The Cure To A Broken Mind

Chapter 8 ~ Here We Go Again

         5...

        It seemed morning pressed in through the windows quicker than it ever should have. Yet, despite this, I found myself restless, leaning my body into the wall as I watched the light cast across the floor.

        The doctor had discarded himself in the bedroom; door locked and all. The only company I had was the soothing crackle from the fireplace and the creeping ambiance of the desolate cabin itself.

        I don't suppose it ever occurred to me that man was an SCP ever since we'd escaped. It should have, though, considering he always had been one of them. I suppose my mind had altered my image of him ever since he'd shown me mercy; ever since he'd shown me that he wasn't just some monster under that cloak.

        Perhaps I was wrong to allow myself to think that way.

        Silently, I leaned my head back against the wall now, my gaze drifting from the sunlight that stretched from the window and more toward the lumbering ceiling of the cabin. I was still tired as hell from the now drifting phase of night, but my thoughts were irking at me. They pulled at my head like a hook through the mouth of a fish. In acknowledgment, I couldn't find leverage in getting myself to doze off.

        Though he scared me now, I still yearned for his company in an odd, demented way. I found myself looking from the ceiling, slowly, slowly, down the wall and back to the bedroom door.

        What was he even doing in there?

        Sighing, I gingerly got to my feet. Cautiously, I welled up the courage to come forward. Stepping slow and steady, I approached the closed entry. As I neared the door, though, a feeling of insecurity returned in my chest. Despite this, I raised a hand to knock, my heart beating in my ears suddenly.

        "Don't come in," he suddenly barked from the other side, startling me back, "I'm almost finished with my work," he grumbled. I could practically hear him gritting his teeth as he spoke.

        It would have been a bit of a quirky comment in some form or fashion, but in the case, it wasn't your normal circumstances. The thought of whatever the hell he could be doing behind that door haunted me; hell he could be doing anything. Anything but something normal.

        One could only guess.

-

        Time trickled on by agonizingly slow, but once it was over I figured it had only taken around twenty-five minutes for the bedroom door to open. The doctor stepped out, closing the door behind him as he looked forward almost blankly.

        A certain look of disdain was plastered on his face and sequentially, I cowered in his presence.

        God, I loved him so much, but the more I decided to stick around him, the more he seemed like the SCP I knew him to be when I first met him.

        "Everything alright, doctor-?" I whispered, clasping my hands together nervously.

        "Of course," he murmurs, looking to me now with softened features. Relief came over me in one, sharp wave.

        "Thank god," I blurted out, regretting having said it immediately afterward. He shot me a bit of a look as he moved over closer. Slowly, he leaned back on the wall and shifted down to sit next to me.

        Lifting an arm, he pulled it around my shoulder, "Sorry I was being a bit snippy, doll, I didn't mean to be." he attempted in reassuring me, kissing over my temple softly.

        "It's alright," you insisted, feeling nervous again, "just-...why did you kill that man" I inquired finally.

        "He was diseased." he whispers, looking away, "I couldn't have him getting you ill; that entire city is just crawling with the ailment, it's horrid..." he spoke gently, playing with my hair absently in his hand.

        "I-...sorry doc," I mumbled back, looking away toward his hand cautiously.

        "Don't apologize...it's been a while since I've been exposed to the plague so directly," he lifted his chin, "perhaps if I had like I was in the facility, I wouldn't have grown so festered..." he concludes softly.

        I could feel my nerves soothing slightly with his each and every word. He appeared sincere and careful, thus luring me into a state of contentment. I found myself adjusting to his hold, leaning into his form slightly.

        As I pressed my head down to lay against him, I began to feel the rise and fall of his chest. A gentle thump of a heartbeat against my ear calmed me further, and it was almost as if nothing had happened at all.

        I was in the moment; not the past.

        I lifted my chin and fixed my head beneath his jaw directly after, giving a soft sigh.

        "It's okay, doctor, just- don't do it again, okay?" I hesitated, looking up at him now. Slowly, he moved his hand to sift through my hair. He gave a faint nod, looking to the side. I simply leaned into him more, shifting in front of him a little bit so I could hug around his torso.

        As I rested my head upon his chest, though, I noticed something. My eyes, gazing along down the floor, caught glimpse of something on the edge of 049's shirt.

        It was an inkling of a substance; a mere smudged and deluded hint of red along the hem. It wasn't even blatantly obvious, but once I noticed it, I couldn't take my eyes from it. The mere sight of the red-stained into his clothes sent a chill down my spine as it reignited past memories.

        It was blood.

        "D-doctor...?" I spoke unsteadily, though trying my best to keep my cool.

        "Yes, my sweet?" he tilts his head.

        "What were you-" I paused, looking to the side as I cleared my own throat, "what exactly were you doing in there?" I finally managed, looking back to him with cautious eyes.

        "Nothing worth concerning." he candidly replied in a smooth, gentle tone. It was the same soft, loving voice I knew it to be...

        "Well-..." I trailed off, glancing at the blood one final time before directing my focus back to meet his discolored eyes, "Alright."

        He smiled at me, then leaned his head back to rest against the wall. He closed his eyes, looking almost dead with his pale skin and eerie stillness; all the while stroking his hand through my hair.

        "I'm glad you're here with me, doll," he whispered softly, pressing his lips to my forehead.

        "Likewise..." I murmured in return, leaning into the soothing kiss as I closed my eyes as well.

        Progressively, with the stillness of the world around me, crackling fire behind us, and gentle hand entangled in my hair, I found myself dozing off. It didn't take long before I'd drifted entirely from the space and passed to a new realm of abyss-like darkness.

Here we go again.