Eleanor knelt in front of Roger who was now breathing heavily and sitting on the side of his bed, her hands holding his shoulders square. Her typical hairstyle was a mess now and she was sure her clothes were a wrinkled, soaked disaster. She let out a breath too—Roger's fit this morning had really put her through hell and back. All she wanted to do was get him into the bath, wash him clean, comb his hair, and dress him in some nicer clothes so that he could be ready to meet his potential new family. But he was completely against that idea and fought her literally every step of the way. He splashed and kicked in the bathtub, batted at the comb, wriggled out of the towel at least eleven times, thrashed at the feeling of the shirt collar at his neck, and kicked some more when he was made to put socks on. Eleanor couldn't even really remember the last time he'd actually worn anything besides pajamas—he'd been so sad and withdrawn that he'd been staying in bed all day, never leaving. Now as she knelt before this skinny, drawn boy and could take in the pitiful sight, her heart ached for him again. Very gently, she reached up and brushed some of the teartracks off his cheeks. He averted his gaze down to his lap. The fight was over. He'd once again given up.
Eleanor reached for their communication notebook and pointed once more at the message she'd written on one of the pages eagerly—a family wants to meet you today. Roger glanced at it again but looked away. He didn't believe her. How could he? He felt useless in the eyes of the world. Why would he ever believe something good could happen to him? Eleanor gently lifted his chin with her fingertips to look at him in the eyes. They were desolate, devoid of emotion besides pain. She gave him a sad smile and a nod to emphasize that this was a good thing, and that he deserved it, and that he was going to be happy.
She took Roger's hand to lead him off the bed and guide him into the hallway, but he didn't want to budge. "Please, Roger," she said aloud in exasperation even though he wouldn't know it. When the boy started becoming agitated again, she dropped his hand and decided that there was no other way to get him out of the dormitory than to actually physically carry him. She scooped him up from under his arms and hauled him out into the hallway and towards the main foyer. He started with more tears again and some indistinguishable wails of protest, but thankfully by the time they made it to the entrance, Dr. Bell's car was visible in the drive from the window. Eleanor excitedly and dramatically pointed to the window to get Roger's attention focused for a moment long enough to calm him down. But instead, he just stood there and shamefully covered his face with his hands as if trying to hide himself from the world's scrutiny. He sat down on the floor and tucked his head into his arms. Before she could even attempt to comfort him, the front door opened timidly and Dr. Bell stepped inside. His face lit up at the very sight of Roger—though immediately his eyes fogged with sadness at the sight of the small boy attempting to disappear. "G-Good morning," he greeted Eleanor politely. She sighed and echoed him. "Having a bit of a difficult time?" he asked as he looked upon the sad child. She nodded in response, adding, "He just doesn't understand that it's you that's here for him. I think he's afraid he's going to be taken by someone who…won't be as accepting of his oddities." Dr. Bell actually crouched down on the floor just a few feet from Roger. "My wife's in the car," he explained. "She and I thought it might be a good idea to meet him in shifts so that he doesn't get overwhelmed." Eleanor's heart felt like weights were coming off—how thoughtful was this man and woman to consider Roger's level of comfort straight away? She was speechless for a moment. Then she noticed that the boy was timidly raising his head from his arms. Teary red eyes peered out from being hidden. They rested on the familiar doctor's face. After a few seconds of silence, Roger then wiped his face on his sleeve and drew in a shaking breath as he uncoiled from his tight stance. Dr. Bell smiled and gave a nod. "That's right, you remember me, don't you, love?" The two kept their distance from each other, but seemed to have an understanding. A few minutes passed by. Dr. Bell rolled a biscuit to Roger across the floor in a peace offering, which Roger accepted and nibbled on with tiny bites. "I should get my wife," Dr. Bell said with a smile. "Oh, stay there, I'll call her in for you," Eleanor said, not wanting to startle Roger at this point. She opened the front door and waved to the figure sitting in the car's passenger seat. She saw the figure wave back and begin to get out. Eleanor split her gaze time between watching Roger and Dr. Bell and the outside car, but she suddenly turned all her attention to the woman standing up and smoothing her dress as she hurried to the stairs.
The woman looked completely pleasant, kind, and overall lovely. She wore a beautiful beaming smile, a face that was lightly touched by subtle makeup, her dress was the prettiest shade of purple that Eleanor had ever seen, and her hair was expertly curled. However, the longer Eleanor stared, the more she began to see. This woman's gloves practically hung off of her hands and wrists. Prominent hip bones pressed against the fabric of her dress and made themselves obvious. Her arms were bony and showed blood vessels just beneath the skin. The delicate shoes on her feet didn't cover all of the bones that were showing. Her eyes were large and rather sunken. Her cheeks, though tinted with a light blush, were hallowed. But still, she was smiling so large, her face absolutely exuding excitement and love—she was a picture of happiness. Though not with herself.
