Straight Jacket Romance -10-

I instinctively backed up as if trying to find an exit. I didn't want to see Roger. I hated him. He had been a deciding factor on why I had ended up here. I never wanted to see him again. In fact I planned on never seeing him again. I had pictured spending the rest of my life away from him at all costs. And he had come to the only place I could not flee from. He was confronting me in a place I was trapped.

"Emilie, you okay?" Alice took his finger from under my chin looking over to me.

I shook my head softly. I felt like I could not move fast enough. I felt so stiff, stuck in place like a statue. I could not believe this was happening. I just did not want to see him.

"No." I mumbled.

It was too late though. Roger had begun walking towards Alice and I. There was no way for me to evade him. I had to face him. This also meant that someone had to have known I was here. It made me more curious as to who had committed me to this place, I certainly couldn't have done it myself.

"What's wrong?" Alice was trying to get my attention.
"Who is that?" Alice seemed more urgent now as if he knew when Roger made it over to the two of us I would shut up instantly.

"My ex..." I answered with a shake of my head.
"My sister's fiance." I tagged on and he seemed to understand now why I was behaving oddly.

No one ever needed to hear the deeper story, they put together one of their own and I was fine with that. Roger walked up looking as good as any other time I had seen him. His hair was a darker shade of blonde than I remembered last, I'd even consider it a light brown almost. He had grown a short goatee since our last encounter and he was wearing a motorcycle leather jacket. And here I was in scrubs, my hair was messy and my scars exposed. I looked terrible and he was probably at his best, only coming here to kick me down, I was sure of it.

"Hey Emilie." He leaned down engulfing me in his arms tightly.

I took a breath, his cologne seeming to choke me. It was such a strong scent that it overwhelmed. He was behaving like nothing had ever happened between us. As if no wrong had ever occurred in our past.

"Let's take a walk, that really nice nurse over there said it would be fine. She told me you needed someone to talk to. You've been acting out?" It was a questioning sort of tone.

I didn't want to talk to him and I certainly did not want to take a walk with him. I shouldn't have been allowed to be left alone with Roger. Someone should have taken the time to see he was no good for me. But maybe Gail had known? And I certainly had not been acting out in the least bit, which led me to think she was behind this arrangement. I heard a snarl come from beside me and looked over to Alice. He looked angry.

"I think what Emilie needs right now is some time to adjust here." He cut in pushing Roger off of me.

I was stunned. He must have read my body language or the hesitation on my face. He was fighting for me because I wasn't ready to yet. I wasn't strong enough or well enough to say 'no'. And I appreciated Alice stepping in to help me find some resistance. Roger's eyes narrowed, locking onto Alice's. It seemed like a show down of sorts between the two men. Neither dropping their aggressive stance.

"You don't know Emilie the way I do. And I don't think your advice would be best for her..." His eyes traveled over Alice.
"Look where you are." Roger grinned devilishly.

Roger had always enjoyed mocking others misfortunes or situations. He was a modern day bully, one to rival any high school scoundrel. He had a complex and a desire to be above all other humans. He thought he was untouchable. And it disgusted me that I ever cared for him believing him to be someone more kind than he really was. I guess it was true what they said about love making a person blind.

"Leave Alice alone Roger." I demanded lifting my gaze, finding a strength.

I was not ready to fight for myself yet but I would surely fight for another. Alice had defended me and I would do the same for him. But for some reason my threat didn't seem to strike fear, instead Roger looked suddenly more interested. His eyebrow arched for a moment as he looked to Alice. Then a smile came over his face with some sort of realization.

"So what the papers write are true then..." He commented, smugly.
"You're Alice Cooper, right?" He eyed Alice looking him up and down as if to try and confirm whatever he was talking about.

Alice stiffened and said nothing. It was the first time I had ever really seen him become silenced.

"What are you talking about?" I looked to Roger.

I was unsure Cooper was even Alice's last name. I had never thought to ask. But either way, why would he know Alice or read about him?

"So it is true you just snapped?" Roger questioned.
"They said you lost it on stage one night...got too into your character. I never cared much for your stuff but I have some buddies that do." He was grinning still.

I didn't like it one bit. Even if I didn't get what was being said. His tone was very threatening and harsh.

"Emilie do you want to talk with him?" Alice was now ignoring Roger as he looked to me.

I was so confused by what was going on between the two of them. But I wanted Roger to leave and I knew it would only happen if I talked with him. I just needed to deal with it and get it over with. The faster I talked to him the quicker he could leave and walk out of my life forever. I was serious about starting my life over for the better. I just needed time to heal physically, mentally and emotionally. And something told me Alice was the perfect person to help me through it.

"I'll only be a minute." I mumbled to Alice with a sigh.

I'd have to tell him all about Roger tonight and I had a feeling he had something to tell me too. He gave a nod and I indicated toward a stone path on the left for Roger to start walking down. I was about to follow but Alice caught my arm.

"If he gives you trouble just give me a signal, okay?" He looked worried, cautious even and I loved him for that.

I nodded my head and Alice sat down at a table by himself as I went towards Roger. He looked sort of lost sitting there by himself without Bambi or I at his side.

"So how have you been Emilie?" He looked me up and down and I folded my arms over my chest doing my best to hide my scars.

