Sara did not know how to respond to anything that was going on around her right now. She simply sat on the floor, beside the back door, and listened as The Doctor talked about how escape-proof her new prison was. Though the man had a name now, she did not want to call him by it. To her, he would alway just be The Doctor he didn't deserve a name.
"Leave Aubry for a moment," he said. "I want to show you something."
He didn't wait for her to accept or decline. He grasped her firmly by the arm and led her to a side window; outside she could see emptiness. As far as her eye would allow, she saw nothing but flat land. It was obviously not an area she was familiar with because the landscape was different.
"See all that," he said. "You can run for days, but I guarantee you that you won't see anything for miles. "
Sara began to feel the effects of hopelessness seep into her veins. She gazed around the flat land and saw the run of dog pens that The Doctor had mentioned. Inside the run she saw the tall, muscular animals. They would definitely overpower her if she made a break for it.
"When I come back home I want dinner on the table, Aubry happy and ready to eat, and a clean house. Do you understand me?" he said to her
Sara gaped at him. What kind of husband had he been? Who did he think she was? Grissom never spoke to her like that. He never demanded that she cook or do housework.
"I'm not your slave!" Sara hissed at him.
The Doctor turned and picked up Emily. She screamed as he lifted her up and she kicked her legs at him— she knew that this man wasn't a friend. He held her out for Sara to see.
"i can just take Aubry with me for the day if this family is not going to work out," he said.
"Okay okay," Sara pleaded, holding her arms out. "Yes, I understand. Just… give her to me."
He handed Emily to her and she held the baby close to her until she stopped crying. The Doctor picked up a briefcase, straightened his tie in a mirror, and turned to leave.
"There is food in the refrigerator and cleaning supplies in the closet," he said as he opened the door. "don't dissapoint me."
~8~
Sara parted a curtain and watched as The Doctor pulled out of the driveway. He gave her a friendly wave, and she returned his gesture with one of her own. When he had driven down the street and was out of sight, she sat Emily on a loveseat and picked up a nearby bar-stool. With all her might she swung the stool into the window. It didn't break the first time she hit it, nor the second or third. After countless swings she set the stool down and hung her head.
"I'm sorry Emmy," she said. "I'm so so sorry."
Emily looked at her patiently and then clapped her hands together. She was too young to understand what was going on, but she knew something was different. She pointed to her mother and whimpered.
"Muh Muh," she said. "Muh Muh Da!"
Sara nodded. "Yeah, you're right," she said. "We're screwed."
She picked Emily back up and toted her into the kitchen. She wasn't about to cook nor clean for The Doctor, but she would at least feed herself and her daughter. She wasn't going to die in this prison.
The refrigerator was full of food, which, instead of finding it surprising, Sara found eerie. She picked up a bag of baby carrots and read the label. It was the exact same kind that she bought for Emily. A memory of her daughter nibbling a carrot that she had gotten from the play group flooded back to her. Had The Doctor been watching them even then? Did he follow them and hand Emily the carrot?
"Care… care care…" Emily smiled, holding her hand out.
"You want a carrot?" Sara asked, opening the back and placing one into her small, open palm.
"Mmm!" Emily responded as she quickly brought it to her mouth.
There was a high chair sitting nearby and Sara set the little girl in it. She looked around the kitchen and started to search for any sort of weapon. Maybe she could run at The Doctor with a knife or a fork when he entered. There was a chance that he could overpower her, but she wasn't about to simply tolerate this life.
She opened drawer after drawer, looking for anything that could be of use. Hell, at this time she would settle for a potato peeler. However, each drawer contained the same thing — nothing. There were plastic utensils in one drawer, but the were flimsy. In one of the overhead cabinets, she did find a frying pan. It was small, but she would use it if she must.
"Muh!" Emily said loudly.
Sara turned around and walked over to her. She lifted the baby up, smelled her, and then laid her on her shoulder.
"Potty training is around the corner," she said as she took the baby back upstairs.
She didn't want to take advantage of anything The Doctor provided for her. She hated him and wanted him to suffer, yet she needed to comfort and care for Emily. She laid her on the changing table in the room she woke up in and opened the drawers.
She found the exact brand that she bought for her, as wells as the same diaper cream and baby lotion. She changed her daughter quickly, but not without going through their normal routine. She would always take advantage of the exposed stomach of her daughter and blow a loud raspberry on it. Emily anticipated it every time she was changed and she squealed with delight.
"There's my happy girl," Sara said as she lifted a clean Emily back up and onto her shoulder.
She walked around the upstairs portion of the house, rocking Emily from side-to-side as she walked. All of the windows were the same: barred and unbreakable. Each room was empty, but in the last room Sara was unnerved at what she found: five other little cribs.
The doctor was planning on taking the other babies too.
