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“I’m not.”
I reached over and took his hand. “It’s their loss.”
“My parting words were something similar.”
I laughed but then asked something more serious. “And your dad?”
“He was fine,” he said with a shrug. “Wished me luck. I took him out for dinner last night, like a farewell, I suppose. He said it was a waste of money.”
Oh man.
I squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“He appreciated the fridge and lounge I gave him though. Mine were newer than his by a decade or two.” He tried to smile but it didn’t quite work.
I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. I hated that no one in his Melbourne life was happy for him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He watched me for a long moment. “I’m glad I’m here too. Did I miss a great storm last night?”
I grinned at him. “It was kinda lame. Or maybe that was just because I didn’t get to watch it with you.”
He rolled his eyes and looked out his window, but I could tell by his cheeks that he was smiling. “Oh,” he said, as if he’d just remembered. “The heart-rate monitor you suggested? The chest strap that sports people wear?”
I think I liked where this was going... “Yeah?”
He cleared his throat. “I may have bought one.”
I grinned. “Oh hell yes. Now we just need one of those brain monitor things, so next time you try and get struck by lightning, we can get some proper readings.”
He sighed. “I don’ttryto get struck—” He stopped talking and shook his head, not even bothering to finish that sentence. “I also inquired about helmets that perform non-invasive medical imaging of the brain, because I did some research while I was stuck in traffic. There is a relatively new device that employs near-infrared light to determine the relative concentration of haemoglobin in the brain, via differences in the light absorption patterns. Because, well, most non-invasive brain scanning systems use continuous-wave spectroscopy, where the tissue is irradiated by a constant stream of photons. However, these systems cannot differentiate between scattered and absorbed photons. But this new one—”
“Okay, I’m just gonna stop you right there,” I said, putting my hand up. “And remind you who you’re talkin’ to. You’re really gonna have to dumb all that down for me.” I gave him the smile he liked best. “Or just say it’s one of those helmet thingies with the white sticky pads.”
He kinda winced. “Well, it doesn’t have white sticky pads... Anyway, they’re incredibly expensive, so unless I can obtain some kind of study grant, which is highly unlikely given the nature of the experiment, it’s not likely I’ll be purchasing one any time soon.”
I reached over and squeezed his hand. “But you got the proper heart-rate monitor thingy?”
He smiled. “Yes.”
My phone rang, Bluetooth putting it through the stereo system. My brother’s name came on the dash screen.
I hit Answer. “Hey, butt nugget.”
“Hey, nut sac.”
Jeremiah’s eyes widened and I laughed. “You’re on speaker, and Jeremiah’s in the car.”
“Ah, the mystery man who’s been keeping you busy.”
Jeremiah’s eyes almost bugged out of his head, and with a grin, I squeezed his hand. “What do you want, Ellis? We’re heading home.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re in the car. It’ll save you a trip.”
“What for?”
“I need you to come to the office.”
“Can’t it wait till tomorrow? I’m back in the office tomorrow at eight.”
