Subject One

VI. Hurry

I wake to the sound of cursing.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

I bolt into an upright seated position, still on Luca's leather couch. I rub the sleep from my eyes. My head weighs ten thousand pounds. The blaring horn of notifications blows up Luca's digital notepad. Luca quickly changes into a black shirt and black pants, cursing under his breath all the while. He picks up a gray dress jacket off the floor and throws it on, trying to smooth out the wrinkles but to no avail.

"Good morning?" I say, more like a question than a statement.

Luca whirls around, eyes wide, as if he forgot I was here. "Good afternoon, actually. I'm, uh... I'm late for that Embassy thing."

I get up from the couch, running my fingers through the mess of black locks that managed to spring free from my braid. Luca strides into the bathroom and I follow. He quickly splashes his face with water and then runs hands through his hair, trying to make order of the absolute mop of brown.

"I've never seen you so nervous, doctor." I tease, lightly punching him on the shoulder. He winces, not from the blow but from my touch in general, which causes me to furrow my brows. So we're back to this, then?

"I should be nervous. The Embassy is in control of everything. Everything. And I'm pissing them off." He briskly paces out of the bathroom, shouting on his way out. "Come down to the lab wing in a couple hours. You can follow the worn tile straight there, I've definitely marked my territory."

"You can't tell me what to do until you explain to me what the hell happened last night." I say softly, but Luca hears it and pauses tying his shoes in the living room.

"I have to go." He says simply, but the redness on the tips of his ears give him away.

"Go, then." I watch him leave, then lock the door and sit down on the toilet with my head in my hands. This is all so confusing. I've never had to deal with these kinds of feelings before. While the memory of my previous life, is fuzzy -- fogged-- like the dreams of a child, I still remember my baser emotions. It was purely survival on the old world. Eat, sleep, stay alive. Getting drunk with the man who is supposed to use me as a lab rat never came across my mind. I never read about it in fantasy papers. The old sitcoms I've been watching on the shuttle certainly haven't covered the topic either.

Luca is gone, I can't ask him these questions that I have. He left his notepad.

I decide to take a quick shower to try and ease my racing mind. After a while I step out and put my clothes back on and realize that I should probably head back to my own domain. I'll get lost, but it's worth a shot. It's not like I can hang out in my doctor's quarters for two hours. He's in no position to tell me what to do after last night, anyway. Plus, if someone decides to look for him here, and they find me instead, it might raise a lot of questions I can't answer. Fingering through my long wet hair, I open the door and bump straight into my nurse, Mafiona. How did I not hear her come in?

"Sorry," she mumbles as she recovers, and then looks into my eyes. "Oh."

"Hey, Mafiona," I say awkwardly.

"Hello, subject..." She peers into Luca's empty quarters. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find my way back to my quarters."

"So how did you end up here?" She questions.

"Luca was kind enough to let me sleep on his couch while he continued his studies in the lab wing." I lie.

"You mean Dr. Arthyr?" She inquires, an eyebrow raised.

"Sure." I say, "Dr. Arthyr."

Mafiona squints her eyes. "I thought he would be here this afternoon, but I'm guessing he left his notepad behind, again?"