The Truth Will Out – Part One

Part seventeen of the Robyn series.

Sat silently by the window of the darkened room lit only by scattered candles a figure watched trails of rain working their way down the glass in lazy trails. Illuminating the trails was the moon its light dimmed by the clouds that surrounded it in endless circles. Turning their eyes from the moon the figure concentrated again on the thin lines of rain and lost themselves in thought.

A barrier cast high and strong had been breached with just the slightest slip in control. They had let the barrier fall in seconds, years of torturously hard work gone in the blink of an eye, work that could never be repaired or replaced. It was all gone, there was no more. Uncertain times had befallen the soul lost in the no man's land between sanity and madness. The slightest tip in the tenuous balance between the two could mean destruction or salvation.

The light blue eyes moved slowly from the window and fixed themselves on a new point of interest. Picking up the single crutch from the floor the tortured sole leaned on it as she got up shakily. As much as the operation had seemed to work for the epilepsy it had left her with weakness on one side of her body severely hindering her mobility. When she was stood for a few seconds and in no apparent danger of falling over she walked with the assistance of the crutch to her dressing table.

Robyn stood in front of the mirror and examined herself. She looked deeply into the eyes that stared back at her from the reflection in the glass; it felt as if they weren't hers. Nothing she saw in the mirror felt like it was hers, even the figure lying on the bed behind her seemed strangely distant as if she weren't supposed to be here and was borrowing someone else's life. She watched as the figure stirred from his rest and slowly sat up casting large brown eyes in her direction.

"You and that mirror," Kit said getting out of bed and stretching, "You never seem to leave it alone these days, tell me what's up. It's not where they shaved your head for the op is it?"

"No, that'll grow back soon. It's not the scar either."

Kit shrugged and walked over to Robyn, "What is it then? Talk to me."

"I don't know if I can say it."

"Try."

Robyn shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to say the words she so desperately wanted to utter. She wanted to share her fears with him, her doubts but she was scared that what she had to say would scare him away. She couldn't bear the thought of him turning from her in disgust. It would be a loss too great for her to bear; he had been a pillar of strength for her through her trials so far and something at the back of her mind told her that there would be many more trials to come. She couldn't run the risk of losing him.

An all too familiar silence descended over the room. It had happened a lot recently. Whenever he tried to get her to talk to him she'd go quiet and he couldn't get anymore from her. Kit was worried that Robyn hadn't been the same since her operation; she'd changed in an almost dramatic way. She valued her solitude and hardly spent any time with anyone but himself, Robbie and Sportacus. The only ones she could stand to see her fall from grace, at least when she had been blind she could move around and had full physical strength. She had taken the situation well but the weakness in her body had taken its toll on her. She would tire quickly making any physical activity and trips out extremely difficult.

Mood swings and moroseness were a common occurrence with her. When she was having a good day she would be almost as she had been before the operation with the exception of her being more short tempered and liable to lash out. This change in her was disconcerting but during her bad days the feeling was intensified. Kit hoped that she'd be having a good day when they were due to get married in three week's time. If she wasn't it would be disastrous. He feared for the survival of his relationship with the woman he loved more than anything in the world and the woman he hoped loved him the same as she always had done.

Pushing his bad feelings aside Kit picked Robyn up and took the crutch from her hand before dropping it on the floor. Sitting down on the edge of the bed he placed her on his lap. He buried his face in the soft, fragrant, light brown tresses cascading down her back. Shutting his eyes he tried to think back to how things had been and how he wanted them to be. Seeing Robyn like this hurt him. There was something making her painfully unhappy and he wouldn't have peace of mind until he knew what was happening to her. He was tempted to consult Doctor Malone who was his only source of medical advice since Doctor Cole had retreated back to Wales since his recovery from Doctor Trent's attack.

"No doctor can cure what afflicts me." Robyn said quietly picking up Kit's thoughts.

"Can I cure it? Tell me what it is. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's buzzing around in your head. Whatever it is its making you sick and I can't take it. Please, whatever it is, no matter how bad it is, tell me." Kit begged desperately.

"I can't. Believe me I can't."

"Princess, I need you to tell me, just me. It's all I ask, whatever it is that's floating around in that head of yours is making you ill and seeing you like this is going to make me ill too eventually. I have to know what it is."

Robyn's heart pounded in her chest and her lungs took in a deep draft of air. The words were there on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't fight them much longer. With her confession imminent tears beaded on her lashes and her face crumpled, there was no way of stopping what was about to happen and she was about to pass the point of no return.

Turning her head slightly to one side Robyn began to speak, "I'm changing."

"Changing? How?"

"I don't know. My thoughts, my perceptions, my feelings are all different. Something's missing; I'm not the same person anymore. I can't control what's happening to me and I'm scared. I'm really scared."

"You don't have to be afraid Robyn, Doctor Malone said that some personality changes would be likely but we can deal with it. We can try to stop it."

"That's the thing. I don't know if I want to stop it. Look at me Kit, tell me what you see."

Frowning with slight confusion Kit complied and looked into the reflection of him and Robyn cast in the mirror. Focusing on Robyn's reflection he tried to find any change in her physique but as far as he could tell there was none. She was just the same as she had been before if not slightly thinner.

Not knowing what he was meant to look for he shook his head. "I can't see anything different."

"Look at my eyes."

"There's nothing wrong with them."

"In the top drawer of the bedside table is my sketchbook. Hand it to me."

Even more confused than before Kit opened up the drawer and pulled out the sketchbook. Knowing that Robyn would have trouble opening it and flicking through the drawings he did it for her. He stopped turning over the pages when her hand rested on his; looking at the page he saw the picture of Lily that Robyn had drawn. Slowly realisation began to dawn on him and looking deeply into the hard cruel eyes that stared at him from the picture and back at Robyn's eyes reflected in the mirror. This time he saw what he was meant to see.

Robyn's eyes had become similar to Lily's.