Listen (Muted Trilogy Book 2) (9 page)

She shook her head, grateful she wasn’t yet hooked up to the monitor. As if he read her mind, even without the machinery, he reached for the electrodes and brushed her hair out of the way before placing the sticky surfaces on the back of her neck, near the hairline. His fingers lingered for a second, and Jemma fought a shudder.

They had to get out of here.

***

“He didn’t cooperate.” Her guard looked almost sympathetic for the first time as he answered her unspoken question. He’d led her back to her room rather than to the cafeteria. “You’ll see him tomorrow.”

She walked into her room and sat on the bed, rubbing her arm. Jemma felt for their connection, hoping that maybe Jack was trying, too, and that he was close enough for it to work.

The muted connection gave her no information.

She rolled over onto her side, facing the wall, ignoring the scraping noise of her food sliding under the door. She knew she needed the energy for her session with Dr. Harris, but the thought of eating a frozen meal, in her room, alone, was entirely unappetizing.

She closed her eyes, sparing a moment to remember that she was still being watched, then deciding she didn’t care. If Josh thought she was upset over not being able to see Jack, not knowing whether he was okay or whether he was being punished beyond being denied lunch with her, so be it.

It wasn’t as if it weren’t the truth.

NINE

Expanding

Jemma forced her eyes to stay open, keeping her hand away from the bridge of her nose where her headache felt concentrated.

She’d fallen asleep during lunch, but the restless, nightmare-laden nap had only served to make her more tired.

“You aren’t trying very hard today.” Dr. Harris’s face was nearly as expressionless as the electronic voice. It was an improvement from a scowl, at least, and preferable to Josh’s sickening enthusiasm.

Dr. Harris hadn’t given Jemma back her phone, nor anything to write with, so Jemma settled for raising her eyebrows at him.

He frowned. “I told Joshua that the whole reward system was a bad idea. We saw initial progress, yes, but in order for a reward system to work, the rewards have to keep coming, even escalating. As you’re demonstrating,” he typed, pausing to gesture at the monitor, “progress is undone entirely when one punishes someone who has become accustomed to reward.”

Jemma watched him, not sure how to react to a rant from the man who was usually so contained.

“Detached study of your abilities,” he continued, “with you being neither mistreated nor rewarded, that was what I told them would work best. Because of their incompetence, though, we’re on a schedule that we aren’t able to meet, so they decided listening to my idiot assistant was the better idea, and your initial progress suggested that he might have been right, when it was clearly just a blip, an anomaly. I’d have fired him months ago for overconfidence, but he’s admittedly brilliant when it strikes him, so they assigned him to me in hopes I could control him, and then they go and give him most of what he wants instead of listening to my reservations.”

Dr. Harris stopped typing and closed his eyes, and Jemma gave in to the pounding in her head, massaging her temples and looking at the floor.

“They approved the room upgrades.” Jemma jumped at the continuation of Dr. Harris’s complaint. “They approved the additional guard hours required to let you have lunch outside of your room, and yet I can’t get a simple request approved to have your headaches treated properly.” He shook his head.

He didn’t treat her like a pet, like Josh did. His detachment had often been a relief, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his divergence from that. It wasn’t as if he were showing affection. Instead, she was a piece of equipment that he couldn’t get serviced. It was less condescending, at least. Sort of.

“Your companion is fine.” Dr. Harris’s neutral expression had slipped firmly back into place, and his shoulders straightened. “He is unharmed and had lunch in his room, as you did. Tomorrow will bring even more ill-advised rewards. Right now, we need to work through this script once more. I’m aware that the repetition may seem pointless, but I firmly believe it is more likely to yield results than Joshua’s nonsense.”

***

Despite her continued exhaustion after her session with Josh the next morning, her heart was racing when the guard brought her to the cafeteria. He stopped before opening the door, holding a hand to his ear as he listened, while Jemma shifted from one foot to the other.

Finally, the guard nodded and moved aside so Jemma could enter.

“Jemma!” Jack’s mental voice soothed her the moment she met his eyes.

He looked unharmed, as Dr. Harris had said. Jemma stopped about a foot away from him, not sure she could go any closer without reaching out to him and getting them kicked out before lunch had really started.

She held up her hand in the shape that said “okay,” pinning him with her eyes to make it a question.

Jack nodded. “Smart. We don’t want to look like we’re Talking, and with the missed day…”

“What happened?” asked Jemma as they moved to retrieve their lunches. Jemma grabbed a sandwich and a drink, then sat at what had become her seat, watching Jack closely as he sat across from her, moving normally. If he was hurt, she couldn’t tell.

“Doc made a remark that doesn’t really need to be shared. I refused to cooperate the rest of the session.” His mental tone was neutral, but he looked uncomfortable as he opened his sandwich. “Wasn’t hurt, just detained a little more than usual.”

What could his doctor have said to upset Jack enough that he wouldn’t even pass on what was said? Jemma turned her attention to her food while trying to decide whether to press the issue. He didn’t usually try to keep things from her, so it made sense to respect his wishes here. He knew, though, how much it bothered her to be kept in the dark, and their lives had been full of questions lately.

At the sound of the door opening, Jemma turned. Josh entered, grinning, keyboard in hand, leaving the door open behind him. Jemma felt her stomach churn at the idea that this might be the reward Dr. Harris had mentioned.

He waited until he’d reached Jack and Jemma’s table before typing. The guards didn’t react to either his presence or his words; either they’d been briefed on the situation and knew to expect him, or they genuinely didn’t care that he was there.

