© Christina Hadfield
SOPHOMORE YEAR
Once again, without preamble, Tess burst into Dr. Morgan’s office. This time, she dropped a paper bag on the woman’s desk before she continued over to her usual spot on the couch. She sat, pulled out a sandwich, and began to eat as she flipped through some papers. Dr. Morgan stared at the bag on her desk.
Tess’s presence had become a weekly staple in Dr. Morgan’s life. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, Tess would drop in around lunch time and sit on Dr. Morgan’s couch while she waited for her next class to start. They hardly ever said a word to each other, other than Dr. Morgan’s initial complaining, but she wasn’t about to let the girl think she was growing fond of her presence.
Tess, to some degree, already knew, however. She figured that if her weekly presence really bothered and irritated Dr. Morgan, the woman would in the very least shut and lock her door to keep Tess out. However, every day the office door was open, if only a crack, allowing Tess to barge in.
“What… is this?” Dr. Morgan questioned, poking the paper bag with her pen.
“Lunch,” Tess answered simply. “Told you we were going to have to test my chewing hypothesis. So, chop, chop. Start eating so we can figure out who chews louder.”
“I already ate,” Dr. Morgan answered, which was a lie, but the girl didn’t need to know that.
“One bite won’t kill you. It’s for science.”
“And I repeat, the fact that you think something as frivolous as this is science is frankly insulting to scientists world-wide.”
“You’re the only scientist who wouldn’t approve of an excuse to eat food.”
Dr. Morgan scowled, though her curiosity got the better of her and she reached for the bag, curious as to what Tess had gotten her. She was stunned to silence when she saw what was in the bag. It was food from the on-campus café, the one she frequented herself. Being a creature of habit, she only ever got the same thing: half a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup and half of a tomato caprese sandwich with extra tomatoes. She opened the sandwich hesitantly, counting the tomatoes, and yes, there were extra. She was positive Dr. Greenwood was the only person alive who knew her order, and that was only because she picked them up lunch once several months ago.
Tess nonchalantly watched Dr. Morgan investigating her meal. After a moment, Tess stated, “It’s your favorite, I do believe, though correct me if I’m wrong.”
Dr. Morgan looked to the girl, her expression near unreadable. “How did you…?” she asked, though she didn’t manage to put her thoughts fully into words.
“I’ve seen the remnants on your desk every now and again,” Tess answered simply. “I never saw any other choices, so I figured you must only ever get the same thing.”
“The extra tomatoes?” Dr. Morgan questioned, and she hated how her voice caught on the last syllable.
Tess winked at her. Dr. Morgan blinked heavily, trying to figure out if she had really winked at her, or if it had been her imagination. The big grin Tess wore would imply the wink had been real. She looked back down at the sandwich in her hands, and then, realizing just how hungry she was, she brought it to her lips and took a bite.
“You definitely chew louder than me,” Tess stated after a moment.
Dr. Morgan wrinkled her nose. “Your evidence, Miss Stanford?” she declared.
Tess held up her phone, displaying a scam app, clearly displaying a phony decibel meter. “One-thirty!” Tess gasped. “You’re nearly off the charts!”
“That’s as loud as a jet taking off. I do believe you’ve been scammed; your decibel meter is clearly broken.”
“One-fifty!” Tess gasped. “Dr. Morgan, you’ve burst my eardrums with your chewing!”
Dr. Morgan shook her head, but she found she couldn’t scold the girl. Instead, she turned away, and choked out, “Haven’t you a class to get to?”
“Oh, crap!” Tess muttered out, knocking her things over as she scrambled to stand. She collected her things and hurried towards to door.
Before she could slip out entirely though, Dr. Morgan stated, “Thank you… for lunch,” and Tess was beaming the rest of the week.
“You’re doing it wrong!”
“It’s the last lab of the year, come on! I thought you said this was going to be your dropped lab, anyway.”
“That’s not the point, Tess!” Kai whined. “It can be my dropped lab, but our third lab could also be my dropped lab if I get a hundred on this, and I’m not trying to check out before final grades are in!”
“Fine. If you care so much, you can do this step,” Tess replied, stepping aside.
“We’re out of here,” the group beside them declared.
“Are you guys done already?” Tess questioned.
“No, but we’re sick of waiting around. It’s just going to be our dropped lab. Later! Have a good break!”
“See?” Tess stated pointedly.
Kai ignored her comment. “Hey, see if they have any leftover hydrochloric acid, will ya?”
Tess peered into the hood next to her, scanning the various containers that group had left behind. She reached out, noting one that was labeled HCl. “I think they have some here in this weigh boat, though I couldn’t tell you why they put it in that,” Tess answered, bringing it over to Kai.
“Fabulous,” Kai commented. “Here, pour it into this beaker. And then pour this in while I add this. I don’t have enough hands.”
Tess, hardly paying attention and dreaming about the nice summer day outside, did as Kai told her and poured the liquid into a beaker Kai had set up. She held the beaker, waiting for Kai to finish her step and give her the okay. Kai was just about done when she glanced over to Tess and gasped, “The beaker!”
