The Dinosaur Feather

Where have you been hiding?’ They reached the door to thestairwell; Dr Tybjerg went up the stairs two at a time with Anna at his heels.
    ‘If we presume a normal room temperature, rigor mortis will set in three to four hours after clinical death has occurred. After twelve hours it will, in most cases, be complete. The biochemical explanation of rigor mortis is simple ATP hydrolysis in the muscle tissue. This is not good, Anna,’ he said. ‘It’s not good at all.’
    ‘No,’ Anna said, trying to fathom what Dr Tybjerg was referring to. Helland’s death? The rumours that he might have been killed? That Tybjerg would have to complete any outstanding research on his own? That Anna’s viva might have to be cancelled? What?
    Dr Tybjerg stopped abruptly and Anna nearly crashed into him.
    ‘I can’t talk to you right now. Not here. Come to the museum later. I’ll be in the collection.’ Tybjerg looked urgently at her. ‘Don’t tell anyone you’re going to see me. Just let yourself in. I’ll meet you there. Okay?’
    ‘Tonight?’ Anna frowned.
    Dr Tybjerg nodded and then he disappeared.
    Anna stood there for a moment. She could feel her heart pounding. Then she clenched her fist and closed her eyes. She had Lily tonight; she couldn’t meet Dr Tybjerg in the Vertebrate Collection. Shit! She considered chasing after him, but dropped the idea. Johannes was waiting for her outside the senior common room.
    ‘You coming?’ he called out.
    She joined him, bristling with frustration. Her viva was in twelve days. Twelve days!
    ‘Do you have to shuffle your feet like that, Johannes?’ she snarled.
    Johannes gave her a puzzled look, his face grey from lack of sleep; Anna felt ashamed at her behaviour and was about to ask him how he was, but she couldn’t find the right words.
    ‘You’re still mad at me,’ Johannes said, when he had closed the door to their study behind him. Anna sat down and switched on her computer.
    ‘I know you’re still mad at me. Can we talk about it, please?’ he said gently.
    Anna leapt up like a jack-in-the-box and shoved her chair at him. This made Johannes roll backwards, frightened. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Why couldn’t he just shut up? Why was he even at the faculty? He had finished his thesis a hundred years ago, why couldn’t he be somewhere else, writing his grant application, somewhere he didn’t disturb her all the time? She was fed up with being interrupted. She was fed up that no one took her work seriously. Not Helland, not Tybjerg, and now, it would appear, not Johannes either. Anna wasn’t thinking straight, she just exploded. Johannes blinked, then he took his jacket and his bag and walked out.
    Anna sat down, flabbergasted. On impulse, she ran out into the corridor and yelled:
    ‘What kind of a friend are you, anyway?’ She stamped her foot and Johannes stopped. He turned around and walked back to her, until only their breaths separated them.
    He said, ‘Anna, I’m your friend, and you would know that if you just take a moment to think about it. I’ve apologised for what I said to the police. I shouldn’t have done it, but Iwas upset. Nothing gives you the right to be so hard on me, to give me the silent treatment for days. Everyone’s under huge pressure right now. Not just you. I’m your friend,’ he repeated, ‘but right now I’m drowning in my own problems and I don’t have the energy to be your punchball. Helland has died, and yes, that’s terribly inconvenient for Anna Bella and her dissertation, but the man’s dead! Don’t you get it?’ Johannes wagged a finger at her. ‘His daughter has lost her father, Birgit has lost her husband, I’ve lost my . . . friend. Do you think you could snap out of your self-pity for just one second and realise that not everything in the world revolves around you? I don’t have time for your whining right now. Helland’s dead, and I’ve enough of my own shit to deal with. I can’t sleep and I can’t take any more.’ He spun around and walked down the corridor. Suddenly, he turned, looked at her sweetly and sneered, ‘And anyway, you don’t need others to take your work seriously, Anna. You’re quite capable of doing that yourself.’
    When Johannes had gone, Anna closed the door to their study. The tears started rolling down her cheeks. It happened again and again. She was treated unfairly and when she retaliated, her reaction obliterated everything and the injustice
she
had