𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙔- [MAJOR EDITING]

SEVEN

RARE WISDOM, TINY LANGUAGE
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"So, from a genetic standpoint," Sadie explained to Adrianne, who sat on the couch opposite her, eating ice cream at an alarmingly fast rate. "The method that's being tried is one using the lentivirus to deliver a healthy copy of the CFTR gene, then the patient's cystic fibrosis could be treated via gene therapies in the form of inhaling an inactive version of the virus,"

"That's a huge advancement in itself," Adrianne said,  through a mouthful of Ben & Jerry's.

"Yeah, But at Stark, they are not stopping there- they're looking into ways that they can do this without the virus," Sadie continued on, unable to keep the excitement off her face. "Meaning they could pull down the side effect rate to 0.00001 percent! And I gotta say, the data looks like they're getting real close."

Sadie was still buzzing from her time spent at Stark Industries three days ago, and when she'd answered her apartment door to find Adrianne waiting patiently with a bag full of supplies, she was never more happy to see her friend, and tell her about all the amazing things she had seen. Adrianne herself had claimed to be happy to be there as, having left the kids with her husband Jamie, they could use this time to pamper themselves. And they had all the essentials: facials and massage and classic romantic comedies and ice cream.

She wasn't sure how well she had done at the interview, she had no way of guessing since the presentation panel all wore poker faces, and there was no hints afterwards.

"That is actually insane," Adrianne responded, with just as much enthusiasm as Sadie felt. "If they keep going, they might just make a world where we don't even need doctors."

"That's the aim, right?" Sadie replied, before her mind drifted elsewhere. "How is everything at the hospital?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to ask anymore," Adrianne reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Isn't a girl allowed to ask how her bestie's career is going?" Sadie challenged, with her best cheeky smile before she smoothed her sheet mask onto her face, revelling in the coolness and the smell of rose.

"My career is going the same as always. Thriving!" Adrianne's sing-songy voice would have made Sadie laugh, if she wasn't determined not to move a muscle until the mask was properly set in place. "But we both know you're not asking about that."

"Just tell me the worst of it," Sadie spoke like a ventriloquist.

On the screen in front of them Rachel McAdams was being wooed by yet another gorgeous Hollywood man, but Sadie was less watching the movie and more watching her phone. She had been told by Dr Cho that she would hear back from Stark Industries within three working days. Today was the fourth since her interview. So, Sadie didn't think it was unreasonable for her to ask about the hospital, and keep her mind anywhere else besides waiting for that phone to ring.

"There's nothing bad to tell," Adrianne shrugged. "I mean, Wyatt is a pain, and I still haven't gotten used to seeing him in your seat at meetings, but his residents are doing fine."

Sadie stayed quiet, and as she watched the amnesiac protagonist n the television get lost on a short trip out, she felt that she could relate somehow.

"Also he kept asking about you, so I told him you're taken," Adrianne added, and Sadie gasped. "You're welcome."

"When did you tell him that?" Sadie cringed. Benjamin Wyatt was not the type to value loyalty in his own relationships, let alone her fictitious ones, so Sadie imagined that this would only make him interfere with her life even more.