Weeks two, three, and four back at work flew by. We completed the first analysis of the clinical trial data. Every subject, including Noah, who was still alive after the initial administration of the vaccine showed varying amounts of the antibodies that protected against COVID-19. And since this was a slowly mutation virus, the vaccine worked against all nine strains.
In some strange way, I liked having Noah in the study. His blood samples were among the highest performers in terms of antibody development. Oddly, I felt reassured to have some physical part of him in the lab as well. But we had enough antibodies within our test samples to keep moving forwards, which is encouraging. Ninety percent of potential vaccines didn't get past this stage. While Amy and Paul continued to monitor the clinical trials, Dr. McKenna coordinated our work with NHS and the other labs.
The best part was how Noah was back in my life. We had a set routine: we woke up, went running together, he did his online coursework while I went to the lab, we went running again, ate dinner together, and said goodnight. Weekends were a bit harder, so I just put in extra lab hours and worked seven days a week. The new schedule blurred weekends into the weekdays though, and I found myself having more difficulty keeping track of which day it was anymore.
"You ready?" I asked into my Bluetooth. "I've never used this before, so I might lose you."
"Whenever you are," Noah replied.
"Okay, let's go." I started running on my normal path. Boris Johnson had permitted Brittains to go outside for one exercise routine per day, and I intended to use my time to go running. And, at the same times, Noah went jogging in Canterbury while he spoke on the phone with me.
The idea came up during one of our late night conversations. I'd mentioned going running, he said he wished we could do it together, so the next thing we ran in our separate locations while on the phone. Sometimes we shared pictures or a video chat, and it wasn't exactly the same as if his bony elbow stuck into my arm, but sometimes if I closed my eyes then I more easily pictured him striding next to me.
We were actually quite blessed to be dating in such a digital age. Monday and Tuesday evenings, he set up his phone at the end of his family's dinner table while I got dinner from the cafeteria and ate it in my flat. That idea came to him once when his mom interrupted us on the phone with, "Just bring her with you already, dinner's ready." They had quite an interesting family dynamic and a lot of insults were tossed back and forth at their table.
They asked me a lot of questions of London, particularly how things were looking "out there." I didn't have a lot of exposure but tried my best to keep them updated. As his mom had pointed out, I wasn't much of a talker.
Once I told them that I worked on research for infectious diseases, that information opened up a floodgate of questions. They were very difficult to answer, since a lot of information I wasn't allowed to discuss outside work. I also struggled on explaining things in simple terms.
A recent example concerned the vaccine we'd currently developed.
"So, is there a vaccine?" His mom asked one night. Her tone was casual but my eyes darted over to Noah. He shook his head, as if to say he hadn't shared anything. His family at this point knew that he was in some kind of study, since he had to go to the Kent NHS site for weekly bloodwork.
"There are more than forty labs in the world working on that problem right now, including ours," I answered honestly. "So we'll get there. But the best thing is to stay distant for awhile." What I couldn't tell her is that our third floor had been producing the antigens for the past two weeks. Dr. McKenna and Amy also had daily calls with members of those forty labs, the scientific attack against COVID-19 behind the scenes was quite a joint shared effort.
We - being the global patheogenetic research community - were there. We had the vaccine, but just needed to make sure it'd work for enough different types of people. And for anyone who didn't understand the process, this appeared quite cruel. So I couldn't share that part.
"I just think about poor Gram." His mom sighed. "Locked in her house. Only contact is her grocery courier."
"I assume once there is a widely available vaccine, she'll be in the first group of people to get it." That much was true, higher risk subpopulations were given precedence in new vaccine administrations. I smiled tightly, and we fell into silence.
"Hey Maggie." I was grateful when Noah shifted the conversation.
I looked up from my plate of cold noodles that were leftovers from the cafeteria. Cold noodles were go-to meal these nights. I didn't like to eat at the kitchen table, so I always ate on the floor propped against my bed.
"We've been talking." He glanced at his mom, who nodded then both of them smiled.
"What?"
"Can we send you something? In the post?"
"Umm, sure. That's really nice." I smiled. "Thanks."
"No, is it safe, love?" They all looked at me solemnly.
I nodded, hoping it offered some reassurance. "Yes. Parcelforce is still safe. I can disinfect the box once it arrives, if it'd make you feel better."
"It would." Noah's Mom nodded firmly. "Thanks."
I had no idea what they were talking about until seven days later, when a large box appeared at my apartment. I left it on the hallway floor, walked in for some disinfectant spray, then covered the entire box in a misty cloud. When the disinfectant spray settled, I rotated the box and covered all six sides, then fanned the mist away from my face. Satisfied with my efforts, I brought box inside and set it on the floor.
