GROUP THERAPY - Complete (12/15/06)

[§ilvercell]

NOOOOOOOOO *beats up Jonathan*

[stormy]

CHAPTER 8 (Wednesday, 1/3/07-Sunday, 1/7/07)

(Warning for language)

It had all started with his father’s funeral, and things had gone downhill for Jonathan Breech from there. No one understood how he felt. It wasn’t like he’d exactly planned on killing himself, but there was the cliff, like it was just waiting for him. All he’d had to do was turn the car just a bit, take his hands off the wheel, step on the gas... 50 miles an hour, in a convertible, no seatbelt, over a cliff. It seemed a sure thing. For a few moments it felt like a roller coaster ride, with the steepest drop you could imagine. He didn’t feel the crash, didn’t feel anything, except a wonderful sense of peace and acceptance.

Then he woke up in the hospital, with a broken baby finger and a few scrapes and bruises. The police said if he’d been wearing a seatbelt he’d have broken his neck. He’d never felt like such a failure.

Then there was the f*cking ridiculous hearing...

<><><><>

“Mr. Breech, do you admit you stole a car and deliberately drove it off a cliff, with the intent to harm yourself?”

“Your Honor, sir, the car was kinda given to me by the fellas that stole it in the first place. They didn’t want it any more, so...”

The judge lifted his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Did you drive a car that didn’t belong to you, without the express permission of the owner?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you then intentionally drive that car off a cliff, causing irreparable damage to it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you intend to kill yourself?”

“No, sir, I didn’t...not exactly.”

He could hear the judge’s barely stifled sigh. “Please elaborate, Mr. Breech.”

“I didn’t want to kill myself, sir, and I don’t now, I just don’t want to be alive.”

He watched his solicitor open his mouth, then shut it again, looking rather like a fish.

The judge droned on. “You do realize that attempted suicide is a crime, Mr. Breech?”

“Yes, sir. But I wasn’t really thinking of it as committing a crime, at the time, if you know what I mean.”

The man looked as though the question he was about to ask was causing indigestion.

“What were you thinking?”

“Nothing, sir. Absolutely nothing.”

He listened to his solicitor’s angry whisper, but the words didn’t really register.

“Can we just get on with this, please, sir? What’s the bottom line?”

He ignored his frustrated attorney and listened carefully.

“I find you guilty of the crimes of grand theft, willful destruction of property, and attempted suicide. I’m going to give you a choice, and this just may be the most important decision you’ll ever make in your life.”

Jonathan stood at attention, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Considering the mitigating circumstances of your depression over your father’s death, as testified to by your brother and sister-in-law, I think some time in jail might either straighten you out...or make you even more self-destructive. Your other option is three months in a psychiatric facility. If you choose that option, you’ll be given more evaluations before I determine which facility will be most helpful to you. You do understand the goal is to rehabilitate you, rather than punish you?”

Yeah, right. And the rehabilitation would no doubt involve a ‘psychiatric facility’ on a tropical paradise, surrounded by lovely women and exotic drinks. Sure.

“Yes, sir, I understand that.” It wasn’t like a little lie was going to add much to his sentence. Given the choice, a nuthouse was definitely better than prison. He had a very good idea what life would be like for him in jail, being a fine-looking young lad. At least he’d been told this hospital place had a good reputation.

“I’ll take the, uh, psychiatric facility.” He’d read enough pop psychology to know just what to expect from ‘counseling’ and it should be easy enough to fake any tests they gave him. No reason to make them think he was really crazy. As for ‘depressed’, well, who could blame him? But he’d be back to his old self again, as soon as all this legal nonsense was over and he could figure out what to do next.

He was sentenced to 90 days in a locked facility. First there would be a thorough physical examination, and more psychological evaluations. Both had proved more unpleasant and extensive than he’d counted on, but he got through them. Then there was the last evaluation, which he couldn’t quite classify. He’d been connected to a lie detector and asked a bunch of questions by someone in another room, a man with an American accent. He wished he could see the man; it was odd to be talking to what he knew had to be a two-way mirror. But what bizarre questions! Yes, he’d lived with his parents all his life; it wasn’t like he’d been raised by wolves or anything. For some reason, his sense of humor didn’t piss the man off, as he expected. No matter what Jonathan said to provoke him, the guy just kept asking more questions, his voice level.

