Chapter 33: Staying the Night

Nicole fell asleep not long after that.

I could tell because the study had gone completely quiet. The occasional rustle of paper was the only sound left whenever I moved on to another problem.

I glanced over at her.

Her breathing had slowed, and she looked completely comfortable under the blanket, like she'd been sleeping there for years.

Apparently, telling her to close her eyes had been all it took.

I shook my head and went back to the materials.

The next couple of hours passed without much happening. I worked through the problems one by one, checking the solutions and making notes wherever I found something that needed to be changed. A few of them were more complicated than I expected, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Every so often, I'd get up from the desk and walk over to Nicole. I'd place the back of my palm against her forehead to check her temperature, then head back to the desk once I was satisfied she was still doing fine.