And again, standard disclaimers apply.

A shorter chapter, with a little more angst.

Chapter 4: Wheatley's Revelation

"He's healing well," the nurse said to Chell as Wheatley was eagerly trying on his new, round-framed spectacles. The check-up was decided to be after the optometrist appointment, so that they would have time to fit the proper prescription lenses.

The nurse looked at her clipboard. "There appears to be no damage to the lungs, which is a miracle in itself, so there's hope that he might eventually regain his ability to speak. There was no infection or complication to the cuts on his abdomen, and the wound by his eye shouldn't even leave a scar."

It hadn't even been too deep, but Chell suspect that the damage to his eye had been due to heat; that, or the grazing. Had it been any deeper, she figured he would have lost the eye completely.

Wheatley, meanwhile, eagerly received his glasses from the counter as he sat in his wheelchair, and instantly put them on. The world was suddenly in focus again! It was amazing!

No dull throbbing from keeping his eyes open for too long, and...and no blurry things! Oh, how he wanted to jump up and down in joy, or talk excitedly about this small triumph, but he couldn't do either.

Instead, he turned to where Chell stood with the nurse, with the full intention of waving the arm that wasn't in a sling to get her attention, and stopped in his tracks.

No...no way. It had to be an illusion.

Wheatley's smile instantly faded as he shakily pulled the glasses off, blew on them, then put them back on.

When the illusion stayed, he pinched himself.

Pain.

Not an illusion, then.

Wheatley felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and a whirlwind of thoughts breezed through his head. It's her...it's...I mean, I wondered how she knew so much about Aperture, and said she knew what I was going through...always wondered about that, but never even thought...

He had never even guessed that Chell could be the Mute Lady. GLaDOS had said that the mute was gone, so Wheatley had presumed that to be dead, and when he shouted at the mechanized female voice for killing her, GLaDOS hadn't corrected him.

That had just led him to believe...

But, of course, GLaDOS was a gifted (and most likely pathological) liar, and enjoyed to see others suffer for science.

Or in his case, She just enjoyed to see him suffer.

Wheatley trembled. It is her...she doesn't know it's me, so...maybe...but no...I can't just keep deceiving her! She deserves a proper apology, even if she...oh, God, what if she throws me out?

More than being physically harmed, at this point, Wheatley's greatest fear was that Chell would abandon him. Now that he knew who she was, and then it was only a matter of time until the opposite occurred, that could very well become reality.

I was a monster...I was so cruel to her. I...I tried to bloody kill her! That itch just was...it was part of that...but that's no excuse! I stabbed her in the back right on the verge of escape, shunted her down a pit...though to be honest, I didn't mean to do that...and tested and tested, and...and...the spike plates...

Again, a thought occurred to him...to make up a name for himself. To change his name when she taught him how to write, and she would never knew. She knew him as a core, not as a human...

But, no, that wouldn't be right.

As completely terrified as he was of what she would do to him (and thoughts of dumping him back at Aperture, or in some field miles from civilization, or even taking that shotgun of hers and putting him out of his misery flooded his mind), he just couldn't lie to her.

Not after everything she had done; all the kindness she had showed, and how he had wronged her in the past. He felt awful for even thinking of lying to her; she had shown him nothing but kindness, not knowing who he was, and had still taken him in, fixed him up...

I'm such a twat. A no good, back stabbing twat.

Chell was currently paying for his lenses, which he thought for a moment might be malfunctioning since his vision was suddenly blurry again as he stared at her. It was slightly difficult to breathe, particularly through his nose, and he felt something on his cheeks.

Chell was surprised, therefore, when she turned around to see him in tears. "What's wrong? Ace?"

Wheatley shook his head quickly and jabbed a thumb at his chest, then shook his head again. Don't call me that...of all the nicknames, and other names to call me, 'ace' is the last thing I should be called after what I did to you!

Chell went over, and was surprised when he recoiled when she reached out her hand.

The nurse said something, but Wheatley's focus was completely on Chell.

I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

"Does something hurt?" Chell asked, worried about this sudden behavior. By the pinched expression on his face and the haunted look in his eyes (before he had squeezed them shut), she highly doubted that these were happy tears.

