"Good morning, beautiful," as always, Dimitri came in with his opening statement. My day was instantly made better when his deep, smooth voice reached my ears. Did I mention the Russian accent? Sounded like hot chocolate running down your throat on a cold winter's night, but I digress.
It's been the same for the past two years. He was the first person I talked to when I first arrived here, something about him felt familiar so I had no problems opening up to him. I still don't talk to the other White Coats, just Dimitri.
When he entered, he was looking down at his clipboard, as per usual, and didn't see me sitting on the ceiling, my now favorite place to be. There was something about the rush of blood to my brain that made it easier to think, and sitting upside down gave me a different perspective of the world, quite literally.
"I've just got to check your vitals and collect a blood sample and then I'll leave you be. It shouldn't take more than a few minu-" He cut his sentence short as he looked up from his notes and glanced around, finding no one. There was a flash of panic in his eyes and his body tensed.
I tried and failed to stifle a laugh. He looked up at me, letting out a sigh of relief before staring at me in disbelief. I gave him a small wave and a sly smile.
"How'd you get up there?"
"It just kinda happened. Here, let me show you." I laughed and before he could object I raised him to my level. He let out a short yelp as his feet left the ground and flailed in the air then proceeded to glare at me. Although, considering he was upside down, arms crossed and still recovering from the change in elevation, it didn't have the desired effect – I laughed, again.
"I've asked you several times not to use your gifts on me." Dimitri was the only one that called my powers "gifts". I called them a curse.
Ever since he discovered I could use telepathy, he made me swear up and down not to use any of my abilities on him, telepathy in particular. I've never used my powers on the White Coats, just with other Projects to show them what all I could do. I promised him, though I'm not sure why.
"I remember. I just find it easier to stay calm and relaxed up here so you can take accurate readings," I responded, batting my long, black eyelashes. "Besides, I'm not doing you any physical harm."
Dimitri was the sweetest guy I'd ever known. That's not saying much because I'd been in here for the past two years, and Mom and I had moved around a lot to keep me out of the papers and the government out of our hair. A great lot of good that did. Dimitri gave me an amused look and shook his head as he pulled his serious face back on.
"Understandable. However, could you please lower me back to the ground? I feel it unjust that a 110-pound, eighteen-year-old miracle can lift a 220-pound, twenty-four-year-old me." I felt my face heat up in a blush, as I lowered him down.
'Did he really think I am a miracle?' My teenage, normal-self reared her head and sighed dreamily. 'That's what he said! But what does he mean by that? Does he refer to the other Projects as miracles, too, or is it just me? I mean, he does call me "Beautiful," too. You wouldn't call someone beautiful if you didn't like her, right? Is that what this is? An attraction?' She kept rambling.
Soon my logical-self had her twin locked back in her ivory tower where she was unable to bother anyone. 'He's a White Coat, of course he doesn't think I'm a miracle, at least not a good one. You don't keep miracles in a cage to study 24/7. This is just a way to get you to trust him, but I trust no one. He needs data from me, not a relationship.' I reasoned with myself. 'However, this is Dimitri…It wouldn't be so bad to gain his attention, just a little bit…'
I mentally glared at my logical-self for not staying on track.
"How are you today, Comrade?" I asked, still in my meditative spot on the ceiling, hair hanging loose, almost touching his head where he stood underneath me. He huffed when he heard his nickname.
"When will you ever stop calling me that?" He grumbled more to himself than to me, though I could hear the amusement in his voice. "I am well today and I've just come to see if you are in a similar state. So, if you would be so kind as to join me down here, I would greatly appreciate it."
"And what if I don't want to join you, Comrade?" I teased, stressing his nickname. "It's not like you can make me." The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and laughter twinkled in his eyes.
"Oh, really? I suppose you're correct." His shoulders sagged in defeat, but his voice held mischief. "Well…I could always have them come sedate you, again." He threatened slightly raising an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes at him. My glare was intense, one could feel the atmosphere of the room becoming more and more electric, causing the White Coats on the other side of the glass to ease closer to the panic button. His gaze was as intense as mine, not even fazed by my glare, and somewhere deep inside me I felt my heart begin to flutter.
