unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 10

Today was finally the day - Stephen was coming out of hospital. Clara had set her alarm nice and early, as she planned on going to the hospital to surprise him. She pulled on her most glamorous black dress, black heeled boots and spritzed herself with perfume. She also did her makeup a lot more extravagant than usual - she even added a red lip this time.

Pulling out of her drive, she drove to the hospital and arrived in plenty of time. When she got to Stephen's room, though, she saw that Connor was already there, leaning against a chair and checking out the nurses.

"Good morning," Clara greeted with a small smile.

"Morn— Wow," Stephen stopped mid-turn. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," she blushed. When Stephen turned back to packing again, Connor pulled a face at her and pretended to make 'kissy faces' between her and Stephen. Clara chuckled and stuck her tongue out at the immature student.

Abby waltzed into the room, overpowering Clara's subtle perfume with a much stronger scent. She had also dressed herself up, and Clara felt a strong surge of jealousy - which she pushed down.

"Is that perfume?" Connor asked sceptically when he noticed Abby's attire.

"I can do the 'girl' thing, you know," she retorted.

"Not as well as Clara can," Connor winked.

"Shut up, Connor," Clara warned, and she turned to Abby. "You look really good, Abby. This look really suits you."

"Thanks," she smiled. "You too."

"It was good of you all to come," Stephen half-smiled. "But you really shouldn't have."

"Don't flatter yourself," Connor scoffed. "Some of us are just here to check out the nurses." As if to prove his point, his eyes travelled up and down the nearest nurse. Clara rolled her eyes.

"Come on," Abby smiled at Stephen. "Let me give you a lift home."

"Oh, there's no need," Stephen denied politely. "My girlfriend's picking me up."

"Girlfriend?" Connor echoed. Clara mentally facepalmed. She had completely forgotten about Stephen having a girlfriend.

"Yeah, Alison," Stephen elaborated. "She's just got back from a two year research trip on infectious diseases in the rainforest." Clara felt her heart sink.

"Wow," Connor marvelled. "Let's just hope she's not one of those girlfriends who brings her work back with her." Abby hit him on the arm. "Ow."

"You must have missed her," Abby tried to smile, but it came off more as a grimace.

"Yeah," Stephen nodded distantly. "I'd better go. Bye." He left, Connor waving him off.

Abby sighed deeply, collapsing onto the bed. "So much for the 'girl' thing."

"Two years?" Connor repeated. "How much sex are they gonna have over the next couple of days?"

"Oh, thanks for putting that lovely image in my head, Connor," Clara said sarcastically, chucking a pillow at his head. It hit the side of it with a dull thump. She turned to Abby. "You dressed up for Stephen? Do you like him?"

"A bit," she admitted. "But I don't think he likes me back, if his girlfriend is anything to go by."

"Don't worry, Abby," Clara soothed. "It's just a crush. I had one on him too when I first met him. You'll get over it. I did."

"Yeah, you're right," Abby sighed. "Thanks, Clara."

"Anytime," the other girl smiled.

"I think you both look great," Connor tried, only to be looked at incredulously by both of them, particularly Abby. "Sorry."

——

"Hello?" Clara answered her phone. She was in the car, driving back from the hospital.

"Clara, I think there's another anomaly," Cutter spoke from the other end. "Can you come to the swimming pool near the university? I need you there."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," she promised before hanging up. Spinning her car around, she drove in the direction of the swimming pool.

She sought out Cutter the moment she got there. "What's going on?" She asked.

Nick inspected her outfit with sheer curiosity. "That's. . . not what I was expecting," he commented. Clara raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, sorry. A boy - Anthony - has been eaten by a marine sea creature, but I don't know what it is or what era it's from. They're trying to charge his girlfriend with murder, so we need to prove it wasn't her."

"Okay, thanks," Clara nodded, heading over to where Abby and Connor were sat. The latter was dangling his feet in the pool and chatting to the former. "Hey," she greeted, and they returned it quickly.

Stephen approached them, wearing nothing but swimming trunks, and Clara couldn't help but stare a little. He sat down next to Connor, pulling some flippers on his feet.

"You know," Connor began. "I'm surprised the creature swam into here at all. To a sea creature, it must have felt like swimming through a pool of acid due to all the chlorine in it."

"Yeah," Stephen agreed. "It probably sensed the danger and got out fast before the anomaly closed."

Abby walked away to see to some samples of water, while Stephen pulled on his other flipper.

"How's Alison?" Connor asked. Clara resisted the urge to slap him; the last thing she wanted to hear about was Stephen's girlfriend.

"Jet-lagged," he answered shortly.

"It's funny," Connor continued. "You always gave the impression that you were single."

"Really?" Stephen raised his eyebrows, cleaning his goggles. "I didn't think I gave any impression at all."

"You'd be surprised," Connor said.

"Connor, I'm flattered," Stephen joked. "But you're really not my type." And with that, he rolled into the water.

"Why did you have to mention Alison?" Clara groaned, sitting down next to Connor and removing her shoes. She placed her feet into the water, enjoying the way it relaxed her.

"What?" Connor frowned. And then he realised when Clara gave him a look. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine," Clara sighed. "Just. . . don't tell Abby that I still like him, okay? I don't want to cause any tension between us. I really like her, and I don't want to fall out over a stupid crush we share."

"Alright, I won't say anything," Connor promised. He paused. Then, "Do you like me?"

Clara shook her head, chuckling, and swished her feet in the water. "Of course I do, Connor. You're my favourite member of the team." She decided to leave it up to Connor to figure out whether she was being sarcastic or not.