Chapter 11
“What do you mean you can’t get a clear read!?” Luke was snarling at the memory therapy tech as he passed a NeuroExtractor over my temple.
“I-I’m not sure… Do you know if he’s had an MRI or something recently? The only thing I can think of is if he’s been injected with SPIONs or something. You know we usually can’t treat patients exposed to MRI contrast for a few weeks until the iron-oxide dissolves…”
Abruptly, Sebastian was standing in front of me, running a gorgeous hand through his thick, golden hair.
“You haven’t had an MRI recently, have you, Milo?” Sebastian asked, and I bit my lip, shaking my head no.
The last MRI I’d had was after my dad’s car accident, nearly two years ago. The contrast wouldn’t have stayed in my body that long.
Sebastian frowned, then his gaze dropped to the side of my neck, which was still sore from where The Forgotten had plunged a needle into me the night before.
“Fuck,” Luke hissed, coming to stand next to his son.
His ice-blue eyes snagged on where I was now sure a bruise was forming on my neck from the injection.
“I bet that fucking asshole added contrast into the sedative…” Luke growled.
“Whoever this is knows how our tech works… Did he say anything to you, Mr. Murphy? Do you know who he is? It would be in your best interest to tell us if you do. He murdered my COO, and I won’t stand for it! ”
“Wh-what!? No! I don’t know who he is! He attacked me! I’m just as upset about Melanie as you. She was my… She was my best friend!”
My eyes welled with tears, and I flinched away from Luke, trying to cling to Sebastian’s warm, comforting gaze instead. His blue eyes searched my face, and he was frowning, looking torn between a state of apprehension and tender concern.
“Milo… I’m really sorry, but I need you to think really hard about the events between when you were attacked and I came to pick you up.
We just need to see if our tech can piece together the neuroglyphs even with the contrast in your system…
Can you do that for me? We need to clear you for security before I can let you get to work. ”
“Yeah… okay.” I sniffed, panicking slightly. What would they do if they found out about the war drive that was still tucked away in my pocket?
I screwed up my face, doing my best to kick up enough brain activity that the screens would signal I was thinking extra hard, but without actually bringing up the war drive to the front of my mind.
Instead, I focused on Sebastian’s face. The clean lines of his jaw, the concerned furrow of his brow.
He was beautiful.
Beautiful but… somehow so achingly sad.
I couldn’t put my finger on why, but he just seemed so… broken. He was all fake, practiced smiles that I instinctively knew were hiding something much deeper.
The way he kept reaching out to touch me, then stopping at the last minute… like I was some sort of lifeline he was desperate to reach for but didn’t think he deserved to grab onto.
“Well?” Sebastian asked, glancing up at the technician as the symbols representing my thoughts whipped and whirled across the screens.
“I can’t read them, sir. I’m sorry. It’s like trying to read a sentence with all the consonants removed. I only have vowels to work with, and it’s gibberish.”
“Jay would have fucking been able to figure it out!” Luke spat, and Sebastian subtly flinched away from his father’s angry outburst, though he looked more annoyed with his father’s ebullition than anything.
“With all due respect, sir, I’m not Jay Reynolds,” the technician replied, sounding frustrated that he even needed to point that out.
“Forget it,” Luke snapped, and he whirled on his son, barely containing fury and blame painted plainly across his features.
If I hadn’t been blackmailed into this role by The Forgotten, I would have seriously considered quitting and leaving campus after this experience.
This man scared me, and I didn’t like the way Sebastian kept flinching every time he made a sudden movement, like he was worried his father might hit him.
What the heck was going on in this place?
Why was this such a big deal?
Honestly, the MRI contrast wasn’t permanent. It would completely fade out of my system in a few days. All they had to do was wait.
However, the way Sebastian was anxiously running his hand through his hair again, I had a feeling he didn’t have a few days.
More warning bells fired off in my mind as Seb dismissed the technician. I watched as he did his best to reconstruct the smiling mask of an unbothered, confident executive, and I found myself once again with the strange desire to comfort this man.
“I want him in The Cave by morning, Sebastian. Grey’s been approached by MemoriTech, and if I lose this deal because of your incompetence, you will regret it.”
Sebastian glanced at me. His expression was tight again, and he gave me a tense smile.
“Excuse us for a minute, Milo? I just need to speak with my father for a moment. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”
Not wanting to do anything to set Sebastian’s father off again, I nodded, and Seb gave me a grateful smile before leading his father outside the room.
I sat alone in the lab for a long moment, before I did something I never would have thought I’d have the balls to do… I snooped.
Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the weird calmness that came with shock.
Maybe I was just straight up out of panic attacks after the last few I’d needed to come down from, or maybe it was the Neuro-van I’d taken in the car that was still pumping through me…
but I found myself feeling brave enough to creep to the door of the lab.
My heart was beating so hard I was terrified they would hear it, but things were just too off.
I needed to know what they were talking about.
My mother’s life was on the line.
Sebastian had left the door slightly ajar, and I pressed close, straining to hear Seb and Luke’s strained voices.
“Listen, I get you’re frustrated, but do you want to lose him, too? He’s our best bet at getting back on track, and if you keep losing your temper like this in front of him, you’re going to lose him like you lost Jay.”
“We lost Jay because of your negligence.”
There was a long pause, and I held my breath, worried for a moment that they would hear me breathing.
“Agree to disagree on that one,” Sebastian finally muttered, and I silently cheered him on for standing up to his asshole of a father.
“I’m not about to stand here and argue semantics with you. I don’t care what you have to do to get that boy working, just fucking do it. I want him cleared, and I want you to stay close to him, like we talked about.”
“Respectfully, it would be a lot easier to do that without the fucking chip.”
Another pause, then a grit out ‘fine.’
“Get him settled, then swing by The Cave. I’ll have Grey swap it out for a less restrictive model.”
“Thank you.”
“If you fuck this up, Sebastian, you’ll find yourself exactly in the same situation Jay found himself in. You don’t want that, do you?”
A tight ‘no, sir.’
As quietly as possible, I darted back to the surgical chair and climbed up. My heart was slamming against my ribs so hard it hurt, and I barely managed to sit down properly before the door swung open to reveal a smiling Sebastian.
“Sorry about that, Milo. Looks like your security scan will need to wait. I’m going to have you temporarily cleared for now. I’ll just have to accompany you to The Cave tomorrow until you can undergo a proper screening.”
“Uh-Oh, okay,” I stammered.
Sebastian’s grin widened, and he slid his hands into his pockets before tilting his head towards the door.
“Let’s get you set up in your condo, and I’ll show you how to order food. You must be hungry and tired.”
As if on cue, my stomach growled, causing Sebastian’s eyes to twinkle in amusement.
“Yeah… I could definitely eat,” I said quietly, still feeling unnerved and confused over what I’d just heard.
Gesturing for me to follow him, Sebastian chirped a light, “Follow me, please,” over his shoulder, and I hurried to catch up.