Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
FINN
It was Saturday morning, and Finn was relaxing at his apartment.
He was lounging on his recliner, reading the book he hadn’t had time for lately.
Well, he was trying to. For the last couple of months, he had been in the lab on the weekends to help ensure they could meet their deadline.
But lately, they had began to see consistent improvement across their patient set.
It felt like they actually might be able to pull this off.
So he told himself he had earned the right to enjoy a day at home.
That wasn’t the whole truth, though. There was another reason he stayed home today.
He wasn’t ready to see Elena yet, not after last night.
He’d replayed the kiss a hundred times since leaving her porch.
The way she felt in his arms. The look in her eyes when she asked him to stay for the movie. The sound she made when he—
His phone buzzed on the table, interrupting that rapidly escalating train of thought. It was a text from Eric.
“Hey Doc, I know it’s last minute, but I’m going bowling tonight with the wife and kids. Want to tag along?” Another text followed shortly after. “Been feeling pretty good lately. Wanted to thank you properly. And my wife has been asking about you.”
Finn stared at his phone. He assumed there were ethics guidelines about socializing with active study participants. He should check the Institute’s regulations, maybe run it by Elena first. But he wasn’t ready to talk to her yet. He needed some time away to process what was happening between them.
Before he could overthink it, he typed back: “Sure, what time?”
Finn spotted Eric’s family at the front counter before they saw him. Eric was talking with the employee behind the counter, his hand resting on his younger daughter’s shoulder. His wife was laughing at something the other daughter had said, her hand reaching down to run through her hair.
Finn knew Eric had a family. He’d mentioned them plenty of times. But seeing them here, all together on a Saturday night, felt surreal somehow. It made Finn happy.
Eric turned, scanning the entrance, and his face lit up when he saw Finn. He waved him over enthusiastically. Finn crossed the lobby, very aware he was meeting Eric’s family for the first time. Both of his daughters looked up at him with not-so-subtle curiosity.
“Girls, this is Finn,” Eric said. Then he placed his hand on the older girl’s shoulder. “Finn, this is Ava—” and then he looked around for his other daughter. It took a second, but he found she had wandered off about fifteen feet to the arcade area.
“Lily!” Eric called, but the claw machine already transfixed her. He sighed, “I’ll be right back.”
When Finn turned around, Eric’s wife was already looking at him.
“We are so good at introductions, aren’t we? I’m Liz.”
Finn smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” He extended his hand. But before he knew it, Liz had pulled him in for a hug. The sudden affection from someone he had never met surprised him.
She pulled back just enough to look at him, her voice quiet. “I was starting to worry I would never see him like this again.”
Again, she caught him off guard. He opened his mouth to respond but didn’t know what to say.
“I just wanted to say thank you.” She said with a gratitude in her eyes that almost made Finn choke up. Then she released him, turning to help Ava with her bowling shoes. Eric returned moments later with Lily in tow.
“Let’s hurry over while we have everyone together.” Eric said, already heading toward the lanes. Finn cleared his throat; grateful Eric was already moving and hadn’t noticed him pulling himself together. Finn reached for his wallet. “I haven’t paid yet—”
“It’s our treat,” Eric said without looking up.
“You didn’t have to—”
“Our treat.” Eric straightened, meeting Finn’s eyes with a look that said the matter was closed.
Liz took the girls to lane seven, already helping Ava pick up a ball light enough for her to carry. Eric led him to lane eight and started unzipping a bowling bag Finn hadn’t noticed until now. “Jesus, you brought your own ball?”
Eric grinned, pulling out a ball with a custom color dye and finger holes molded to his grip. “Used to bowl all the time. I was in a league that played every Thursday night.” He paused for a moment. “Haven’t played in a couple years, though.”
It was subtle, but there was a weight to the last thing he said. Finn understood immediately. Eric’s condition had taken this from him too. Eric stepped up to the lane, lined up his shot, and released. The ball curved, slamming into the pins for a strike.
“Good shot, Daddy!” Lily exclaimed from the next lane. Finn looked over to see Eric’s family all cheering for him. There was something powerful in Liz’s expression that almost made Finn choke up.
Eric walked back from the lane with a huge grin on his face.
“Nice shot. So did you bring me here just to embarrass me in front of your whole family?” Finn remarked.
“Basically, yeah.”
Finn’s first shot was a perfect gutter ball. He heard the girls giggle from the lane over.
