Contagious (44 page)

He laughed. “Sounds good. Do you care if I watch a movie? I’ll turn the volume down.”

“
That’s fine. I think, considering all I’ve been forced to sleep through these last few months, the TV won’t bother me.”

And it didn’t. Maybe it was the warmth of the room or merely Hayden’s presence that made me sleep like a baby. I took it easy the rest of the day, staying in bed, occasionally talking with Hayden and napping. When a B3 came into our room to bring Hayden dinner and his medication, Hayden had to open his big mouth and tell her that I wasn’t feeling well either.

Padraic showed up mere minutes after she left. He took my temperature (I had a slight fever), told me I had swollen lymph nodes, and ordered me to stay on bed rest until I felt better. The best part about his visit was him telling me that he would relay the message to Fuller so I could get out of training in the morning.

I brought Argos into our room, having been missing him. He was ecstatic to be around us, which made me feel a little guilty for not paying much attention to him lately. I had hauled all the stuff we collected from the mall up to our room yesterday and, after another long nap, I went through it.

We had thousands of dollars worth of diamonds. Or we had what used to be worth thousands of dollars. The whole currency being meaningless thing was still too mind boggling for me. I put a necklace, a tennis bracelet and two pairs of earrings in a wallet, wrapped it up in a shirt and stuck it in a Coach purse. Raeya would get a nice surprise later.

Though the heater was back on, the room didn’t warm up above sixty-five, which, by my standards, was still cold. I shook out one of the down blankets and spread it out over Hayden, who was asleep. I put the other on my bed.

I sorted through the mass of clothing next, putting stuff in our closet. We had built in shelves, which worked out nicely since I didn’t think to get hangers for all the new items. Along with clothes, shoes and the box of junk food, candy and booze, the closet held various weapons and ammo, just in case we needed it.

Everything for Raeya went into bags that sat next to the door. I’d bring them to her in the morning, I told myself. The shirts and sweaters I had picked out for Padraic were folded as neatly as I could get them in a bag as well. After letting Argos out one last time before bed, I got back under my covers and slept until Hayden woke me up for breakfast, which had been brought up.

“
I could get used to this,” I told him, comfortable in my bed with my plate in my lap. Argos stuck his head close. “I don’t think you want oatmeal, boy.” He continued to beg.

“
Me too. But I’m bored,” Hayden complained.

“
I don’t see how you are. It’s so nice to do nothing.” I ate all that I wanted and let Argos lick my bowl. I showered, got dressed, and braided my hair. Then I was feeling tired again. Being sick sucked. I hadn’t been sick like this in a long time. Along with healing fast, I seemed to have a pretty efficient immune system. After one more nap and eating another catered meal, I was feeling the burn of boredom as well.

“
Want to do something?” Hayden asked.

“
Like what?”

“
I don’t know, it’s not like there’s much to do. We could, uh, walk around. Sounds so fun, I know.”

“
Sure. I want to bring Raeya her stuff.”

“
I’ll help you carry it,” he offered.

“
Thanks.” We found Raeya in the game room, talking to a very tired looking Padraic. Not wanting everyone else to see what they wouldn’t be getting, I waved Raeya and Padraic out in the hall. “I have presents for you!” I gushed.

“
You two shouldn’t be out of bed,” Padraic said flatly.

“
We got bored,” Hayden explained.

“
Yeah, and shut up,” I said, holding up a bag. “I brought you things!” Padraic took his bag, smiling when he saw inside. “Raeya, try not to scream.”

She had to clamp her hand over her mouth as she sorted through the clothes and décor. “Oh my God! I-I can’t believe you—ohmigod!—a rug! The tile floor in my room is so ugly!” She hugged me. “Thank you, Riss!”

“
You’re welcome. I would have gotten more if we were able.”

“
This is wonderful! Ah! I’m so happy to be able to dress nicely again!”

“
Yeah, ‘cuz it matters so much here,” Hayden teased.