Yes, he’d done well in school when he felt like it, yes, he could remember pretty much everything he’d read, even the boring stuff. Yes, he’d tried to forget some of it by drinking and getting high, but wouldn’t anyone? No, he’d never wondered why there was so little resemblance between himself and his brother, or his parents. Yes, he hated authority and kept rebelling against it; again, who in their right mind didn’t? No, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. At 19, how the hell should he know what he’d want 10 minutes from now, let alone 10 years?

All sorts of intrusive, almost painful, questions. Yes, he’d felt loved, by his mum at least, before she died. Yeah, his dad was an alcoholic, but so what? So were a lot of his friends’ parents. Yeah, Dad drank himself to death. Yes, there was a history of male suicides in his family, and again, why did it matter? Yeah, sure, for a while there he’d thought it helped to cut himself here and there, let some air out of the tires so to speak, but he stopped when it stopped working. No, he hadn’t been scared, it just got boring. No, he didn’t want to cut other people, or hurt them, except for the occasional fight in a pub or with fellas who were really asking for it. No, he wasn’t self-destructive. Well, yeah, he was kind of destructive of other people’s property... People were too attached to their material things, you know? Did them some good to get shaken up now and then.

Even more questions, till he’d gotten bored with the sound of his own voice. Then there was one final question. No, if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t. He’d do it right, instead. Either drive faster, or use something more certain. No, he didn’t have a damned plan, and he wasn’t thinking about doing it again, he was just answering the bloody question. It didn’t seem anyone got the joke, however.

He was thanked for his cooperation, and that was it. A couple hours later, he and his solicitor met with the judge again, and his previous interrogator, a man with the improbable name of Jackson Rippner. What was really disconcerting was the man looked more like his older brother than Mikey did. He’d started to make a joke about the guy’s name, but the look he’d gotten had quelled his desire to tease. Fine, Jackson it was, then, not Jack.

Instead of going to some local hospital, he was going to be escorted by Jackson to one further away, where his ‘condition’ could be properly treated. That’s all anyone would tell him; no one would answer his perfectly logical questions, such as where the place was located. Or who this Rippner fella was. Sounded simple enough, but he hadn’t expected to be handcuffed, then given a shot of God knew what, that made him woozy and knocked him out.

<><><><><><><><>

Jonathan woke slowly, still groggy. Maybe it had all been a dream, the hearing and all that. But no, this was a different room, no doubt the new hospital. Nuthouse. Loonybin. Sanitarium. Whatever they wanted to call it. Had to be, because this time he was securely strapped down to the bed. Instead of a matronly nurse looking after him, there was only the creepy fella who’d brought him here.

He glanced at the silent man standing next to his bed, who, quite frankly, scared the hell out of him.

After a bit of a staring contest, Jackson finally spoke. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Just great! Never felt better.”

“Glad to hear it. First rule is: Don’t ask questions.”

“But–“

”You know what they say about cats and curiosity.”

“Yeah, but those little buggers have nine lives, right?” He grinned weakly.

“Do you want to find out if you’ve got any more to lose?”

Jonathan had no idea what to make of that, but decided his quota of “stupid questions” had probably already been filled. This wasn’t at all like what he’d been expecting. His solicitor had led him to believe this would be a walk in the park, more of a place to rest and get his thoughts together. He had an uneasy feeling his solicitor didn’t know where he was, either. Or worse, perhaps he did.

Jackson spoke again. “There’s not much I can tell you now, till your head clears. I’ll give you a more proper orientation later. For now all you need to know are two things: Don’t ask questions and don’t cause trouble. Your life will go much more smoothly if you cooperate.”

“What if I don’t feel like cooperating?”

The corners of the man’s mouth moved upwards just slightly. On someone else it might have looked like a smile. “You’re not ready to hear that yet, either, but you’ll be safe, as long as you just go along with everything. Just go back to sleep and get as much rest as you can. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow.”

Jonathan couldn’t raise his head enough to see the door, though he heard several locks sliding into place.

Once he was alone, Jonathan tried to really look at the room. It was not at all reassuring to find that the walls, ceiling and floor were padded. The bed was all right, though it would have been better if he weren’t strapped down and could get comfortable. There was nothing else he could see, except a bright light, and no on/off switch that he could see. He finally spotted a small camera in one corner of the ceiling, and attempted to gesture rudely in that direction, but barely had the strength to lift a finger. To his surprise, the light went out. He experimented by repeating the gesture, but the light stayed out.

