Gingerbread Latte

Chapter 9 - Little Ree

"She is standing on the line between giving up and seeing how much more she can take."

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Max's POV

"So, based on what I explained, the neuraminidase is carried by which viru-" I paused midway through my words when my eyes fell on Valerie, sitting on the chair right next to me. Physically, she was here. Mentally though, I was more than sure that she was galaxies far away.

Her elbow was propped over the table, her fingers in her hair, tight around her strands, her eyes focused on the notebook below her gaze, but she wasn't reading, nor was she listening to anything I'd said since I got here almost an hour ago. Her body vibrated with a weird negative energy that had my eyebrows pulling closer, confused and slightly worried.

"Gingy," I called out for her, thinking that my voice might break through her train of thought but I was wrong.

She didn't even budge and I am sure if I stayed silent for the next hour, she won't even notice. Her expression reflected uttermost stress, the lines etching her forehead, the way her teeth tortured her lower lip, dug deep into the sensitive skin, biting on it every now and then just to stop it from shaking, the overwhelmed look in her eyes, the tightness in her jaw...something was just not right.

True, she was acting indifferent since the morning, fighting me on everything and pretending to be annoyed with all I was and my presence. But this...this was different.

"Valerie," I called for her again, seriously worried now by her silence and out-of-sort state. When I realized she wasn't going to respond, I brought my hand forward, resting it over her arm, "Val-" Before I could finish saying her name, my mere touch had her slightly jump, startled and her gaze shot up to me.

"Huh," She breathed out, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard, facing me but she was still in a haze, nervous and stressed.

"You okay?" I asked the obvious and of course, she acted indifferent, her chest heaving up as she sucked into a deep calming breath, nodding her head and running her hand through her hair, "Uh yeah, yeah, you were saying ?" She questioned, urging me to not question further and carry on with my session as if nothing happened.

"Did you listen to what I explained?" I asked, my eyebrow raising as to call her off on her bluff.

She nodded her head, "Yeah, yeah," She said, her fingers tight around the pen, pretending to scribble something over the paper, "You were talking about the enzymes, and yeah...I got it, carry on."

"Since you so obviously got it," I mimicked her words and pushed the book toward her, pointing at the question I had just answered a few minutes ago, "Which virus carries it?" I added, forcing her, or else I won't get any other explanation from her about this hazy state she is sucked into.

She read the question, one time, two times, then three. She ran the pen in her hand over the multiple choices, thinking which one is the correct answer but unable to figure it out, "Uh," She let out a low huffed sound, lines pulling between her eyebrows, "Is it..." She looked up at me, so lost, "Is it adenovirus?" She asked, hesitant and not sure at all, which is never like her.

I shook my head and pulled the book back to my side, "No, and if you were listening to me," I pointed out as I circled the correct one, "You'd know it is influenza."

A low defeated sigh pushed out of her nose and I started to talk, "Valerie, this is the easiest question yet you didn't know it," I said, speaking out for her sake only, "And you have an exam tomorrow, I need you focused."