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Clockwork Heart Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

When Millie next opened her eyes, disorientation had her rolling out of her bed and onto the carpet. Immediately she started to panic, her eyes lifting her hands expecting to see blood but except for the traces of rusty brown under her fingernails, her body was clean. She was also no longer in the dress that she had worn to the theatre but someone had thoughtfully changed her into her pyjamas.

Climbing up off of the floor, the woman sat herself upon the edge of the bed and let her gaze drop to the carpet. Her hand lifted by itself and rubbed at her chest to prove that it was really still there but there was no gaping wound just pale creamy flesh under her finger tips broken only by a faded scar that had been there for many years.

Millie shook her head and dropped her hand. She hated thinking about it and on top of everything only caused her more distress than her fragile mind could handle.

The door handle rattled across the room.

The young woman yelped and scrambled back from the door to put as much space between her and the door as she could. Her breaths came out in rapid pants while her pulse thrummed in her neck and the entire time, her attention did not leave the door.

It swung open wide to reveal three very concerned people. Emma strode in, immediately ushering the confused and traumatised woman back under the covers while her father entered with Percy tagging along behind. Each held themselves taut, their eyes watching the young woman with care as for once she look ridiculously small.

After being tucked into the bed like a small child, she did not utter a single word as the soothing fingers of her governess caressed through her hair repeatedly. As the minutes passed by, Millie finally relaxed back into the pillows and let out a contented sigh.

Her eyes were half closed when the two men entered further into the room and took seats by her bed. The prone woman realised that additional chairs had been brought into the room to compensate for the extra persons. She grinned through her face felt heavy and the result was the faintest twitch before she sighed and rolled onto her side.

“Hello sweetheart,” Mr Clancy spoke, stepping past the waiting chair so he could perch beside her on the bed.

On seeing his approach, Emma had quickly moved away from him, looking more than happy to put distance between her and the man. Through her daze, a frown passed over the sickly woman’s features as she glanced between her father and her surrogate mother.

Richard Clancy, whose skin had returned to its healthy colour, lifted his hand to his daughter’s head and proceeded to comb his fingers through the fine feathery strands that laid there,. The expression on his face was the most bewildering thing to pass over his face in as many years, and if Millie had been in her right mind she might have questioned it and frowned at her father. As it was, she nuzzled her head into her hand, greedily accepting the comfort as it was offered to her.

“How are you feeling?” He whispered, his hands continuing its soothing emotions.

The woman in question, felt like her head was buried under a thick layer of fog and she was reluctant to fight her way through. But the question from her father’s lips confused her for a long second until it flashed back through her mind. The torturous evening which was painful before the bathroom incident, brought only horror to her mind.

In a second, Millie rolled away from her father and retched over the side of her bed, emptying the bile from her stomach. Every time she thought it had stopped and she could lie back down, the young woman would turn green as her stomach would roll. Then before someone could say a word to her, Millie would propel herself back to the edge so that she could retch some more.