Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Once the door is open, we all pile inside. The lab is a lot smaller than I thought, with a door at the other end that doesn’t seem like it leads outside, considering the size of the building. It reminds me of the labs at Stanford, purposed for learning more than doing anything.
Dr. Wu flicks on the lights and tells us all to grab a seat. Chairs are stationed along the counters that line half the room, microscopes, test tubes, scanners, and IVD instruments interspersed.
I sit down next to Lauren, one of the few seats that have a window. It’s only now that I realize the windows are one-way since I could never see inside the building.
Dr. Wu stands at the front of the room in front of a whiteboard that bears the ghostly scribbles of markers from the past.
“This is MiSeq, the DNA sequencer,” she says, patting the machine beside her. “I know this machine better than I know my own husband. Just kidding. I don’t have a husband.”
Some of us laugh at her cute yet awkward humor, yet as I look around, I realize this isn’t actually the lab. It’s just a learning lab. It’s just for us. The real work of the Madrona Foundation must be done elsewhere.
To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.
It’s while I’m looking around the room that I catch Clayton’s eyes. He looks worse for wear, and he gives me a look that says I told you so.
I quickly look away, trying to focus on Dr. Wu instead.
“I’m really excited to be teaching the lab this year,” she says, pressing her palms together. She’s so soft-spoken and genuine that I really like her, and I have a pressing need for her to like me. I guess I’ll have to be an exemplary student.
She starts talking about her role at the foundation, how long she’s been working here, and the current advancements they’ve made with Amanita excandesco and neurology.
“As you all know,” she continues, focusing on a space on the wall behind us, “a variety of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists have been able to halt stroke and traumatic brain injuries. When we discovered Amanita excandesco, we found it had similar properties to Hericium erinaceus. With the proper sequencing, we were able to isolate cyathin diterpenoids that showed biological activities as stimulators of NGF synthesis. In rats, at first, but eventually pigs and goats.”
She then goes on to tell us about how they found excandesco can cross the blood-brain barrier, going where lion’s mane can’t, and that the research they’ve done has built upon this, trying to figure out if simple supplements of their fungi can actually start either reversing inflammation in the brain or preventing it.
Suddenly, Dr. Wu trails off. She looks down at the floor, and her lower lip starts to tremble. “Then we…” she begins, her voice cracking. “Then Madrona Pharmaceuticals brought the funds and the equipment to…”
She covers her face with her hands.
Everyone in the class exchanges a what the fuck glance, not sure what to do.
Dr. Wu lifts up her head, tears streaming beneath her glasses. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.”
She turns and hurries out of the classroom, slamming the door behind her.
The fuck?
“What the hell was that?” Lauren asks. “Oh no. Do you think maybe she did have a husband, and now her husband is dead?”
But I’m barely listening to her.
I’m looking at Clayton.
He’s smiling at me.
My stomach clenches.
“Let’s go,” I say to Lauren, immediately getting to my feet and leaving the room. “Class dismissed.”
“What if she comes back?” she asks, though she’s right behind me. The rest of the class decides to do the same, branching out as we step outside.
“Then they’ll know where to find us,” I tell her. “It’s not like we can go far.”
“Want to go skip rocks on the beach?” Munawar asks.
“What are we, twelve?” Rav laughs.
“Sounds good to me,” I say. Anything to be out of that lab, to be away from Dr. Wu’s breakdown and Clayton’s fucking weird-ass vibes.
We take the path to the left and follow it through the bushes and down the rough dirt slope until we’re at the beach. I sit on a log beside Lauren, watching Rav and Munawar try to skip stones, both of them failing. The rocks sink with a plunk.
“How’s your head?” Lauren asks.
“It’s fine,” I tell her. “Just sore to touch.”
She leans in closer, a sly look in her eyes. “Rav said the two of you looked very close. You and Professor Kincaid. You know, when you fell.”
I roll my eyes. “He was just worried about me.”
“Uh-huh,” she says. “I don’t think you see what I see.”
“Apparently not,” I say. I bite my lip to keep from asking what it is. But it doesn’t work. “What do you see?”
She plays with the zipper on her UVIC hoodie. “Oh, just that he’s always looking at you. Staring at you. Even when you’re not looking. Especially when you’re not looking.”