Free Godspeed by February Grace

flashed in the glass that warning look of disapproval that made my throat constrict and all wisps of breath escape my lungs.
    I looked away, ashamed, and attempted to push what I'd seen from my mind as he allowed my arm to fall back to my side.
    I managed to speak at last in answer to Schuyler's question, though it was not easy, as overcome as I was with gratitude to be in these new surroundings.
    “Dislike, sir? How could anyone possibly dislike a single thing about a room so beautiful?” Tears spilled down my cheeks, and Schuyler brushed them away. “It is too good for me.”
    “Nonsense.” Quinn cut Schuyler off, answering for him. He situated the box on the floor beside the bed, and dropped down to one knee to make note of the readings on its meters. “As hard as you've worked, you're more than entitled to something far grander than this little room.”
    “Worked?” I was puzzled, first by his use of the word, and second by the thought he believed I could still deserve more. “I've done nothing to earn it, sir.”
    “Sometimes surviving is the hardest work of all.”
    I did not know what I could possibly say in response, so I said nothing. My eyes shifted again and Schuyler gave me a smile and a wink; in that way that he did when he was trying his best to reassure me that everything was going to be all right.
    Still, my mind raced ahead to the lingering questions I had no answers for. How long would I be allowed to stay here? If I did recover to anything near a normal state, could I gather the strength necessary to really find my own way in the world? I lacked, I was certain, the stamina now to take up the servant's work I had done before. I possessed only a basic education — though at least I was literate — and I worried. What could I do to earn my continued keep in a world constructed to challenge the fortitude of the strongest of men?
    “You look like you've just lost your best friend, child!” Schuyler clucked his tongue, his brow furrowed with concern. “What is the matter with you?”
    “Where… will I go when…” I could not say any more; I was too much at the mercy of my frantic emotions. I trembled, wracked with fear, and beyond that the dread of ever having to return to a world devoid of the presence of these two men, who had taken responsibility for my life when no one else would and become my unlikely, unexpected earth-bound saviors.
    Specifically, I dreaded the idea of beginning or ending a single future day without looking into a particular pair of bright blue eyes; of never getting to know, to truly understand, the workings of the mind that ticked on ceaselessly behind them.
    Seeming to ignore my question, Quinn rose again and nodded with something close to satisfaction. “Those readings will do, for now. If there are any issues though, we may need to revert to the larger charges now and again until I can complete what we need to take the next step.”
    He moved toward the door, and I was frightened, suddenly, of being left alone. “Until then, Doctor Godspeed?”
    He paused as if this was the first time he considered the question.
    “Until then, I suppose we try to build up your strength as best we can and make you as comfortable as possible.” Raising his eyes to the ceiling above, he took note of rain beginning to pound upon the roof above it. “I hope we're making the right decision, using this room, Schuyler,” he mumbled.
    Schuyler shuddered. I tried to make sense of Quinn's meaning, but was too tired to understand his concerns.
    “We'll have to mind the weather,” Schuyler agreed.
    By the time the second man spoke, the first had already left the room. A final question formed in my mind, and I called out as best I could.
    “Doctor Godspeed, please. How will I bathe?”
    His head alone reappeared in the doorway. He glanced to Schuyler, who now wore a weary, resigned look on his face, as if he already knew the answer to the question.
    “Very carefully,” Godspeed replied.