Chapter 12 – Silver Stuff
The girls dressed Rochelle as quickly as they could, discarding the blue Barbie dress into a desk drawer to put away safely later. The red shirt went on the doll first, and Dolly shook out the black pants, beginning to tug them up over the doll's legs.
"Turn her over," Jessie instructed Mrs Potatohead, who did as she was bade. Trixie helped, and as Rochelle was turned onto her stomach, Dolly went to pull the black pants up the dolls legs. She stopped short, staring.
"Uh, Dolly?" Jessie asked, concerned. Dolly coughed and pointed at Rochelle's thigh.
"What is...that...on Rochelle's leg?" The ragdoll asked, and they all looked in bewilderment.
"I don't know," Jessie said, daring to reach out to touch the silver gunk leaking from the battery compartment. She pulled her hand back almost as soon as she touched it. "Whatever it is, it's hot."
They all looked at each other, until Dolly coughed again. "It's probably nothing, right?" She yanked the pants up the rest of the way to cover Rochelle's modesty, and then rolled the doll back over. Sitting Rochelle up with Trixie's help, Jessie pulled the furry coat Rochelle always wore over her arms, and then they laid the doll back down.
"There." Jessie stood up quickly, and they gazed at the now back to normal Rochelle. "All done." They were just in time too, for at that moment they heard giggling in the hallway. "Quick, positions everyone!" Jessie hissed, and the four toys scrambled back to their spots as fast as they could.
Bonnie bounced deliriously into the room, and her eyes flew around. On spotting Rochelle, she made her way over to the desk to grab the blonde doll. She picked her up as Jessie peeked curiously out from under the sheet where she was snuggled down with Buzz. Almost as soon as she picked her up though, Bonnie gave a cry and dropped Rochelle to the floor, looking at her hand. "Mommy!" the little girl screamed in panic, and terror ripped through Jessie. Besides her, Buzz reached over and squeezed her hand, feeling the cowgirl tense.
Mrs Anderson burst into the room at hearing her daughter's cries. "Honey? What is it?"
"It's my dolly! She bit me!" Bonnie wailed, holding up her hand which had silver gunk all over it.
"Aww honey, come on now," Mrs Anderson smiled, grabbing a tissue and wiping the goo off Bonnie's hand. "Go wash your hands with cold water and you'll feel all better. I'll make sure that bad doll doesn't bite you anymore."
"Yes Mommy," Bonnie sniffled, wiping her eyes and left the room. Mrs Anderson leaned down and picked Rochelle up off the floor delicately, looking her over. She turned the doll over and Jessie saw the older woman frown.
"Now what's going on here?" Jessie heard Mrs Anderson mutter, as she pulled down the black pants on the doll. The frown increased as Mrs Anderson fiddled with the doll's battery compartment, and then she let out a little sound of disgust. Bonnie ran back into the room just as her mother closed the battery compartment in Rochelle's leg. She reached upwards for the doll her mother held, but Mrs Anderson kept Rochelle out of reach, causing the child to wail.
"Mommy I was going to play with her!"
"Not right now sweetie. Let Mommy fix her first." Mrs Anderson patted Bonnie on the head and left the room.
Jessie held her breath. That was it. Rochelle was going in the trash. Mrs Anderson must be using words to pacify Bonnie, but in time Bonnie would forget all about having an all singing, all dancing doll, and would continue to play as normal with all the other toys she owned.
As if she heard Jessie's thoughts, Bonnie turned her attention to the tea table, starting to set up the cups and plates before beginning to select toys for the party and placing them on seats. Jessie noticed she included Woody, and sighed, wondering if Woody had seen the exchange between Bonnie and Mrs Anderson in the same light.
Jessie couldn't have imagined what had shot through Woody's mind as he watched Rochelle be picked up, examined and then taken from the room. His thoughts cast back to that day in Andy's room where he had been shelved, and the horror that had filled him at being an unwanted toy. At least for Rochelle she wouldn't be alive through the process, whereas Woody had been aware of everything around him.
Only Bonnie grabbing him from his place in the toy box served to distract him from his thoughts as the little girl made her toys gossip about what the doctor had said to Trixie in her latest episode of visits. Woody was certain Bonnie thought Trixie should be a hypochondriac; she had so many different diseases every time they played this.
"Bonnie sweetheart, we're going to the hospital," Mrs Anderson called up the stairs about half an hour into the playtime, and Bonnie jumped up.
"Wow! Trixie! We're REALLY going to the doctor! C'mon, let's go, maybe he can diagnose you properly at last!" She grabbed the little female dinosaur and ran out of the room, her footsteps echoing along the hall.
The toys all unfroze as soon as they deemed it safe; Jessie and Buzz peeking out from under the blanket. "Hospital?" Buzz murmured, a confused tone in his voice. "What on earth does Mrs Anderson need to go to the hospital for?"
Next to him, Jessie didn't reply. She was watching her brother at the table, who hadn't unfrozen from his spot as he normally would have done. Jessie now began to fear Rochelle's department, both physically and spiritually, had killed her brother too.