You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Six

"Biiitch..." Brielle gave no reaction to the comment when the door to the lab slid open. She crutched her way around to her desk, and Ghost tilted his head to the side. "Youuu loook like shiiit..." when she reached her office chair, she switched off the music, leaned her crutches against the end of the desk and eased down into the chair before reclining as far as the seat would let her and closed her eyes. An annoyed growl left the vat, and she rolled her head exasperatedly to the side, her grey eyes glaring at the creature with all the patience she could muster.

"Well you're not exactly a runway model yourself, shit-nugget!" The creature tilted his head to the side in curiosity and Brielle returned to her previous position. "A truck hit me on the highway. I'm supposed to be in the hospital right now, but I figured you were getting tired of the same list repeating over and over again." A familiar clicking sound filled the room but she tried to ignore it. It felt like an eternity passed before sleep overcame her aching body, the deafening silence pounding inside her head.
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The ringing of her office phone pulled her out of a groggy, drug induced unconsciousness and she lazily placed the receiver against her face. "H-hello?" Silence was her answer. "Hello..!" Her tone was more harsh because the reality of being woken up was beginning to set in alongside the pain and stiffness that was stemming from her leg.

"I have your meds, Brielle."

"Who is this?" The irritation didn't waver.

"Gregory Brooks. I'm trying to enter your office, but your door locks aren't responding."

"Because you're not authorized."

"I own the company. The only way I wouldn't be authorized would be if someone were to hack into the systems and override the administrator accesses." Hearing this seemed to make the woman more aware, and suddenly her heart rate spiked.

"Oh, uh, someone should definitely...your systems must be...hold on, I'll come to the door." She quickly placed the receiver back down and took a few deep breaths to calm herself as she reached for her crutches and forced her body out of the chair. She barely managed the action without crying out from the immense pain. It wasn't just in her leg anymore, it had spread through her entire body.

As she hobbled toward the door, Project Ghost watched as Brielle made her way around the desk to disable to locking mechanism which in turn allowed the CEO access to the room. The being let out a threatening growl but this time Gregory only looked at him before handing the woman a small, white paper bag and a grocery sack. "Two pain killers, one muscle relaxer, one nausea medicine. Don't take them on an empty stomach, because you'll definitely be doubled over a toilet. I went ahead and brought you a chicken sandwich, some fruit, and two bottles of water. I figured you'd be needing the meds by now, and you won't need to get up as much through the night to get something to drink."

"Thanks. You didn't have to do all of this. You didn't even have to get the prescriptions."

"We both know I had to." A heavy silence fell between them, and Brooks turned to leave. "My mother has you in her prayers. She also said if you don't rest like you're supposed to, she'll come up here and make you wish the truck had done a better job at killing you."

Brielle laughed before cringing in pain. "Tell her I said 'hi' and 'thanks'." Brooks nodded and walked down the hallway to leave. As Brielle stepped back inside the room, she tossed the medicine and food items onto her desk and made her way towards the bathroom extension of the lab. She noticed Project Ghost watching her as she went, and she arched a brow in curiosity. "What?"

"You are mates..." She couldn't tell if the phrase had been a question or a statement, but she did notice that the words had not been as botched as before.

"We're not. His mother wanted us to be in a relationship, but it didn't get far. Now it's just an awkward work environment and his mother still makes him be nice to me." A devilish smile crossed her tired features as she stopped next to the cryogenic tank for a moment. "Of the two of us, I'm her favorite. And she always makes a point to remind him of it." Rapid clicking echoed from within the tank; it almost sounded similar to a giggle or chuckle. "I'll be right back, Ghost." She crutched the rest of the way to the bathroom and returned nearly ten minutes later.

"O'kaor." She looked at him in confusion as she eased back into her office chair before opening the sack of medicine and placing the various bottles on her desk.

"What was that?"

"O'kaor. It is my name." Her grey eyes widened in shocked surprise as she took in this information. "You will not be able to pronounce it in your tongue."

"O'k-... O'kore?"

"No."

"O'kroe..?"

"No."

Brielle pursed her lips as she opened the first bottle of medication and took the prescribed dosage with a large gulp of water. "O'krie-oar."

"Stop."

"I'll figure it out at some point. Until then, what can I call you?" Silence was her answer. "How about Jeff?"

"No."

"Maurice?"

"I will rip out your spine from your oral cavity."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Bob." A low growl echoed through the room and the woman fought the urge to laugh. "I don't like calling you 'Project'. How about we stick with 'Ghost' for right now. We can think of something better later on." He cocked his head to the side at her phrasing, and she took the second pill with another sip of water before taking a few bites of diced watermelon. "It's late, I'm tired, and if I'm lucky these pills will knock me out soon."

"You will return to your dwelling?"

Brielle shook her head before taking the third and fourth pills and unwrapped the chicken sandwich. "No, I'm going to stay here for a few days. I always keep spare clothes, and there's a pullout mattress on the far wall. I don't have a mode of transportation right now and don't care enough to pay someone to drive me around." The usual clicking sound filled the air, and Brielle took a few bites of the sandwich as she slowly outstretched her free-moving leg. "I usually spend more time here than I do at my house, anyway. I feel like I live here as it is."