Into You (Part 9)
Created | Updated Nov 22, 2020
Into You (Part 9)
'We're leaving.' Arlo says it in such a way both Gerald and I know it's time to go. I don't even stop to collect the jar or the tote bag on the way to the door. Arlo steps to a coat rack, pulls another blue coat off a hanger, examines it thoroughly by pulling the sleeves wrong-side-out, then puts it on the right way.
'I can't go out there,' he points to the hallway, 'looking like this.' He finishes buttoning the lab coat, and spends a moment combing his fingers through his hair. 'Is this okay?' he asks me.
'You'll pass,' I tell him. Gerald nods to confirm it.
Arlo leads us out of the lab, down the hall, back to the reception desk. He manages to put up a good front, yet I can tell he's working hard to keep his voice calm, to prevent it from cracking. He addresses ‘the receptionist' when she looks up.
'I'm going to need you to schedule something…' She perks up with expectancy. 'You'll need to bring in a HazMat team, first thing tomorrow morning, to thoroughly clear out my lab.'
'Mister Cuthbert?' she begins. 'What…?'
'Nothing communicable, Jen. There's just been an ‘incident' that requires an in-depth, top-down clearing and cleaning. I will not be able to use the lab until that's been done. Can you handle that for me, Jen?'
'Mister Cuthbert, do you realize how much that would cost? That could be tens of thousands…' She trails off, doing the math in her head.
'Can you handle that for me, Jen?' He repeats it, gripping the edge of the reception desk, his voice strained. ‘The receptionist' blinks at his demeanor and nods slowly. 'Notify Bill, down in Accounting. We have a contingency fund for this kind of thing. Rarely used, but I'm thankful GenCom makes it available.' He taps the top of her desk and nods. 'Bill… in Accounting… Right now, Jen.' She gets serious and taps out the extension phone number, and points to her earpiece.
Arlo turns and shoos us out the front door. He comes with us. The last we hear is ‘the receptionist' talking to Bill in Accounting.
'Well, that gave me the heebie-jeebies.' Arlo loosens the top button of the spare lab coat, then stands clenching his fists.
'Are you going to be okay?' I ask him, and reach for his arm. When my fingers make contact with the sleeve, he flinches, then stands with his head down, embarrassed.
'Sorry. It's just…' He trails off and motions back at the lab.
'Do you suppose the thingy can slip out under the door?' Gerald seems pensive, even though he wasn't the one it crawled on.
'GenCom built every lab unit to be self-contained, sealing itself completely if something goes wrong with any pathogenic material under test.' He rubs his chin and his gaze flicks back toward the building.
'Automatically?' asks Gerald.
'No. No, not automatically. I should have pushed the button… activated the protocol.' He looks haunted as he makes eye contact with us. 'I have to go back and have the lockdown started…' He's already walking toward the front door. He tosses over his shoulder, '…but after that, I'm going home.' Through the glass front windows, we see Arlo stop at Jenny's desk and gesticulate, explaining what needs to happen, then he disappears down the hallway.
'We should go,' I tell Gerald. He's shuffling where he stands, shifting his balance from one foot to the other.
'Yeah… Yeah. We should.' He looks toward the Gordian building, at me, at the parking lot, but he's not moving toward the car.
'Okay, now I've got ask you. Are you all right?' I tap the back of his right hand to get his attention. He doesn't flinch, as if he's numb. He faces me, slowly, deliberately, and his voice is hushed.
'Lynne… I didn't see that blob thing drop off him or slide across the floor…' He gazes at me as if I should try to refute him. I try.
'There was a lot going on…'
'Yeah…'
'You were both moving around…'
'Yeah…'
'Lots of confusion…'
'Yeah… true…'
'Gerald…' I push his shoulder to make him look at me. When he does, he's chewing the inside of his cheek, but stops when I raise my eyebrows. 'Do you consider Arlo to be a sensible man?'
'Yeah. Yeah, sure.'
'And he seems to think the little critter jumped off at some point and may be hiding in his lab. That's why he's having a decon team go in to find it. He believes it's there; you ought to believe him.' I see he's followed the train of logic, because he nods at its veracity.
'Okay. Yeah, I'll trust his judgment.' Gerald smiles at me, I'm hoping because I've made him feel better. His eyes focus again, on the here-and-now, and he picks out his Jeep in the parking lot by gesturing to it. 'Let me take you home… er… to your home, and let's call it a day.' He extends his wing arm, and I slide my hand into its crook. We walk away from the Gordian Pathology Laboratory.
The ride back is mostly quiet, both of us seemingly lost in our own thoughts. We each start a few half-formed sentences, but let them languish without completion. About midway, Gerald asks me if the blob had jumped at me, like it did at the lab, and I tell him it didn't make it that far because of the wine glass I had over the top of it. He grunts and that's the last of the conversation until he parks his Jeep in his garage. He leaves it open and walks me out to the driveway.
'You gonna be all right, Lynne? I mean…' He motions from me to my home.
'I'm fine, Gerald. A little shaken up, but this'll all pass.' I take a couple steps, then turn around and walk back to him. I hold out my hand. 'Thank you?'
I've caught him off-guard and he starts with a noticeable jerk. He's shaking my hand when I lean in and give him a hug. I feel him tense up, then relax. I back up a step and smile at him.
'Thank you for listening to me, taking me to the lab, being there to help when everything seemed to go wrong. I appreciate that…' I take another few steps toward my house. 'I'm going to go…' I keep moving and point to my destination.
'Yeah. Have a good evening.' He waves with one short swipe and bobs his head, tightening his lips in a forced smile.
I make it into my home and lock the front door, then all the other exterior doors, then make sure the windows are latched properly. I change from my dress into a set of dungarees. The remainder of the evening I spend sanitizing my bathroom beyond all reasonable measure.
