SM owns Twilight.

(CozItRunsInMyBlood /Rose B. Mashal) owns the plot.

(BandMum) is the wonderful beta.

Chapter 9 Part 2

The whole time I was showering, I couldn't stop thinking about the roses and the diary. I planned to ask Dr. Cullen about them first thing today. He would be here soon to feed Smokey and bring me my breakfast.

After I slipped into jeans and a T-shirt, I puzzled over the meaning of the diary entry as I blew my hair dry. I preferred to let it air-dry, but I was afraid it would leave a trail of water on the new carpet, and I didn't want to make Dr. Cullen angry.

At eight AM sharp, Dr. Cullen entered the lab from the house. He usually came through the outside door to the rear yard, which was the only one I had ever used. I watched as he locked the door behind him, then went straight to Smokey's cage. I smiled as I listened to Smokey's excited chatter. I could hear Dr. Cullen talking to him, but couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

"Good morning, birthday girl," Dr. Cullen greeted me, and my smile brightened.

"Thank you, sir." I felt the heat creeping up my cheeks, and dropped my eyes. I couldn't believe he remembered from our talk back in my studio apartment.

He put two bags on the table beside the roses and frowned. "Did you go outside?" he asked, and I panicked.

"No, sir, I didn't. The roses were here when I woke up."

"They were?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, sir. And this, too." I handed the diary to him. Dr. Cullen examined it with suspicion, and then hummed when he read the first page. "I don't know who brought them here, sir."

Dr. Cullen closed the diary and put it back on the table, then gazed up at one of the cameras in the corner of my room and pursed his lips. He was quiet for a moment as he stared at it. "That would be my assistant. I'm not sure how he figured out it's your birthday; I didn't give him that information."

"Oh," was all I said before joining Dr. Cullen in gawking at the camera, not really sure what we were looking at.

"He should've given it to you personally, though." He said that more to the camera than to me. "But he's not very social."

"It's fine, really. That makes two of us." I chuckled nervously, looking down.

"Hmm," Dr. Cullen turned to stare at me with narrowed eyes, just as he had been looking at the camera a second ago. It made me even more nervous than I was. "It does make two of you," he said. I had no idea what that meant, but I didn't ask for an explanation.

"Anyway, Eric told me you bought him Cinnabon the other day, and-"

"I'm so sorry, sir. It won't ever happen again. I still have some money left from my salary and I could pay you back for the Cinnabon. I'm so sorry, please don't be mad at me. It won't happen again." I prattled hysterically. I was so stupid; I knew I shouldn't have bought those Cinnabons. What the heck was I thinking?

I was freaking out, thinking that I made him angry with me. Who knew what he might do when he was mad? Who knew how he acted? Fear gripped my heart and I was on the verge of tears.

"Bella! What are you saying? I'm not mad at you in the slightest. Please, relax. Nothing to be mad about, dear." Dr. Cullen said, and I looked at him with wonder, so afraid that he was playing me.

"I'm so sorry, sir." He said he wasn't mad at me, but he might not have meant it. He might be dishonest about it, so I had to apologize.

"Please, Bella. Stop saying you're sorry. There's absolutely nothing to apologize for. I told you myself to get whatever you wanted. If there's anything I'm not pleased with, it's that you didn't buy many clothes, and only cheap ones, at that." He said it so calmly, that I started to believe he might honestly not be mad at me.

"I didn't want you to waste more money on me, sir," I said quietly, keeping my gaze on the floor.

"It's not a waste." Dr. Cullen sighed, shaking his head slightly. A moment later, he pulled a small box from one of the bags he had brought and handed it to me. My eyes widened as I saw what it was, and I realized I was being hysterical for nothing. "I brought you Cinnabons. Birthday breakfast."

I pressed my lips together tightly, feeling stupider than ever as I took it from him. "That's very kind of you. Thank you, sir." I was embarrassed by my outburst, and I wished I wasn't messed up so that I could recognize real kindness when it was standing right in front of me.

