“I kind of hate you, you know that.”
Those were the first words of Lila when she arrived later, after 6 PM with another tray balanced on her arm.
Emmet had been sat bored out of his mind, stomach growling at the lack of food and throat dry. His head immediately snapped up to look at her, and he was fairly confident that despite her words, she honestly did care for him on some level.
Not many of his muscles were atrophied and he retained full motion of his left arm, albeit painfully, after rolling it around in its socket, after sitting up of course. His left leg was also fully functional, as well as the joint, on his right leg, connecting the limb to his torso.
It also came to Emmet’s attention that he had a catheter. He was no particularly interested in learning how it was going to be removed at the moment, deciding to put that little tid-bit firmly to the side for now.
He did not want to think
"Nighty, Nighty," Emmet's mother used to call out to him, stroking his hair as he laid his head down on her lap, finding comfort in her warmth, finding solace in the quiet."Pyjama, Pyjama," Aunt Minnie called back from where she slept at the side, all three of them laid down on Emmet's mother's double bed.Emmet never understood how Aunt Minnie managed to sleep on her back with her arms crossed, her body completely still save for her shallow, repetitive breaths, forming the beat which his mother's hands followed as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.He had been attempting to grow his hair out, wanting long locks, just like his mother and aunt.He wanted to fit in with them more. He wanted to look more like them, and less like his father. He wanted to show his mother more support. He wanted to show his mother how similar they looked.Emmet had fallen asleep in his mother's lap that night, the sun sinking down against the clear sky t
Emmet wasn't sure when he woke up, finding himself still in the morning handcuffed to his bed and finding Lila sitting across from him, eating her own breakfast as if Emmet didn't even matter.He blinked once and managed to get her attention with that one, minute movement.She blinked back at him in reply and saw that she was wearing the same uniform as she had done before, and the same fuzzy slippers as she did before.She sat with a book open, balanced against the sides of Emmet's legs, reading whatever was on those pages as she ate her breakfast from a bowl.Cornflakes and milk.Of all things, stupid cornflakes and milk.Emmet expressed his negative opinion over her dietary choices by simply repeating back his mental spew that consisted of nothing but repititions of what she ate."Cornflakes and milk," he intoned to her, his face exasperated and aggravated.Lila remained silent, not saying a single word or pausing in her con
Emmet sat there alone in the room for hours, waiting for Lila to return back for more food.He had sat alone in the silence, after she had left, doing nothing for a while.Without his constant work and then his scheming to keep Jasper safe, Emmet had dimly realised that his time with Lila had to be the first long stretch of a part of his life, in a long, long while, that he had been free to allow his mind to go blank.The thought had been pondered on briefly, celebrated for even less, before being summarily dismissed.Lila had taken advantage of it as well.Emmet had asked her a question and she had successfully managed to evade it and leave.Worse still, he was completely at her mercy here.If he ever wanted to find Jasper, then Emmet would need to plan out everything that he needed to do.He needed to keep his head above water and remain calm and steady, throughout everything that was going to happen.He couldn't let L
Number two: Emmet needed to find the location of the time machine and steal it from Lila, as soon as he knew where Jasper was.It would be much better for the time machine to never fall into the wrong hands. It could easily be abused to fit anyone less responsible's desires and wishes, especially because the exact theory of how the universe responded to time travel was unknown, as of yet.The time machine itself contained internal logs of where and when it had travelled from and to. If Emmet was unable to extract a location from Lila, then he would be able to simply search for one through the internal memory of the time machine.He would be able to intercept Jasper before he had even stolen the time machine in the future where he originally came from. He would be able to meet Jasper in the immediate aftermath of their separation.He could even cross his own timeline to have two Emmets exist at the research facility.Crossing his own timeline and ev
"Lunch time! I hope you like repetitive meals," Lila called out as soon as she entered the room, tray propped up on one arm again as she opened the door with the other.She swung her body around with a slight spring in her step, her face more well rested than Emmet had seen her this morning, strangely enough.Emmet looked up and blinked at her, vaguely gesturing the empty bowl that had been finished for breakfast, before putting out his arms for another plate of rice and steamed vegetables, this time carrots, rather than broccoli."We're finishing all this off before I make anything else, so shut up and enjoy it," she continued to keep speaking."I didn't say anything," Emmet replied to her, receiving a wry look of disbelief in return.Her face said it all."Nice acting, mate," she drawled out, sarcastically, " I totally did not see you completely reverse your opinions on what I served since breakfast. Truly, you are a master on your persona
To lose control, Emmet thought to himself, sitting alone on the cream coloured bed, as if it were an island, alone and floating in a vast ocean of turbulent blue, the last vestiges of what could be considered solid where he currently lay down, was a terrible thing."one two three four five..." he counted and timed, as he breathed.His control had not cracked when he was offered the position as facility director. He had maintained his composure and a respectable expression as his person was insulted and his family threatened. He had accepted the position with grace, sacrificing his personal romantic relationships with a calm enough demeanor, standing still and saying nothing as Doctor Johnstone threw weak punch after weak punch, with her shaking, fragile arms, at his unmoving chest.He had not flinched when she called him a heartless bastard, and he was not inclined to
When she had been left alone and distraught, Lila remembered that she had simply sunk to the floor and curled up into a silent ball.She remembered how all her tears had dried up and the hollow emptiness where she had been taught where her heart was.She had counted the lengths of her breaths, just as she had been told to do."one two three four five.""one two three four five.""one two three four five."She had no idea for how long she had been sat down there for, in the centre of a messy room, surrounded by smashed up pieces of long buried junk and tens upon tens of dust bunnies. Nothing moved with the windows closed, and nothing made any noise at all.The house was completely empty after all, save for her own presence.Sh
Digging in the garden was something simple and easy.It didn't require much thought, and as soon as one had found themselves a sturdy enough stick, then they were set. They were free to dig to their heart's content.Maybe they would find themselves a dinosaur bone. Maybe they would find themselves pirate treasure, or maybe even a Roman coin, if they were lucky.Digging was a mindless task that made your back break and your legs strain to keep you upright.And it was in those mindless moments, outside, that it occurred to Lila that she could just simply... leave.She could leave right now and she could seek out a new and better life away from here. She would never have to hurt again. She would never have to go to sleep crying again. She would be able to play like all the other children, she would be able to go to friend's houses, play with their electronics, eat their cookies and biscuits.She would be able to hate school, just like eve