Chapter 14

Rosalind clenched her jaw as they walked down the hall. She was livid t his unannounced arrival despite the fact that she had known that he would do this. It was no secret that Comstock worked on his own schedule. "Did you see her face?" she asked as they headed to Robert's office.

"She's terrified." he said, "Why do you think that is?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she took a breath, "Let's get to your office first." At least she had managed to grab her notes before leaving. perhaps this was a good thing. They had a lot to go over.

Robert walked beside her as they traveled to his office. Rosalind noticed he glanced down the showcase hall as they passed by. She wanted to tell him of her machine but now was not the time.

Robert opened the door for her and she walked in. She placed all of her notes down on his desk and took a breath. She waited until Robert had closed the door before she began to speak.

"First, she's deeply insecure." Rosalind said, "You can see that she's worried that everything she does isn't good enough." She looked very unsure even after they had gone over the alphabet with her several times.

"We shouldn't have told her that she needed to do well to leave her room." Robert said, "Now she'll be wondering every day why what she's doing isn't enough. Odd.."

"What?"

"That she's exhibiting the same insecurities as other teenagers despite never being outside of her room." Robert said, "She should have no insecurities if she has been alone without judgment for so long."

"But she has been," Rosalind said, "She didn't learn how to speak from the videos. She knew before she was placed in the room. There are things she knows that she shouldn't know."

"An example?"

"I'm getting there." she rolled her eyes, "She knows how to brush her teeth-

"So?"

"Robert, really." she sighed, "We know how because we were taught by someone. Mother taught us and then had to interrogate you before bed because you always tried to skip it. Elizabeth knows to do it once when waking and once before sleeping. Is that not strange? None of her videos taught her that. Someone had to teach her that."

"Yes," Robert agreed, "Someone taught her to hold a pencil, to fold her clothes, to keep her room clean. These behaviors aren't learned naturally." Why hadn't she thought it strange the first time Elizabeth folded her clothes and placed them into the laundry bin? Or how she'd taken the freshly laundered clothing and placed them exactly where they needed to go. She fed herself as anyone else did and even cleaned up any crumbs she'd spilled.

"She said she'd had candy before, but she didn't remember where." Rosalind said, "I've never given her candy before."

"Do you have notes on the first 6 years of her life?" Robert asked.

"No..." she was frustrated now, "Comstock has those in his office. He always said that they weren't important. After watching her for a month, I decided they weren't either." She had assumed that it would be the same as her own. But it probably wasn't. If Elizabeth wasn't always in isolation then the notes probably detailed her transition to being locked away.

"Those memories are locked away then," Robert said, "Perhaps she forgot because so much time has passed. Or maybe she was just much younger and can barely remember her time outside the room."

She should have fought more to learn about Elizabeth before taking the project. There was more to this story than Comstock was telling her and she was done being a willing participant. "I think he's hurt her before..." Rosalind said.

"That would explain why she was so afraid of him when he came into the room." Robert nodded.

"I don't think she knows why she feels that way though." Rosalind closed her eyes. Her nausea was coming back now and she was getting too hot, she needed to calm down.

"You're still sick." Robert walked over to her and pressed his hand against her forehead, "You're burning up!"

"I was fine this morning," she said. She had felt a little sleepy but she had been sure it would pass.

"I'm going to get you medicine," he said

"You don't need to-"

"Either I get you some medicine or you go to the doctor," Robert said.

"Robert..." She sighed and crossed her arms.

"What?"

"We have so much work to do." she said, "We don't have time for this. We have to figure out a way to-"

"To save Elizabeth, I know." he said, "I don't think you realize how easy that will be. Of course, it'll be harder if you're still sick."

"You have a plan?" she asked.

"I do." he nodded, "I'll explain it in detail tonight." That just meant that he didn't have a plan, he would make one before the night was over.

"I'll take medicine and I'll rest, but please check on Elizabeth." she didn't know why she was so worried. She would not have cared before today. Maybe it was because the girl touched her face. Rosalind had seen her hesitate as she reached out and was sure that if she had moved even a little, Elizabeth would have been too afraid to touch her.

