Dave felt a little relieved to hear that the other girl was the man’s other daughter and not a friend of the girl on the gurney.
Not that it really told him how old or young the girl was.
“You wanted this to happen, didn’t you?” the girl in by the gurney asked her sister without sounding like she was accusing her sister of anything.
Instead, it sounded more like she was asking for confirmation.
Like she already knew what happened.
Dave felt his stomach sink as he realized the implications of the girl’s statement.
He hoped it didn’t actually mean that the girl was suicidal, but he couldn’t rule that possibility out.
Not until he was able to talk with the girl, but if she did turn out to be suicidal, he couldn’t help but worry that he’d given her a tool that would help her with that goal.
If he wasn’t a plush toy, Dave suspected that he’d be sweating profusely right now.
Especially since he would certainly feel responsible for the girl’s death if she managed to kill herself using the powers that he’d just given her.
Forget the repercussions that would affect him, Dave wasn’t sure that he’d be able to live with that kind of guilt.
“You don’t have to say anything.
I know that it wasn’t an accident.
At least not the way that everyone, including dad, has assumed it was,” the girl continued, bringing Dave out of his inner turmoil.
“I’m just glad that you survived.” Then the girl’s tone suddenly turned serious, or as serious as Dave had ever heard an eight year-old.
“But if you try this again, you know I won’t be far behind you.” Dave wasn’t sure he’d heard the girl correctly, especially since he’d never really heard of a girl that young being suicidal, but he supposed that it wouldn’t be impossible, since he never deal with children any more than he had to, even when he was growing up.
Although, he supposed that he might have to start doing just that with his new occupation of recruiting girls to become magical girls.
The girl opened her mouth to say something more after a few minutes of silence, but then the door opened and the girl closed her mouth, looking towards the door and away from where Dave could see her face, but not before he caught a flash of fear.
As if the girl had either said something or done something that she worried would either hurt her or come back to haunt her.
The girl’s father entered and approached, not bothering to look at his daughter, who backed away from him and the gurney.
“You really did it this time, didn’t you?” the man said to his daughter on the gurney.
“You’re not satisfied with just ruining my life anymore I see.
Now you’re trying to ruin me financially.” The man shook his head in disgust and Dave could see why the girl felt fear towards him.
His face was contorted with anger, even as he controlled his voice so it wouldn’t be heard outside the room.
“You’ll regret this when you wake up and return home.
I’ll make sure of it.” The man then turned back towards the door.
“Come on, Jamie.
We’re going home.
You can visit her tomorrow.” The girl followed the man quickly, as if afraid that he’d turn his anger on her next if she didn’t obey.
Which Dave suspected might be more true than he’d have liked.
*You sure know how to pick girls to become magical girls.* the voice remarked, it’s words full of amusement, making Dave feel sick to his stomach.
While he agreed with the sentiment, he didn’t agree with the tone that came with the words.
He could feel himself wonder if he’d made a volatile situation worse just by choosing her to become a magical girl.
All he could really do now was hope that she didn’t show signs of wanting to use her powers to kill herself or to fight back against her father.
Dave wasn’t sure which would be worse, but he knew that he’d be responsible for it if either scenario came true.
However, first he needed to look at the girl and see what he was working with exactly.
After all, the older she was, the more reasonable he could assume she’d be.
Which would make things easier for him, even if she turned out to be rather stubborn.
Besides, the dye had already been cast.
He couldn’t back out of it now if he tried.
Dave was confident with that fact even without having to ask the voice about it.
As Dave reached the top of the gurney, he could see the girl and realized she was closer to sixteen or seventeen than she was eight.
Although he supposed she could easily be fifteen, he knew he wasn’t the best at estimating ages just by a person’s appearance.
The girl also had brown hair that seemed to frame her head, even with her laying on the gurney like she was He was about to look for a place to settle down and wait for something to change in the girl’s condition when he saw her blue-green eyes open and look directly at him before looking around the room she was in.
She didn’t look that surprised, but rather looked almost resigned, making Dave wonder if Jamie had been correct that it really hadn’t been an accident.
After a minute, she looked back at Dave, who was doing his best to remain still.
A feat that he was surprised was as easy as it was as a plush toy.
“Where’d you come from?” the girl asked, picking him up.
While Dave felt like every fiber of his being was screaming at him to stay silent and pretend he’d never met the girl, he swallowed his fear and took a deep breath before beginning his sales pitch of getting her to agree to be a magical girl.
After all, it wasn’t like he had any better options right then.
“I came to see if you’d be willing to become a magical girl,” Dave said, feeling like his heart was about to burst out of his chest, even though he couldn’t help but wonder if he even had a physical heart in his plush toy body.
The girl stared at Dave in surprised, which he supposed would only be natural.
Especially by the fact that plush toys didn’t normally speak in the first place.