Happy Friday everyone! Here is chapter 12 of Needing Cassidy! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 12
The next afternoon she had, once again, received a shipment of supplies that she felt the medical building had needed, and she had let herself in the side door. She couldn’t help the little swell of pride she got when she looked at the storage rooms now. The shelves were nearly stocked, neat and clean.
She had reorganized the space as well. Whatever system Tor had used, if he’d used one at all, didn’t make sense to her, so she’d moved all the first aid type supplies to the front, where it would be easier to access them in an emergency and then segregated the back of the room according to use. Lab supplies were one shelf, medications another, and so on.
All in all her little project was nearly complete and filled her with a satisfaction that surprised her. Her discussions with Tor, and their work with the mysterious orchard bacteria had brought out an uncomfortable awareness within her. One that pointed out how very mortal and vulnerable the compound was. She had been stewing over several solutions to the problem, including asking the scavenging team to bring back any medications they found expired or not. Maybe it was a bit delusional, but she hoped that even if the various concoctions were useless, they might be able to study them and replicate them somehow. She really had no idea of whether that was possible at all, and she planned to bring it up with Tor, as soon as the time was right.
The storage room restocked she made her way down the hallway to check her samples. She had some from the healthy trees sitting in richer medium, and some that she had infected with the orchard illness. It was maybe a little early to be able to see any results, but she was eager to check on them anyway.
Until she passed one of the examination rooms and caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A soft sob soon followed.
“Becky?” she peered in at the woman on the cot, bent forward and rocking a little, wringing her hands together. It was definitely Becky, but the woman looked...haggard. Tears immediately filled the woman’s eyes as she leapt up and ran to Cassidy, wrapping her in a hug. “What’s going on?” Cassidy managed.
“Oh God, Cass, you were right. You were so right.”
“Becky. What’s happening,” Cassidy felt her own anxiety rising.
“I didn’t want to come back. I ignored it but I should have come back,” Becky sobbed between sniffled.
Cassidy pushed the woman away until she could look her in the face. “You’re going to have to help me here.”
“My arm...my fingers. The numbness came back but I didn’t tell anyone and now…” she held out her arm. A wicked red rash spread along the underside, small little bumps raised until they looked almost painful. A stab of fear sliced through Cassidy.
“What if Tor is right, Cass? What if I’ve killed myself? I don’t want to die.”
Cassidy swallowed. The very real possibility that Becky had done just that didn’t escape her. Yet she wasn’t sure fear would change anything now. She patted Becky’s shoulder gently.
“Tor repaired Brine’s spinal cord, Becky, I think he can handle a little rash, you’ve just got to trust him, okay?”
Becky swallowed visibly, her panicked demeanor fading a little.
“I’m going to go and make sure the lab is ready if he needs it. Are you going to be okay for now?”
“Yeah...yeah, I think so. Thank you, Cass,” a little less nerve wracked, Becky went back to the cot.
Cassidy slipped out the door, a curtain of dread hanging over her. Whatever was wrong with Becky it wasn’t a simple vitamin deficiency. The trouble was, now Cassidy knew how very under-prepared they were for any serious illness. She was so lost in thought she nearly slammed into Tor as he rounded the corner out of one of the storage rooms, arms full of syringes and tubes, fury and concern etched in equal measures across his face.
“Hey, I just saw Becky, is there anything you need my help with?”
“The only thing I need is for you to get out of the way. Go and play in your gardens where you belong and stay out of here,” he hardly looked at her as he stormed past.
Cassidy stood, stunned for a long moment before the hurt and insult finally penetrated, made worse by the progress she had seemed to be making in his esteem. She’d thought they had been friends. Or, at least, she thought of him as a friend, apparently he didn’t think of her as anything at all.
That snarky thought was what caught her, she frowned at herself. No, she knew he had been growing fonder of her, at the very least he’d moved from tolerance to wary acceptance of her presence both in the medical building and in the lab. He’d done the same thing to Becky too, when she’d scared him with her first admission. He’d insulted her, pushed her away.
She allowed that knowledge to clear out the rest of her hurt and insulted pride. It, perhaps, wasn’t the best way for him to handle things, but knowing that he didn’t mean it, deep down, softened her a little.
She wasn’t leaving, that was certain. She could be helpful. She would simply make sure to stay out of his way until he remembered that.
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