Since he was exhausted, and his mind still a bit fuzzy, he figured he might as well sleep. Once he saw the doctor, he’d explain that there was some kind of a mistake, some identity mix-up, and they’d take him back to a more normal place. He didn’t need a padded room; he wasn’t loony, himself. What he was, however, was very, very tired.

<><><><><><><><>

Finally, after getting young Jonathan settled in, then reporting to his father, Jackson was free to go home for a little while and see Lisa. Father had decided it was entirely too confusing to have two sons with the same name, so he decreed that from now on Jonathan the younger would be referred to as Jon, whether he liked it or not. Jackson wondered if that meant he could no longer refer to the older Jonathan as “Dr. Jon.” It seemed to p*ss him off no end, so it would be a shame to give up that small pleasure.

Jackson felt something was wrong before he even let himself into the apartment. Once he was inside, he knew she was gone. It felt too empty.

“Lisa! Where are you? LISA!”

She should have heard him from anywhere in the apartment, but she didn’t answer. The bathroom door was ajar; it was empty. He opened the bedroom doors, but she wasn’t there. Though he knew it was impossible, he opened the door off the bedroom. No, thankfully it was empty, too.

His gaze swept the bedroom again, and then he saw it. A green band, neatly sliced, entirely useless. Someone was trying to send him a message, and he had exactly two guesses as to who it was.

[iamthemaxx]

ya know, this one is really entertaining.

[stormy]

Thanks! It's fun to write, too.

[§ilvercell]

and fun to read!

[stormy]

CHAPTER 9 (Still Sunday, 9/12/07)

Jonathan had no idea how long he’d slept, but the light was back on again, and he was still restrained. What was he to do now? A person could go crazy with that kind of isolation... Oh, yeah. He heard the locks outside his door being opened. He was pleasantly surprised to see a blond woman in a nurse’s uniform, rather than the dour Jackson. She smiled at him as she brought in a tray on a rolling cart.

“Feeling more awake, now, dear?”

He was startled to hear a voice from home. Or, at least an Irish accent.

“Uh, yeah.” He squinted, trying to recall where he’d seen her before. She looked familiar. In fact, she looked almost like she could be his sister. Except...something was wrong. Her voice was a bit breathy, kind of oddly-pitched.

“I’m afraid it’s a liquid diet for you, darling, until your stomach’s settled down a bit.” She cranked the head of the bed up so he was almost sitting upright.

The bowl of soup on the tray smelled good. The bottled water, though, was what he was really craving. He was dying of thirst.

He half-listened to the nurse chatter as she spooned soup into his mouth and tilted the water bottle to his lips. He looked at her hands. Though her nails were beautifully manicured, her hands didn’t look as delicate as he expected, and they were rather large.

“My name’s Patricia, by the way. And you, of course, are Jonathan.”

He nodded. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

She giggled and blushed. “What a polite young man, not at all what I’d been led to expect.”

While he was puzzling that out, she gave him the last of the soup.

“We’re going to have to call you Jon, however. I hope you don’t mind. It will make more sense later.”

“Okay.” He really didn’t care what they called him. He had more urgent matters on his mind.

Even though she was a nurse, he was embarrassed to have to ask her to unstrap him so he could go to the bathroom. To his surprise, she agreed.

“Now, you’re not going to cause any trouble, are you?“

”Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She seemed nice enough, no point getting her in trouble, even if he’d wanted to try to make a break for it.

As she helped him out of bed, putting one of his arms around his shoulder, he realized they were just about the same height. She was also a lot stronger than he’d expected, supporting him as he stumbled across the floor.

“It won’t be long before the sedative wears off completely.” She opened a door cleverly hidden underneath the padding, and led him into a rather large bathroom. There was a combination tub/shower, but wider than any he’d ever seen. It was also deeper. At the moment, he was more interested in other aspects of the plumbing. As he’d half-expected, she didn’t go away and leave him in privacy. They probably didn’t trust him that much yet.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before.” Her voice was dryly amused, but also slightly lower. It sounded almost masculine ...nah. Damned sedative was making his thinking all wonky.

She led him back to bed and strapped him down again.

“You’ll be getting a different nurse later on, to help with grooming and such.”

“Erm...what?”

“Well, we can’t really trust you with a razor, you know, Jon.” She gently stroked his hair. It felt comforting.

“You’ll need someone to shave you. Patients aren’t allowed to grow beards; some tedious rule. You’ll have a shower five days a week, a bath twice a week.”

“Wait a minute. Are you talking about a male nurse, or a female nurse?” Please, please, please...

She laughed in delight. “Which would you prefer, darling?”

