Subject R - ON HOLD

chapter 12

I step forward and then they begin applying my Panic Button. I'm too nervous to want to speak to the assistants while they work on me. The man seems to know this and gives me a reassuring smile and I give him a weak one back.

Once my Panic Button is all ready and tested, I walk over to Helena, who is by Mr.McCaulty and Mrs.Feng. They seem to be giving her instructions.

"...don't be too eager Helena. Be interested but don't invade his space." Mrs.Feng warns her, and Helena nods.

"Smile at him and introduce yourself as many times as necessary, but don't be overwhelming. Give him time." Mr.McCaulty says, and Helena nods once more.

What the hell! I think, feeling outraged and a bit hurt. They hardly gave me any advice. They just threw me in there and had me fend for myself! Sourly, I glower at the floor to hide my anger.

"Cecily!" Mrs.Feng says, and I look up, still feeling moody. She beams at me and puts an arm around me as she begins to lead us both to the doorway. "Give Helena a chance to work with him dear, we need him to interact with others."

I nod stiffly, feeling more anger bubbling up in me. If this is going to be Helena's show now, why the hell am I going in there again?! I'm so mad I wonder how Mrs.Feng doesn't notice. Helena steps up beside us, towering over us both. The look she gave me was friendly enough for Mrs.Feng, but I could see the dislike in it for me.

Then Mrs.Feng stepped back from me, and then the doors buzzed open. Helena didn't move until I did, and soon we were locked inside the white, padded cell. Subject R was obvious on the opposite side of the room, nearly bright since his black scrubs were so opposite the white surrounding him.

We slowly made our way toward him, and as we got closer, I could feel my energies shifting from my distaste for Helena to my fear of Subject R. My heart started to pound again, and I had to fist my hands to keep them from shaking.

When we were close enough to see his expression, I noticed how is eyes were on Helena. We stopped around five feet from him, and I looked at Helena quickly to give a warning that we were going to sit. She followed me accordingly, and we both sat cross-legged, mimicking Subject R.

I smiled at Subject R, hiding my nerves, and said, "Hello."

Helena did the same, but lifted her hand in greeting. "Hello."

We waited for some kind of reaction from him. His bright eyes moved from Helena to me, and back. His expression was unreadable. We waited for a little while longer and then I looked at Helena. She seems frustrated by his silence, but understood what I meant.

She straightened up, and then placed her right hand on her chest. She smiled kindly at him and said, "Helena."

He looked at her.

And that was it. We waited there for probably a full ten minutes, waiting for him to react in some way. She tried and tried again, calmly spacing out her introductions. But I could see the irritation growing in her. And in a strange way, I somehow knew that Subject R saw it too. He isn't even looking at her now, he's scratching the back of his flaming red head.

Helena let out a sigh through her nose and then looked at me.

If he isn't doing anything for her, what makes her think he'll react for me? He knows me already. I'm nothing knew. I clear my throat quietly, and Subject R looks up at me. I can't almost feel Helena's animosity burning. I point at myself.

"Cecily."

Subject R stares at me for a second an then snorts, giving me this expression that says 'DUH'. Then he gives me this - amused? laughing? - smirk.