Chapter 16: Jason Tells a Story
1008 Words
Candy unfolded herself again and looked down. She appeared to be in shock at her appearance and walked over to the bed. As Jason averted his eyes, she slipped the nightgown back on and tied it. Somewhat stunned by where she found herself, Candy sat on the bed and dropped her gaze to the carpet.
“It was a bad one,” she told Jason. “Sorry about that. I need to talk to you about it.”
Jason walked over to the chair next to Candy and seated himself. “You are better now?” he asked. “You need to take some of your medication this morning. I have some things to help you get over the night terror if you want to take them.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Candy replied. “It was bad. Very bad. The Shape came after me in that room. It was horrible. I don’t want to go into it.” She put one hand to her head.
Jason was about to say something, but he stopped. First of all, Candy hadn’t called him by his name. Second of all, her spoken sentences were complex. This was a completely new development and it shocked him. It wasn’t the first time she’d made progress in leaps. Once she learned how to read, Candy began to devour everything she could find and pummeled him with questions. This was quiet a change for someone who was nonverbal when she was discovered in the wild.
Of course, there was one school of thought that claimed Candy was not the result of the forbidden Experiment, but a hoax. Scientific hoaxes were all too popular and many a researcher was fooled into thinking his subject confirmed whatever theory he or she pushed, only to find out later it was a fraud.
Jason went and poured her a glass of water. He brought it back and gave her some so she could finish taking her medications. Candy leaned back in bed and folded her bare legs under her. Jason glanced down at her smooth legs and remembered how much of an accomplishment it was to get her shave her legs. Some people were opposed to trusting her with a razor, but it worked out in the end. She hadn’t learned how to paint her nails, some of the women caregivers at the institute wanted to do it for her.
“Do you remember anything from the dream?” he asked her.
Candy spoke with her eyes closed. “I never saw his face,” she told him. “I think he wore something over it. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s hard to remember.”
“It’s not easy to remember the horrible things done to us,” Jason spoke to Candy. “I try to suppress most of the bad things in my life. I know my dad whipped me with a belt once, but I’ve done my best to forget about it. My wife leaving me was rough, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over her.” He turned and looked out the window. Best to not go too deep into his own personal life.
“Wife,” Candy spoke. “Men and women live together for long periods of time. Yes, I learned about it. I’m trying to learn more each day. Sometimes I can see things in my head when I read about them if I’ve seen them before. What was her name, Jason?”
“Shelia,” he told her. “She wanted more out of life and I couldn’t give it to her. One day I came home and she’d moved out. Now I’m here working for the institute and taking care of you.”
“Why did she go?”
“As I said, she wanted more than I could give. The house wasn’t big enough, the car wasn’t new and we weren’t on the fashionable part of the Main Line. Our lawyers took care of it. I didn’t see any reason to keep her if she didn’t want to stay.”
“I wish I could talk the way you do,” she told him.
“But you are doing very well. I don’t have anywhere near the trouble I did in understanding you that I had last year.”
“It’s not the way I speak. It’s what I speak about. I don’t have anything to share with people. Not the way you can share, Jason. You are good to me. All of you are good to me, but I want to be good for you. Sometimes the wolf comes back and then I want to run.”
“Do you recall anything of what you did last night?”
“Nothing. I don’t even remember going to the corner in the room.”
Jason left her alone to get ready and went back to his side of the suite. After he’d shaved and showered, Jason went to his laptop computer and filed another section of the incident report on her nightmare. At least it was complete. Majors would read it in the hour and fume, but there wasn’t a lot she or anyone else could do right now. So far, Candy proved her worth yesterday when she found the evidence in the park. Likely, the police would want her to try to find more today, but he needed to make sure Candy was in the right frame of mind before they went back out. If nothing else, Majors and the staff would learn about Candy’s increased verbal ability. It should make them happy and prove she was ready to stay outside the institute.
- Writer
