Doctor Ealing pressed his fingers lightly around thecut on my forehead, poking it slightly as though he expected something to happen. It didn't. After a few seconds of absent mindlessly poking at my head, he took a step back and produced a wad of cotton from his medical bag. He took out a small glass vial and pressed the cotton wall to the open end to allow the liquid to soak the cotton completely. I watched as he squeezed the leftover liquid into a metal bowl before gently wiping the cotton over the cut on my head. It stung a little, but I just stared at the wall until he dropped the cotton into the bowl.
"You'll need to clean it regularly to prevent infection and as much as you hate following my instructions Rosie, I don't want you moving from this bed for three days at least." Doctor Ealing gave me a pointed look which I returned. "Don't give me that look, you stopped using the cane without talking to me about it first."
"Talking to you wouldn't have done anything, neither did the cane," I said.
"We'll keep an eye on her, I'm not letting this one out of my sight," James said, he glared at me across the room and I knew that he was going to keep to his word.
"You're already far behind on your work, James. You can't keep pushing things back or you'll be working Christmas day and beyond. Mrs Baker will be here to keep an eye on her and I'm certain Rosie will do as she's told," Kitty added.
"Rosie isn't known for doing what she's told."
"I'm right here."
"I know."
"Perhaps there is a way around this," Doctor Ealing said. He snapped his medical bag closed and turned to face us. "Robert and I were talking earlier and we both agreed that it may be better for him to remain during the day so there is someone who understands head injuries around just in case. Of course, this decision is entirely yours to make and I understand your reservations if you decided against it."
James and Christopher glanced at each other as though having a conversation with their eyes about whether they should take him up on the offer. The two of them stared intently at one another and I wished one of them would speak to put an end to the silence that was starting to make me remarkably uncomfortable. I knew both James and Matthew struggled to maintain composure around the Ealing's since they both blamed the family for what Matilda did, but they were both very busy.
I dropped my hands to my lap and knotted my fingers together in front of me. The burn on my left hand stood out against the pale white colour of the rest of my arm, the still healing pink skin seeming foreign to the rest of my arm. I couldn't help but wonder whether Mathias ended up with the better injury out of the two of us. He barely seemed to acknowledge his missing hand whereas I couldn't stop looking at the mark permanently embedded into my skin. It was the only physical connection to the factory that I saw on a regular basis.
Beside me, Robert squirmed in the chair under the weight of the awkwardness and tension that filled the room. Despite my brother's being so accepting of him staying before, I doubted they were keen on the idea this time since we would actually have to have a conversation. We hadn't spoken properly since the explosion at the match factory and deep down I didn't think that really counted. He had spoken whilst I had been unconscious and I heard every word of it, but I didn't want to discuss it with him just yet.
Across the room, James cleared his throat and for the first time in about two minutes looked away from Christopher and folded his arms over his chest. A flash of uncertainty and curiosity crossed his face before he quickly rearranged it back to his usual stoic look. He had always been good at keeping his face straight, so no one knew just what he was thinking. More often than not I wished I could see what went on inside his head. This was one of those moments.
"I think that might be the best option in this case. I have far too much work to do and I cannot do it from home, nor can Christopher. As long as Robert is willing, we have no problem with him keeping an eye on Rosie. He appears to be the only one she listens to," James said. From the across the room he turned his head to look at me and raised his eyebrow. I knew he was right.
"Need I remind you that I'm the one injured. There is no need to insult me," I said.
"It's not an insult, it's the truth."
"Robert? Are you still willing to stay?" Doctor Ealing asked.
I turned my head towards Robert and watched as his ears pricked up and his dead dart upwards at the sound of his name as though he hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention. He appeared somewhat startled at the use of his own name and his father addressing him which confirmed that he hadn't heard a single thing anyone had said for the majority of the morning. I didn't blame him all that much.
"Yes, of course," he said, though I'm not sure he knew what he was responding to.
"Excellent. Three days in bed, Rosie. I'll be back to check on you then."
"I know, I know."
"You better stick to those instructions, I don't want to be here any sooner then I have to be."
"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on her." James glared at me and I responded in a rather mature way, by sticking my tongue out at him. "I'll see you out. I should get to work, or I'll end up further behind. Rosie, stay in bed."
"Yes, Sir," I said in a mocking tone.