"You're welcome, dear," he said, and the room fell silent for a minute or two. "Well, I have to go to work now. I will bring you your present later tonight."

"It's really not necessary; you've already given me more than I ever dreamed."

"I want to," he said. "You still have the card; if you wish to go out let me know and I'll have Eric drive you anywhere you want. A spa, maybe?"

I shook my head. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen. But I'm really not into… well, anything."

He sighed again. "Just let me know if you change your mind. I'll see you later, dear."

I wished I could tell him exactly how grateful I was, for him and everything he had been doing for me. But I was afraid he'd be irritated with my many 'thank-you's, so I said nothing.

I learned the hard way that staying silent was the safest option in most situations.

Silence, obedience, and invisibility when not needed were how I avoided punishments before. I was still trying to figure out if that was what Dr. Cullen wanted of me, too. I expected him to snap at me as he discovered how stupid and useless I was.

I was constantly waiting for all of this to fall apart and reveal its true form: a deceptive dream, and a nightmare in disguise.

~WtSGD~

The pain in my knees and lower back was getting worse each day. I had already asked Dr. Cullen to increase the dosage of the medication, but he refused, saying it would be bad for my kidneys. He gave me some pain-relieving creams to apply instead, but they barely made a difference.

Dr. Cullen had warned me that my disease would become more aggressive, but I wondered if part of the ache in my bones was because I wasn't walking as much as I had been for the past two years.

The man who was trying his best to help me had told me earlier that I was free to go out, so that was what I did. I didn't want to go far, though; just a small walk around the house. I hadn't seen much of it yet; just glimpses as I'd gone in and out.

Behind the house, Dr. Cullen's garden was huge, and it was obvious that he must loved to spend time there. Paths wound through it, with benches scattered around. A pretty white gazebo perched where the pathways met in the center, and a large greenhouse was off to one side. Some evergreen trees and shrubs kept it from feeling drab, but I imagined it would be very pretty in warmer weather.

Beyond the garden was a massive wooded area which he'd said was also his property. I didn't plan to go that far in case I got too tired and couldn't come back. I roamed around the garden, enjoying the few sunbeams that managed to break through the clouds that always covered Forks' sky.

One path led away to the greenhouse. I wondered if Dr. Cullen had much of a green thumb, or if it was used for storage, and I was just curious enough to take a peek. The door wasn't locked, so I went in.

I was astounded by the sight in front of me. Pots and containers of all sizes and shapes filled the space, plants growing and blooming in each one. There might have been a planned layout at one time, but it had been abandoned for a while, and there was barely room to walk through the fruit trees, herbs, vegetables, trellises covered in vines, and rows of flowers of every shade and kind. The air was warm and humid, and the mingled aromas of soil, fertilizer, and blossoms were a heady mix; I almost felt like I'd walked into a jungle.

As I had expected, I began to get tired; the thick atmosphere in the greenhouse was nearly stifling, and it only increased my lethargy. I decided to go back out and rest a minute on the nearest bench. I was admiring the different kinds of flowers on my way to the door when a bush of red roses caught my attention.

I took a closer look and realized they were identical to the ones in my room this morning. They must have been picked from here.

Slipping outside, the chilly air revived me a little as I shuffled up the path to a bench. My eyes drifted to the big house I had been technically living in for almost a week now, and my gaze danced between the windows. I wondered where the assistant was. He must be living in the house as well if he got the roses from the greenhouse.

Of course, he lived here; he was the one monitoring the cameras that were planted all over the lab. How come this didn't occur to me before? Silly me.

But if he lived here, and knew all about me and the secret experiments, why haven't I met him, yet? It could be that he was not keen on talking to strangers like Dr. Cullen remarked. Not that I blamed him. I disliked peopling, too.

I wondered if he was the figure I saw the other day when I came back from my shopping trip. If so, why did he hide? There was something extremely weird about that assistant.

I didn't know if I wanted to figure out more about him. I probably shouldn't. But I couldn't deny that I was curious.

~WtSGD~

Author Note:

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