Living Life A Bit Differently, chapter 9
"Okay, who first?" Jess asked, looking at Billie, who had the bucket of cards held tightly to his chest.
Billie Joe looked down into the mass of cards, picking the top one. He opened it and looked for a name: "Nurse Crand'Bell," he ran the name through his mind a few times so he wouldn't forget it, "How do we find everyone?"
"We could ask the receptionist," Jess inquired, "they know everything that goes on...almost everything, I guess."
Jess began to walk down the hallway, but jumped behind anything big enough to hide her body every time a security guard came by. She knew they were looking for her, and in no way was she going to start a scene.
Once they had reached the second floor receptionist, Billie placed the pale on her desk and stretched his arms, sore from holding them to his chest for so long.
"We're looking for Nurse Crand'Bell. Would you know where we can find her?" Jess asked politely.
The receptionist smiled forcefully; a smile that can only be explained as aged, deep wrinkles surrounded the old women's mouth and hazel eyes, gray strands peeked out from beneath her dark brown hair. She began to type hurriedly into the computer from two decades before, the loading slow, making the silence drag on forever.
Jess tapped her foot impatiently and Billie Joe was in his own little world. His eyes darted along the walls, trying to read the big words plastered on the walls as notification slips and various other sheets of paper.
"Billie? Woohoo...?" Jess's hand invaded his vision and he jumped in surprise, a deep-red blush appeared on his cheeks.
He grabbed the blue bucket wordlessly and followed behind Jess again, turning sharp corners and falling behind, only to speed up again to keep pace with his friend, who was walking at the speed of a track runner.
As Billie Joe turned another corner quickly, cards flew out of their holder and glided through the air and slowly met the tiled floor. Billie gasped and shot to a hault, and turned around to retrieve his gifts. He bent down onto the floor and grabbed the cards, stuffing them inside their hiding places again.
When he had pushed himself back up, the pale tightly in his arms, he saw no sign of Jess. He spun around in the other direction, hoping he had just stood up in the wrong direction, but he hadn't. Jess was gone, hadn't even noticed he was far behind her.
Billie began to panic, small hiccups as his breath thinned and tears streamed down his face. Through this panic, he remembered a part of his childhood: His mother losing track of him in a department store, how he was instructed to sit and wait for her to notice his presence was not with her, and she came to find him, sobbing behind a large mirror.
Billie Joe fell to the floor and hugged his knees and waited for Jess to find him, his mother still lingering in his mind once Leela Locklin showed and helped him off the filthy ground.
"Billie, Billie Joe, calm down, you're okay, you're not alone anymore," Leela comforted him, pulling the hem of her sweater up to wipe away his tears.
Billie nodded, although still shaken from being left alone, his nose stuffed and he sniffled loudly to keep forbidden snot from dripping. He wiped away more tears with his hand and followed Leela back to his room.
After he had calmed down completely, and he let no more tears fall, Leela decided to get the whole story. "Why were you out there all alone, Billie Joe?" She demanded.
When her patient didn't answer, she stood up and walked to the window, letting a sigh escape her lips. Leela looked out the small window, and was addled to see a fallen ladder on the ground.
"How long has Jessilyn been in the building?" Leela asked in a meloncholly tone.
Billie Joe refused to answer and Leela spun around on her heel, and walked back to the chair she had been occupying. "Billie, I know she's your friend, I know you're a bit lonely in here all day, but you must understand that Jess's attitude and control over you is distracting to my and Ms. Nesser's work. The last thing you should be doing is getting out of bed to walk behind Jessilyn like some sort of slave. Do you understand?"
Billie shook his head plainly. Jess? Controlling? Him? A slave? Never. Leela sighed again, and ran her hand through her thick blonde hair.
"Maybe not a slave...Let's put it this way: You know Batman, right?" Billie nodded, a smile played on his lips, "And you know Robin?" Another nod; "Who would you rather be? Superman or his sidekick?"
The question did not need a minute of thought, "Superman."
Leela nodded, knowledgable of his choice, "How would you like it if I said that you were the sidekick, the 'Robin', and Jess was the leader, the 'Superman'. You listen to her, what she says goes, end of story. How would you like that?"
Billie frowned, "I don't like that. I'm not a sidekick, I'm her best friend."
