Straight Jacket Romance -4-

Walking to my bed I saw a new shirt laid out for me like Doctor Treloar had promised. I decided I would take my pills first then change after. I picked up the cup about to pop them into my mouth but Alice startled me. He grabbed my cup taking it from me. I stared at him in confusion.

"You're not taking them tonight." He was talking in a soft whisper and I was curious as to just what he meant.

I had to take them. I was supposed to. It was just what was ordered, I couldn't simply not take them because I didn't want to. Or because I hated the way the pills effected my body.

"Well, why not?" I whispered right back.

He smiled, all knowingly.

"When Gail says she'll check to see if we're in bed it means in twenty minutes she'll come in here to ask if I want to watch television. At night they lock the rooms so the patients can't get out, she'll leave our door unlocked so I can sneak back into the day room." The smile suddenly made sense.
"I want you to come with me." He whispered softly but then paused.
"I mean, if you want to come. Otherwise you can take the pills and sleep." He extended the cup to me again but I shook my head.

"I'd much rather watch television with you." I answered rather quickly.

This made him smile and nod.

"Alright, well we have to get in bed and act like we're asleep. She'll come in to ask if I want to watch it and you continue to pretend you're asleep. When the coast is clear we'll sneak to watch some. Gail can't catch you with me though, okay?" He asked dumping the pills into his hand.

I nodded my head going to the bed picking up the shirt to change into. I watched as Alice walked to his bed pulling up the sheet. Underneath there was a small slit in the mattress and he stuffed the pills inside one by one. He then disposed of the plastic cups in the garbage. I could not help but feel a bit impressed by his action. It was a smart thing to do. Did they check the patients mattresses though? Or did they simply not care enough to?

"Clever." I commented with a smile as I watched him still.

He glanced to me and nodded as he pulled the sheet back down to hide the opening. I'm sure Gail knew about that too, probably emptied it for him but I'd never make the comment aloud. Suddenly since realizing why Gail didn't like me it made me dislike her too. The hate was finally mutual. I wondered if she hated Bambi the same way or if she had become used to her being around. Maybe she knew Alice thought of Bambi like a daughter over anything else and she no longer was a threat? Not that Alice had shown any interest in me aside from a friendship...

"I know." Alice sat down on his bed looking over to me.
"I hate those pills." He told me after a moment.
"Anything that takes away my control I don't like. Which is why you never want to end up in the quiet room." He shivered and I was instantly hooked on his story.

I sat down on my bed for a moment looking at him forgetting entirely about what I had meant to do.

"What about it?" I asked running the fabric of my shirt through my fingers.

"White room with padding. They inject you with some drug and put you in a straight jacket." He mimicked with his arms how you would be confined in the jacket.
"Hours feel like days, days feel like weeks. Soon you don't know if you've been in there for years. It's a horrible place. And the after effects mess you up on top of it. It's the scariest place in this asylum." He shook his head and I took his word for it.

I'd never do anything to end up there because it sounded like a horrible place. I didn't want to have to live through the things Alice had mentioned. Any place where time seemed endless was frightening to me.

"Did you ever get put there?" I wasn't sure if this was information he had heard from another patient or if indeed he had been in there himself.

"Everyone has at one point in time. Usually happens when you first get here or when you've been here for a couple of weeks. People break down at similar times. I freaked out when I first got here, Bambi lost it two weeks after her arrival." He opened up to me.

I nodded my head glancing to my pillow, lost in thought. I hadn't noticed a drawing there. I picked it up, exaimed it and smiled. It was a drawing of a playground. Alice, myself and Bambi each drawn there together.

"Look at this one." I extended the piece of paper to him and he looked upon it with the same happiness I had.

"We'll get something to hang it up with tomorrow." He handed it back to me and I set it on the small table at my bedside.
"We should 'get to bed'." He quoted on the off chance someone would be listening in on us.

Maybe he was just paranoid Tony had it in for him. Who knew, it was a good point. Gail had it out for me, why couldn't Tony have it out for Alice? I nodded my head.

"Sounds good, Night Alice." I mumbled to him as he pulled back the covers getting into his bed.

"Goodnight Emilie." He responded as I climbed under the covers turning on my side.

I took the shirt I had been holding the entire time and set it on top of the drawing Bambi had given to me. I could change in a little while, before we left for the day room even. I wished Gail would come and ask him already in he wanted to go. I was eager to talk with him more. I liked being with him. Alice was unlike most men I knew...even if we were in an asylum.