Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Roseanne felt a lump in her throat but she understood.

For Madeleine, research always came first.

It wasn't about the length of life, but the depth of the ocean of scientific inquiry she was navigating.

Maybe she would never reach the bottom, maybe she would exhaust herself trying, but what did it matter?

She was willing to rest eternally in the river of research, becoming the nutrients for those who followed, lighting their path forward.

"Are you going to cry again?"

Madeleine sighed, scenes like this were exactly what she tried to avoid.

Roseanne sniffled, "Who's crying? I'm not crying."

"Sure, sure, you're not crying." Madeleine chuckled.

"Let me give you a massage..."

Understanding her stubbornness and determination, Roseanne didn't try to persuade her further. Instead, she sat down and started gently massaging Madeleine's calves. Soon, Madeleine felt much better.

"Your arthritis must be acting up because of this crazy weather we've been having. I ordered some bath salts for you; they should be delivered in a couple of days. Remember to soak your feet every night, it'll help a lot." "I know, I know."

Madeleine laughed, pointing at the table, "There, take that phone number."

Roseanne was puzzled.

"Remember Hans Olson?"

eyes widened.

I didn't call him first to let him know, sulking now. I can't deal with him;

handle and analyze large sets of biological data, it requires a

in a basement, Roseanne managed to earn their first seed money by coding a small program, thanks to the computer science tutoring Hans provided her during her undergraduate studies. After making sure Ms. Payne had soaked her feet

of paper and dialed the

first call was

second call,

attempt, the call was

Who's this?" The grumpy old voice came

laugh. Just that "hmph"

play by the rules: "Sorry,

other

"Professor Olson..."

dare hang

wouldn't dare,

come you only contacted Madeleine when you got back? Am I not your mentor too?

my undergrad

"So

just as talented

science. What's wrong

fields? Got a problem

with that?" Content beet