For days, things had been visibly different since she’d shown Arthur and Atlanna the piece of paper she’d been carrying around, and had taken from, the lab. Not being able to read, she’d instantly become fearful that what was on it had to do with how bad she’d been considered during her time there. That dread had only grown worse when she’d watched the two of them take the paper to where Orm was still resting and recovering in the bedroom.
Although it had been wrong of her to eavesdrop, she’d still managed to quietly listen into the conversation through the door, even if it hadn’t made much sense to her what had been said. However the part that mattered most to her was the sound of weeping coming from the one person she never wanted to see sad or upset, Orm. Whatever had been written on the paper she could already tell it wasn’t good, and she knew in her heart something was going to be done about it, they’d said as much together in the room.
But did this mean she’d been so bad during her time at the lab, enough to make him cry, that he was now going to get rid of her and send her back…? She’d always been told nobody really wanted her because of her mistakes and failures, she just had hoped maybe now things would have been different.
It hadn’t been much more than a day or two after the paper had been revealed to him that she’d cautiously made her way into his room, fearful of what was to come. At his beckoning, and gesture to sit in front of him, she approached the bed and clambered up it, nervously taking a seat where he’d instructed her too. When her gaze finally lifted to meet his, her mouth opened slightly in shock at the sight of his current state. He’d been doing better not that long ago, but now it seemed whatever had been on that paper had made his condition worse.
Your fault, your fault, all your fault… That familiar berating voice in her head began to sound through her, guilt filling her, and she fidgeted with her hands, then wrapped them anxiously around herself.
For just a second she was about to ask what had happened, what she’d done to cause him to deteriorate as much as he had, but he spoke first, and she swallowed hard at his words. “O – okay,” she murmured weakly, then immediately shut her mouth. Now was not the right time to be talking, instead she needed to be listening, and paying attention. Though she was becoming more and more afraid to learn the reason behind why she’d be sent back to the lab, whatever it was (her fault, all her fault), it had clearly taken its toll on him.
The first thing he said took her by complete surprise, especially since it was the opposite of what she’d been expecting. The people in the lab had told her she’d always meant to belong there, that it was where she deserved to be, but he’d just now told her the reverse. And as he continued, her brows furrowed in deep confusion… she had a mother? That was a new word – a name – she’d learned about recently since coming to Arthur’s place. No one had told her she had one, she’d always just been… unwanted, alone. But what did this have to do with him? Her head was starting to spin a little, and she felt her tummy twist as she looked down at his hand placed over his stomach, then back up at him again.
“N – No,” she gasped empathetically, unable to stop herself when he informed her about being in a place like the lab before they’d met. Adults weren’t meant to be in places like that, only she and the other kids were supposed to be! And as he continued, she felt her eyes prick with tears when he spoke of his baby, and the loss that followed when she died. Kay knew all too well about failure – and death too - she’d failed so much in her short life, and she’d taken people’s lives too…
Her fault, her fault, her fault.
She wanted to tell him she was so very sorry, that even though she didn’t know what the word love meant – it sounded like it was a good thing - she hoped his baby had known it. Sniffling, she was about to speak, when he got there first, and her heart stopped at what he said next…
His baby was alive, and had been in the lab…? Could she be one of the other kids? Could they find her?
No sooner had the thoughts formed when his next words made her whole world tilt, and for what felt like forever she just stared at him in disbelief. Fresh tears brimmed in her eyes as his form sitting on the bed became blurry in her vision, and a lump formed in her throat, her gaze darting down to his stomach then back up before back down once more.
She… she had a mother? She’d been… wanted? Orm was her real mother? Everything felt like it was turning upside down, heart hammering in her ears, her electric abilities firing through her veins in response. And suddenly all she could think about was what she’d seen a few days ago; Arthur and Atlanna with the paper, and him weeping. Crying. The one person she’d never wanted to…
Barely able to see through tears, she shakily, and nervously reached her hand up and touched her finger to his hand that was pressed against his stomach, voice hardly above a whisper as she asked the only question that could come to mind, “D – Did I – I hur… hu - hurt yo - you?”