“
It does to me,” Raeya rationalized with a laugh.

“
You have expensive taste,” he continued to heckle her. “You’re lucky we didn’t have to pay for any of it.”

“
I guess I do,” she said, holding up a pair of drop earrings that sparkled with diamonds.

“
You always have,” I reminded her. “You were the only one at our high school with designer shoes.”

“
And one of the few who even know who those designers were!” she reminisced.

I laughed. “Not all of us had a rich research scientist for a father!”

“
I hate to break up the fun,” Hayden said. “But we should probably get this stuff out of eyesight.”

“
You’re right,” Padraic agreed. “Thanks, guys. Really. It was very nice of you to think of me.” His blue eyes lit up when he smiled.

“
Why wouldn’t I think of you? You’re a good friend,” I admitted. And he was. A friend, a good one.

“
Well, thanks.” He picked up the bag. “And Hayden, since you’re down here, wanna come into the lab for a, a, uh, check up?”

“
Sure,” Hayden said, knowing the checkup was really to see how much zombie virus he still had in his system.

“
Thanks again, Orissa. I’ll see you later, Ray,” Padraic called over his shoulder as he strode off.

“
Ray? You let him call you Ray?” I asked, helping Raeya gather up her stuff.

“
Yeah, so?”

“
That’s your nickname. I thought you didn’t like being called it.”

“
It doesn’t bother me,” she said with a shrug.

“
It does, unless that person is a close friend,” I continued. We had at a talk about it before.

“
Well,” she began, hauling the bag down the hall. “He is. You said so yourself. He is a good friend.”

“
Have you been hanging out with him a lot?” I asked, trying to keep the harsh angle of judgment out of my voice.

“
Not really.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
He’s the only B1 we have; he barely has time to sleep. We just talk occasionally when we’re lonely. Padraic and I don’t really have anyone else when you’re out on missions. We’re friends, that’s all. Why do you ask, Rissy?”

“
I was just wondering.”

Raeya stopped short, turning to me with an eyebrow raised. “Orissa, that’s crap. You know you have feelings for him. Why else would you care if you didn’t feel something for our favorite Irish doctor?”

“
I don’t have feelings for him.”

“
Oh, no. You just don’t like me hanging out with him.”

“
I never said that! And you have it backwards,” I mumbled. We got to her room. I used my elbow to open the door. “I…I don’t want you to have a new best friend,” I confessed.

“
Oh, Riss! I could never replace you! Don’t worry!”

“
Good, because I’d probably have to kill you if you did.”

“
See, that’s exactly why I’d never replace you! Who else would pose such idle threats? I’d miss it dearly. I promise.”

“
There’s something I want to tell you but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“
Promise,” she said and leaned close.

“
It’s about Hayden.”

“
Oh, I know about him being resistant, if that’s what you were going to say.”

“
It is! How do you know?”

“
Padraic told me,” she said with a nod.

“
What? He just made a big stinking deal about me not saying anything to anyone and he told you!”

Raeya shrugged shyly. “I told you, we talk. He feels a lot of responsibility for making a vaccine.”

“
Oh! And you know about the vaccine too, I hope? What else has he told you?” I asked.

“
Nothing, why—is there more?”

“
No. Well, not that I know about.” I shuddered. “Seeing Hayden get bitten was really awful. It keeps replaying in my mind.”

“
Wait, you
saw
it happen?”

“
Yeah, he was right in front of me. I was fighting off a gummy. I had cuts on my hand so I couldn’t do much without getting infected. He reached down to pull me up. And it bit him.”

“
He’s so brave,” she said with a bit of a swoon in her voice, reminding me of the teenage girls. “And reckless.” Good, my Ray was back. “Though I’m glad. He saved you.”

“
He did. It wasn’t a good situation at all. There were so many. I don’t get why they have to travel in herds like that.”

“
You guys should get tanks.”

“
Hah, yeah. Oh, how I’d love to blow up zombies. Do you think bookstores sell books about bombs?”

