A/N: Well, no one voted on my Shutter Island poll so I decided I will go ahead and write it anyway. :)
As always I own nothing pertaining to the movie Shutter Island or the book, or any songs mentioned, or basically anything famous.
Now if I mess something up, like facts or anything, please PM me and let me know so I can fix it.
So please read and review and let me know what you think.
"What would be worse? To live as a monster or die as a good man?"
Andrew Laeddis flicked his cigarette to the ground and stood up. He began walking with the orderlies to the light house. He knew what would happen there. He knew that pretending to stay in his fantasy world would reward him what he truly wanted. What he truly wanted was a way to escape the guilt and if death was the only way then so be it. Andrew also wanted someone to actually talk to him, not at him, but to him. The doctors kept telling him that if he didn't start accepting reality he might not get to live his little fantasy. Andrew understood that, but he wanted the doctors to care about him, not about their success rate.
Andrew stumbled slightly on the unstable rock. He regained his balance and looked up. The light house loomed over him and he shivered slightly, knowing what was in store for him. He was so sure that he wanted to die, but lately he kept having moments of uncertainty.
"Let's go, Laeddis," one of the orderlies said as he grabbed Andrew's arm.
Andrew, who had been leading the orderlies, was now following them. Something in the water had caught his eye and he trailed back to get a closer look. It was a ferry. A ferry never came to the island unless they were gaining another patient. That didn't cloud his mind for long because the thoughts of uncertainty kept running through his mind.
'What if I could live with it?' he thought, 'It's not like I killed her in cold blood. I was taken over by grief. I don't even remember doing it.'
Those thoughts raided Andrews mind as they walked up the spiral staircase to the top room. Andrew knew only a little about the place because he had only been in there once, when he broke in, but he recognized the small bench sitting outside the door. What he didn't recognize was the woman sitting there.
She smiled stiffly and stood up while straightening her gray dress and white gloves. "Hello," she said politely. "I'm Dr. Bailey Summers. I understand you've been given orders to lobotomize this man."
The orderlies nodded dumbly, not exactly knowing what to make of the beautiful and intimidating woman.
She smiled again and flipped her dark brown curls over her shoulder, knowing that she had a hook in the naive orderlies. She knew she would be out of there very quickly.
"Well, I have been given orders too," she said while riffling through her briefcase. "However, my orders are quite different from yours."
She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the orderlies. One of them took it, looked at it questioningly, and looked back up to Dr. Summers. Andrew and Dr. Summers could tell the poor guy had no idea what the paper meant.
She smiled again, knowing she would be able to execute this without a single protest. She winked discretely at Andrew, which took him by surprise. All the doctors here would just order him around and tell him what they wanted him to say. She had actually acknowledged that he was alive.
As soon as the wink had happened it had disappeared and she looked at the orderlies seriously, but sweetly.
"It's a release order," she said simply. "I've been ordered to retrieve Mr. Laeddis and take him back to Boston."
The orderlies looked at her dumbly and made no protest so she reached a hand out to Andrew grasped his shoulder gently. The touch took Andrew by surprise. All the doctors at Shutter Island were too gentle, like they were walking on eggshells or something. She was so different, she wasn't afraid that he would fly off the handle. She was... comfortable with him.
"So we'll just be going now. Thank you for-"
"Not so fast Ms. Summers," Dr. Cawely interrupted as he came around the corner. "You'll have to do some serious talking to me before we even consider releasing Mr. Laeddis into your custody."
Dr. Summers smiled coldly. "It's Dr. Summers and I have a release order so it's-"
"I'll need to take a close look at that release order and I'll need to talk this over with your superior... I'm sure you understand, Dr. Summers."
She groaned inwardly. She was so close to getting Andrew out of this place and this guy just had to be the only intelligent life on this island. She was so sure she was dealing with a lot of naive hermits.
She released her grip on Andrews shoulder.
"Absolutely," she agreed in an icy voice.
Dr. Cawely led her into the room and shut the door behind him.
Andrew stood silently with the orderlies. He was just as shocked as they were. After all the "treatments" and "observations" he had been through not a single doctor had really noticed him and paid attention to him. But she had. Why?