The woman was damned confusing. “Female, of course.”

She sighed. “Very well. I’ll see who’s available.”

He was beginning to wonder if she were perhaps a patient, rather than a nurse. Once she was gone, Jonathan knew he’d have even more questions to ask Jackson when he saw him again, rules be damned.

<><><><><><><><>

The first thing Jackson did was try to access Lisa’s file from his computer, to find out what had happened to her. He wasn’t all that surprised, though furious, to find out he didn’t have sufficient authorization. He could try to hack into it, but that would alert whichever of the two evil bastards was trying to drive him insane with panic and rage. Which actually narrowed it down to one.

In a matter of minutes he was trying to talk his way past Dr. Jon’s secretary, who was unfortunately as protective as a pit bull about her boss.

“I’m sorry, sir, but Doctor is with a patient right now. I can’t interrupt him.”

“Then maybe you can tell me what I need to know.”

The young woman shrank back into her chair. “All patient information is confidential.” She said this as though it actually meant something to him.

“I’m not talking about a patient, you stupid...” Jackson took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for Lisa Reisert. She’s a guest of mine, not a patient.” Unless...no. His eyes darkened and he clenched his hands. The secretary tried to reach the alarm button underneath the desk, but he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly, then dropped it..

“There’s no need for that. Just tell Dr. Jon I want to see him, at his earliest convenience.” It was not a request.

“Yes, sir.” Her glare had no effect on him.

Jackson ignored her and walked out of sight. No one else was in the hall. He casually checked his watch, and pressed a button on the left side of it. He felt the faint electronic pulse against the top of his wrist, and casually walked down the hall. There weren’t that many floors with psychiatric patients. Unless there was one he didn’t know about...which was entirely possible. It didn’t matter; he’d find her, and then...he’d figure out who, if anyone, needed to die.

<><><><><><><><>

Lisa felt marginally better, after a fitful sleep. She wasn’t sure if it was day or night, or what day it was, but someone had finally come along to release her long enough to clean up a little. The nurse was a bit distant, but kind. Lisa didn’t bother to try to explain she shouldn’t be here. She was allowed to eat soup and drink orange juice, under the nurse’s watchful eye. The woman was about Lisa’s age, but had an edge to her that Lisa couldn’t quite place. Maybe she was accustomed to taking care of violent patients. She had a beautiful cafe-au-lait complexion, and an interesting, spiky hairstyle.

When the nurse restrained Lisa again, she apologized. “I wish we didn’t have to do this, but we can’t take a chance on you hurting yourself.”

“Hurting myself? I have no intention of doing that. I just want to get out of here.”

“Mm-hm.” The tone was just a touch skeptical. She took a warm blanket from a cart and adjusted it over Lisa. “This should help you out. No reason you can’t be as comfortable as possible.”

Lisa thanked her for her kindness.

“I’m sorry, but I have to get back to my regular patient now. He gets restless if I’m gone too long.”

“Do all the patients here have that level of care?”

“No, but he’s a special case. He was in a coma for a long time after a head injury, and he’s still traumatized from all the nightmares he had during that time.”

The nurse shook her head, then laughed apologetically. “I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be telling you all that. It’s totally inappropriate.”

“I don’t mind, and I won’t tell anyone. It sounds like you have some feelings for him, yourself,” Lisa observed.

“Of course I don’t. He’s a patient, that’s all. It’s bad enough he thinks he’s in love with me, I’m not going to do anything to encourage it. I really do have to go now. You be good, you hear?”

“I will. Thank you, um...I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Selena. I hope Dr. Crane takes good care of you, Lisa, so you can get well.”

“Oh, yeah, I have no doubts of that,” Lisa said. If Selena heard the sarcasm, she didn’t react to it.

<><><><><><><><>

Jackson was still searching for Lisa, following the signal from his watch, when he found Jonathan.

“There you are, Jackson. I heard you were looking for me. How was your trip?”

Jackson tried to remain cool, calm and collected. “Where is she?”

“To whom are you referring?”

“You know who I mean! Where’s Lisa?”

“Lisa? Oh, Miss Reisert. She’s safe, where she can’t harm herself or anyone else.”

“Harm herself? Why would she do that? What have you done with her? I want to see her right now!” Jackson was ready to throttle Jonathan, but he knew he had to be careful. They had a very uneasy truce between them, and they both had good reason to stay on the other’s good side. So what the hell was Jonathan doing?

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I think seeing you would just upset her further.”

