Read Online The Chimera Sequence by Elliott Garber - Free Book Online Page B

charge at ease. She might need to get some lessons on this mysterious mountain gorilla language if she was going to stay on as a foster parent. Innocence knelt down and then stretched out in the nest of blankets, cuddling the infant in one arm while resting his scarred cheek on the other. She kept meaning to ask Cole about the scar. All she knew was that it happened at the same time he and Proper’s parents were killed. How could a child who had witnessed such horror mature into the kind and gentle man she now watched soothing this sick baby gorilla to sleep?
    “You should get to bed.”
    Cole gave her shoulder a squeeze. There it was again. How could he not realize what his touch did to her?
    “I know, I’m exhausted,” she whispered. “You too?”
    “Yeah, long day. I’m feeling okay, though, and need to go finish this second round of tests. I’ll walk you back first.”
    Marna started down the hard dirt path toward the apartments on the other side of the complex. They walked in silence. She listened to the repetitive call of a lonely tree frog. You’re not the only one, little guy. A dog barked in the distance.
    She finally spoke again when they reached her door. “So remind me why these tests can’t wait until morning?”
    Yikes, she didn’t intend for it to come out quite so boldly. But he was either denser or more skilled at hiding his true understanding than she expected.
    “I need to at least confirm the results of the assays I’ve already done before getting the word out more widely tomorrow. If it’s really monkeypox that’s killing those gorillas, then this is a much more virulent strain than anyone’s ever seen before.”
    “And if it’s not?”
    “Then we’re in even more trouble,” Cole answered. “And I’m on my way to infectious disease fame, or at least my first paper in one of the major journals.”
    Marna usually loved that playful grin, but his eyes betrayed the hungry ambition behind his humor.
    “So that’s what this is all about, then? Getting your name in the papers and moving on up in the world?”
    He looked hurt. “Marna, I’m just kidding around. Sure, I want to be successful in my work, but I hope you know how much I care, too. If I only wanted to be rich and famous I definitely shouldn’t have spent most of my life in school becoming a research veterinarian.”
    “I know, sorry.” And she was. His unconscious rejection stung a little, but that was no reason to respond in kind. “I guess I’m just tired, that’s all.”
    She unlocked the door. Better not to go down that road tonight, anyway.
    “Hey.” Cole reached out and grasped her hand, gently pulling her whole body into his. “You’re beautiful when you’re tired, then, you know that?”
    Marna let herself fold into his steady arms as she felt three months’ worth of unfulfilled tension lift off into the dark Rwandan night.
    A blissful minute passed before they were discovered. The pesky whine at Marna’s ear stopped abruptly to reveal itself as a hungry mosquito on the side of Cole’s neck. She jumped out of his embrace and smacked him with a practiced hand.
    “You still haven’t gotten your malaria meds refilled, have you?” she asked, laughing and opening her fingers to show an incredulous Cole the culprit smeared across her palm.
    “Well, no, but I would have happily accepted the risk for another few minutes like that!” He pulled her back in.
    But now the tides were turned, and Marna knew she had broken his resolve. She looked up at him happily and then moved her hands up along his body and against his chest to push him away.
    “I hate to do this to you now, but you really do need to get back to that lab.”
    “Woah, woah, just when you finally convinced me it could wait?”
    “I know, but I guess that mosquito brought me back to reality. I will remain ready to hear about how beautiful I am any time you please.”
    The look of resigned angst on Cole’s face was irresistible, and she