James shook his head slightly and I saw the slight trace of a smile on the corner of his lips as he gestured to the door. Doctor Ealing swung his bag off the nightstand and gave me a look, which I gave back to him purely because he didn't seem to trust me. I knew I hadn't been all that good at keeping to the advice he had given me, but I doubt that warranted such distrust. The last time I had a serious head injury I wished I could have stayed in bed for a few days, but at the factory that was not something we would ever have been allowed to do.
The two of them left the room with Kitty and Christopher following a little while late, but I saw the look they were giving me as they left. Once they were gone, it was just me and Robert alone in the room in an uncomfortable silence that neither of us wanted to break. He didn't know that I had heard everything he said just a few hours before and I had no intention of telling him that, not yet anyway. Before I left, talking to Robert had been one of the easiest things in my life but that had changed when I received my second infraction and he refused to see the damage he did by merely talking to me.
I shifted myself against the pillows and listened to the sounds that travelled through the window. The window had been propped up to allow some air to circulate inside and I could hear the horses on the ground and the low hum of conversation from people as they walked past on their way to work or out for a stroll to peruse the shops for something to buy. Although I enjoyed the quiet nature of the Ealing's house, I had gotten used to the sounds of movement and horses outside the factory and I was glad to have that back after six months.
"Can I ask you something?" Robert said, breaking the silence. My breath caught in my throat at the question he may ask.
"Of course," I said although I was less than certain with agreeing.
"Why do you have a dolls house in your room?" He pointed to the large wooden structure in the corner of the room. "I don't mean to pry, it's just an odd thing to have. Matilda moved hers to a spare room when she turned eight, something about being too mature for one."
"It was James' idea. He had kept most of my old toys when Father sold the house and thought it would be a good idea to move that into my room. It was taking too much space in the attic. Sebastian plays with it most of the time."
"Right. It looks handmade."
"It is. Matthew made it when he first started to enjoy carpentry. It's not perfect and was repaired multiple times when I used it since it just fell apart in my hand. Of course, Matthew said I was too heavy-handed with it. He may have been right, but I would never admit fault."
"How much did James keep?"
"Most of it from what I've seen. There is an awful lot up there, most of it serves no purpose now."
"Must have been strange to see it all after so many years."
"A little. Most of us tried to forget our lives before the factory, it made being there a lot more painful. I tried to forget everything about the three of them, about Mother and Father because it was easier than wishing to see them again when that would never be a possibility."
Robert sat further back against the chair as though trying to sink through it. Somehow, everything I said led back to the factory and the reason I had first met the Ealing's all those months ago. I had been forced out of those gates seven months ago, yet it appeared to follow me around no matter where I went or who I had been talking to. It followed me around and I knew it would continue to follow me for the rest of my life no matter how much time passed from the last time I stepped through those gates.
We fell into an uncomfortable silence with an air of tension that may have been cut with the back of a spoon had someone had the desire to do so. At first, I thought being stuck with Robert wouldn't be as bad as it seemed but neither of us really wanted to talk about what had been said just hours before. Before, things between us had been so easier and neither of us had to put too much effort into a conversation. Things had changed and I would have rather been stuck with a screaming baby than with Robert and the awkward tension that didn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.
I wished things could return to how they were before, that none of the tension existed and it could be like those six months I spent working for the Ealing's. Yet I knew that wasn't to happen. In just a month both of us had changed and we would never be able to talk the way we had just a few months before. With time, I hoped we could return to a sense of normalcy, but I had my doubts. Mrs Ealing still didn't want us to be spending any time with each other and I doubt she had been all that pleased after Robert had spent the night at ours. Unless I returned to work for the Ealing's, we were never going to be the same way we were.
A knock at the door broke the silence and I silently thanked whoever it was for helping to break the tension and awkwardness that had embedded itself into the brickwork of the room. The door pushed open and Mrs Baker stepped through holding a tray with two steaming mugs and a plate of shortbread biscuits in the centre. She pushed the door open with her back and shuffled around the bed to where Robert sat before placing the tray onto the small table beside the bed.
"I thought you might like a little something to drink and snack on. I managed to save these from your brothers, they're like street children when it comes to food," she said, laughing to herself.
"You cannot hide anything from them. They sniff a cream cake if it is hidden in the attic and they're in the kitchen," I added as Robert pulled a face of confusion.
"These ones were hidden in the pantry; behind the carrots."
