The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 3 (2 page)

The doors opened on their floor, and she giggled as she peeled herself away from him and stepped out into the hall. She slid her key into the lock on the door, remembering that he had been the one to install the deadbolt when her father had first hired him to protect her from her stalker. He had saved her from danger in every way that he could, and she owed him her life. She would love him forever.

The apartment was empty. The bare living room looked foreign, an abandoned place that had once held their whole lives. Alex walked through the rooms, seeing memories in each corner, images of her life both before and after Rick had become a part of it. The living room floor, where she had spent so many nights crouching over her computer, going over thousands of shots until she had exactly the image that she needed. The kitchen, where he had managed to burn macaroni and cheese, impressing her with his cooking skills. The bedroom, where he had made love to her that first time, stealing her heart and sealing their love for each other with each subsequent kiss.

“
I love you
,
” she said, turning to him.

“
I love you
,
” he replied, crossing to her and sliding his arms around her waist. He dipped his head, pressing his lips sweetly against hers, and kissed her lovingly.

Alex wrapped her arms around him, sliding her hands under the hem of his shirt, and placed her palms against the warm skin of his lower back. Her lips parted, and with a flick of her small, pink tongue, she tasted him, deepening the kiss. Rick moaned, pulling her body tighter against him and feasting on her mouth, as they stood in the center of the empty room. His desire for her was evident, pressing against her hip, as she pulled his mouth down harder on hers.

He pulled away, a fierce light in his eyes, delighted to find the same light reflected in her own gaze. Alex licked her lips, her eyes darting around the bare apartment, searching for something.

“
I got this
,
” Rick said, leading her by the hand to the empty kitchen, gently lifting her and setting her on the top of the island counter.

Alex lifted her t-shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor, exposing her swollen belly and her breasts, heavy and pendulous, having grown to twice their size during her pregnancy. Rick leaned over her, pulling her nipple into his mouth, and suckled, nibbling gently at the sensitive tips of her breasts. Alex sucked in a ragged breath, the sensation of his mouth upon her nipple causing the heat of her desire to spread through her like wildfire. She thrust her fingers into his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it, and pulled his mouth back to hers, diving into it in a fiercely passionate kiss.

Rick leaned toward her, cradling her in his arms as he laid her gently out on the expansive counter. She lifted her hips, as he slid her shorts and panties off, letting them fall at his feet and kicking them aside. She was glorious, her body full and ripe before him. He trailed his fingertips along the inside of her thighs, bringing goosebumps to her skin.

“
Rick
,
” she said
,“
please
.
”

“
Patience, my darling
,
” he replied, bending over her, pressing his lips against the swelling of her belly before going lower, and nipping at the sensitive lips of her sex. He dipped his finger into her, his sex growing even more rigid as he found the honey flowing from her, glistening on her inner folds. He bent his head, tasting her, dragging his tongue along the slick maze of her sex, and flicking it against her most sensitive places.

Alex squirmed beneath him, her body crying out for him to be inside her, to fill her.

He slid his fingers into her, probing the deep heat of her body, driving her to madness with each precise flick of his tongue. She moaned, her leg splayed wide, lifting her hips to meet each thrust of his talented fingers and each kiss from his passionate mouth. The honey flowed from her, beckoning him to slide inside, and Rick unbuttoned his jeans, letting them fall to the floor.

He stood, dragging the head of his cock just inside the lips of her sex, dipping himself in her moisture, teasing her to the point of madness. Panting before him, her head was thrown back with pleasure. Her hands went to her breasts, squeezing them and pulling on her puckered nipples. Aching to feel the heat of her surrounding him, he slid deep into her, his breath catching in his throat as he slowed, feeling the walls of her sex cling to him, gripping him as he deepened his thrust, pulling him into her very core.

“
Oh my god
,
” she said, lifting her hips, opening herself fully to him, wanting to feel him fully inside her. She loved this, loved the feeling of their bodies fully connected. They fit perfectly together. She opened her eyes, gazing at her lover, her husband, and the flames of their love burned between them as their eyes met.

“
I love you
,
” she said, reaching for his hands as he stood before her.

He took her hands in his, still deep inside her, and breathed a contented sigh
,“
I love you
,
” he said, pulling back from her, then filling her completely again in one thrust that caused her to throw her head back and cry out with joy.

She met his rhythm, rocking her hips as he thrust into her again and again. Reaching between them, he flicked the tip of his finger against the sensitive center of her pleasure, making her sex contract around him each time he plunged into her. Alex was panting, groaning with ecstasy each time he entered her, and the heat of her pleasure shot through her in waves as he made love to her, each thrust filling her completely with his love.

“
Rick
,
” she said, turning her gaze to him again as her body seized, pulsing around him as her orgasm flowed through her. She cried out, lifting her body from the counter, and he grabbed her hips, pulling her hard against him, as he hammered into her, chasing his own release. As he spilled his seed deep within her, he blew out a rough breath, his body seizing with pleasure. He leaned over, lifting her to him and kissing her gently yet passionately before pulling himself from inside her, wanting to maintain the connection for just a few moments longer.