Tess’s eyes flew down towards the beaker she was holding, noting that it was bubbling and now quite hot. She dropped it on instinct, both girls turning away from the hood right as the beaker exploded. They both screamed, their TA screamed, and Tess fell to the floor. The TA asked what had happened, and Kai rattled off and apologized. They noted that the hood glass had kept in most of the shrapnel, luckily for the girls, and Tess slowly stood, her heart pounding.
“My… my arm kind of stings…” Tess muttered, holding up her left arm.
Something had definitely hit her arm. She was in short sleeves, as the weather was nice, and there was the shine of a liquid residue splattered on her forearm. Where the liquid touched, it was clearly affecting the skin.
The TA yelped, practically dragging Tess back to a sink, sticking her arm straight under the water. “What chemical was that?” she demanded.
“We thought it was HCl, but we mixed it and there was a reaction, so it might not have been HCl and—” Kai gasped, panicking nearly as hard. “Tess! Your shirt looks wet! Did it get on your side too?”
Tess struggled to turn and look at her side, but her TA simply jerked her apron back, noting the damage. “You need to get to the shower, right now,” she snapped, tugging Tess into the hall. “Kai, go call safety and the lab coordinator!”
“On it!” Kai saluted, rushing for the phone on the wall.
“Watch my phone!” Tess shouted, pulling her phone out of her pants pocket and tossing it to Kai. Kai spun, catching the cell phone, before she continued on her duty.
“How are you feeling?” the TA asked as she pulled Tess down the hall towards the safety shower.
“Fine, I guess,” Tess answered with a shrug. Her arm stung, but the rest of her felt fine. “Are you sure the shower is necessary? I heard it’s super cold and—”
“Yes, it’s necessary,” the TA answered. “If we don’t keep a constant stream on it, your burn will be far worse, and we have to get your clothes off before that spot starts soaking through to your skin.”
“There’s a possibility that it’s just water,” Tess tried to joke, but the TA clearly didn’t see the amusement in it.
The TA positioned Tess under a shower head out in the hall. She pulled the privacy curtain closed around Tess, instructing her on what to do, and stated that as soon as the lab coordinator made it down, she’d go fetch Tess a robe. Then, she flicked on the water and ducked out from the curtain.
Tess nearly screamed when the water hit her. It was indeed ice cold, just like all the stories she had heard from other unfortunate students. She bit her lip though, focusing to fight through the temperature. Methodically she removed her clothes, careful to not invert any of them against her skin, as she had been instructed, and then she simply stood there in her underwear, the ice-cold water slapping against her, waiting for her next instructions.
Against the onslaught of water, Tess barely made out the sounds of Kai running into the hall, clamoring on. It was something about no one picking up the phone, but emergency services were on their way, and so their TA sent Kai running upstairs to try and find the lab coordinator, or at least some professor trained in safety.
Tess looked down at her arm. It was going to scar, most certainly, but she didn’t figure it was bad enough to need a skin graph. They’d send her to the hospital, no doubt, just for legal reasons in the very least, but she figured they’d just slap on some burn ointment and wrap up her arm. It would hurt for a few weeks, like a terrible sunburn, but at least it was warm enough outside she wouldn’t need to wear sleeves that would further irritate the wound. She tried to peek at her side. She couldn’t see anything. She ran her hand along her side and down her back, but nothing she touched was overly sensitive. Getting sick of the cold and harsh shower, she stepped back, pushing against the privacy curtain, and stood outside of the main spray, only holding her arm under the water.
This was just what she needed to end the year off, Tess thought bitterly. It wasn’t even the pain or the potential scar, it was just the inconvenience. She didn’t want to go to the hospital, didn’t want to be standing nearly naked in the chemistry building. She wanted to go outside, get some food, then take a nap!
Tess heard Kai’s footsteps as she raced back down the hall towards them. “I’m sorry in advance,” Kai shouted, “but she was the only person I could find.”
“I’m going for a robe,” the TA suddenly barked out, dashing off herself.
“Move out of the way!”
An arm stuck in around the privacy curtain, shutting off the water, and then the curtain was ripped back, and Tess was standing bare, dripping wet, right before Dr. Morgan. The woman looked wild. It wasn’t that she seemed mad at the interruption to her day, or angry that such an idiotic thing had occurred in a lab, instead she seemed genuinely worried.
“Show me your arm,” she commanded, and Tess stuck out her arm without hesitation.
Dr. Morgan took her arm roughly, squeezing her wrist too hard and jerking her entire arm to turn the appendage. Behind her, their TA ran up, carrying a robe in her arms and panting heavily. Dr. Morgan turned, shoving Tess’s arm back at her, and took the robe from the TA, passing it back to Tess.
“Put this on,” she snapped, “and come back into lab. You need to keep running water over your arm.”