Roger looked at me with judging eyes, like he was appraising my human worth. Or trying to decide just how insane I seemed... For some reason I could tell no matter what he was appraising it was obvious he thought I was damaged. And I was.

"I'm recovering." I answered simply.

It was that jargon people wanted to hear. 'I'm getting better', 'I'm trying', 'One day at  time', they were all filler statements. You never told someone on the outside what you truly felt. I would only bear my mind inside the asylum walls and to my fellow patients. You didn't bring the institution secrets into the world, they stayed locked up, like most of us did.

"Some day I'll be fine again." It felt awkward to be around him.

I hated it truthfully. Roger made me unhappy without even a single bit of effort on his part. Just him being around was enough to dampen my mood. He reminded me of a bad time in my life that I never wished to revisit.

"That's good." His comment sounded fake, forced even.

As if he knew it was the right way to respond. The way someone coming to visit should answer. It was no different than my comments to him before, not truthful ones.

"Your sister is worried about you Emilie. She wanted you at our wedding."

His words stung. It was just like my sister to be concerned with her wedding day above all else. I cringed, my brows knit over my nose as I stared at the ground in bitterness. I didn't want to be hearing this.

"Apologize to her for me. I did not mean for my attempted suicide to get in the way of her big day." I remarked harshly raising my eyes again.

Roger grabbed hold of me and kept me from moving. I stared up at him terrified. Why did everyone grab onto me? Why did they all talk down at me like I didn't understand? I hated the way people physically took hold of me. It always stunned and silenced me.

"Emilie don't be mad at her. She loves you. You can't blame her for what happened between us." He removed his fingers from around my arms cupping my chin with his right hand, smiling.
"It wasn't her fault." Roger reached out tucking my hair behind my ear.

The same smile planted on his face. That faked 'sincere' smile, like he really cared for me. It was as if his words were truth, even the lies.

"She slept with you while we were dating." I ground my teeth together looking up at him.

I was too nervous to push his hand away. Too worried about uncrossing my arms. I was defensive and the simple gesture of folded arms made me feel more safe. It was like I built up a wall to keep him away.

"Technically it was you and I sleeping together while I dated her." He corrected me and I felt my mouth open a little.
"I mean come on Emilie. You're not the kind of girl you take home to mom and marry." He unhooked his finger from my chin lifting a strand of my dark red hair.
"You're the chick every guy wants to have fun with. You know that." He gave a small chuckle and my eyes swelled with tears.

He made me sound like a piece of meat. A kind of trophy men passed around once they were finished. I was not a man's toy, not someone to be used and tossed aside. I smacked Roger's hand away from my hair ignoring the tugging feeling.

"Go to hell." I growled as I shoved him roughly.

He caught my wrist and pain tore through my entire body. His fingers dug into the attempting to heal wounds. He pulled me roughly and retracted back his hand looking to strike me.

"Let her go!" Alice's angry voice ripped through all actions, causing both Roger and I to freeze.

He walked to us and personally removed Roger's fingers from around my wrist. He shoved him backwards seeming to enjoy as Roger tripped over a bush and nearly fell. He had stepped in just in time to cut Roger's thought pattern off, he would have hit me...and hard.

"How dare you raise your hand to a woman!" Alice scolded.

His eyes were burning brightly, narrow slits of pure hate. Alice seemed positively venomous, hell bent on protecting me.

"Haven't you done enough damage?" Alice continued to question.

Roger said nothing and Alice turned his back to him looking down to my wrist. The gauze was stained red again and the pain didn't diminish. A tear slid down my cheek. I felt stupid, like I had brought this on. I didn't want Alice to see this side of my life. It would surely scare him away.

"At least I'm not in a nut house!" Roger raised his voice now too.

Alice turned back to look at him. His face was serious, terrifying even. It seemed like he had an intent to kill. The word seemed to set him off and trigger a harsh reaction in him.

"Go crawl back under the rock you came from." Alice threatened.

Roger rolled his eyes. He wasn't backing down. He wasn't in the least bit worried. I was nervous though, Alice's words weren't all too threatening but the tone he spat them in was.

"You know it's a good thing you failed killing yourself Emilie, you two would make the perfect little insane couple." He mocked about to walk away.

That had done it for Alice. He released my arm and balled his fist knocking Roger straight in the jaw. Roger stumbled but took a decent swing at Alice hitting him hard in the ribs.

"Stop!" I screamed worried for Alice's health.

I didn't give a damn about Roger's well being. In fact, I hope Alice left a nice bruise on his jaw. It was about time Roger got taught a lesson for running his mouth. He always said anything on his mind, even in the wrong situations. He didn't care if he hurt people, he only wanted to seem on top, better than everyone else. They took a few more swings at one another. That was when Roger hit Alice square in the mouth.

I ran at Roger knocking him into a small brick wall located in the garden. He turned slamming me against it instead. Pain rippled through the back of my skull before I felt a sharp slap from the back of his hand across my cheek. I was being tossed in two separate directions or at least that was what it felt like. I slid down to the ground next to Alice who was sitting covering his mouth. We glanced to one another for a brief moment and up just in time to see Tony tackle Roger with such strength that they nearly made a crushing sound when they hit the ground.