Inside the room of the light house Dr. Cawely sat down behind his desk and lit a cigarette. He motioned to the chair in front of the desk.
"Please, take a seat."
Dr. Summers eased herself down slowly and never took her eyes off of Dr. Cawely. She sat stiffly and pursed her red lips, hoping this man would get on with his stipulations.
Dr. Cawely smiled slightly as if he could read her thoughts. He sat up straighter and took another drag off of his cigarette.
"So you have been given orders to take Andrew Laeddis to the mainland?" he asked sarcastically.
Dr. Summers restrained from rolling her eyes. "Yes," she agreed, "I'm a doctor at Boston's Institution for the Criminally Insane."
Dr. Cawely nodded sarcastically. "And they just up and decide to have him transported back to the mainland and on the very day he's to be executed. It's all very convenient... However, we can't release him to you."
Dr. Summers nodded. "I understand why you don't want to release him, but you really have no choice," she said as she placed to release order on his desk.
"This release order states that the head doctor of our asylum wishes to have him back on the mainland," she said while tapping her red fingernail on the paper.
Dr. Cawely looked at her amused, sat back in his chair, and propped his feet on his desk.
"The head doctor of you asylum? That's all?" he laughed at her naive attitude and took another drag off his cigarette.
Dr. Summers smiled slightly. "No, that's not all. It also states that the president of our asylum wishes the same and that the agency that funds this place is not very pleased with your results."
Dr. Cawely froze as those words came out of her mouth. His eyes focused on her and he nodded, prompting her to continue.
She smiled coldly. "And that if you don't hand over Mr. Laeddis to our custody then the grants that keep this place running will stop... immediately."
Dr. Cawely put his cigarette out and folded his hands across his chest.
"Well, it seems as though I have no choice," he admitted. "However, I would like to know why your asylum wants him back... After all, he is an insane murderer."
Dr. Summer stiffened and her eyes narrowed. She stood up slowly, placed her hands on the desk, and leaned down to look Dr. Cawely in the eye.
"You want to know why? Well, one of the reasons is that our hospital has found new evidence of Andrew's sanity and that he could be cured with the correct treatment... The other reason could be that you show absolutely no respect to your patients!" she exclaimed while raising her voice.
Dr. Cawely stood up quickly and threw his cigarette to the ground.
"Respect?! We are busy trying to cure these patients! We have no time for respect! Which brings me to my next point: what on earth could you be doing different than we are? What could you possibly do that we haven't?!"
Dr. Summers straightened up to look him in the eyes.
"Different?" she asked, "Different? Believe it or not Dr., we are actually doing a lot of different things out there! While you're all concealed on this island and shut off from the world, the world is actually improving! We have found many different alternatives to cure the insane! Hypnosis, electroshock therapy, even a simple little soak in hot water has been proved to cure even the most violently insane man!... However, I don't have to explain our reasoning to you. If you don't release Mr. Laeddis then your funds will stop. It's just that simple."
Andrew Laeddis could hear Dr. Summers raising her voice and saying something that sounded like hypnosis. Andrew smiled slightly and could just imagine the look on Dr. Cawely's face. No one had ever stood up to him like that.
After five more minutes the door opened and Dr. Summers emerged with a victorious smile on her face.
"It's been a pleasure Dr. Cawely," she said while shaking his hand.
"Pleasure's all mine Ms.- Dr. Summers," he corrected himself. "But don't forget our little agreement."
Dr. Summers nodded once with an icy smile on her face.
"Of course not." She turned to Andrew with a much warmer smile. "Mr. Leaddis, if you'll follow me."
Dr. Summers walked past him and stopped at the door. Andrew stood up slowly and looked back to the lobotomy room. He weighed his options.
'Die as a good man or live as a monster,' he thought.
He sighed and followed Dr. Summers to the door. Only 30 minutes ago he was sure he wanted to die. Now, he wasn't sure what he wanted, but he was so curious about this woman. This young, very familiar, lady had come to retrieve him and take him back to Boston. But was it really because Boston's Institution for the Criminally Insane had reason for it? It seemed legitimate, but there was something else behind that professional smile of hers.
