Why was she thinking about how great his arms looked under his slightly too tightT-shirt?She was engaged.Although, as Astrid had told her many times, engaged wasn’t married.And she was pretty sure that herrule-abidingfriend was referring to the way Elodie’s mother talked about Rhett as Elodie’s husband, since the second they’d been matched.Plus, Astrid had no room to comment on the subject.The only reason the Key hadn’t matched her was because of what the Fujimotos could produce for the corporation, which didn’t yet include Astrid or her sister Thea settling down to add to the world’s population.
But none of that was thepoint.
The point was that if anyone should have wanted to flee after their utterly embarrassingreal-lifemeetups, it would have been her, not him.She’d been the one to run into a closed door, and to fall on her butt the second she stepped on a skateboard.So what the hell was his problem?
She surged to her feet and stomped toward the elevator.Her hands snapped to her hips and her foot tapped as the metal box took its sweettime.
Had she done something to make Aiden want to only speak to her through written messages?She shook away the thought as she entered the elevator and headed down to theEnd-of-Life Unit.The notion that any of this could be her fault was ridiculous.The only thing Elodie was guilty of was meeting his level of enthusiasm and friendliness.
The elevator opened, exhaling a cloud of annoyed anticipation along with Elodie.
This was a much better line of thought than swooning over the way the rain had shimmered against his dark umberskin.
With the memory, her hands slipped from herhips.
“Stop it, Elodie!”she scolded herself aloud, and glued her fists back on her sides as she wound through the brightly lit bowels of the MediCenter.
TheEnd-of-Life Unit’s glossy metal doors loomedahead.
Holly blinked to life in front of the Violet Shield that covered the doors.“Hello, and welcome to theEnd-of-Life Unit.Only authorized citizens and MediCenter employees are allowed entry.Please scan your cuff.”With a sweep of her holographic arm, she motioned to the scanner next to thedoor.
“Oh, no, I don’t have authorization.”Elodie tucked her wavy hair behind her ears.“I’m just here to see someone.An employee, not a—you know.”Elodie swallowed as Holly’s unseeing eyes blinked down at her.“A dead person.”
“I’m sorry.You’ll have to contact the Unit Lead to gain authorization.”Holly’s still smile never reached the pointed corners of her browneyes.
“Actually, is there any way thatyou—”
The Violet Shield flashed and Holly vanished as the metal doors slid open.Aiden rushed out, his tennis shoes squeaking against the floor as he halted in front of her.
“What a crazy coincidence!”Elodie nearly shouted as the doors closed behind him.She needed to get a handle on her excitement.There was a reason she was here.“I didn’t realize until after I’d come all the way down that I’m not actually authorized to enter.Who knew it would be so hard to get into the morgue?It’s just full of dead people.”Her laughter clanked in the space between them.“I mean, like, somewhere in my brain I knew that I couldn’t just walk in, but that was buried pretty deep under a lot of other useless info.Not useless for everyone.You obviously need to know who can and cannot enter your unit.”Another bout of strained laughter.“But, yeah.It’s a good thing that you cameout.”
Aiden’s usual pine scent barely pierced the bleach tang in the hall.A thin line creased hissweat-dottedforehead as he stared blankly ather.
“So,ta-da.”She could have crawled away and died of embarrassment.
Aiden shoved his fists into the shallow pockets of his pants.“What are you doinghere?”
Her heart quavered beneath her ribs.“Thought I’d visit.Figure outface-to-face why it’s so difficult to meet up.”She rubbed the collar of her shirt between her thumb and forefinger.“Plus, you said I should come down sometime.We work the same shift.I mean, it’s not like it was a special trip or anything.”But it had been a special trip.With the passage of every floor, she’d nearly told Holly to stop the elevator and take her back up to her unit.This was Elodie’s foray into spontaneity, and Aiden was sucking all the air outof it.
“Who’s watching your unit?Is Gus or someone up there?”Aiden shifted, peering at the empty stretch of hallway behind her.“Don’t you think you should get back to your patients?”
Anxiety gnawed at Elodie’s back as Aiden glanced down the hall to either side, then continued to crane his neck to look behind her to where the corridor turned.
“Is everything okay?”she asked.“Did I do something to make you all weird?Well, weirder than normal, anyway.”Another awkward chuckle tripped past herlips.
“Yes.I mean, no.”Again, he studied the space behind her.“You didn’t do anything.Everything is fine.”
She whirled, seeing nothing but the empty hallway.“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”He swiped at the sweat beading against his forehead.“Thanks for coming down.You should go back to your unit.I’ll, uh, I’ll meet up with you later.”
“No, you won’t.”Elodie pulled her shoulders back and jutted her chin into the air.“That’s the whole reason I’m down here.You keep saying that we’ll get together in VR and then you don’t show, and I’m left all confused and annoyed.It’s stupid and I don’t like it.”
A droplet of sweat slid down Aiden’s brow.“Seriously, Elodie.You should leave.What if something happens in yourunit?”
She clenched and unclenched her fists.“Nothing is going to happen.”
“Aubrey’s dead,” hespat.
