Unforgettable!

IV Of friends and lovers

4.1 Fort

I'm pacing up and down the lab. Na Fai shakes her head and goes back to her paperwork. I check my phone for the hundredth time even though Luc has promised he'll be here in ten minutes. But what if he's changed his mind? What if something had happened to him again?

When a light knock comes from the door twenty minutes later, I jump in my spot. My heart pounding in my throat. I try my best to look casual and collected.

"Come on in!" Na Fai shouts. "It's open."

Luc slides into the room. His hair is tousled like he ran his hands through it over and over again. He's in his uniform and with the arm sling. "Hi," he says, smiling at me. And I want to jump around and shout about all the wonders of Luc's smile from a rooftop. Instead, I awkwardly wave my hand and take a step closer to him.

There's someone else behind Luc. A guy our age, taller than Luc, with broad shoulders, and darker skin. He's dressed in a black T-shirt and black ripped jeans. He looks like a bass guitarist in a rock band. (In a local, unknown, unnamed rock band.) I don't like him.

Luc bites his lips and drops his gaze to the floor.

"Um," he says. "This is Mark. He wouldn't let me come here alone." He looks up at me. "I hope it's okay."

"Sawadee krap," Mark says. He doesn't look like he really wants to be here.

"Sawadee kha," Na Fai greets him and then turns to Luc. "This is your project, dear, and if you want Nong Mark to be here, it's absolutely fine." She smiles with a light nod. "Shall we start?"

I didn't know this is a plus-one kind of event. Let's just invite everyone here, shall we? I take a deep breath and swallow this ugly feeling. I should be better than this. I shouldn't dislike Luc's friends just because Luc didn't tell me about them. Or because they happen to be slightly handsome.

Luc sits at the desk with Na Fai. Mark and myself settle on the small black leather couch next to the table.

"Firstly, I need your permission to record everything we do here. I think it's in our interest to keep the footage just in case of – you know – any accidents. I can assure you, only you can have access to the files. Here," she gives him a tablet. "Create a password for the cloud storage."

Luc hesitates.

"Lu?" Mark says softly. "You know, you don't have to."

Luc nods and says, "It's okay. I trust professor." I can't help but smile. Hear this, Mark, Luc trusts us.

Luc types in the password and hands the tablet back to Na Fai and she turns on a little camera on her desk.

"Thank you. Now, my theory is your brain creates electric impulses that somehow find a way into other people's brains and damage synapses of all the neurons that carry the image of the last person they saw. So, if we find out what part of your brain does it and how it does it, there's a chance we find a way to block the impulses or reduce them."

Luc nods again. "That's what I thought as well."

"Great," Na Fai beams. "Fort said you agreed to a PET scan. Ever had it before?" Luc shakes his head. "Okay. So, for the scan, I have to give you a shot with a tracer," she says, opening a new syringe package.

I can see how Luc's face has gone white in a second. "A shot...," he repeats slowly, suddenly looking so young and vulnerable, like a scared little boy who got lost and forgotten by everyone he knew.

"Hey," I stand up and come to him. Luc looks up, eyes wide. "Remember how you beat up that jerk..."

"Language!" Na Fai says the same moment Luc protests with, "Ai Fort!"