Leela placed her hand on his right shoulder sympathetically, "You may be her best friend, but in every friendship there's a leader and a follower, do you know what that means?"
Nod; "If you ever want to be the 'Superman', you have to seperate yourself from Jess. Just for a little bit, not forever. Just long enough for me and Ms. Nesser to...educate you. Understand?"
Billie looked down at his lap where his hands sat idly. The palms were slippery from sweat from being in a room with no air-conditioning. Not see Jess? How long is 'just long enough'? How was he a sidekick, Jess listened to him. Was she really the controller of him?
"Billie? Where did you go? I lost-" Jess, who had arrived with a look of panic on her face, stopped abruptly at the sight of Leela.
"You can come in, I won't call the FBI on you." Leela smiled, the hatred towards the young girl seemed to have completely vanished.
Jess stepped into the room cautiously, not trusting the doctor. Once Leela had kept her promise of not calling anyone of the FBI, Jess relaxed and sat on the bed next to her friend.
She turned to Billie Joe, "I lost you, what happened?"
Billie didn't answer, but continued to stare into his lap, and rubbed the palms of his hands against his hospital gown to get rid of the moisture.
"Billie? Are you okay?" Jess asked concerned.
The man looked up at his doctor for guidance, and Leela pushed him along. He looked up at Jess, his eyes still puffy from crying.
"I think you should go," Billie stated flatly, "Ms. Nesser will be here soon and I think you shouldn't be here."
Jess' eyes widened in saddened shock. Was she really being told this? "You think, or Locklin thinks I should leave?" she asked expectantly, hoping to God that it was the Bitch's idea being forced into Billie Joe's mind.
"I think." Billie answered, determination of being heard out in his tone of voice.
Jess sighed, defeated. It was two-against-one; a battle she could not win, "O-okay. I won't come back..." she stood to leave, a look of loathing shot towards Locklin.
Instead of returning the expression, Leela frowned. Jess' face showed no expression, no hatred, no joy, no nothing. Blank. She had realized that it wasn't Leela's plan to turn her best friend against her, but to help him in achieving normal intelligence; it was her, Jess, who was trying to stop Billie from becoming "normal".
Jess looked down at the floor ashamed at her own selfishness and exited the room sorrowfully.
Billie Joe looked down into the mass of cards, picking the top one. He opened it and looked for a name: "Nurse Crand'Bell," he ran the name through his mind a few times so he wouldn't forget it, "How do we find everyone?"
"We could ask the receptionist," Jess inquired, "they know everything that goes on...almost everything, I guess."
Jess began to walk down the hallway, but jumped behind anything big enough to hide her body every time a security guard came by. She knew they were looking for her, and in no way was she going to start a scene.
Once they had reached the second floor receptionist, Billie placed the pale on her desk and stretched his arms, sore from holding them to his chest for so long.
"We're looking for Nurse Crand'Bell. Would you know where we can find her?" Jess asked politely.
The receptionist smiled forcefully; a smile that can only be explained as aged, deep wrinkles surrounded the old women's mouth and hazel eyes, gray strands peeked out from beneath her dark brown hair. She began to type hurriedly into the computer from two decades before, the loading slow, making the silence drag on forever.
Jess tapped her foot impatiently and Billie Joe was in his own little world. His eyes darted along the walls, trying to read the big words plastered on the walls as notification slips and various other sheets of paper.
"Billie? Woohoo...?" Jess's hand invaded his vision and he jumped in surprise, a deep-red blush appeared on his cheeks.
He grabbed the blue bucket wordlessly and followed behind Jess again, turning sharp corners and falling behind, only to speed up again to keep pace with his friend, who was walking at the speed of a track runner.
As Billie Joe turned another corner quickly, cards flew out of their holder and glided through the air and slowly met the tiled floor. Billie gasped and shot to a hault, and turned around to retrieve his gifts. He bent down onto the floor and grabbed the cards, stuffing them inside their hiding places again.
When he had pushed himself back up, the pale tightly in his arms, he saw no sign of Jess. He spun around in the other direction, hoping he had just stood up in the wrong direction, but he hadn't. Jess was gone, hadn't even noticed he was far behind her.
Billie began to panic, small hiccups as his breath thinned and tears streamed down his face. Through this panic, he remembered a part of his childhood: His mother losing track of him in a department store, how he was instructed to sit and wait for her to notice his presence was not with her, and she came to find him, sobbing behind a large mirror.
