• PART 9

    Tom shoved his hands into his white lab coats pockets as he strode down the sterile corridors, glancing at the lab windows as he passed. He was going to dale’s unit, he had realized shortly after dale had left, that the file had a stray document that he needed to carry on his research. Tom sighed. All right, he told himself, whoever dales working on, you just ignore, don’t get attached. You don’t care, you don’t care. The door to the lab hissed open as tom walked in, his brow slightly creased. He glanced around the room but there was no sigh of dale. Tom sighed and turned to go out, it looked like he would have to get it off him some other time, but something caught his eye. He froze. No, don’t look! He told himself, you don’t care remember? But he couldn’t help himself. He turned and looked down at who dale was working on. He froze, yet again. “No…!” he murmured, his voice now full of pain. The girl was small, 8 years old, her birthday was soon. Her hair, dark brown and splayed about her were she lay on the cold slab of a metal table. Tom stared, his eyes almost filling with tears. He stumbled over to the table. “Ginger…” he gasped, “no!” he stretched out a trembling hand to gently stroke her cheek.

    Ginger’s bleary eyes opened slightly and she was quickly aware of the table she was laying on. So it was only a dream, she hadn’t been having a picnic with her friends; she was still here…wherever here was. She was then suddenly aware of someone standing over her. A man, his face full of pain. No…it couldn’t be…could it?
    “Daddy?” she whispered, her voice was hors and parched.
    “Ginger…” he whispered back. Ginger’s eyes snapped open wide.
    “Daddy!” she cried, trying to sit up, or at least move a little, if it hadn’t been for these bounds and her stiff back.
    “Yes, its me hunny!” he gasped, taking her bound hand in his. She was grinning now, so happy.
    “Have you come to save me, daddy?” she whispered. Tom paused, quickly glancing at the door then back at her.
    “Listen, ginger, you can’t tell anyone that I’m your father, ok? They mustn’t know.” Ginger raised an eyebrow. “Please?” he asked, ginger nodded even though she was still confused. “Now.” Tom said, his voice almost desperate, “I’m going to get you out of here, ok?” ginger nodded.
    “How?” she whispered, tom paused in thought then shook his head.
    “I don’t know. For now, I need you to sit tight and if everything seems bad, just remember that-” tom was cut of as the lab door suddenly hissed open; he immediately let ginger’s hand go and dropped his own hand to his side, quickly standing up. Dale paused in the doorway and raised an eyebrow.
    “Tom?” he said, slightly suprised,“What are you doing here?” tom cleared his thought.
    “I just came to ask for the file back, I was trying to find you but weren’t here so I waited.” Dale was quite for a second, considering this, then he went over his desk that was next to ginger and picked up the file that was laying on it.
    “You mean this?” he said, arching an eyebrow. Tom paused.
    “Uhhh…oh…I hadn’t…I hadn’t realized it was here…”
    “You didn’t bother to look?”
    “Obviously not…” tom slowly took the file of him. Dale studied him for a minuet or two.
    “Attached…” he muttered, half sighing, and then produced a syringe from his pocket. Tom quickly turned, realizing that dale was about to carry on his work. He quickly shot a glance at his daughter then swiftly marched out the room.

    Tom was now sitting in his office, elbows in the table and head in hands. Who had given her over? But then he remembered his wife; she must be going mad, wondering where ginger was! He quickly picked up the phone, trying to think up an excuse.
    “Hello?” his wife, Alice, answered on the receiving side.
    “Oh, hey Alice.” Tom said weakly. “sory iv been away these past couple of days, work is really demanding but ill try and get back as soon as possible.”
    “Oh, no, no, hunny! You take as long as you want.” Alice replied cheerfully. Tom paused, getting alibi ready. “Uh…do you know were ginger is?” he herd Alice’s breath catch and there was a lengthily silence on her end. “…Alice?” he said, listening hard.
    “Oh…hunny.” She said, the words coming out to quickly “I sent her to boarding school.” Boarding school!? Tom thought. He was planning to tell her a lie about were she was, but boarding school?
    “Oh…why?” his brow had furrowed now as he listened.
    “Well you know,” alice sad “I just thought she should…start getting a little more…independent. You know, for when she leaves home.”
    “Well, how long have you sent her for?” there was quiet laughter coming from Alice’s end, it was low and throaty. Another man was there. “…whos there?” he muttered.
    “Uh…” another slight paused from Alice’s end. “Well…until she graduates I suppose…she said that she wasn’t going to visit and that…yeah, uh, I have to go, hunny.” She quickly hung up. Tom slowly brought the phone away form his ear. That was odd. But…it couldn’t be. Still holding the phone, he dialed another number.
    “Hello?” dale.
    “Oh, dale.” Tom said quickly “sorry to bother you again but, I just have a quick question to ask.”
    “Shoot.”
    “Uh, who called you to pick up Ginger?” there was a slight pause, then
    “Um…” it sounded like papers from the other end being rustled, he was probably looking through a file. “Mrs. Alice Besant. Her own mother I think. I recall speaking to her about it.” Now it was tom’s turn to pause.
    “Uh…thank you.” he finally muttered, and he shakily put down the phone. Alice? His own wife…gave their child away? Luckily, no one knew that he had a wife or family for that matter. They didn’t know about his private life, and he didn’t know about theirs. Besides, he would be ruined if they knew. But this is not what he wanted for his daughter, not at all. Once more, he berried his head in his hands, his breathing ragged.
    “No!” he muttered. “No, no, no!”

    if you have any ideas on what could happen next, pm me or leave a comment biggrin