Free Toxic Affections by D Sean Page A

think anyone was worthy of her and that, unfortunately, included Larson. She and Royston had argued repeatedly about Larson. It was the only argument she couldn’t win. All he wanted was for her to follow his path, carry on his name and legacy, but Kerri couldn’t be less interested in science. Although she had a gift for it, even excelled at it, she was also bored by it. Larson was her break in the monotony of cells, formulas and findings. He provided the adventure, the shift from safety and shelter her father forced upon her.
    The two met at a college football game, supporting their rival teams. Larson was in line at the concession stand when Kerri cut in front of him, sliding in next to her friend. He gave her an annoyed look, which faded the instant she turned and smiled at him.
    “Sorry,” she said, shrugging one shoulder but keeping her smile in place.
    “No, yeah, it’s fine.” Larson stumbled over his words as she continued to smile at him. That was all it took. He followed her to her side of the stadium, boldly sitting a bench away wearing his rival colors, now cheering for the team she supported.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “Finding a reason to be close to you, or stalking you, depends on how you look at it.”
    Kerri laughed and so did Larson who eventually inched his way into the seat next to her. That night she barely made curfew. She and Larson sat in the stadium seats long after it emptied. Back at her dorm, breathless and still hand in hand from a sprint across the courtyard, Larson said goodnight. He’d been so enamored by her that he forgot to get her phone number, resulting in a couple weeks of quasi stalking until he found her again.
     
    * * *
    Larson shuffled behind the paramedics as they carried Kerri out of the station to an ambulance that had pulled up onto the curb. He watched the way her body moved with their jostling, but made no movements of her own. It was one thing to lose her because she’d ended their two year relationship, but another entirely to lose her to—
    “Are you family, sir?” the EMT asked loudly, even though Larson was standing close to him, too close really.
    “Wha—what?” They’d just put Kerri into the cab of the ambulance and Larson was following, about to climb in after.
    “I said, are you family?”
    “Uh, yeah. I’m her husband,” Larson lied.
    “Okay, hop in.”
    He pulled himself up into the cab, sitting awkwardly on the bench, his hikers pack still on his back. While they sped through town, sirens blaring, running red lights, the EMT asked Larson some basic questions. He was relieved he could answer them all. He felt he knew her well enough to answer anything.
     
    “What’s wrong with her? What’s happened?” Larson asked.
    “We can’t tell. They’ll have to run some tests at the hospital. They should be able to tell what’s going on with your wife. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    Even though it was a lie, Larson couldn’t help but like the way it sounded when the EMT called Kerri his wife. When they arrived at the hospital, Larson followed the gurney as they rushed Kerri through the automatic doors until a nurse stopped him. She handed him a clipboard and instructed him to fill out the stack of papers as best he could, immediately returning to her tasks. He held the clipboard in his hand as he continued to watch the chaotic huddle of doctors as they hovered over Kerri’s unconscious body.
    “Kerrington Young, twenty-three year old female...” someone was talking over the cacophony of sounds. “Vitals are weak, no sign of trauma...”
     
    Larson wedged himself into a far corner of the tiny room where they’d wheeled Kerri. The papers he’d been instructed to fill out lie blank in an empty chair. He ran his hand through his auburn colored hair. He was still getting used to the extra length, having worn it closely cropped in the past. Kerri had suggested he let it grow out a bit, so he had. His gray eyes were