"Going somewhere?" Jessica asked in a lazy tone.
"Yeah, actually I am. I'll be sure to send a postcard though." Alice rolled her eyes and reached for the door.
"How kind. But actually, I'd prefer it if you just didn't leave at all." She replied.
"Well, looks like you're in for a disappointment then." Alice turned the lock, and Jess stood up, walking quickly over to the teen.
"Actually, it seems that you're going to be the one who will have to deal with a little letdown." She said as she leaned against the door, effectively spoiling Alice's plans. Her eyes narrowed.
"Move, Jess." She said in a calm voice. Jess raised her eyebrow and stood in place. "I said get out of the way." Alice's tone was now dangerous.
Jess simply rolled her eyes. Alice slipped her hand into her jeans pocket, pulling out a small black object. She fiddled with it in her hand for a few moments, before flipping a switch to reveal a silver blade. It wasn't particularly long, but if push came to shove it would be very good at its job.
"Don't make me use it." Alice threatened. Lexie started to get off of the couch to help Jess, but the psychiatrist shook her head and Lexie sat down. Alice stepped forward. The light streaming in from the window glimmered off the blade.
"Get the fuck out of my way. Don't be stupid, you know that I have no trouble using the blade if I need it." The happy go lucky teen was gone, and in her place was the ruthlessly determined, anger fueled girl who would act without fear of repercussions. She darted forward, knife ready, and finally Jess acted. She caught hold of her wrists and knocked her to the floor, pinning her in place in one effortless move.
"Rule number one of psychology: don't plan your life working with crazy people without having a third degree black belt." She told Alice. "Lexie, you can come over now." She called out. The brunette surgeon came and stood by Jess.
"Alice, you don't want to do this. This isn't you, the sneaking around, carrying a knife, trying to use it." Jess's words had no effect on the teen. The hard gaze of a truly dangerous girl glared back.
"You don't know me then." She growled.
"Yes, I do. I know you better than you know yourself. I've seen hundreds of people, just like you. Nearly driven mad by their need to get their fix. Most of them end up dead. Their obsession kills them, in one way or another. But there is one thing that makes you different from the others." Jess paused, eyes searching the teen's face. "Lexie. None of them had a Lexie to support them, a Lexie to fight to get better for. You do. If you won't do this for yourself, do it for her."
Alice pressed her lips together. The innocent, sweet side was struggling with her dangerous one for dominance. "You can try and convince us, and convince yourself that you don't care about her. But it's a lie, and we both know it. No matter what you're dealing with, how dark of a place you may be in, you will still care for the woman who saved your life." Jessica's compelling words were starting to wear on Alice. She stopped fighting her, and lay still on the floor.
"There. Now, I want you to hand the knife over to Lexie." Jessica instructed, as she eased off a bit to let the teen sit up. Alice glanced at the knife that still rested in her hand. She seemed to think for a moment. The silence that hung through the air was broken by the click of the blade sliding back into its place, hidden in the handle. She locked eyes with Lexie for a brief moment, then cast her gaze away. She placed the knife gently in Lexie's waiting hand.
"Can you let me up now? It's obvious that I'm not going anywhere today." Alice demanded. Jess obliged and eased off of her. Alice leapt up and brushed her shorts off, glaring indignantly at the redhead. She mumbled something about cereal and stalked off to the kitchen. Lexie exhaled sharply.
"We just may be in way over our heads. I know Alice has a temper, but I never thought that she'd go as far as to pull a knife on you." Lexie sighed, running her fingers through her head.
Jess shook her head. "I was surprised that she let up that easily. All I had to do was mention you and she backed off. I've never seen that before in an addict, most of them are too far gone. I'm almost certain she'll come around." Lexie looked doubtful. "Hey, I'm serious. It'll work out." Jess insisted.
"I hope so." Lexie replied.
"It will. Now let's go find her and make sure she hasn't pulled a knife on the unsuspecting box of cheerios." Jessica laughed. Lexie's lips twitched, trying to fight a smile as she rolled her eyes good naturedly. "I'll go get the cereal crash cart." She deadpanned.