“We’ve decided to allow all of our telepathic guests to share a lunch together.” Josh paused, beaming until he seemed to realize he wasn’t going to get applause. “The rules are pretty much the same. No contact is allowed, or lunch will be over. We’ll allow one very short exception for greeting on the first day, as you two were allowed.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Guests may sit either across from each other or at least two seats apart on the same side. The others have had this explained in their morning sessions, which is why they are late. Any questions?”

Jemma had plenty of questions about why this was happening and what their real goals were, but she shook her head and saw Jack do the same. She didn’t try sending Jack any messages; of any employee in this building, Josh was the most likely to catch it if she tried to hide conversation. She couldn’t quite bring herself to let the connection drop, though, as easy as it was in this facility, and she felt anger and curiosity seeping through from Jack.

Josh moved to stand behind Jemma, and she tried not to tense when he put his hand on her shoulder. Jack’s eyes darkened. With her back to Josh, Jemma risked a quick message laced with reassurance. “It’s okay.”

Josh squeezed her shoulder, then walked toward the door with a typed, “Enjoy your lunch.”

Jemma watched Jack rather than turning to see him go. “That’s just how Josh is,” she sent. She allowed some of her unease with his familiarity seep through. “He really thinks they’re doing the right thing, and I’m fairly certain he’s deluded himself into thinking I agree with him.”

“It’s
not
okay.” Jack’s reply was emphatic. “This is the man they have working with you every morning? A delusional piece of crap who touches you whether you want it or not?”

“He keeps it appropriate.” At least overtly. She was sure nobody other than Jack would have picked up on her discomfort with the contact. “I’m just… well, you know how I am.”

“It doesn’t matter why you don’t want to be touched, Jemma.” He was watching her intently, frustration and understanding warring on his face. Jemma darted a glance toward the guards, who were looking toward the door. “If you don’t want to be touched, you shouldn’t have to be.”

“I know,” she sent. “But right now you need to calm down before you get us caught. The guards aren’t watching, but Josh might see it on one of the tapes.”

Jack’s jaw clenched before his eyes were drawn toward the door. He lifted his chin to indicate Jemma should look that way.

Marcia had entered the room. Jemma stood and joined her near the door. Josh had indicated they could touch briefly this one time, if she’d understood him correctly, so she held out her hand. Marcia clasped it in both of hers.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get away in time.” Marcia’s voice echoed in her mind, summoning memories of the woman’s visit to the library, of Marcia’s warning and subsequent capture.

“You risked everything to do that.” Jemma brought her left hand up to mirror Marcia’s grip.

“That is long enough,” came the robotic voice from one of the guards, and Jemma nodded and stepped back. Jack stepped forward and opened his arms. Marcia grinned, and they exchanged a hug, pulling back before the guard could scold them.

“I’ll take as many hugs as I can get,” sent Jack, sounding a little more relaxed than he had a minute earlier. “But only if the other person wants them.”

“Even I miss hugs from people I care about, stuck in this place,” she sent. He looked at her and smiled, the expression not quite reaching his eyes. “Oh!” Jemma sent shaking her head. “We should have asked Marcia to try Talking to us without contact.”

“Ken should be coming, too, and whoever else they’ve got here,” sent Jack.

Jemma looked at Marcia, whose eyes were glued to the door, and tried sending her name, but nothing happened, at least not without the other woman also trying.

The other woman whose attention was, a few seconds later, quite thoroughly wrapped up in an embrace with Ken. They kissed as if it might be their last, pulling each other as close as possible.

Reluctance showed in every muscle when they pulled back at the guard’s order. Jemma’d had time to count to five.

Jemma reached out her hand, as she had for Marcia, and Ken shook it for only a moment, nodding when Jemma sent, “Try to Talk to me in five seconds.” She focused on the woman, actively trying to contact her, until ten seconds had passed. Ken nodded, then allowed a quick hug from Jack before turning her attention back to Marcia.

The couple moved to study their lunch options, and Jack and Jemma remained near the open door. Jemma could see another two guards stationed outside.

Another minute passed, then a woman approached the door, scanning the room before turning her attention to Jemma, who extended her hand once more. “I’m Jemma,” she offered when they made contact. The woman blinked, her brown eyes looking unsure. “And you are?”

“Katherine.” She pulled away, then brushed brown hair from her face. When Jack opened his arms to give the option for a hug, she took it, but she pulled back almost immediately.

A minute later, there was another arrival, this one male, looking similar enough to Katherine that he had to be related. Jemma let them greet each other, their platonic hug confirming her suspicions, then held out her hand once more.

“I’m Jemma,” she sent again. “And you are?”

“Katherine’s twin. Sam.” He pulled back almost as quickly as his sister had. At Jack’s offer of a hug, he frowned and shook his head, moving past Jack without so much as a handshake.

One of the guards posted outside shut the door.

“I guess that’s everyone, then,” sent Jack. “We should eat.”

When everyone was situated, Jemma found herself and Jack in the middle of the table, with Ken on one side of her, as close as was allowed, and Sam on the other, at the end of the table, with several seats between them. Across from Ken sat Marcia, and Katherine sat across from her brother.

Jemma took a breath and immediately felt reassurance from Jack. “It’s been a while since we’ve been around this many people.”

She smiled at him, then turned to study the others while she chewed.

Marcia and Ken were watching each other. Kendall was barely even blinking, and Marcia wore a reassuring smile. Jemma gave herself a mental kick before she addressed Jack.

“We should have let them know how to Talk to each other, but I expected to be able to tell them later. You didn’t happen to, did you?”

“I let Ken know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his sandwich. “It might not have been the smartest thing to do. The more of us Talking, the better the chances of getting caught. The other two didn’t seem to want to Talk even when we were in contact.”