"A place neither of them will go." Mrs Backer nodded and I laughed. "Are these the shortbread biscuits I baked the other day?"
"They are. I thought you might like to eat them since your brother's managed to eat most of them before I had the chance to hide them. As for the drinks, there is a tea for Master Ealing and since I know you're not a fan of tea, you have hot cocoa. I'll be doing housework downstairs for the rest of the day so if you need something, just yell."
She smiled and slowly backed out of the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Robert and me alone once more. I reached across the side table and took one of the biscuits off the table but resisting the temptation to stuff the whole thing in my mouth at once. James often felt the need to tell me that I needed to behave more like a lady, but I hardly saw the point in doing so. Mother had tried to teach me the correct way to behave but after years of being in the factory, I had forgotten all of it. Manners weren't exactly a priority.
Robert picked up one of the biscuits, but I could see him looking at me out of the corner of his eye, as though unsure as to whether he was allowed to take one. I watched as he put his hands onto his lap but didn't eat it, he just sat there with it in his hand and stared at the wall in front of him. When I worked for the Ealing's, Robert had never appeared nervous or apprehensive to do anything, but a lot had changed in a month. I had no doubt that his nervousness came from his comments hours before, but I wished he would simply come out and say it.
I took my own biscuit and lent across to the side table, dunking it into my hot cocoa and taking a bite. James thought I was strange, but I had seen him do the same to his tea, granted, he said it was odd after I had dunked a bread roll into my hot cocoa. Since having a little more freedom, I enjoyed trying different things and strange combinations though they weren't always successful.
"You can eat that, you don't have to sit with it," I said, dipping the last of the biscuit into the hot cocoa.
"Right, of course," he said. He slowly lifted the biscuit to his lips and nibbled off a corner, but it didn't look as though he had eaten any of it. "I need to apologise for what Matilda did."
"No, you don't," I said, rather taken aback by the abrupt nature of his comment.
"Yes, I do." He dropped the biscuit onto the tray. "I knew Matilda was up to something and I should have done something to stop her, but I didn't. She's been going on for days about wanting to get back at you for what you did and the moment she asked Mother if she could stay behind, I knew she was going to do something stupid. If I had stepped in and said something, we wouldn't be here."
"That's not entirely true, I still could have tripped down the stairs, James is always telling me not to run down them." I shrugged my shoulder. "Besides, it wasn't your fault. I should have known better than to go into the office with her in the first place. You are not responsible for your sister's actions; you never have been. Blaming yourself won't do anything."
"Still, I've been trying to tell her not to get involved but she refuses to listen. Matilda has never been all that bothered with my life in the past, I don't know why this is any different. She should have left well enough alone."
"I'm inclined to agree."
Robert didn't say anything else, but I knew he was still blaming himself, even if he didn't vocalise it. Perhaps Robert's biggest flaw was that he always took everything to heart and blamed himself when things went wrong. He blamed himself because I didn't trust enough to tell him about the factory and possibly save Isabel's life. He blamed himself for what his mother did, even if he never admitted it. It was sweet, but I wished he wouldn't do it for his own sake. Nothing good ever came from a person blaming themselves.
"How about we make a deal?" I suggested.
"What sort of deal?"
"If you stop blaming yourself for things that are far beyond your control, I'll stand up for myself a little more. I think it's about time I stopped letting people push me around."
"Alright, deal."
"Good, now eat the biscuit and drink your tea before it gets cold. Tea is disgusting at the best of times, it's worse when it's cold."
Robert smiled and took one of the biscuits off the plate along with his mug. He did what I had done early and dunked the biscuit into the tea before taking a bite. I didn't bother with the hot cocoa and instead took one of the biscuits and shoved the whole thing into my mouth. Had I done it in front of James he would have been deeply ashamed of me for doing something to disrespectful in front of another person. Robert didn't seem to mind all that much as he did the exact same thing only seconds after I did.
Perhaps rekindling my friendship with Robert wouldn't be so hard after all.
~~~
A/N - What's this? A second update? YEAH IT IS!!! I know things are crazy at the moment so I thought I could brighten your week a little more with a double update. Also, we hit 5K reads so consider this a thank you for that xD
This is one of a few Robsie heavy chapters coming up and you guys are not ready!
Question!
Are you glad Robert and Rosie are friends?
Comment below!
Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to Dutchessofyork for telling me that my chapters bring happiness :) I'm so glad they do!
First Published - April 30th, 2020