"Oh, oh, ye-yeah, yeah, thank you," Levi stammered. He finally turned his head to look at her. "And you too, you look great."
"Thank you," Jamie replied heartily with a nice smile.
There was a pause of silence as they both stared at each other.
[Ughh! Do I have to experience this cringe moment with you?]
Levi quickly turned his head involuntarily and went back to staring at the door. He struggled with Lexi to shift his head, but the construct was firm. Levi grinded his teeth and groaned as he tried to move his head which was opposing his action. Jamie quietly watched the funny feat.
[You don't learn anything do you? Struggling only makes it worse for you]
"Let. Me. Go," Levi whispered silently with his teeth together, though the whisper could be heard by Jamie.
[As you wish]
Levi suddenly felt his skull muscles under his control, and he wished he did not. The amount of force he had been exerting turned against him, causing him to fall onto the tiled floor.
"Ughh," he groaned. "Why did you do that?" He asked quietly to Lexi.
[You said I should let you go]
Levi cursed silently and looked up at Jamie, whose eyes widened in surprise at the unfolding event. Levi gave an assuring smile as he got to his feet and said nervously with a chuckle, "It must be one of my seizures," before attempting to sit back down.
Jamie cleared her throat and grinned mischievously, pointing at Levi's midsection. Levi glanced down at the waist of his trousers, where he noticed the smudge of gum that Paige had playfully tossed onto his belly earlier. He only sighed and tried to scrape it off.
He turned his face the other way, saying to Lexi, "You would not do that again." He resumed his seat.
[I bet you I would]
"You are very funny," Jamie said with her nice smile. "Very funny." Her smile then faded and was bent into a frown. "I'm sorry about your father."
"Yeah. It's alright."
Levi had known Jamie as long as he had known Brody. They didn't talk much in school because, obviously, he liked her and he was the kid with the syndrome. On the other hand, Jamie was quite popular and wealthy. Levi knew her father was the head of Greyson Corp., the biggest company in the world right now. He wondered what she was doing in The Academy, far away from her glorious home and life.
"You know, I'm sorry about how my very good friends have been treating you, Nate and Paige," she added. "You can call Nate kind of an egoist, and Paige... well, she's just young and dumb." And then, both she and Levi smiled simultaneously.
Levi had wanted to ask if she and Nate were really a thing, or at least clarify things to avoid interfering. He held back the thought; considering it was their first conversation in a long time, it would be foolish to ask.
Jamie continued, "I'm kind of glad that you're coming with us to The Cavern," she stopped. "Not that kind of glad, glad," she said and they both laughed out loud. "But it would be nice to know you better," she finished with their eyes interlocked.
Levi smiled, realizing she wasn't as saucy as he had always imagined. "Yeah, it would be nice."
[Your such a sissy]
The brown door opened, and Loras' head poked out once again, calling out, "Nine?" He beckoned for him to come.
---
As Levi had hoped, it was the red-haired doctor who was carrying out the medicals. She smiled at Levi as she conducted the tests on him. Levi noticed it was a blood test of some kind, perhaps to ensure that they were all fit for the journey.
She had also given him some spaces to fill and simple questions to answer on a sheet of paper. That must be to know if they were in the right state of mind, how funny.
Levi looked around the room; it was more computerized than he expected. He could see Abby and the others behind a one-way glass window.
The doctor rubbed Levi's arm with a wet cotton wool as soon as she pulled out the syringe. While she sat on a chair, he sat on the bed. She looked up at him as she did so.
"Well...you're as fit as a fiddle," she said, taking a look at him. "How are things going now?" She asked, fixing the needle into a tiny bottle.
Levi took hold of the cotton wool and applied pressure to the spot. "It's going well ma," he replied.
"I thought I asked you to call me Meera?" She asked, cocking her head and placing her gaze on his. There was a knock on the door and she requested the visitor in.
In came that smug face again, Robert Lance. Levi noticed Meera sighing in disgust as she turned to focus on her work with the medical systems. With a foolish smile on his face, Robert approached her, intending to grasp her by the hips.
Meera turned defensively and pointed a syringe at Robert's neck. "Woah woah woah, easy there," Robert exclaimed with his arms in the air. His eyes turned to meet the teen on the bed. "There you are!" He hollered, smacking Levi hard on his back.
"How'd yer night go, eh? Bet you took a tumble on the bathroom tiles when them lights went dark!" Robert bellowed, chuckling at his own joke. "So you passed the mental test, did he?" Meera eyed him wickedly with a short look.
"Susan, you can keep those fancy green eyes to y'self," Robert proclaimed psychotically. He looked at Levi and grinned once more. "To be honest, I hope it goes smooth sailin' for you."
"Thank you," Levi appreciated, trying his best not to 'disrespect' him.
"Well, it's not that matter of a deal. But there've been some changes made, you and the crew are going today, by noon, like right now, proper pronto."
Levi looked at him, dumbfounded. What?
[What?]
"It's great right?!" Robert roared with ironic excitement.