Chapter Forty-Three
*Poe*
Getting my foreverwith Dax was turning out to be quite the challenge. The good news? Dr. Shaw had created a new version of Dax’s formula without the ingredient I had turned out to be deathly allergic to. The bad news? Finding a way to get the second dose I needed without Dax discovering the truth.
There would be no forever with Dax without the second dose, but I knew Dax would never allow it to get anywhere near me. I couldn’t blame him for that, but Ineededthat second dose. And I needed it soon. For the first few days after I woke up, I had felt pretty good but now, the first dose had started to fade and I was feeling the effects. I felt drained, like the life was being sucked right out of me. Nausea had become my new best friend and I found myself forcing waffles in, hoping they didn’t come back up. I had started to think I would never be able to look at waffles again after this whole thing was over.
Added to that was the fact that my vision had started to resort back to when I needed glasses, but I couldn’t put them back on without causing suspicion, so I learned to play the ‘hope you don’t run into anything’ game. To tell the truth, I sucked at playing it.
Then there was the guilt. I hated the fact I was doing this behind his back, but I couldn’t bring myself to make him watch me go through it a second time. If I told him what would happen without the second dose, I knew he would agree to give it to me to save me, but the terror he would feel as he forced himself to give me the injection would be something that would haunt us both forever.
I would never forget how ragged he looked when I woke up that first morning, or the sight of him as he broke down in the shower. No, it was better this way. Dr. Shaw had to do it this time. I needed to spare Dax the pain of the second injection.
That was why I found myself sitting on an exam table as Dr. Shaw ran a scanner over my body for the third time this week, seriously hoping that she had come up with some kind of plan because I sure hadn’t. Dax had been my ever-present shadow, refusing to leave my side even for a second, and that had made getting the second dose nearly impossible.
Meeting Dr. Shaw’s eyes, she gave me a slight nod of her head from above the scanner. I only had seconds to process that before Acer came speeding through the lab doors, heading right for us.
He skidded to a stop, his golden eyes flashing brightly. “Dax, I need you to come to my quarters right now. Ever needs you.”
“Why?” Dax’s brow wrinkled, his hands clutching at the edges of his lab coat, concern blooming on his features. “Is she okay?”
“If I knew what was wrong with her, you think I’d be here?” Acer growled. “Ineedyou, Science Model.”
Dax’s eyes found me. “Are you going to be okay here without me?”
Acer glared at him. “We are wasting time.” His metal hand shot out to grab Dax’s arm. “Let’s go,” he snarled.
Something was wrong with Ever? My pulse picked up speed, my whole body tensing. “Go, Dax. I am fine,” I shooed him towards the door. “Ever needs you.”
Dax nodded, letting Acer drag him to the doorway then push him out of it. Acer followed, but before he slipped out of the door completely, he looked over his shoulder to flash me a grin.
That sneaky bastard.I glanced back at Dr. Shaw just in time to see her pull out a syringe from her lab coat pocket. “Once Dax realizes we tricked him, all hell is going to break loose, so it’s now or never my dear.”
I glanced nervously at the door.Please let this work. “Do it.” Dr. Shaw pierced my neck with the needle, the contents emptying into my system with a quick press of the plunger.
I thought I had braced myself for the pain, but when the first wave struck, I slid off the exam table, my knees buckling with the pain. Strong arms grabbed my arms, keeping me upright, and I caught flashes of red and green out the corner of my eyes, my brain barely registering the sight of Rust and Axios holding on to me. Those two cyborgs were the only things that had kept me from hitting the floor. Tears flooded my vision as wave after wave of pure agony exploded in my body, but I refused to scream, knowing all of the cyborg rebellion would come running if I did.
Burning from the inside out, my body remade itself into something more, something that would fix me and give me forever with my cyborg.Worth it,I chanted in my head until the pain finally receded, and I sagged in Rust and Axios’s grasp.
A cool cloth swiped along my forehead. “It’s over, Poe. You did so good my dear.” Dr. Shaw ran the scanner over me, smiling when she saw the results.
“It worked?” I asked with hesitation, afraid to believe it even though the smile on Dr. Shaw’s face confirmed the truth.
The smile on her face grew bigger, and she pulled me out of Axios’s and Rust’s arms to hug me tight to her frame. “It worked perfectly, and I am happy to report I am officially your mother-in-law for all of your now infinite lifetime.”
Pure joy raced through my system. We had done it. I squeezed an oomph out of Dr. Shaw, then pulled free of the hug to meet her shining eyes. “Not only did you give me forever with the cyborg of my dreams, I get the woman who brought him to life as my mother-in-law. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.” I grasped her hand, giving it a squeeze. “There would be no Dax without you. Thank you.” I hesitated. It seemed really formal to call her Dr. Shaw after everything that had happened, but I wasn’t quite ready to call her ‘mom’ yet, either. Everyone at the cyborg rebellion acted like she didn’t have a first name. She did. And I knew what it was from all of my research. After all that we had just gone through together, now would be an okay time to use.
Here goes nothing. “Thank you, Josephine, for everything.”
Her face lit up. “No one’s called me that in years! The cyborgs refuse to use it out of respect and well, the few humans we have living here now don’t know it.”
“I have kind of have been your biggest fan since I was little. I spent most days studying everything about you and the cyborgs you created that I could get my hands on.” I shrugged, a blush creeping up my cheeks. Admitting to being Dr. Shaw’s biggest fan was a tad embarrassing, but what the hell, I was going to own it. “Everything has been so crazy that it hadn’t occurred to me until now that I had never heard anyone call you by that name. Hopefully you don’t mind.”
She smiled. “It’s nice to be Josephine again. You are free to call me that anytime you like my dear.”
The smile that spread across my face matched hers.