Wheatley shook his head 'no', then tried to apologize.

"No talking!" Chell quickly reminded him.

Wheatley looked up at her pitifully, then went for mouthing the word over and over again.

Chell had no clue what he was trying to say, and glanced at the nurse worriedly. The woman had said that it looked like it was a breakdown of some sort, but Chell wasn't paying much attention to the nurse.

"I'm no expert in reading lips..." the nurse tilted her head slightly. "But he might be saying 'sorry'."

Wheatley nodded empathetically.

"For what? My paying for everything? That's nothing to be sorry about," Chell spoke in what she hoped was a soothing tone.

Wheatley closed his eyes again with a shudder. No...well, yes, there's that, but that's not it!

Since he didn't pull away this time, Chell ran a hand through his hair.

Wheatley started, and his breath hitched which caused a lance of pain to go through his throat, but he didn't pull away.

"It's alright." Chell was honestly puzzled by this new behavior, but if it wasn't his injuries or guilt at being paid for (now that she thought about it, the concept of money and paying for things was something that would have to be explained, as Aperture sort of didn't have that), then her only guess was that it had something to do with Aperture, and perhaps memories that surfaced now that he could see clearly.

Chell couldn't see anything in the room they were in (well, besides that camera in the corner, there) that would have reminded him of Aperture, but perhaps he had gone through something that she didn't during his time there.

"Hey," Chell spoke soothingly as she pulled out a handkerchief and gently dabbed his tears away. "Nothing is going to hurt you, here. You're safe, and there's nothing to be sorry for. Everything is fine."

The nurse probably thought he was a basket case, and that Chell was also borderline one, but Chell didn't care what others thought.

Wheatley's quiet hysteria lessened, though he looked at her with a pained expression. You wouldn't be doing all of this for me if you knew what sort of a monster I was. If you knew who I was...if I had been able to talk, or if you had been able to read lips and caught my name when I first mouthed it...

Still, the motion through his hair that she had never stopped was soothing, along with how gentle she was. She was always gentle, now that he thought about it.

Chell smiled at him when he focused his gaze on her. "I promise."

Wheatley closed his eyes again and bowed his head. Until you find out who I am. But...if my fate is to be hated and abandoned anyway, maybe I should just try to enjoy this as much as I can. Until she learns my name, and I will tell her, because she completely deserves to know, though I don't deserve her kindness...if moments like these are going to stop when she learns the truth...

The nurse wanted to check on his throat again (and run some quick diagnostics to make sure nothing else was wrong), but Chell shook her head.

"In a moment." Chell put her handkerchief back in her pocket and took Wheatley's hand, then gave it a gentle squeeze. She started to call him by the nickname, then stopped, since perhaps that had somehow freaked him out.

Maybe being able to see brought back a memory of that word that he didn't recall before?

"Hey," Chell just stuck with something general. "Are you feeling better?"

Wheatley couldn't seem to meet her gaze, but nodded wearily.

"Tired?" Chell inquired as she stroked his hair again.

Another nod. I'm bloody knackered...maybe if I go to sleep, when I wake up, I'll find out that this has all been a bad dream.

"The nurse wants to run some quick checks, then we'll go home and you can sleep, alright? Can you be brave a little longer?"

Brave...did she really think he was brave? He was a bloody coward and a...a...!

A day didn't go by when he didn't regret what he had done to her, but the kindness he was shown had at least temporarily alleviated his guilt and pain.

Now, though...

Yet, he gave a small nod.

Chell was glad that she had the foresight to buy the books she had needed in the waiting time between his appointment and when they filled the lens prescriptions, else it would have been another trip back to town, which was a twenty minute drive from the farmland.

Still, she smiled proudly at him.

That both encouraged Wheatley and drove the stake of guilt further into his heart.

"Good. You're doing very well. I'll be here the entire time, so let's get this over with, and get back home, alright?"

Wheatley managed a tired nod. Her being there...being proud...home...he was sure he would lose it all when she found out who he was. But for now, he would savor the kindness she gave him, just in case it was the last bits that he ever got.

I am truly, honestly, sorry.

TO BE CONTINUED...