Resurrection Hour - Hidden in Ice(Nanowrimo)

Chapter Thirteen

Hannah was happy to finally step into her sleeping quarters, free from the cumbersome clunky hazmat gear. Per their protocol, she showered before leaving the floor to remove any possible contaminants from her body. Her clothes were put in a plastic bag and tossed into a bin to be cleaned by their dry cleaning service, and they would eventually be dropped off in her suite. Sanitization practices made for an almost immaculate station. Cleaning crews could always be seen moving about the complex. Her room had already received a visit, which she thought would quickly become a favorite part of her stay here. No cleaning chores. After a long hard day, cleaning was the last thing on her mind.

Right now, she was ready to fall asleep for the rest of the night, or at least as long as she could sleep for. They had no set schedule of when they had to work so if she woke up at O'three hundred, she could just get up and go to the lab. It would probably be nice to work when everyone was sleeping, like Xavier for example. Having his eyes glued to her made it hard for her to concentrate. It's like he was claiming her behind with how hard he'd stared at it, then at her.

Of course, whenever she had turned to look at him, he wasn't even looking at her or maybe he wanted it to look like he wasn't. She knew he had to be thinking about earlier or maybe it was she who was thinking about it too much. And yep, that was definitely the case. His arms felt so comforting that it was hard to forget about it. She had even had the best sleep she'd had in a while, that was until he woke her up because of the new circumstances surrounding the boy.

Hannah groaned. They really had to come up with some other name for him instead of just "the boy." They couldn't keep calling him something so impersonal. It felt rude in a way, made it seem like he wasn't an actual person, but they could clearly see that he was.

With his blond hair, he kind of looked like a Josh to her, so maybe she could call him Josh. She'd had a friend when she was little that somewhat looked like him and his name was Joshua. His parents had eventually moved away, taking Josh with them, and she could remember feeling so lost as he was her first real friend.

Falling backwards on the bed, she bent her leg to remove her heels. She really had to stop wearing these things all day. For a few hours they were okay, but then the balls of her feet always started to hurt. She should trade them in for runners like Corey had. Brutal shoes were not a scientist's friend.

Tossing her shoes towards the door, Hannah relaxed back on the bed, relishing in the peace and quiet. Her world was often too noisy, and it surprised her to find out how busy it was here. Thankfully, she had some time to herself. Cheryl decided to stay in the lab with Flynn and continue recording Josh's activities. The station had cameras that did the same thing, so it wasn't overly necessary, but she liked having her own personal footage that she could view whenever she wanted. If she wanted to review the station's footage, she had to go through the proper channels and have it okayed by Director Adams, then it had to go through Xavier who dealt with all that.

As she lay there, his blue eyes twinkled in her mind. Life had certainly gotten much stranger since arriving at the station. She wasn't sure what was stranger though, having slept in his bed and not actually having sex or the fact that she allowed him to hold her. That was something she never allowed and hasn't allowed for quite some time.

But somehow amidst the deep pain and sorrow, she gave herself over to the need to be comforted. She appreciated his restraint more than he would ever realize. It was hard to accept but it made her appreciate him even more. Should she thank him somehow? On one hand, she wanted to forget all about it, but he was a friend when she needed it, and she knew she should thank him somehow.

Maybe after her nap, she could take him a beer. Without a personal kitchen, she couldn't really make him one of her house specialities, but there was a chance she could convince the station's chef to let her use his kitchen to make a wicked lemon meringue pie. After that, they should be even.