“Girls, that’s not nice. Don’t laugh at his terrible shot.” Eric said with a smirk, earning another laugh from the girls. It also earned a middle finger from Finn that only Eric could see.
“We’ll see who’s laughing once I am done with you,” Finn remarked before barely knocking down three pins. He sighed with disappointment.
They continued this for a while until it was abundantly clear to everyone in the facility that Eric was the better bowler.
Eventually, Eric sat down on the plastic seat by Finn. “So how are the other patients doing? The ones that started after me?”
“They’re progressing. Some faster than others.”
“Yeah?” Eric leaned forward. “How are they handling it? The early part, I mean. That first month is rough.”
“Some of them are struggling with that,” Finn admitted. “The symptoms get worse before they get better. It’s hard to trust the process when you feel like you’re getting worse every day.”
Eric nodded. Finn could almost see the gears turning. “You think it would help if I talked to them? Told them it gets better?”
Finn glanced at him. “You’d want to do that?”
“Why not?” Eric shrugged. “I know what they’re going through. Maybe hearing from someone who made it through would help.”
“Maybe,” Finn said with hesitation. It was a good idea, sure. But he worried it could complicate the data somehow. One patient influencing the results of the others mid-treatment.
“I’m serious.” Eric met his eyes. “You guys have done a lot for me. I just want to help any way I can.”
Finn studied Eric’s face for a moment. This wasn’t just some empty offer made out of politeness. Eric genuinely wanted to be a part of this. To give back somehow.
“I’ll have to talk to Elena about it,” Finn said finally. “But thank you. That means a lot.”
Eric nodded, satisfied. “Your turn.”
Finn bowled his worst frame yet. A single pin followed by a gutter ball.
Eric stared at him. “Alright, what is the deal?”
“What?”
“You’ve been smiling all night. Even after that.” Eric gestured to the nine pins still standing. “You’re losing by like a hundred. You understand that, right?”
Finn shrugged. “I’m just happy to see you having fun with your family. It’s different from seeing results on the screen.”
Eric studied him for a moment. “Well, that’s very kind of you.” He paused. “But don’t bullshit me, Doc.”
Finn blinked, surprised. He opened his mouth, struggling to form a response.
“No…” Eric said, leaning back in his seat. “I think this has something to do with Dr. Herrera.”
The look on Finn’s face must have given him away, because Eric’s expression shifted to satisfaction. “I knew it,” he said.
Finn looked away, annoyed he wasn’t better at hiding it. He looked over to the next lane to see that the girls were gone. Liz must have taken them to the arcade. “How could you tell?” Finn inquired.
“I noticed it during our last session. You… changed somehow when she came into the room. I could see it on your face. Honestly, I don’t normally have an eye for that type of thing. So it must be pretty obvious.”
Damn, was he really that transparent?
“So, do you have a thing for older women?” Eric asked simply.
Finn’s head snapped back. “No, it’s not like that.”
Eric gave him a look that said Don’t bullshit me again.
“It’s not like that,” Finn insisted, his voice firmer now. “It’s… I don’t know what it is. But it’s something else.”
He looked at the ground, thinking about last night. About how they felt like a family somehow. About the kiss at her doorstep that he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind.
Eric’s expression changed. He saw it now. “So what’s the problem?” He asked.
Finn ran a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated… it could cause issues.”
Eric nodded. He didn’t have all the details, but he knew enough.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about something lately.
” He leaned forward. “I can’t imagine you get paid well for an assistant-level job.
And I know you work crazy hours. You’re brilliant, Finn.
You bowl like shit, but you’re brilliant. ”
Finn didn’t know where Eric was going with this, but that made him laugh.
“You could probably make double as much somewhere else doing half the work. But you don’t. Because you want to help people. You’ve been living for others. And I look up to you for that, man. I really do.”
Something about the way he said that made Finn’s throat tighten.
“Look. The point I am trying to make is that sometimes you need to be selfish.” Eric finished, looking at him in the eye.
Finn had to take a moment to gather his thoughts before he could respond. Finally, he said, “But is this really the time to be selfish? If this goes wrong, it doesn’t just affect me. It could hurt her, her career, her son, the research, patients like you. All of it.”
“You might be right,” Eric admitted. He was quiet for a moment, then added, “But I see the way you look at her.” He paused. Then he looked at Finn again. “And I see the way she looks at you.”