Woo! Another chapter. Sorry my updates aren't at all frequent...I'm trying my best. This one has brief mentions of periods near the start (nothing graphic, I promise! Just thought it was worth mentioning). Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats
The twelve-year-old swung her legs over the side of the cyber desk, which she was perched on the edge of. She eyed the plain blue-grey hospital gown that she's just changed into. The more she stared at the cotton, the more she was convinced that it had to be the ugliest colour in existence.
"Don't look so scared."
Bree shot her head up to see Dr Johnson, one of the only four adults that she had ever met, and the only woman. Bree had always thought that Dr Johnson was pretty: she had olive skin complimented by dark eyes and long black hair, which she always put up into intricate styles. Today she wore it in some sort of a braided bun, a style that Bree loved (although she was in much too foul a mood to say so).
"I'm just checking that you're healthy." The woman informed her, setting her laptop up beside the girl "So, Mr Davenport tells me you started your period a couple of weeks ago."
"Yeah."
"And you understand what that means?"
"Yeah, Chase explained it.", came the feeble response.
Dr Johnson looked up from her computer to see Bree bunching up the gown's fabric tightly in her fists. She frowned.
"It's good. You're becoming a woman." she chuckled, but Bree didn't reciprocate. Instead, choosing to shake her head profusely.
"I don't want to be a woman"
"Well, that's what I said at your age too, but now I'm an adult I have a job, a family-"
"Well, I'm not you." Bree snapped. She hadn't raised her voice, but she was still surprised by the sudden sharpness of her words.
"No" the doctor breathed. "You're not." She travelled across the room to wash her hands before pulling a pair of blue, latex gloves over them (almost the same blue as the gown, Bree noticed) "Step on the scales for me."
The bionic obliged, hopping off of the desk. She let Dr Johnson take note of her height and weight before speaking again.
"When's Mr Davenport going to be back?"
"He told me eight, but I suppose it depends on when his meeting ends."
"So...no training tonight?"
"I shouldn't think so."
The girl's lips curled into a small smile as she pulled herself back onto the counter, a smile which the Dr Johnson returned. Despite this small exchange, the two found themselves unwilling (or unable) to speak to one another for the following few minutes while the doctor checked the girl's blood pressure and heart rate. There was something about the whir of the machines in the background which made this almost-silence all the more uneasy.
"So what's all this about not wanting to be a woman? Hold still."
Bree winced slightly with shock as she felt the pinch of a needle being poked into her arm, but promptly pushed the pain aside to continue the conversation with a shrug, a gesture which told Dr Johnson not to press the topic any further.
"Have you ever been to Paris?"
The question seemed to have come from nowhere, and, admittedly, caught the doctor slightly off guard. So her initial response was a stuttered "No".
Aware of the bluntness of her answer, she swiftly elaborated: "But I'd like to some day."
"Me too."
Bree looked up at the sound of the woman forming the beginnings of a word. But almost as soon as she did this, she watched her mouth slam tightly shut.
"I'm getting older. I guess I just hoped by now- I mean, when I'm your age, I'll still be stuck here."
Dr Johnson turned to take in the girl for a few seconds. She was still fiddling listlessly with the gown. Her whole demeanor look forlorn; even her golden brown hair draped sadly over her shoulders like a funeral veil.
"I think that maybe this is something you should talk to Mr Davenport about."
"I already have." mumbled the bionic.
She spoke so quietly that she was half expecting not to have been heard.
"Well, listen to him. He's sacrificed a lot to keep the three of you safe."
"Yeah…"
"I mean it."
"What do-"
"Just listen to him."
Bree found herself feeling a little bad for complaining, although she wasn't quite sure she knew the reason. Still, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to loosen her grip on the fantasy she'd built up. A job, a family, a nice house; everything that Dr Johnson had, she wanted. She wanted more than anything to be normal.
I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of some of the chapters in this story, but I'm actually quite proud of this one. Please review to let me know what you think, and what I can improve on, as this really helps me :)