"You all shouldn't have!" When I Face Timed Noah immediately, his face was all smiles.
"You got it? Mum was tracking it online, so we hoped it got there when you were home." I nodded, so he prompted, "Did you open it yet?"
"No, just sprayed it off. Figured you could see my reaction." My reaction ended up being a bit anti-climactic. My eyes widened, then I frowned in confusion. Inside was a bunch of plastic containers surrounded with ice packs. I pulled them out and peeked inside.
"You sent me food?" He nodded in excitement.
"A week ago?" The thought twitched my stomach. Bangers and mash hot from a London food truck was one thing, week old food I wasn't sure about.
"Nope," He grinned brightly. "Mum rushed it through Parcelforce this morning. She got tired of watching you eat cold noodles."
That must have been quite expensive.
"That's very sweet." I smiled and glanced in the containers. "Please tell her thanks, but it's Saturday, so I'll save them until the next family dinner night."
"Nope," he replied firmly with a wide grin. "Put it in the fridge, we're having dinner together tonight."
"Really?"
"Yes. Proper dinner date."
The idea placed a warmness into my heart.
"Okay," I glanced up at my clothes rack, the blue sweater dress was buried in there somewhere. "Give me a minute, I'll change."
"I won't complain if you take the phone with you, love." My abandoned phone on the bed spoke out.
"Very funny!" I pulled my lab coats forwards and slipped the dress off the hanger.
"Can't blame a bloke for trying," the phone chirped. I rolled my eyes, let out a small sigh, and grabbed my phone. He was now laughing.
Of course he is.
"Fine," I propped it up on a pillow, "Since you sent me the package." His upper torso came into view as he leaned back, grinned, and crossed his arms over his chest. Once quick glance revealed that he was dressed up as well in a long-sleeved shirt, so I peeled my shirt up, then stepped out of my pants.
"Better?" I grabbed the dress, slipped it over my head, and pulled it down.
"You could've just done without the dress, love." He smirked. Even with my small screen, I saw the interest that sparkled in his eyes.
"That's all you get for now, sorry." I smiled at the small pout that puffed out his lower lip. "What's for dinner?"
"You didn't look?"
I shook my head. "Just stuffed it into the fridge." I pulled it out, grabbed a fork and glass of water, then made my way back to my normal dinner spot. After I propped up my phone a few feet away, I opened the first box, then looked up at the phone.
"Is this -?"
"Yup," he nodded. "Chicken. Mum showed me how to make it."
"You made this?" I smiled and drew a breath in. Even cold, the dinner smelled good.
"I did. With my finite possible combination of ingredients. Mum made the cake though."
"Is that what this is?" I picked up the smaller container, cracked open an corner and took in a smell of chocolate, then stared at the phone.
"Is this-?"
He nodded, smiling widely. My mouth dropped open when I realized how he'd recreated the meal I'd eaten on our first date.
I smiled brightly and internally melted more than that cake possibly could have. "This is so sweet. Thank you. Are you eating the same?"
"Nope." He grinned. "Want to guess what Mum made me?
"Side of Caesar salad, with bacon. Ribeye steak plate, cooked medium well with broccoli slaw and roasted potatoes.. and garlic butter on the side?"
"As close as she could get to it."
I laughed. "That's incredibly sweet." He lifted his glass to the phone, and I followed.
Even though he wasn't across from the table from me, it didn't matter. The sentiment was there, and this was the best we could right now.
"Tell your mom thanks." I leaned back against my bed, shoving my plate away. "I like your family dinners but this was really nice."
I glanced at the time on my phone, figuring we'd end the call and get to bed. A small yawn escaped my mouth at the thought.
"I will." he frowned slightly at my yawning, then joked, "Am I that boring of company?"
"No, just tired. Long day." Twenty-one straight days of working had caught up to me. I'd now accumulated more overtime and extra work hours than I knew what to do with.
"I can let you go, love. But I'm surprised you didn't say anything about what else we sent."
"There's more?" I glanced over at the box, whose lid was still half open.
"Go look. I'll wait."
I stood up, removed the ice packs that were now soft and covered with condensation. Underneath was a pile of white cotton fabrics that were wrapped around something hard. I pulled everything out and came back over to my bed with a slight frown that pinched my eyebrows together.
"This?" I held my phone up to the pile, then looked back at the screen. He nodded with a knowing smile. I set the phone down, carefully peeling back the soft cotton fabric. I pulled out one piece, it was a white t-shirt, identical to -
"Did you send me some of your t-shirts?" I pulled one after another out and my smile grew with each one I separated out. There were six total.
