Days went by since that strange incident occurred. Richard kept having difficulty sleeping because of nightmares from past events he couldn’t comprehend. He also had a hard time focusing on work, so Emily gave him time off to relax and get his mind off the gutter.

One night, he trudged down the stairs and headed to the kitchen for something to drink. Richard opened the refrigerator to pour himself some milk, when he overheard a muffled conversation behind a door. He leaned over to the door and tried to eavesdrop without getting caught. But the voices on the other side were faint, as he only made out certain phrases.

“I don’t want any of it!” Someone retorted. “Stop it, I said I’m fine!”

“Come on, this is for your own good. I’m trying to help you here!” A familiar voice thundered. “This will make you better in the long run, trust me.”

Richard had no clue what was going on. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to interfere, as it’s none of his business. Emily might be arguing with a patient again, trying to get them to take that bitter medicine, go to sleep, or something else entirely.

Richard walked back and took a small sip. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know much about her, aside from the basics. She would always tell him he wasn’t ready to learn about the ‘complicated’ details of her job.

How long had he known Emily? What did she even mean by that? Was this a part of that job? Would he be able to get a sneak peek beforehand? It was rude to eavesdrop, but this sparked a wonderful opportunity. Richard walked over and leaned toward the doorknob.

“Is someone there?” A muffled voice spoke.

Richard jumped back, nearly dropping his glass, and only making a small drop spill on the floor. He attempted to clean up the mess before sprinting out of the area.

.-.-.-.

In the early morning, Richard trudged toward the lounge, where Emily checked a list of things to do for today. She glanced up and gave him a warm smile.

“Oh, hey there Ritchie.” She greeted him. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep well, for starters,” Richard replied, stretching his arms.

“Really? You don’t look good. Did you take some of—?”

“Your medications? Yes, but...”

“Is that vision still bothering you? You shouldn’t worry about it too much.” Emily reminded him.

“I know, but it’s been bothering me ever since.” Richard acknowledged. “I need to get my mind out of the gutter.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Exactly.” Emily nodded.

“Hey, I got an idea.” Richard brightened up a little. “Why don’t I go get the mail? It should be easy for me to do, no problem.”

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Richard went outside to go retrieve the mail from the mailbox. He glanced in different directions as his heart pounded out of his chest. Would anything unusual or suspicious appear today? Between clear blue skies, soft green grass, and no people around, it seemed unlikely. He sighed and lowered his guard. Still, what happened the other day, was it a bad dream or not? It looked like that girl was there, but where’d she go?

Richard turned, about to go back to his haven, when the wind blew hard and caught him off guard. He kept his stance and squinted his eyes, watching where he walked without tripping. He also didn’t want to get anything stuck in his eyes, when a flying force hit him squarely in the face. Richard nearly lost his balance and fell, but stayed in place, despite the impact sending him shocks all over his body. He ripped the object off him and found it to be a piece of paper. His eyes glanced at the article; it turned out to be a flyer.

“Help Wanted: Test Center of Developed Immunogenics requires assistance for a super-secret experiment. Your award will be plentiful, and any help is appreciated and welcomed.”

Huh. Wait, maybe... Richard hurried back inside as soon as possible.

This could give him a big break. Whatever this is, they wouldn’t have to worry about a lack of budget for their work and resources.

“Hey, Emily!”

“Oh, you made it back, and you seem chipper,” Emily stated as she turned to face him. “What’s the matter?”

“I have a question for you. You know how we don’t have a lot of money now, right? And how I keep spending your allowance on things I don’t need?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“I was thinking of trying something out.” Richard handed Emily the flyer. “You know, to earn money myself.”

When Emily read the flyer, her eyes widened. She gripped the paper tightly. “Where did you find this?”

“Oh, uh, drifting along by the wind. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t want you involved with that place or anyone working there.” She retorted coldly. “Trust me, you need to stay away from them at all costs!”

“But... why?”

Emily twitched her eye and forced out a smile.

“Look, I mean, it’s not like those guys over there could truly provide us and use their machines for more important stuff, like, I don’t know, helping us?”

“...Oh.”

Richard seemed taken aback by the remark and her outburst. Emily’s face softened, seeing she went too far and took a breather to calm down. “Look, the last thing I want is for something bad to happen to you.”

Silence followed soon after. Emily cleared her throat and tried to change the subject, but couldn’t think of anything. She looked down to check on her watch and gasped.

“Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot, I need to get my supplies from the store!” She darted around the room. “I can’t leave this place unattended, but if I don’t get my delivery on time...”

“No need to worry, I can go get it for you.” Richard offered.

“Are you absolutely sure? Can you handle it after that...?”

“Yeah, I think I can. Could you tell me the coordinates of this store?”

“Of course. I hope you can get it on time. I’m counting on you.”

She’s counting on me? “Ok, I won’t let you down.”