'What is happening to me? Get a hold of yourself, Rose!'
One time! One time I stayed in deep meditation a little too long and didn't hear them calling me. Instead of throwing something at me to get my attention, like any normal person would do, they had to go and get the tranquilizer gun.
Rolling my eyes after a few minutes of some very intense glaring, I shooed him closer to the door so I wouldn't land right on top of him.
"It wasn't my lack of compliance that got me sedated, Comrade. It was a lack of intelligence from the White Coats." He smirked in victory and amusement as I lowered myself back down to the ground. "I don't even know why they needed me that day, but they kinda shot themselves in the foot by knocking me out."
Feet firmly planted on the ground and taking a few steps back, I stood ten feet away from him, against the far wall, as I did with all the White Coats. But this time it wasn't for their comfort: it was for mine. My heart was still doing its jive and it was really starting to annoy me. Never before has Dimitri's presence made me feel nervous, but something was happening and it wasn't normal. Along with whatever emotion was taking control of my body came fear: fear of the unknown.
"Come here." He motioned me to come closer, tapping his pen on his clipboard impatiently. I refused to budge, shaking my head and sinking further into the wall. "Fine then." He sighed in acceptance.
He quickly closed the gap between us and gently grabbed my hand pulling my arm forward. I felt my heart rate increase even more,
'That's going to mess with my vitals,' I thought and my skin started to buzz. 'Add this to the list of new abilities…?' I questioned silently. 'But what did it mean?'
My eyes flicked over to a White Coat who was still watching us. Dimitri rolled his eyes and dropped the wraparound curtain after giving the man a pointed look, blocking the view of any White Coat who felt the need to stare. They stared every time Dimitri came into my room, I didn't know if they were observing him or me. They didn't stare so intensely when it was just me, so I'm guessing that it was him.
"They're just jealous." He stated wrapping his long fingers around my small wrist taking my pulse, which was still high and rising, still. He raised an eyebrow, "Don't stress about it, you've nothing to fear," mistaking my elevated heartrate at panic and fear of the White Coats. "Hmm…maybe I should've let you stay up there."
"Why are they jealous?" I questioned, not correcting his assumption. "Do they stare at you when you aren't with me or are they just observing how you interact with 'The Freak?' They only stare when you're in here and I can't figure out why. It has to be you they are staring at, not me."
He frowned deeply. His eyes narrowed at my self-appointed nickname and he fixed his calculating gaze upon me. My heartrate, which was starting to normalize, decided to jump again.
"You are not a freak. You are a miracle. You're perfect, Roza, just the way you are. It isn't something you should be scared or ashamed of." He stated, completely ignoring the second half of my rant.
'Yeah, right.' Mentally scoffing at him as he continued his assessment. 'You're delusional, Comrade, and since when do you call me "Roza?"'
I used the time to study his face, hoping to find an emotion there to answer my question. Strong and stoic, Dimitri could never be described as less than perfect. I dare say that he might be perfection himself, but he was working for the White Coats. Even perfect things had their flaws.
His perfect face was blank of any emotion. He had on his stupid Guardian Mask: stone cold and emotionless.
When he was done taking my blood, he kept hold of my hand. The buzzing was growing more intense by the minute. I still didn't know what it meant. He looked me in the eyes and held my gaze. The intensity of it was staggering and shook me to my core, but the rest of his face remained passive.
He seemed to be studying me, that or he was trying to send me some coded message, one that I was dying to crack. I was tempted to use my telepathy to catch a glimpse of what he was thinking, but didn't want to risk losing the trust I've worked so hard to gain. Dimitri was the only White Coat that had any semblance of a heart, and I planned to utilize it to the max. Trust was the first step.
"You're more than they could ever hope to be, trust me." He whispered, finally, and with that he turned around and left. I stood there and stared at the door as it closed, unconsciously I floated back to my spot on the ceiling.
I felt a pain in my chest as my heart rate return to normal in his absence. I kept replaying his words in my head. As I did, I felt a heat rise to my cheeks. Was I really blushing at the memory of Dimitri calling me perfect? The answer was yes, yes, I was. A White Coat couldn't think that highly of me, could he?