My stomach twisted.
"I got her sick?"
He shrugged. "Yes and no. It isn't that simple. You didn't help, though."
I glanced over, and he was eating his dinner. My chest suddenly felt too small for both my lungs and beating heart.
"How are you so calm?"
My dad looked up from the pizza with an eyebrow raised above his lenses. "She's an experiment, and you can't get attached."
My eyebrow scrunched, and I narrowed in on him.
"I'm not supposed to get attached? Madeline has been living with us for over fourteen years. You were there teaching her to walk and talk. You taught her to read. How are you so cold towards her?"
"I had so many failed experiments, and she's just that. She's an oversized lab rat. I'm observing how she lives so that we can see about more in the future." my dad said nonchalantly.
We might as well have been talking about making a grocery list.
"You just compared Madeline to a lab rat."
"Right now, we're trial and error the results of her getting sick. What would you call her?"
"Madeline."
He straightened up. My dad's lean frame stiffened, and his jaw was tight.
"Maybe she's been here too long."
I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"She might have been living here too long."
"Where else would she live?"
"There has been a room for her back at the office."
My stomach dropped.
"You're going to move her out?"
"We've gone back and forth on this for years. With Madeline's health turning for the worse now, it'll be better off if she's closer to us in our labs instead of a germ-filled hospital. Plus, the center is trained to deal with clones."
My heart raced.
"She wouldn't be living here?"
"That's what moving means."
"You can't just take her out of here like that." My voice started to grow louder.
"I can. Dr. Green and I discussed it a little when I went to get my keys out of the office. He agrees. When she's well enough to be moved, we're transferring her into her new room."
My dad got up and went downstairs to his lab. The door was closed, and I was left with my spinning head. Madeline has finally woken up, but she was still very sick. My dad was moving her out of our house and into his office. When and how was I going to see Madeline if she was there? What would she do without me to protect her from my dad?
My eyelids were as heavy as my steps as I made my way down the hall in the hospital. My hands were in my coat pockets, and each step that I took echoed in the hall. Taking a deep breath, I peeked into her room. Madeline was sitting up and looking at the TV screen. A grin grew on my face.
"You're awake." I greeted.
Her head turned in my direction. Madeline was pale as paper with tubs going to her nose. There were dark half-moons under her green eyes. A weak smile formed on her face.
"Yeah."
I walked in and pulled the chair closer to her bed. Some daytime TV show was on. The chair was hard, but I sat on the edge of the seat.
"How are you feeling?"
Her breaths were shallow.
"Tired."
"I can believe it."
I couldn't sleep with just one night of her not being in the house. What was I going to do when she moved out? Did my dad tell her yet? I couldn't bring myself to be the one to tell Madeline that she wasn't going to be in the room next to mine. I took her hand in mine, and my thumb ran over hers.
"You look as good as I feel." Her voice was hoarse.
I chuckled dryly. "I had trouble sleeping."
"Me too."
"I believe it."
She coughed. Madeline's face scrunched as she leaned forward, and her free hand was over her mouth. She wiped her hand on the edge of her blanket and took a sip of water on her tray.
"I can't wait to get out of here." She mumbled.
Madeline fell further back against her pillow and closed her eyes.
"I don't blame you."
"Dr. Green told me he's going to get me out of here tomorrow, and he's transferring me to the lab."
My empty stomach felt like there was a rock in it. For how long would she be there? Dad made it sound more permanent.
"Are you alright with that?" my voice came out as a whisper.
She shrugged and opened her olive eyes. "Yes and no. It'll be better than in here, but I'm ready to go home with you."
I squeezed her hand. "Me too."
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"I will never let anything bad happen to you."
Madeline smiled. "Thank you. You've always been there for me."
"And I always will."
Dad's car was in the driveway when I came home from work, but I didn't see him. Madeline must be home. I smiled and rushed into the house. I took two stairs at a time to go upstairs. The sounds of shuffling caused my heart to pound harder. Quickening my pace, I saw Madeline's door open. Standing in the doorway, Dad took her clothes out of her drawers and threw them into a bag. My heart sunk.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm packing for her. She's not in any shape to do that. Once I get her stuff together, I'm taking it back to the office. Dr. Green got her old room ready for someone who isn't a baby. We even got a desk and stuff for her so that she can be homeschooled."
"How long will she be living there?" My voice was soft.
I felt like I didn't want to know the answer