Dr. Summers smiled again and lead the way to the way down the staircase. She opened the door and walked briskly over the jagged rocks. Andrew almost tripped over a rock. He wondered how on earth she could have worn heels, walked quickly over those sharp rocks, and never even stumbled.
"Hurry up," she hissed under her breath. Andrew did as he was told and picked up his pace. They reached the ferry and got on quickly.
"Just follow me," she said. Andrew, once again, did as he was told and followed Dr. Summers to a large oak door. She pushed it open and revealed a lavish sitting room equipped with a lush white carpet, two golden couches, and a golden chair.
A top the golden chair was young blonde girl who looked around 17 or 18, holding a cigarette. The girl flipped her blonde hair over her shoulders and took a drag off of her cigarette, leaving a red lip print.
"Did they buy it?" she asked in a rather snooty voice.
Dr. Summers plopped down onto the couch and lit up a cigarette.
"Oh they were eating out of the palm of my hand," she replied happily with the cigarette resting between her lips. She seemed much more relaxed in that moment then she had in the light house. She took a long drag off of her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly.
The tension visibly left her shoulders and she let out a small laugh. The blonde girl smiled widely and clapped once with a high pitched giggle.
"I can't believe it worked!" she exclaimed.
Dr. Summers returned the laugh. "I had it under control, Joanne. Just trust me." The blonde girl, apparently Joanne, smiled victoriously. She was very happy her friend had it under control. Her friend always seemed to provide the best adrenaline rushes.
Andrew, who had remained quiet throughout the whole giggly exchange, cleared his throat. Dr. Summers looked over at him and the adrenaline left her eyes and happiness replaced it. She smiled genuinely and motioned to the couch next to hers.
"Have a seat... Mr. Leaddis." Andrew walked over and sat on the couch cautiously. Once his body touched the soft, plush couch he sank down comfortably and sighed. The couch was so different from the hard beds and rusty surroundings of the island.
Dr. Summers smiled again which seemed to comfort Andrew. She looked so familiar, so comforting. Andrew knew this woman, but he couldn't place her. Where had he seen her? How did he know her? Her sapphire eyes glittered as if she could hear his thoughts. Andrew was suddenly caught in those eyes. They reminded him so much of a child's eyes. They were gorgeous, yet wild and childlike. Childlike as if she wasn't a doctor, but a kid who desperately wanted someone to comfort her.
Andrew sighed an agitated sigh, wondering what he was doing there. Wondering what these girls were talking about moments before.
"Um... Dr. Summers?" Her eyes snapped back up at Andrew and she raised her eyebrows.
"I was wondering," Andrew continued. "What happened back there?"
Dr. Summers sighed and put out her cigarette. She knew that this would come; she was just hoping that it wouldn't be so soon. She was wondering how she was going to explain this to him. She ran some fingers through her long brown curls and put her cigarette out. She stood up and crossed the room to stand over him. She stuck her hand out as if to shake his.
"Mr. Laeddis," she began. "I feel like I should introduce myself to you."
Andrew shook her hand cautiously and knitted his brows together. "Dr. Summers, we've already met." Andrew was suddenly very anxious, wondering if he had just been kidnapped by his fellow asylum mates.
Dr. Summers chuckled slightly and shook her head. "No, you met Dr. Summers. A convincing, but fictional person."
Andrew knitted his brows again and dropped her hand. "Fictional as in..." his voice trailed off.
Dr. Summers nodded in agreement. "As in fake, as in doesn't exist... as in I'm not her."
"Then who are you?" he asked cautiously.
The woman, formally known as Dr. Summers, sat down next to Andrew. He scooted a little farther away cautiously and the woman placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Her sapphire eyes stared deep into his and a memory tugged at his brain.
'Who is this woman?' he thought to himself.
The woman's lips parted as she readied herself to answer and for a slight moment, Andrew didn't want to know. However, his curiosity got the best of him and he didn't interrupt her.
"My name is Rebecca... Rebecca Leaddis."
Booyah! We have some relation! :P Please read and review, your oppinion matters to me! :)