“I don’t care. I need to see her. Now.”

Jonathan sighed and crossed his arms. “Now, you see, that’s just the wrong kind of attitude to take. If you really cared about her, you’d care about her feelings. Why don’t you give her some time to calm down? She’s perfectly safe.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet. Take me to her now, Jonathan. You know there are at least a dozen ways I can kill you before you can call for any of your guards.”

Jonathan licked his lips nervously and held his arms more tightly across his body.

“Very well, if you insist. Let me see if she’s ready to see you.”

Jackson followed him and waited impatiently outside the door to Lisa’s room.

<><><><><><><><>

Lisa was surprised to see Dr. Crane so soon. He again stood close enough she could see him. As before, his face was a mask of polite indifference. “I thought you might like to know, Jackson is back now.”

“He is? Why hasn’t he come to see me yet?”

“I told him you didn’t want to see him, that it would just upset you.”

“Damn it, why would you tell him that?”

“Because it’s for your own good. You need to stay calm, and rest. We’ll start your medication regimen today, and that should make it easier.”

“Medication? I don’t need any medicine! There’s nothing wrong with me!”

“Please, Miss Reisert, do me the courtesy of respecting my abilities. You’re paranoid, and quite depressed.”

“I am not!” Lisa shouted. “I just want to get the f**k out of here!”

Dr. Crane just looked at her, waiting for her to calm down. While she took several deep breaths, he spoke.

“I don’t think it would be in your best interests to see Jackson right now. Or for him to see you. He’s got quite a lot of other things on his mind right now.”

“More important than me?” Lisa had a hard time believing that.

“Narcissistic and grandiose as well,” he observed, as though mentally ticking items off a list.

Lisa had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something she’d no doubt regret. “Would you please tell him I’d like to see him, right away?”

“When I get a chance I’ll pass the message along. After you have a thorough medical examination, I’ll be prescribing a tranquilizer and an antidepressant, to begin. We’ll see how you do on those.”

“I don’t need anything, damn it!”

“All right, Miss Reisert, there’s no need to shout. I’ll see if I can find Jackson.”

Lisa shuddered, wishing she could just wake up from this nightmare.

It seemed like only a very short time later that Dr. Crane returned, bringing Jackson with him. “I don’t think it’s safe to leave the two of you in a room alone together.”

They both ignored him.

Jackson rushed to her side. “Lisa, are you all right?”

“No, damn it, I’m not all right! Get me the hell out of here!”

“I will. Come on, Dr. Jon, take these straps off and I’ll take her back home. To our home,” he added, with a look she couldn’t interpret.

Dr. Crane folded his arms. “I don’t know what makes you think you can override my orders. I know what’s best for my patients.”

“She’s. Not. A. Patient.” Jackson explained, his jaw clenched.

“She is now. If you’d seen her behavior before she was brought in here, you’d want to leave her in my care, I’m sure.”

Jackson turned to his brother, and though Lisa couldn’t see his expression, she saw Dr. Crane’s reaction.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Perhaps, if Miss Reisert can demonstrate to my satisfaction that she’s no longer violent, and isn’t going to harm herself or others, I can allow her to stay with you.”

“I’m fine, Dr. Crane, really. I’m calm, see?” Lisa asked, doing her best to keep her voice level. “I don’t want to hurt myself.” She took a deep breath and added the lie, “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow at this, but didn’t say anything.

“I don’t normally allow this sort of thing, but if you feel safe with her, Jackson...”

“Oh, I think I can handle her if she gets out of control.”

This time, Lisa didn’t really mind the smirk that accompanied the words.

“If you feel she needs a sedative, or she becomes too problematic, just let me know.”

“Oh, you’ll be the first to know,” Jackson promised.

Lisa wondered if this was the first outright lie she’d heard from him.

“Very well, then. There’s some paperwork, naturally, that you’ll have to fill out. In triplicate,” Dr. Crane added with smug satisfaction. “Then I can release her to your care.” He turned to Lisa again. “As soon as Jackson is done filling out the paperwork, we’ll be back to let you out.”

“Thank you,” Lisa murmured weakly. She was exhausted again, too many emotions vying for attention at once.

When they were out in the hall, it was Dr. Crane’s turn to smirk.

“You’re welcome.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You owe me big time now, brother.”

“For what? Terrorizing Lisa?

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it amused me. Also, it will help me in my research, so I didn’t mind helping you out.”

“Helping me out?” It took great strength of will to keep his temper down. “Did Father put you up to this?”