Tess nodded numbly, wrapping the robe around her. It provided minimal comfort. The material was rough and thin, hardly warm and cozy, and her hair still dripped, sending a chill through her body. Dr. Morgan shoved her way into the lab and Tess followed along behind meekly, being led by their TA over to a sink. Her classmates all paled upon seeing Dr. Morgan and they pressed back against the far wall, eager to stay out of the woman’s way.
“What chemical was it?”
“We don’t—” Kai stuttered out.
“Show me the beaker.”
“It exploded—”
“Show me!”
Kai was practically shaking, scurrying over to the hood with Dr. Morgan hot on her heels. The beaker was shattered, the reaction spilled all over the hood, fizzling. Kai feebly tried to explain what happened, which Tess thought was very brave, considering the lecture they would surely get from Dr. Morgan for mixing an improperly labeled chemical they borrowed from another group. Dr. Morgan turned, snapping at the nearest student to grab her some chemicals. The student shook and nearly fainted, so Dr. Morgan shouted at another until finally one of the smarter students sprang into action and ran to grab the supplies.
By then, the safety team arrived. One was on the phone, directing an ambulance to the building, and the others swarmed Tess. They inspected her arm, fussing over her, and Tess muttered out answers to their questions as she tried to watch Dr. Morgan from around them. The professor was testing the reaction that had burned Tess, adding a drop or two of something else, observing the reaction.
“We need to know what chemical burned you,” the one stated.
“I don’t know what it was,” Tess admitted. “We thought it was HCl, but we mixed it and the reaction exploded, which was most certainly not supposed to happen, so—”
“There were metal residues in the beaker,” Dr. Morgan declared, coming up behind the safety team and startling them. “The burns are mainly HCl.”
“The ambulance is outside,” the one on the phone stated.
They asked if Tess could walk and she nearly laughed. “It’s just my arm,” she answered, instead of the more sarcastic replies that sat on the tip of her tongue.
Dr. Morgan pushed her forward, ushering her out the door. The safety team followed, the TA trying to urge the students back to finish up their lab while she cleaned up the chemical spill.
Kai called out, “I’ll collect all your things!”
“I don’t have my wallet or my insurance card, or even my phone,” Tess said.
“What’s your friend’s name?” Dr. Morgan asked.
“Who? Oh, Kai.”
“Kai!” Dr. Morgan shouted from the hall. “Bring Tess’s phone!”
“But what about—”
“They’ll work around it,” Dr. Morgan answered. “The school is responsible for things as well. It’s not your job to worry right now.”
Tess worked her jaw slightly, but was distracted when Kai popped into the hall, handing over her cell phone.
“You better text me,” Kai stated. “And call me when you’re done, I can come pick you up.”
“Thanks, Kai,” Tess smiled, then tried to keep from laughing when Dr. Morgan glowered at the girl, causing Kai to scurry back into the safety of the lab.
They loaded Tess into the ambulance, which she thought was entirely excessive. Had the school not been paying for the trip, she would have put up more of a fight. She easily could have caught a ride over, or heck, driven herself. Her arm stung, but it wasn’t broken! The first responders worked to wrap her arm, and Tess listened to the commotion outside.
Dr. Morgan was creating quite the fuss. She was fretting over everything, almost like a worried mother, commenting on this and that, demanding they use this that and the other to treat Tess. They were just about to leave when Dr. Morgan appeared at the back of the ambulance, looking in the open doors at Tess.
“I’ll follow you to the hospital,” Dr. Morgan declared.
“Is that customary?” Tess questioned, but Dr. Morgan kept going on, not listening. “Hey,” Tess stated more firmly. When Dr. Morgan met her eyes, she restated, “Do you always go to the hospital with students after a chemical burn?”
“N—no,” the professor stammered. “There’s typically paperwork to be filed and messes to get cleaned up, but I’m not your lab coordinator and I—”
“I’m fine,” Tess stated calmly. “And I will be fine.”
“I—”
“Really, I’m serious,” Tess continued. “Get back to whatever you were doing before Kai interrupted you.”
Dr. Morgan’s eyebrows tipped down slightly, but she took a step back. “Your lab coordinator is worthless,” she muttered. “Lab coordinators should always be in the building during lab hours.”
“Good thing you were around then,” Tess answered. She smiled kindly.
“Right, well…” Dr. Morgan stepped back fully as the first responders reached for the handles of the door. “Maybe this will teach you to not mix chemicals willy-nilly.”
Tess snorted as the doors shut, closing her off from Dr. Morgan. Even though her arm hurt, her chest was buzzing with warmth. Dr. Morgan cared; she really did care. Tess would never forget the look of fear on the woman’s face when she jerked back the privacy curtain of the safety shower. It was a tense moment, but something tingled inside Tess at the thought that Dr. Morgan had seen her nearly naked, had roughly inspected her for injury, but had touched her near naked body anyway. The only thing Tess could think about as the doctors looked her over and treated her arm, was how badly she wanted to be closer to Dr. Morgan.
The woman was driving her crazy, but then again, she was pretty sure she drove the bio-chem professor crazy too.
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