"One for every day of the week. Don't worry, they're clean. I washed them." I hugged them against my chest and buried my cheek against one of them. Even washed clean, they smelled like him.
"You mentioned after the hospital, it was comforting." He shrugged. "Sorry if that's weird."
"I love it." I glanced down, and saw that the heavy object was a framed picture of us taken from our bus tour. We were kissing, but smiles tugged at the corners of our mouths.
"Noah, now I wish you were here." I smiled.
"This is so thoughtful." I ran my fingers over his face in the picture and a tingling sensation grew inside my stomach. "I'm going to take it to work, so I can see you then. Thank you."
"I wish I was there too." He sighed. "Or you here. We wouldn't have ended at dinner."
"Really?" I set the stack of shirts down and pulled the one off the top. "Where else would we have gone?"
"Well here, I would've taken you to see the sea. There's loads of coastal towns in Kent. But if we were eating out in Canterbury, then I'd take you to the Westgate Gardens after. We could walk down the River Stour until the sun sets. I'd hold your hand and try to steal as many kisses as I could before they tossed us out at dark."
"That sounds nice," I mused at the idea that he'd thought about this, then eyed his pile of shirts before I looked back at my phone.
"Well you asked," he replied casually.
"I did," I laughed. "And what if we were still here?"
"If we were still in London, then I'd let you pick wherever we wanted to go."
"And if we stayed inside?" He paused for a minute, lowered his voice, and replied, "Then I'd have a hard time keeping my hands off you, love. Think you know this by now."
I knew exactly what he meant. Our phone conversations had gotten a bit deeper over the past three weeks, including hints of what intimacy we were missing out on due to the physical proximity issues. He talked about intimacy more than I did, things he wished we could do together, and certain topics for sure made the distance worse to discuss. But tonight I was incredibly touched by his thoughtfulness. I hadn't sent him anything, but hoped I could give him a small amount of what I hoped he wanted.
Should I?
Not second-guessing it, I stood up suddenly, "I'll be right back."
I went into the bathroom, then used the toilet and brushed my teeth. I stripped off my socks and padded on bare feet back to my bed, back to my phone, back to him.
"Noah? Still there?" I angled my phone away from me and pulled it up to my face level. I reached over for one of his t-shirts and grasped the soft fabric in my fingers.
"Yup, love. Just getting into bed." The phone image shook and he reappeared and, by the pillows behind his head, looked as if he'd climbed into bed.
"Are you alone?" he nodded. "Good, I want to show you something." I turned away from my phone, positioned it on a pillow, then walked away far enough so he could see me. I removed the knotted belt at the waist of my dress and slid it straight to the floor. Looking away from my phone shyly, I reached my arms up overhead, grasping the soft fabric and lifted my dress off. I also let the dress slip to the floor before I lifted my eyes back to him.
Having never done this with anyone before, my heart pounded loudly in my chest and my skin felt flushed warm. But his expression was exactly what I'd hoped it would be if he were right in front of me. His mouth and eyes were wide open from shock and an air of interest built up inside his pupils as they dilated lsightly.
"Maggie," he said in a low, almost hoarse voice, then coughed.
"I miss you." I said coyly as I knelt down closer to the phone. "That was a really nice gesture today."
"Miss you too love. This isn't helping."
"How about this then?" I reached behind me and unclasped the latch on my bra. I paused, let the straps slide down my shoulders, and glanced at him, holding my bra in place. A small laugh escaped my lips when I saw that I definitely had his full, undivided attention. In the next breath I looked down and released my hands and placed them in my lap. My head tipped down as I watched my bra fall to the floor, then I waited a few seconds in silence before my face shyly lifted back up.
"Maggie-" I couldn't blame the shock his voice, which was also written all over his face before a smile slowly started to grow. My cheeks felt extremely warm as he searched for the right words to say and I moved to grab the phone. "Wait. Are you -"
"What?" I paused in my movements.
"Nothing, just wanted to get you to freeze, love." Surprisingly, this felt a lot more comfortable than I'd thought it would as a few laughs relaxed me. He looked at me in awe, as if he'd seen me for the first time. Which technically, some parts of me he was looking at for the first time.
"You're terrible." I reached over and slipped his t shirt over my head. "But I thought you'd at least want to know I'm sleeping in this tonight."
"I appreciate that love," he chuckled. "Although you've just put about a million dirty thoughts in my head now."
"Tell me about it," I murmured and climbed into bed with a smile.