“No, it was entirely my idea. I did mention it to him, in case he had any objection, but he agreed it was for the best.”

As tempting as it was to just stick a knife in his brother’s gut and twist it until he got the answers he wanted, Jackson realized it would be more prudent to wait. He didn’t want Lisa to have to stay where she was for a minute longer than necessary. There would always be time to get back at Jonathan later, when he had more leisure time.

Jackson felt a headache coming on from forcing his feelings in so tightly. By the time he completed the paperwork, he was ready to scream.

It didn’t take long to release Lisa and help her get dressed in her own clothes. Jonathan reluctantly instructed a guard to remove Lisa’s red wristband and replace it with a reprogrammed green one.

Jackson wasted no time in getting them both back to his apartment, where they could relax. Just as soon as he took care of one more minor detail.

[§ilvercell]

WOOOOOOOHOOOO!

[stormy]

Glad you like it!

[stormy]

CHAPTER 10

Jackson held Lisa steady as they took the elevator down to his apartment. He was so furious he could barely speak, but he didn’t want to upset her any further. Once they were inside, he led her to the kitchen table. She sat down on one of the two chairs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he inquired.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Better than I was, anyway. Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“You’re welcome. I’d really like to hear exactly what happened, when you’re ready. Are you hungry?”

“Not really.”

“You should probably have something, anyway. You need to get some strength back. Why don’t you see what you can find that looks appealing?” He scrawled a message on a pad of paper:

Make as much noise as you can while you’re looking for food.

Lisa nodded, banging cupboard doors while Jackson searched in all the logical places. He found one miniature microphone in the kitchen, underneath a cabinet. He found a on the underside of the table next to the sofa. He found another in the bedroom. He kept looking, and once he was certain he’d found everything, he held them tightly in his fist. No cameras, just audio. Well, what do you know, a silver lining.

“Lisa, I’m going to see my father for just a few minutes. I need to talk to him about –“

”No! Please don’t leave me!”

“Lisa?” He walked closer to her. “What’s the matter?” He closed his eyes and bit his tongue. “Besides the obvious, I mean?”

“I’m afraid to be alone here. What if he comes back?”

There was no question about who she meant.

“I don’t think he will. One of the things I want to talk to my father about is reprogramming the lock. I’ll only be gone a little while. Just stay here and have something to eat, and I’ll be back soon.” He was also determined to talk to Kitten, and find out just why she’d abandoned her post.

“Jackson, please don’t leave.”

He knew how difficult it must be for her to say that. “Let me see what I can do.”

He filled a glass with water from the tap and dropped the bugs into it.

Lisa stared, suddenly even more frightened.

“Oh, by the way...don’t drink the water here. If you get bottled water, from this apartment, that’s fine. But don’t drink anything Jonathan or my father offer you.”

What little appetite she’d had suddenly fled. “Why not? ‘Cause I think it’s a little too late.”

“What do you mean?” Jackson helped her sit down again, and moved the other chair to sit close to her.

“When I was in Jonathan’s – Dr. Crane’s office, he poured me a glass of water from a water cooler. But that’s all right, isn’t it?”

Jackson closed his eyes and counted to ten. “How much did you drink?”

“Two glasses. I was talking a lot, so my throat was dry.”

Jackson swore a blue streak, then stopped when he saw how upset Lisa was.

“I should have warned you, but I was told – I didn’t think you’d be seeing him. His specialty is psychopharmacology. He’s experimented with a couple of different things that can be put in water or any liquid. They’re colorless, tasteless, odorless. Very effective, too. One is truth serum, one is a hypnotic.”

“A hypnotic?”

Lisa looked even paler than before.

“Yeah. It makes you very relaxed and extremely open to suggestion.”

‘Yeah, that sounds about right,” Lisa agreed, shivering again. “It would explain a lot.” Thank God.

He needed to know exactly what had happened, but first he had to confront his father. He took Lisa’s hand and held it. “We definitely need to talk, about a lot of things. Whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I want to know how and why you left the apartment, and everything that happened.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” she protested. “Jonathan just showed up here. He was pretty insistent I come to his office to talk to him.”

“Okay, so you weren’t trying to leave, right?”

“No. I honestly thought it would be okay. He is your brother, right? He said he was.”

‘Oh, yes, unfortunately, he is. I wish I’d warned you about him. That was my fault. Where was Kitten when this happened?”

“She got called away a few minutes before that, something to do with her job. She didn’t want to leave me here, but she thought it would just be for a little while.”

