Olivia grabs the front of her sweater, trying her best to pull the wet fabric away from her skin, grimacing.
“Olivia, you need to go change right away,” Tracy instructs her, her voice surprisingly calm. “Do you have any extra clothes?”
A flash of worry passes in Olivia’s eyes. “No.”
She immediately looks at Delilah, who gives her an apologetic look, letting her know that she doesn’t have any extra clothes with her either. Instantly, I whip off my hoodie and offer it to her.
“Olivia, go change in the restroom and be sure to wash your skin off thoroughly,” Tracy says. “It should be fine, but if your skin starts to get red or irritated let me know immediately.”
“Come on, Finch,” I say, gently grabbing her arm and leading her out of the lab.
She carefully steps over the dead rat at her feet and follows me down the hall to the nearest restroom, still clutching the front of her sweater, preventing it from touching any more of her skin.
“Are you okay?” I ask, holding the ladies’ restroom door open for her.
“Yeah,” she mumbles. “Thankfully my sweater is pretty thick, so not much seeped through.” She breezes past me, and I go to follow her inside. “What are you doing?” she asks, looking back at me, eyes wide.
“Um, coming to help you?”
She looks at me as if I have two heads. “Bronx, this is theladies’room,” she whisper-shouts, like it’s the biggest crime of the century if I step foot inside to help her.
I try my best not to roll my eyes. “Finch, I’m just coming in to help you, people will understand. No one’s even in there anyway,” I point out. “Hello!” I call into the restroom, my voice echoing off the tiled walls of the small space.
Silence.
“See,” I say, my point proven. “I’ll even make sure to lock the main door so no one comes in.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll just clean up and change and you can stand outside the door to make sure no one tries to come in.”
I open my mouth to argue but end up shutting it, realizing she may not be comfortable with me being around when she has to change. I think about offering to turn around when she swaps clothes to still try to help her, but decide against it, not wanting to push her or waste any more time.
“Okay,” I grumble.
She gives me an appreciative smile, standing on her tiptoes to place a kiss on my cheek before slipping into the restroom. The lock to the main door clicks into place once the door is fully shut, and I lean on the wall right next to the door, my arms crossed over my chest.
In the silence of the hallway I’m able to hear the faint sound of the faucet running behind the door, water splashing as Olivia washes off the formaldehyde that touched her skin.
Standing here, I mull over what just happened, knowing this without a doubt was some sort of petty revenge instigated by Adrianna, which makes my blood boil.
It’s one thing to mess with me, but there’s no way I’m going to allow her to make Olivia’s life a living hell at my expense. I did Adrianna wrong, not Olivia. Adrianna has another think coming if she thinks she can get away with this.
I make a mental note to talk to her later to set things straight.
Down the hall I hear a door open and close, and I peek around the corner to see Delilah walking down the hallway, her dark curls bouncing with each step.
“How is she?” she asks, walking closer.
I give a helpless shrug. “She could be better.”
Delilah frowns, rounding me and the corner to push open the restroom door, only to find it locked. She knocks on it twice, her voice cutting through the wood. “Liv, it’s me. Do you need any help in there?”
“No, I’m okay.” Olivia’s voice drifts from behind the door over the sound of the running water.
Delilah huffs in defeat and I frown, wishing she would at least let Delilah in to help her.
Delilah slumps on the other side of the door, waiting with me.
“What happened in there?” I ask, my tone hushed so Olivia doesn’t hear.