Rosalind had noticed her eyes water slightly when she finally touched her face and it really occurred to her just how much Elizabeth was being deprived of. When Rosalind had moved away, she'd seen the sadness on Elizabeth's eyes. She hadn't wanted the moment to end at all.

Even though Rosalind didn't care for hugs and kisses now, she had loved them as a child. Elizabeth hadn't had that. At least she hadn't since being placed in the room. Perhaps she'd had them before, Rosalind would find out soon enough.

The best thing for Elizabeth would be for them to take her out and get her as far away from Comstock as possible. Perhaps with a loving family somewhere else.

"Try to sleep," Robert said, "I know you feel guilty right now. I do too... But once you wake up, we'll go straight back to your office."

"Check on her." Rosalind said, "Before you leave, please." Comstock was most likely just speaking about the miracles he expected of her but still... Rosalind didn't trust him and Elizabeth didn't need to be left alone with her at all.

"I'll do that now." Robert placed the blanket over her. She heard him turn off the lights before he left and before she drifted off, she tried to think of ways to help Elizabeth escape.

0.o.0.o.0

To say he was shocked when he arrived back at Rosalind's office was an understatement. The window was still open and Elizabeth was nowhere to be found. She would not have left the room on her own, he was sure of it. Robert knew without a doubt that Comstock had taken her from the room.

Robert looked at her desk and saw the papers were scattered. He had a feeling she had resisted when Comstock attempted to take her from the room. And why had he done that? It made no sense but Robert knew that Elizabeth had not decided to leave the room on her own.

He would have to figure out where she was before Rosalind woke up. He turned back towards the door and paused as he noticed a bright pink slip of paper on Rosalind's desk.

He picked it up and frowned as he read it. "Took her to get shots, will return in 30 minutes."

What shots could Elizabeth need? And why did he feel the need to give them to her now? He supposed that she hadn't gotten any vaccinations at all if she had been locked away. Maybe they decided that she would need them since her release was imminent... But she hadn't been locked away, he reminded himself. At least not in the same capacity as now. She should have gotten them before.

Robert was tempted to break into Comstock's office and find the files that he had hidden away. There was truth there he needed to see. He needed to know about the girl's mother, her health history, anything really.

Rosalind had gone into the project knowing absolutely nothing and that was strange. Though she was naive when young, she had never been one to blindly accept something like this. She had told him how shocked she was when discovering that her subject was not a creature, but a child. He wasn't sure why she hadn't told anyone about it then. She hadn't even told him about Elizabeth until he started working there.

She hadn't seemed to care then and in the years that passed, he watched her grow more and more impassive about Elizabeth.

But Rosalind was different now. She felt just as guilty as he did and if he could only find out what Comstock was hiding…

He would do that tonight and he would not tell Rosalind about it. After he made sure she was asleep, he would return to work and break into Comstock's office. It would be risky and if he were caught, Comstock would fire him on the spot. But he was certain that he wouldn't get caught.

Robert took a moment to straighten the papers on Elizabeth's desk. She had been doing well until Comstock interrupted. It was only just before lunch, maybe they would be able to continue after she returned.

He thought of the last time he had to get a shot. It was just before he'd come to America. He hoped Elizabeth didn't have a bad reaction to the shots. According to Rosalind's notes, she hadn't gotten so much as a paper cut in the last 9 years.

This would not end well. Elizabeth was not ready for that type of pain and it would have been better if they could ease her into it slowly... Rosalind would not be happy when she discovered this.

Still, Robert knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to get Rosalind her medicine and hopefully, Elizabeth would be back by the time he returned. If she wasn't, he and Rosalind would face that together.

He sighed and ignored the feeling that was growing in his chest. As he walked towards the exit, he couldn't help the feeling that something was wrong. He wanted to wake Rosalind and find Elizabeth immediately.

"It'll be fine." he sighed. Elizabeth was with a doctor and would be fine. HE needed to focus and make sure Rosalind recovered. They would not be able to save Elizabeth if she remained weak like this.

Robert left the building and headed towards the store.