“Okay, then I’ll let her live.”

Lisa looked alarmed. “Please don’t be angry at her, Jackson. She was really nice to me. I like her a lot. No matter what she looks like.”

“Wonderful. Seems like you’re getting to know all kinds of family secrets.”

Lisa was looking at him hesitantly. “Have I met your entire family now, except for your father?”

“No. In fact, I sincerely doubt I’ve met my entire family.” It was clear Lisa wasn’t yet ready to talk about whatever had happened with Jonathan. That was okay; as much as he wanted to know exactly what happened, the last thing she needed was someone else to try to push her to talk about things she didn’t want to talk about.

“I think maybe it’s time you meet my father, however.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I know you’re tired, and the last thing you probably want to do is talk to anybody else, but I think I’d better talk to him here. I’ll introduce you, then you can go to bed and get some rest. I promise, I won’t leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”

He hated seeing her like this, so subdued and frightened. Jonathan and his father had a lot to answer for.

Lisa went to the restroom while he called his father on the intercom. This time it took Gregory 10 minutes to show up. Jackson wondered if he’d talked to Jonathan yet.

Lisa waited on the sofa next to Jackson. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he pulled her closer.

“You know, if you people would stop giving me all these drugs I wouldn’t be so tired,” Lisa murmured into his neck.

“Trust me, I’m not going to give you anything else, and I’ll make damn sure Jonathan doesn’t, either.”

It appeared she liked his protectiveness. She tried to move even closer, so he obligingly lifted her onto his lap. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him, startling them both.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away.

He grinned at her, relieved she was finally responding to him. “I’m not. It’s okay.”

She leaned against him once more, and they’d just begun kissing in earnest when the front door started to open.

Jackson swore and moved Lisa to the corner of the sofa while he got up to greet his father.

He really, passionately hated the fact that his father had an override key to his apartment, anywhere in the complex, in fact, and could drop in whenever he felt like it. Which wasn’t often, to be fair, but it was damned inconvenient when it did happen.

Jackson formally introduced Lisa to his father.

“So, you’re the lady who’s been causing so much commotion,” Gregory greeted her.

Lisa blinked and pulled back. “Um, not intentionally, sir.”

“It’s not her fault,” Jackson asserted.

“No, son, it’s yours. You should never have brought her here. However, since you did, don’t complain when there are problems.”

“But you don’t know –“

‘Yes, I do know. I spoke to Jonathan. He rather mishandled the situation. He sends his apologies.”

Jackson admired Lisa’s aplomb when she accepted the second-hand gesture. He tried to explain the situation, as he saw it.

Gregory cut him off. “As I said, if you hadn’t brought her here, none of this would have happened. I suppose, though, if you want her to work with you, she can, but it might be best for both of you to avoid Jonathan for a while, if you can.”

“I’d love to,” Jackson replied quickly. “But there’s something else we have to talk about as well.”

“I think I’ll go take a nap while you two talk,” Lisa interjected quickly. “I’m still not feeling really well.”

“Okay. I’ll be right out here.”

Gregory nodded by way of dismissal, and Lisa fled to the bedroom as quickly as decorum would allow. She shut both bedroom doors firmly behind her.

They kept their voices low. “By the way, I have something for you, Father. I’m sorry they’re ruined, but I guess you forgot to remove them before I got home.” Jackson dumped the water out of the glass and tipped the mini-microphones into Gregory’s hand.

“I don’t forget anything,” Gregory announced.

“So you wanted me to find these? Or did you hope I wouldn’t?”

“I wanted to keep you on your toes. If you hadn’t found them all I’d be very disappointed.”

What else is new?

“So, did I find them all?”

“Yes, you did.”

Jackson refrained from asking if his father was telling the truth; he’d have to take his word for it for now.

“I didn’t find any cameras.”

“And you won’t.”

“Is that because there aren’t any, or because they’re too well-hidden?”

Gregory sighed in vexation. “There aren’t any. I just needed to make sure Patrick hadn’t said anything particularly stupid that Lisa shouldn’t know about. He said a few very unflattering things about me, and he should have known better, but nothing incriminating.”

“Because you didn’t warn him ahead of time that everything they said would be taped.”

“Of course not. I just told him to report to me when he had some useful information.”

“So, who called Patrick away, when you’re the one who suggested he stay here?”

“That was me. I said there was a minor emergency that needed his attention, one of the nurses under his supervision needed help with a particularly stubborn patient. So don’t take it out on him.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t blame Jonathan, either. He was just looking out for your best interests.”