She greeted Eleanor with an eager handshake and a flurry of compliments and thanks for allowing them to have this meeting. "I'm Agatha," the young woman explained. "I'm Dr. Bell's wife. You can call me Aggie, I don't mind. I'm just so thrilled to be meeting Roger. He's told me so much about him. Oh he just sounds lovely." Eleanor smiled—how perfect could this match be? "I will warn you though, we had a bit of a time this morning and he's still moody from it." she said, hoping that Roger's anger wouldn't rear itself again and scare this couple off. Agatha waved her hand. "I completely understand. It's fine. We're going to take it slow so we don't push him." she assured. She tenderly stepped inside the door as Eleanor opened it to the foyer.
Roger's eyes darted from Dr. Bell to this new smiling woman. She waved gingerly at him and also knelt on the floor—even in her pretty dress, Roger noted. Dr. Bell caught his attention again as he pointed at a ring on his finger, and then pointed at a ring on the woman's finger. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. Roger understood—they were married. If the doctor was nice, wouldn't his wife be nice too? Logic told him yes, thought he was still extremely afraid he'd be wrong—he'd been wrong before in his life. The woman waved at him again to obtain his attention and drew something small out of her purse. She extended it to him. It was a small teddy bear that was holding an envelope. It took a long time before Roger reached out and took it from her. She nodded at him eagerly when he touched the card as if telling him to open it. Roger's fingers so carefully folded the envelope, pulling gently at the paper inside. He unfolded it.
It was beautiful handwriting. Roger cautiously glanced up at Eleanor as if asking for permission to continue reading—he was somewhat glad when she smiled and nodded. "Dearest Roger," the letter said. "Our home has never quite been complete. At least we thought, until it was filled with stories of your amazing strength and persistent spirit while Dr. Bell was treating you in the hospital. We've missed you since then. We've missed your very essence. We promise to always give you the best of everything, to provide for you, to love you absolutely unconditionally if you were to enter our home permanently. You already have a room ready there—a desk, clothes, a bed, a place at our dinner table—we've got it all ready for you. Will you say yes when we ask you to come home with us today and make us a true family?" Roger's heart picked up. The doctor and his wife wanted to adopt him? They wanted him? He blinked a few times before looking up at the young couple in front of him. He could barely feel his own face when he carefully mouthed, "Why?"
Tears sprang into his eyes—he wasn't sure the exact reason he was crying, but he did know that all of these kind things they had written to him just weren't true. He didn't deserve this kind of love. He was dirty, he was damaged, he was…impure. How could they think that was a suitable addition to their perfect life? But the woman leaned a little bit closer to him and reached out her hand; her eyes were also very sad. With the hand she didn't hold out to him, she made motions as she mouthed words back to him. "I've been waiting for you my whole life," Roger watched her closely. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears slowly, though she remained smiling at him. He looked over at Dr. Bell. His hand was on the woman's shoulder—he was also showing a kind expression. And lastly he glanced at Eleanor. She actually for once didn't look concerned about him or worried; she actually gave him a knowing nod. Roger pulled the teddy bear a bit closer to him. He could be loved. He could be safe. He could be cared for. He could go far, far away from anything that had to do with the hospital or the mental place or Jack or an orphanage. He could be free. With people who would let him be free. What if this was something good? What if this could be a new start?
Roger slowly, ever so slowly, pulled himself up off the floor. He hugged the bear close to him and nervously glanced around as if expecting someone to just come and kick him back down and laugh in his face. He carefully reached out, placing his hand tenderly on the woman's open palm. He didn't look at anyone in the room. He hung his head, looking at the floor. He didn't see how Agatha's face melted into streams of happy tears as she turned her head up to the ceiling and thought silent prayers of gratitude. He didn't see Dr. Bell erupt into the biggest smile he'd ever worn. He didn't see Eleanor breathe a massive sigh of relief and put her hand over her heart. He didn't know what a big step he'd just made with such a tiny gesture. But everything was falling into place for him with each step he took towards the car with his new mother and father. He didn't know how much he was going to get out of life now. He didn't know that instead of being forgotten by the world, he was finally creating another that would hold him close, nurture him, and put him first in everything it could.
He didn't know just how free he'd really made himself.