“
No, I think they stopped selling those a few years ago,” she mused.

“
Damn.”

“
Do any of the A1s know how to? I mean, I think they would since they have been in the military.”

“
I bet they do.”

“
You should ask Hayden,” she suggested.

“
He’s not too eager to talk about his time overseas.” I looked down. “He lost his best friend. I can’t imagine what he went through.”

“
Do you know what he did?”

“
Infantry. In the Marines. He’s told me that much. And I know he was, or is, a Sergeant,” I informed Ray.

“
You said he just came home when this all happened.”

“
Yeah, he told me that he got off the plane, expecting to see his family. But no one was there. When he got to his home town, it was filled with crazies.”

“
Wow. That’s…that’s horrible.” She shook her head. “Did he ever find his family?”

“
No. He hopes they got out. But the way he said it…I think he knows the truth.”

“
That’s really sad.”

“
Yeah, but, hey, who hasn’t lost someone?” I let out a deep breath.

“
Are you feeling any better?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.

“
Yeah, a little. My throat still hurts.”

She bit her lip to keep from smiling. I could see the wicked questioning in her eyes. When she caught on, she diverted them to the floor.

“
Spit it out,” I ordered.

“
Well, I’m just curious. Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”

“
About the vaccine? No. I don’t know anymore than you do.”

“
That’s not what I mean. I think it’s curious that Hayden gets sick and a few days later, you end up getting the same thing. Are you sure you’re not telling me something?”

“
We shared a glass of milk,” I told her.

“
So that’s what they’re calling it these days,” she joked.

“
Really. That’s all. And we’re always together. We are partners, remember. If I get sick, he will. If he gets sick, I will.”

“
Fine. I still think he likes you.”

I just smiled. I didn’t want to reveal what I really did know. It seemed, somehow, a betrayal to Hayden if I did. I hung out with Raeya for a few more hours, until I was feeling worn out and tired again. Hayden was asleep when I got back to our room. In his sleep, he had kicked all of the blankets off. Only wearing boxers, he must be cold. I picked up the blankets, ready to toss them over his body when I noticed for the first time a burn scar on his right side, along his ribs. I gently touched it, running my finger along the smooth, shiny scar tissue.

He responded to my touch by moving ever so slightly. Not wanting to wake him up, I got into bed and closed my eyes. It took two more days until we were feeling better and three until we were back in training. Fuller told us to take it easy for a couple days; Ivan was just getting back into things as well, and he didn’t want three A1s totally out of commission again.

The guys were crowded in Ivan and Brock’s room playing video games when an A3 knocked on my door. It was pretty late at night, so his appearance instantly made my heart speed up.

“
Orissa?” he asked sheepishly.

“
Yeah?” I called, looking up from the book I was attempting to read.

“
Dr. Sheehan requests you and Underwood’s presence.”

“
Dr Shee—oh, Padraic. Right. I’ll find Hayden.” I sprang off the bed. “Did he say why?”

“
No, he just wanted me to tell you to come to the lab as soon as you could.”

“
Alright, thanks, Brian,” I said, reading his name off of his ID tag. I rarely wore mine; everyone knew who I was so what was the point? The guys tried to get me to join in on their game. I declined and snaked my way through the crowd to Hayden, who was sitting on one of the beds near the TV. Luckily, it wasn’t his turn to play.

Not wanting to announce what was up to everyone, I put one hand on Hayden’s shoulder and leaned close so I could whisper the message in his ear. His hand gently rested on the small of my back as I moved in. The gesture was small but it made me feel…something. I refused to think about it, too worried about what Padraic could want.

The soldiers cat-called when I told them I needed to borrow Hayden for a few minutes. A slew of inappropriate jokes filled the room as the two of us exited together. I brushed them off, laughing, but couldn’t meet Hayden’s eyes, afraid they would be full of hope. Once we walked down the stairs in the old estate house, I confessed my fears to Hayden.