“How the hell do you figure that?” His father was the master of justification; he’d no doubt have a plausible-sounding answer.

“I think you should listen to this, before you go judging your brother.” Gregory pulled out a small stack of micro-cassette tapes.

“He gave these to you?”

“No. These are my copies. I’ll let you borrow them. Do not destroy them, no matter how tempted you may be.”

He should have known. Never in the world was there such a paranoid control freak as Gregory Dunbar. With good reason, perhaps; he was one of the richest men in the world, and had made more than a few enemies along the way.

Jackson reluctantly took the tapes.

“I suggest you listen to them now, while your girlfriend is sleeping. They’ll probably save you a lot of time in asking her questions she won’t want to answer. She’s already answered them all, I believe. Now, to turn to more important matters, how is Jon adapting?”

“I talked to him for a little while earlier, but I figured he was still pretty well out of it. He seems to be all right. He’s not a bad kid, and he’s got a pretty good sense of humor.” Oh, right, that’s not necessarily a valuable quality. “He’s very bright.”

“Of course he is.”

Add world-class egotist to the list of Father’s accomplishments.

“He’s got a photographic memory, and –“

”I know all that already. I want to judge for myself what he’s really like.”

For the first time, it occurred to Jackson to feel sorry for Jon. “Sure. I’ll talk to him again tomorrow and explain things. Do you want to meet him then?”

“Yes. I’ll go in with you and talk to him, then you can explain the rules. Jonathan can do his evaluation later, after Jon has had a physical.”

“All that stuff was already done in Ireland. Why does he have to go through it again?”

“Because we have better resources here. I want to make sure his gene scan is clean.”

“Whatever. Look, you know he’s your kid, right? He has to be. You’ve seen pictures, right?”

“I don’t have any doubt he’s my son, I just want to make sure to screen for any possible genetic abnormalities ahead of time.”

Jackson really did not want to know about that aspect of his father’s work.

“Now, if we’re done here, I have have other things to do.”

And other kids to harass, hopefully.

“One more thing, Father. Would you please see to it that Jonathan no longer has access to my apartment? I’d really appreciate it.”

“He doesn’t have access. I loaned him my key.”

Jackson swallowed his pride. “Please don’t do that again. I really don’t like having him here.”

“It shouldn’t be necessary again. I do wish you boys would try to get along better.”

Might be easier if Dr. Jon wasn’t so obviously your favorite.

As soon as Gregory was gone, Jackson went into the bedroom to look in on Lisa.

“Are you awake?” he asked softly.

“Yes. I can’t sleep.”

“Why not? You look exhausted.”

“I am, but I’m afraid I’ll have nightmares.”

Jackson didn’t see any point in starting to lie to her now. “You probably will, but the important thing is you’re safe now.”

Lisa sat up. “I’d actually like to take a long, hot shower. Or better yet, a bath.”

Jackson shrugged. “Whatever you want. You need some help?” He grinned at the look she gave him. “I mean, if you’re still unsteady on your feet, I don’t want you to fall in the shower.”

“So I’ll take a bath.”

He started to speak again, but she anticipated him.

“And no, I don’t need any help there, either.”

Jackson playfully threw his hands upwards. “Okay, but if you change your mind, let me know.”

Lisa shook her head. He opened the dresser drawer containing the sleepwear and held up the flannel nightgown. “I guess you want this?”

“Thank you.” She grabbed it out of his hands. “And you can forget about that little red getup. You are never going to see me in that.”

Ah, a challenge!

“If you say so.” He left the negligee in the drawer. “I’ll be out in the living room if you need me.”

It took only a moment to find the micro-cassette recorder and put in the first of the helpfully-numbered tapes.

[§ilvercell]

DAMN..........................how many relitives does he have?!

[britt]

yay! this story is awesome

[stormy]

Thank you so much!

Poor Lisa, talk about your nightmare in-laws! (Well, close enough to in-laws.)

[avoca]

awesome, stormy! what a fan fic!!

Lisa was looking at him hesitantly. “Have I met your entire family now, except for your father?”
“No. In fact, I sincerely doubt I’ve met my entire family.”

teeehheeee.... it's like in "being john malkovich"! ;D
LOVE IT!

[§ilvercell]

MORE!

[stormy]

I'll try to write and edit the next part by tonight or tomorrow. There's still a long ways to go.

Any predictions on Jackson's reaction to the tapes?