Page 27

Chapter twenty-seven

Simon

S imon scooted closer to Nora. He put the water on the bedside table, the liquid splashing a bit in his haste. It startled him to see tears on Nora’s face. Why is she crying? It startled him even more that he cared about seeing tears on her face.

He was enjoying feeling her reactions to him touching her. The jolts of heat that came whenever he connected. Simon knew he wasn’t imagining her response anymore, as in tune with human arousal as he was. He loved making those feelings present in her. Which is why her tears now were even more startling. It pushed his small teasing touches and the satisfying reactions he was getting from her out of his mind.

He spoke in his most soothing tone, reaching for her, attempting to pull her frame into his arms. Was this what instincts were in humans? “What’s wrong, Nora? We got a lot done yesterday. That should make you happy.”

But Nora shook her head and seemed to cry even harder as she pushed away on his chest, breaking the contact. Simon let her go easily, even as his arms ached to comfort her.

Nora wiped at her eyes. “I’ll be okay Simon. I just need a moment. It’s just this stomach bug and on top of it I’m about to start my . . .” She shook her head and didn’t finish the sentence. “I’ll be better tomorrow.”

He resisted reaching for her again even as his neural net longed to hold her. “Why are you crying so hard?”

“I don’t know. I just . . . everything is just so unfair. I feel like I’m fighting nature and heaven’s will to just stay alive. And for what purpose? I don’t even know why I’m struggling so hard. If I didn’t have Tilly I . . . probably wouldn’t see the point in living at all.”

A sharp slice of fear coated his processors at her words. He moved to sit closer to her, taking her hand and holding it in his own. He put as much feeling into his words as he could. “Don’t say that, Nora. The world is better with you in it.”

Nora scoffed, her voice thick with tears as her broken brown eyes found his. “Is it really? Because Simon, I gotta tell you. To me, it really doesn’t seem like the world gives two shits if I’m here or not.”

Simon watched as the tears rolled down her cheeks. He tentatively reached out a hand and touched her knee. “My world is better with you in it. And so is Tilly’s.”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Nora leaned forward, pulling her knees close, and began to sob into them even harder, muffling her noises in her arms. Simon was at a loss. He felt awful watching her. He wanted her sorrow to stop. What do I say? He awkwardly patted her back, resisting the instinct to pull her close again since she had pushed him away before.

“Mama? What’s wrong?” Tilly asked, coming into the room. Her eyes were open and worried. She was gripping one of her dolls close to her chest.

Simon watched as Nora seemed to compose herself almost immediately, wiping her eyes on her shirt and taking deep breaths before mustering a forced smile. “Just feeling crummy. You feeling better now?”

“Uh huh, but I’m not real hungry.”

She wiped her face again in her arms, her cheeks still a ruddy red. “Me neither. That’s okay; you drink some water?”

Tilly nodded, a frown still on her face. “You wanna color with me?”

“Yeah, baby.”

Simon watched Nora wipe her eyes again as Tilly left and brought back some coloring pages and her chalkboard to color on. Nora took one from her, a picture of a cat, and began to color it in orange patches to match Tatertot sitting on the edge of the bed.

He took one of the coloring pages as well, keeping his eyes trained on Nora, who took the blanket and rubbed the tears from her face even more thoroughly.

She eventually gave a half smile. “Actually, you’re right Simon, everything is looking up. I’m just being stupid. We got so much stuff that we should get a lot of credits for it all even with Max underpaying us.”

Nora reached across him for the cup of water on the nightstand. He watched her drink, feeling heated where her body had lain on his for a moment. She finished the rest of the water and returned the cup, leaning over him again.

Simon gave a tentative touch to her knee when she sat back up. “You’re not stupid, Nora. Not at all.”

“I do okay, I guess. I’m no android though, that’s for sure.” She tapped his hand on her knee with her own and said in a joking tone, “Wish I could be programmed sometimes to learn some of the things you already know.” She breathed deep and chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be something.”

Simon didn’t smile at her joke.

Nora spoke in a low voice a moment after, still coloring on the page. “Thank you for helping me. Helping us. I didn’t know what to expect. Actually half expected you to take off once I got you started back up, but . . . thank you. It’s been really wonderful not only getting the help, but also getting to know you. It’s been nice.”

Simon nodded, ashamed that he had a thought similar to what Nora said when he initially awoke, sitting alone his first night in the rain, contemplating what to do with his newfound freedom. I don’t really feel much like leaving now though. “I could thank you for just as much, Nora.” He added a second later, “I wish I could do more. I wish you didn’t have to struggle so much here. Earth was so beautiful . . . before.”

Nora went back to coloring in the lines. She spoke down to the drawing as Tilly handed her some faded crayons. “We got each other. Things are looking up.”