fingers with annoyance, though a part of her wished he would follow through and snatch her off the ground. Conjuring poise was impossible at this unsettling angle. Darlene might’ve looked the same, with her wavy blond ponytail and powder-blue pantsuit, but familiar faces were the most jarring to behold these days.

“You should stay off the floor,” he said.

Nicole glanced over at Darlene, feeling the weight of her gaze. “It’s okay,” she said, shooting Ryan a placating look. “I’mokay. You don’t have to check her for a wire, Ry.”

He muttered something under his breath, but his grasp loosened, allowing her to sit back in his palms before he stood. He opened the door wider. “Come in.”

Darlene chewed her lip, looking supremely unsettled. But she followed Ryan into the living room and took a prim seat on the sofa. Her sage-colored eyes stayed wide as saucers when Ryan set Nicole onto the coffee table next to the open laptop and NüPrint armchair. A heavy silence seized the room after Ryan perched on the other side of the couch—a silence in which Nicole could only think about how unnerving it was to be standing on her own table while her boyfriend and houseguest stared at her with their too-large gazes. She felt like a performer on a stage without a script.

“You look amazing,” Darlene said, as though she might break out into hives from the awkward silence.

Nicole snorted. “That’s pretty generous.”

“I-I mean, all things considered,” Darlene added hastily. She swallowed hard, hands pressed to her chest in a self-soothing manner. “I’ve heard about thisNüPrintthing, but only in rumors online. Whispers. Seeing you in person is…”

“I know.”

Darlene’s eyes slid back to her, glistening. “I’m just really glad you’re okay.”

Nicole felt a lump in her throat swell.Okayfelt like a leap fromnot dead.It was easy to dwell on her last glimpses before the accident. Her heart slammed in her chest—the blinding flash of headlights through the rain, the smell of metal and rubber.

“Me too,” Nicole mumbled.

Darlene gazed at her until theI’m looking at a ghostexpression wore off. She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I’m sorry for staring.”

“This is totally insane for me too,” Nicole said. “We don’t have to pretend it’s not.”

Darlene’s light brows furrowed. “I heard things, but I guess a part of me never expected the rumors to be real. You’re solittle. Is it scary?”

Nicole hesitated, feeling the weight of Ryan’s gaze with sudden focus. He sat quietly, but he hung on her every word. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I’m scared, like, all the time. But we’re dealing with it. It’s an adjustment, that’s all.”

“You seem to be pretty stellar in that department already.” Darlene shivered. “I’d be hiding under the bed all hours of the day.”

“Well, she’s made out of tougher stuff than that,” Ryan said.