“
Well
,
” she said, taking the clothing that he handed her and slipping the t-shirt over her head
.“
I think that we have successfully just said goodbye to this apartment
.
”

He chuckled, buttoning his jeans
,“
Yeah, I think so
.
”

“
Le
t’
s get on with it then
,
” she said, tossing her keys on the counter, leaving them for the landlord to find
.“
Le
t’
s go and start our new life
.
”

Jacob sat, staring out the window, watching the breeze make the leaves on the trees in the courtyard dance. He loved this time of day when no one was bothering him. There were no group meetingsto attend, where he was expected to listen to all of those idiots scream at each other, some crying on the floor, and the doctors sitting amongst them taking notes on their tablets, all claiming that it was helping. Nothing helped, nothing kept these animals from the realization that they were trapped in a cage, that the outside world could
n’
t handle their quirks, that they needed to be protected.
Perhaps it was the outside world that needed to be protected from us
, he thought, watching a bird land on a branch of the tree and begin to sing.

He thought of her often, practically every day. They would
n’
t let him keep his pictures and kept taking them away whenever he forgot to put them back in their hiding spot, but he could close his eyes and see her perfectly. The crinkle of the skin at the corner of her eye when she laughed, the small mole at the base of her throat. He had kissed her there and had tasted the sweat on her skin, and he remembered it as though it were yesterday.

The doctors told him it was
n’
t natural, the way that he continued to think of her as his after all that had happened. They did
n’
t know what he knew, that she had wanted to run away to be with him, and that he was only doing what he was doing to make her happy. And so they kept him here, in this prison, locked away where he could not get to her and could not rescue her from his wretched, conniving, selfish asshole of a brother.

A sour taste rose like bile in his mouth when he thought of Rick, and he fought to keep from throwing up on the tile floor of the day room. His brother thought that he was doing the right thing, keeping them apart and taking her all for his own. The doctors had told him how she and Rick had been married and how they were starting a life together. They had hoped that it would convince him that she was happy where she was now. They hoped that it would help him let her go. But he knew, he knew that she was only marrying his brother so that she could remain close to him, so that someday they would be together. She was biding her time until he could convince the doctors that he was no longer crazy, no longer a threat, and then h
e’
d walk through the doors of this cage and back out into the light.

“
Jacob
,
” said a nurse from the doorway
.“
I
t’
s time for lunch. Would you like to join us in the dining room
?
”

Like he had a fucking choice. He was
n’
t hungry, but if he did
n’
t follow her like the obedient little puppy that he was expected to be then they would pump him full of tranquilizers and tie him to the bed. He needed to cooperate and convince them that he was better if he had any hope of escaping this place any time soon.

“
Sure
,
” he said, unfolding his legs from beneath him and standing from the couch that he had been resting on for the last few hours. The nurse smiled as he passed, holding the door open for him to walk through, and he turned, returning her smile sweetly, putting on his people face.

The dining room was a large space. Tables and chairs were in a circular pattern around the room. Each table had about six chairs, where the patients and doctors sat together to enjoy their meals. The staff thought that having them eat together created a sort of bond between the doctors and their patients, making the crazies more comfortable so that they were more likely to open up when they were in session.

Today was meatloaf day; Jacob could smell the canned gravy as soon as he entered the room, and his stomach turned. He plastered on his smile, crossing to the nearest table, and slid into one of the open chairs. Dr. Jacobson sat to his left, a note pad open on the table before him, reviewing his notes of some group meetings as he waited for the lunch to be served.

“
Hi,Doc
,
” said Jacob, fiddling with the plastic silverware on the table. They were not allowed real utensils, no metal forks, definitely not knives. Each place was set with the plastic silverware that one would find in a chil
d’
s toy box, a tea set fork with rounded edges, a cartoon butter knife with no blade. If soup was served, they were brought the large, flat spoons used by people from Thailand. He could
n’
t think of how someone could hurt themselves with a metal spoon, but it was better not to question such things, not if you were trying to convince them that you were really sane and did
n’
t need to be locked in this place with all these crazies.

“
Hello,Jacob
,
” said the doctor, closing his notes and turning to make eye contact. The doctors made their best efforts to approach the patients as if they were real people, not the lunatics that they really were
.“
I want to commend you
,
” he continued
,“
for your excellent listening and sharing skills at group this morning. I think that you really helped Gina come out of her shell
.
”

Gina. The new one. They really did
n’
t know what to do with her,
thought Jacob. During the group meeting, she had sat with her legs pulled up in front of her, not engaging in the group conversation in any way, only glaring at those around her. Jacob had known what was going on inside her head. He could see from the look in her eyes that she knew that they all thought that she was nuts and that she was going to explode and run screaming from the room at any second. He had leaned over to her and whisperedin her ear
,“
If you do
n’
t share, the
y’
ll shoot you full of drugs and you wo
n’
t be able to move. The
y’
ll leave you like that for days. People will come in and out of the room, pushing food in one end and pulling shit out of the other, and there will be nothing that you can do about it
.
”

She had shared after that. Told them about how her father had sent her to stay with them when she refused to eat the food that her mother had prepared for dinner.