Billie Joe fell to the floor and hugged his knees and waited for Jess to find him, his mother still lingering in his mind once Leela Locklin showed and helped him off the filthy ground.
"Billie, Billie Joe, calm down, you're okay, you're not alone anymore," Leela comforted him, pulling the hem of her sweater up to wipe away his tears.
Billie nodded, although still shaken from being left alone, his nose stuffed and he sniffled loudly to keep forbidden snot from dripping. He wiped away more tears with his hand and followed Leela back to his room.
After he had calmed down completely, and he let no more tears fall, Leela decided to get the whole story. "Why were you out there all alone, Billie Joe?" She demanded.
When her patient didn't answer, she stood up and walked to the window, letting a sigh escape her lips. Leela looked out the small window, and was addled to see a fallen ladder on the ground.
"How long has Jessilyn been in the building?" Leela asked in a meloncholly tone.
Billie Joe refused to answer and Leela spun around on her heel, and walked back to the chair she had been occupying. "Billie, I know she's your friend, I know you're a bit lonely in here all day, but you must understand that Jess's attitude and control over you is distracting to my and Ms. Nesser's work. The last thing you should be doing is getting out of bed to walk behind Jessilyn like some sort of slave. Do you understand?"
Billie shook his head plainly. Jess? Controlling? Him? A slave? Never. Leela sighed again, and ran her hand through her thick blonde hair.
"Maybe not a slave...Let's put it this way: You know Batman, right?" Billie nodded, a smile played on his lips, "And you know Robin?" Another nod; "Who would you rather be? Superman or his sidekick?"
The question did not need a minute of thought, "Superman."
Leela nodded, knowledgable of his choice, "How would you like it if I said that you were the sidekick, the 'Robin', and Jess was the leader, the 'Superman'. You listen to her, what she says goes, end of story. How would you like that?"
Billie frowned, "I don't like that. I'm not a sidekick, I'm her best friend."
Leela placed her hand on his right shoulder sympathetically, "You may be her best friend, but in every friendship there's a leader and a follower, do you know what that means?"
Nod; "If you ever want to be the 'Superman', you have to seperate yourself from Jess. Just for a little bit, not forever. Just long enough for me and Ms. Nesser to...educate you. Understand?"
Billie looked down at his lap where his hands sat idly. The palms were slippery from sweat from being in a room with no air-conditioning. Not see Jess? How long is 'just long enough'? How was he a sidekick, Jess listened to him. Was she really the controller of him?
"Billie? Where did you go? I lost-" Jess, who had arrived with a look of panic on her face, stopped abruptly at the sight of Leela.
"You can come in, I won't call the FBI on you." Leela smiled, the hatred towards the young girl seemed to have completely vanished.
Jess stepped into the room cautiously, not trusting the doctor. Once Leela had kept her promise of not calling anyone of the FBI, Jess relaxed and sat on the bed next to her friend.
She turned to Billie Joe, "I lost you, what happened?"
Billie didn't answer, but continued to stare into his lap, and rubbed the palms of his hands against his hospital gown to get rid of the moisture.
"Billie? Are you okay?" Jess asked concerned.
The man looked up at his doctor for guidance, and Leela pushed him along. He looked up at Jess, his eyes still puffy from crying.
"I think you should go," Billie stated flatly, "Ms. Nesser will be here soon and I think you shouldn't be here."
Jess' eyes widened in saddened shock. Was she really being told this? "You think, or Locklin thinks I should leave?" she asked expectantly, hoping to God that it was the Bitch's idea being forced into Billie Joe's mind.
"I think." Billie answered, determination of being heard out in his tone of voice.
Jess sighed, defeated. It was two-against-one; a battle she could not win, "O-okay. I won't come back..." she stood to leave, a look of loathing shot towards Locklin.
Instead of returning the expression, Leela frowned. Jess' face showed no expression, no hatred, no joy, no nothing. Blank. She had realized that it wasn't Leela's plan to turn her best friend against her, but to help him in achieving normal intelligence; it was her, Jess, who was trying to stop Billie from becoming "normal".
Jess looked down at the floor ashamed at her own selfishness and exited the room sorrowfully.
