Spilling Guts

Part 15 - Timing

Laying on the floor like a petulant cat, Louis dug his right fingers into the stubby carpet fibers. He looked up at the underside of the desk and focused on the thin shaft of hallway light that leaked through the cracked door. During test days there was a prickling that accompanied the sudden growth back to his normal size. He theorized that on test days, Rachel had been trying to see if he could trigger it faster with breathing exercises. Might as well try it now.

Louis imagined his whole body bathed in light, bubbling around him like champagne with tiny sparks of energy.

Draw in that light like a sponge and make it flip the switch, thought Louis. Get me back to normal.

For a split second he felt a vibration. Shit, was it working? Was he triggering something?

No, he realized. It was his phone on the desk.

"Crap!" Louis leapt to his feet, glaring at the height that made his barely three inches useless. Last time he tried to scale something taller than a boot he had been made very aware of his lack of climbing gear. His phone kept ringing. Probably something important because important calls only happen when you can't reach them. Maybe Mrs. Jasmine Watts with more information. Or Megan and Teegan. And he was stuck on the ground.

"How is this my fuckin' life?!" he yelled to the empty room.

***

Will walked down the hall at a slow pace, as if every footfall was needed to kinetically process his latest session with Balcuwitz. He had assumed he'd been knocked out, laid on a gurney, and then pumped with an anti-emetic appetizer before having to swallow down Louis. Worrying thoughts scuttled through his mind of what could have been done in the moments he'd been unconscious.

On top of the unknown past, he had present and future worries.

What would the meeting with Jacob be like? Am I really going to be sick if I don't get sleep? Will I even get sleep tonight? Is Louis going to forgive me after using his money today for lunch? I could pay him back. Why can't I sleep? Why do I keep having those nightmares? Is Louis...

Will heard a faint familiar voice cursing a blue streak from the door he was passing. "Louis?"

Curiosity and worry guided his hand as he knocked at the door, causing it to open.

***

In the middle of a rant detailing the pointy objects Louis would like to ram down Yanif Retten's throat, the slim crack of light became a pillar. The yelling died as his body felt like static and for a moment lighter than air. Then his head hit the underside of the desk.

"Fuck-ing hell!" He put his left hand over his head and then glared at whoever opened the damn door. Yes, he had wanted to get taller, but the timing had been shitty.

Silhouetted in the door was shaggy haired, haggard, Will.

"Sorry." Will held his hands up and walked away.

Louis sat on the floor, watching the now empty doorway. That was your chance, dumbass.

The phone vibrated again. Louis, his eyes already aching from the light, and head pounding, grabbed his shades first and then tapped his phone. "Patriarch. What?"

He heard the background noise of an engine and a crackle indicating a phone on loudspeaker.

"Bad time?" said Teegan.

Louis bit back another curse. Last thing he wanted was Teegan or Megan mad at him, especially when he still needed clearance to the Grovic files. Also, he didn't want to be the "volunteer" next time they did a martial combat presentation. "Sorry. What's up?"

Wow, that was easy. Saying sorry. Just like that. Drop it like a dime and mean it. Why is it so hard for you to say that to Will?

"Meg and I were curious if you found anything new on the Grovic case," said Teegan.

"Also why you were looking into it after all this time?" added Megan.

"I was looking it up because of something unrelated." Good lie, thought Louis. "But I haven't found much other than a possible red flag for tracking down other victims."

Louis summarized his findings so far; how the victims had fared, and their common trait of sleep disorders. He tried to keep detached when referring to his notes on the victims' fates. He remembered Hannah, how she had a good deadpan humor. He felt bad knowing she was still struggling two years later.

"I mean it's not like we can cross reference everyone taking melatonin before bed, but it's something we can look out for." Louis packed up his tablet and notes. Best to walk and talk. He needed to update Rachel on his "incident". And a bag of ice for his head. "Maybe get some support in place for victims with insomnia so they don't end up as a worst case scenario."

"That's some good work," said Meg. High praise indeed. "Once we're done with this part of our case we'll try to work with you on this further."

"How much more time do you need with the case you're working now?" asked Louis. His arm was getting tired from holding the phone up. No wonder Cetz used a headset.

"If things go poorly, two days," said Teegan. "If things go well, who knows."

"Don't you just love ambiguous deadlines?" muttered Louis. He passed the overview and stairs that lead down into Main Tech and his desk. And possibly Will. He kept his sights on Rachel's lab.

"Hilarious," Teegan deadpanned.

"How's the patent work coming?" asked Megan.

"No one needs to remake a cheese grater," said Louis. "And those aren't cheese graters. If it comes with a notice that it "shouldn't be used in circumcision", it was not meant to be a cheese grater."

Teegan snorted. "Amen to that. We'll be working late tonight, but don't overwork yourself, got it? Call if you need anything."

Louis' phone clicked to silence just as he reached the Med Lab.