Page 82 of Anarchy Missing

“Lincoln has some clothes in his old bedroom.”

“Perfect,” I mumble, walking out the door of the operating room and across the main part of the lab to the small bedroom Linc used to sleep in before Molly came along. “Lights,” I say, entering the small room. I go right over to a long dresser on the far side of the room and start opening drawers.

I find a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and some socks, and put them all on. Sheila is gone when I come out and make my way upstairs to the new house. I expect her to be waiting with Linc and Thomas when I get up in the main room, but it’s dark and empty. I don’t know if it’s early morning or late afternoon. My sense of time is all screwed up.

I go with late afternoon since I was on the roof in the middle of the night and that would only have been a few hours ago if this was morning.

The media room is in the east wing of the house. The door is closed, and I don’t knock, just open it quietly and let my eyes adjust to the dark before shutting it behind me.

Lulu is fast asleep on the large sectional couch, a blanket haphazardly tangled around her legs. She’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt too, and since I know she was wearing nothing earlier—which makes me smile—and only had her work clothes when she came to my house, I figure they must belong to Molly.

I ease myself down onto the couch, feeling much less achy than I did down in the cave, and push myself up to her back, wrapping my arms around her tightly.

She jolts awake, trying to sit up.

I hold on to her tightly. “Shhh,” I say. “It’s just me.”

“Case,” she gasps, twisting around so she can see me. “How did you get up here?”

“Walked,” I say, smiling. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine.”

“Take it up with Sheila. She says nothing to report. Just like always.”

“You were on the roof, Case. I was so—”

“I’m sorry,” I say, kissing her cheek. “It’s not what you think.”

“You were lying in a pool of blood. It was freezing and your body… your body was hot, Case.”

“How did you know to call Thomas?”

“Steve. He told me to. He woke me up and made me go up on the roof to get you. And then he told me to call Thomas and tell him to pick you up in the helicopter.”

“I bet Thomas was pissed.”

“No,” Lulu says. “No one is mad, Case. We’re worried. Out of our fucking minds. What happened?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I swear. It’s just… I do that sometimes.”

“What… like sleepwalking?”

I wish I could blame it on sleepwalking. “Probably. But the point is, I’m fine. Clean bill of health. I’m sorry you guys got so worried.”

She turns her whole body to face me, both of her palms pressed tightly up against my scratchy cheeks that badly need a shave. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

“We’re not fighting.”

“I know. But I feel an argument coming because you’re not telling me things. You’re leaving a lot out. And your friends…” She stares right into my eyes, one, then the other. “Molly thinks this is all her fault. She told me some crazy story about a barbed rope and poison. Said she almost took off your head with it, but Thomas came and… what the hell happened that night at Blue Corp, Case?”

Jesus, Molly. What the hell? “What did Lincoln say?” I ask.

“I didn’t really talk to him. This was when they were downstairs with you, injecting some nanite things.” Lulu shakes her head again. “What the hell is happening?”

“I don’t know,” I say, sweeping a finger up and down her cheek. “And I don’t want to think about it yet. I just want to lie here with you and be quiet.”

She closes her eyes, like she’s searching for patience, then sighs and presses her head into my chest, a hand sneaking underneath my body so she can pull me closer.