“
She hates me
,
” said Gina
.“
Always has,
I’
m not going to eat anything that she cooks. Wh
o’
s to say that it is
n’
t poisoned
?
”

“
Why would your mother poison you
?”
asked the doctor, pencil poised over his notepad.

“
So that she can be rid of me
,
” said Gina, as if it was obvious
.“I’
m an inconvenience;
I’
ve heard her say it myself. Since I was born, she has spent her life cleaning up and cooking meals for us. She was a powerful, successful woman before I came along. With me out of the way, she could get her life back the way that she likes it.
I’
m sure that she was the one whoconvinced my father to stick me in here. I guess that she finally did find a way to get me out of the way
.
” She chuckled uncomfortably and looked around at the group.

“
He just sent you here
,
” said Jacob, turning to her
,“
because you would
n’
t eat
?
”

“
Well
,
” she said, twisting her dress in her hands
.“
Not just that, no
.
”

“
What then
?”
he asked, giving her all of his attention, looking to the others as though he were really interested, really listening to what this crazy, snot-nosed lunatic had to say.

“
I
,
” Gina said, hesitating
,“
I may have tried to run her over with the car
.
”

Now Gina sat at a table on the other side of the dining room, tearing a paper napkin into small pieces and making a pile of the pieces on the table in front of her. One of the nurses sat the table with her, the only other occupant in that group of empty chairs, and looked around the room nervously, obviously hoping that someone else would come and join them so that she would not be stuck spending the entire hour with the girl who tried to murder her own mother only a few days before.

“
Glad I could help
,
” said Jacob, reaching out for the pitcher of punch that was always placed on each of the tables before the meal was served. Whether or not to drink the juice was up to each patient, a modicum of choice to make them feel as if each aspect of their lives was
n’
t entirely ruled by the staff at the hospital. Each day was divided into time slots, and each time slot had an assigned activity.

Every morning a nurse would arrive at his door at exactly 7:15, alerting him that it was time for him t
o“
rise and shin
e
” and make himself presentable. He would pull a t-shirt over his head, make sure that all of his belongings were successfully hidden from the prying eyes of the orderlies, who would surely take them away if they were found again, and make his way out into the day room.

Breakfast was served at 7:30, and each patient was expected to be in attendanc
e—
whether or not they agreed with the idea that it was the most important meal of the day. They were not allowed coffee, as it was
n’
t good for the nerves of the high-strung patients and often interfered with the series of medications that differed with each perso
n’
s level of mania. So Jacob would often sip tepid orange juice with his eggs and toast, while trying to appear chipper and well rested, his performance starting each day at sunrise.

After breakfast the loonies were expected to attend a group session, as before mentioned, in hopes that they would become accustomed to the presence of other people, giving them the opportunity to learn from each other how one is supposed to behave in polite company. What a joke.

After lunch, the men and women were separated and shipped off to the group showers. They were not allowed to clean themselves while unsupervised, as patients in the past had been known to try and harm themselves when left alone for too long, or worse, to spend an hour masturbating furiously under the heated spray.

Once everyone was clean and redressed, they were left to their own devices unless they had therapy sessions to attend with one of the doctors. Most of the patients spent their time in front of the television, the medications lulling them into a tranquil state where they would spend hours staring at the idiot box no matter what shows the orderlies decided to put on the screen. Like children, they were not allowed to watch anything involving violence or sex, so they spent most of their time watching old black and white movies, or cartoons made to entertain very young children. It drove Jake insane, however ironic that may sound, to see them staring at nothing day after day.

He preferred to spend his free time watching the sky, seeing that the outside world still continued to thrive in light and shado
w—
even when he was trapped behind the walls of this hell. He fantasized about how his life could have been different. If his family would have accepted hi
m—
instead of throwing him in this place when he did
n’
t conform to their standards of normalcy. He knew that they watched him, that they talked about his behavior after he went to bed each night. He could hear the
m—
when they thought that he was sleepin
g—
talking about what they needed to do to change him, to make him an acceptable member of society.

He thought about his brother, who in childhood had been his best friend, only to turn on him so completely in adulthood. He had thought that he had rid himself of the bastard when he had shot him that night in the bunker, but the fucker had pulled through, and now was happier than ever, living the life that was supposed to be his.

One of the servers, the young girl with the unfortunate condition of having the worst acne that he had ever seen, slid a plate in front of him.

“
Thank you
,
” he said, blessing her with one of his best smiles before lifting his fork in preparation of scooping whatever gruel the kitchen had decided to bestow upon him today. Looking down at his plate, he felt the bile rising in his throat again as he took in the congealed lump of gravy atop the cardboard looking attempt at meatloaf. A mountain of instant mashed potatoes, now cold, a cube of butter standing at its peak, no chance of it melting amid the tepid plate. He poked at the meal disgustedly, sighing resignedly before picking up a forkful and placing it in his mouth.