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Chapter twenty-six

Nora

N ora didn’t wake until well 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.”

Simon leaned forward and put a lock of hair that she missed behind her ear. “In some ways,” he said absently.

Nora shuddered at his touch, unsure of the mixed feelings it evoked and the arousal that started to happen. She looked away. Get a grip, Nora.

Simon picked up the water and the ration bar that he had placed on the nightstand when he first came in. He brought them close to her, hopeful as he held them up. “You need to eat, Nora.”

Nora frowned at the bar, stomach churning, but took the cup of water. She slowly started to sip it while the sun from the window outside shone behind Simon, lighting up the metal components on his arm. He never bothered to replace his shirt either after giving it to Tilly to use, sitting only in his skintight jumpsuit and the pants Nora had sewn for him. I’ll need to wash that shirt once I get up. Her nose wrinkled. Got a lot to wash, actually.

He was sitting so close to her, gazing at her so intently that she gulped the water, causing her to choke and briefly cough. Every angle of him, sculpted perfectly, was on display without his shirt on. Simon still held out the bar to her, and even shook it slightly.

Nora gently pushed it away. “Later, okay?”

She watched Simon’s brow furrow as his hand lowered to his side. He placed the bar on the nightstand and took the cup of water back into his hands for her instead.

His care for her, her illness, Tilly still singing the sweet nursery rhymes to herself in the other room, her confusing feelings toward him—it all made her take a deep shuddering breath and lean forward to tug on her hair with a shaky hand. That, plus telling him last night a bit about her past. Suddenly, it was all too much. It’s all too much . A tear began to roll down Nora’s cheek.