REM // Van McCann

46. Please Help Me!

Tuesday

For the first time in a while, I looked forward to my session with Florence. Maybe it's because we're going under her dream and I don't have to worry about mine until Thursday. From now on, I'm going under her dream with a different mindset. Not only will I be training her, I'll be looking for clues for why she's so adamant about going under my dreams. This was slightly reminiscent of Bondy's dream manipulation project where he didn't tell us what he was going to change. Florence won't tell me the reason; I'll have to look for it.

I was on the phone with Paul, our friend who makes anesthesia for us. We've been going through it a lot faster. We used to order one canister every two months but now we order it once a month. Paul makes this in his free time in addition to his normal job and I wanted to see if we could put a standing order now that we have an idea of how much we're consuming, assuming Florence and Roman will stay on the study for months. It would make things easier not having to remember to call him.

"Hi Van, how are you doing?" Paul asked.

"I'm good, mate," I replied. I didn't have much time to chat as Florence will be here in fifteen minutes so I quickly got to the point. "It looks like we consume one canister a month now. Can we put in a standing order so we don't have to call you every time?"

"Yeah, that works. When do you want them delivered? I can deliver two canisters every two months or one canister a month."

"How stable is nitrous oxide? Is there a significant difference if you deliver it once every two months or once a month?"

"It's pretty stable if kept at room temperature and pressurized. Just keep it in a well-ventilated area and don't expose it to extreme heat."

"Well then, I'll leave it up to you. It doesn't affect us as long as we have some on hand."

"I prefer to make a big batch once every two months so I'll do that. When should I start this standing order?"

"Why don't we start on the first of February and then refill every two months?" I suggested.

"Sounds good. Since you're doubling your consumption, I must double the price. I'll send you the invoice when I deliver the first batch."

"Sounds good. Thanks."

I hung up and pulled up our excel spreadsheet which keeps track of all our expenses. Our sponsor doesn't mind as this doesn't change how much he gives us. We always have some overage so this extra cost is covered by it. We do have to inform him of any changes so when the invoice comes, I'll have to explain the increase of price and how our consumption has doubled expanding our study to two additional participants. That should be easy to explain but it's an extra document I have to submit.

I doubled the volume of nitrous oxide and the cost in the spreadsheet and told Bondy and Larry about the change I made, telling them I'll submit the change request to the sponsor as soon as the invoice comes in. Bondy thanked me for taking care of that and then I heard a knock on the door. I got up, straightening my shirt and walked towards the door. When I opened it, Florence was smiling. A part of me was relieved she was wearing more modest clothing. The image of her black bra under her sheer top is still on my mind.

Florence walked in, hanging her coat on the coat rack along with her purse. She stepped further into the room saying hello to everyone. At the beginning, she would only talk to me but now she makes it a habit to make small talk with Bondy and Larry.

"Did you have a good weekend?" Larry asked.

"Oh yeah!" she replied sarcastically. "You can ask Van all about it. Isn't that right, Van?"