Alice sat at the kitchen table, tossing a couple of pieces of dry cereal into her mouth. The only reasons she had mentioned food was to get out of the living room. Had she really just drawn a knife on Jessica? Sure, she hated the bitch. But she wasn't murderous. God, what did Lexie think of her now? Officially gone off the deep end probably. And if she didn't get a hit in a couple hours, Alice knew she was going to get worse. The teenager was aware she was slowly losing control of herself.
"You guys don't have to babysit me. We're all in the same apartment." Alice said as Jessica and Lexie walked into the room.
"For some odd reason, I think we do." Jessica retorted. Alice glared at her, but then sighed.
"Jessica look, I'm sorry I pulled a knife on you. I'm just, you know, yeah." Alice said, unable to find the words to finish her sentence. But Jessica understood and then nodded.
"It's alright. I get it. You're going through withdrawal." Jessica replied in a softer tone. Alice nodded before tossing a couple more pieces of cereal into her mouth and getting up from the table.
Jess and Lexie put on a movie to pass the time of their "watch shift" before Callie and Arizona switched off. "I feel bad for those two. They're going to be back in a couple hours, and they're going to get the worst of it." Jess jerked her head towards the dining room where Alice paced.
"Yeah, well they volunteered, and I have a surgery." Lexie replied.
"Nice to see that you're so sympathetic." Lexie stuck her tongue out at her friend.
The two older girls were really into their movie when Alice appeared in the doorway, making them both jump. "I can't be in here anymore, it's too claustrophobic. I need to get out of this apartment. Alice and Jess exchanged a glance. "I'll just go for a run. Not far, I'll only be gone half an hour." She continued.
"Like hell you're going to be leaving our sights!" Jess exclaimed.
"I. Can't. Stay. In. Here. Any. Longer." Desperation warred with restlessness as she paced the living room, relentlessly chewing at her lip. Lexie frowned as she noticed that her bottom lip was redder than usual. She walked over and placed a hand on Alice's shoulder, making her stop. She peered at her lip and realized that the scarlet staining was blood, the result of Alice constantly chewing at it.
"You're making yourself bleed. Give it a rest and leave your lip alone." She told the girl, who yanked out of her grasp and kept pacing.
"I can't. I need out of here, right now. If you don't trust me to go alone then come with me." Lexie glanced at her watch.
"I've got to be back at the hospital in under an hour. There's not enough time for me to go." Lexie's tone was apologetic.
"Get your shoes on." Jess spoke up for the first time.
"What?" Alice glanced dubiously at her.
"You heard me. Lexie can't go, so I will. Go get your shoes on." She repeated. Alice rolled her eyes but shoved her runners on.
"Good luck keeping up." She called out as she started out the door.
"Get back here and stretch while I get my shoes gathered. I don't want to listen to you whine about a pulled muscle for the next hour." She called out after her. Alice groaned but returned reluctantly. A few minutes later, they were off.
Too impatient for the elevator, Alice all but flew down the stairs. She paused briefly to put her ear buds in and cranked up the music, making it abundantly clear to Jess that she was not up for conversation.
Alice waited for Jessica at the bottom of the stairs. The doctor walked beside her to the door and opened it for her. Just as they got outside Alice turned and gave her a smirk.
"You are so easy to trick." Alice laughed before taking off. Jessica cursed herself for not seeing it coming and sprinted after her down the street.
Alice glanced over her shoulder and saw that she had a good distance between herself and the devil shrink. She thanked her years of cheerleading for giving her such amazing stamina and kept going, dodging pedestrians as she ran. To anyone else, she would appear as a motivated young jogger.
"I wonder how she's doing." Callie said as she turned the car down the street. Arizona groaned and pointed towards the end of the street.
"There's your answer." The blonde doctor said. Callie followed the direction of her girlfriend's finger and groaned as she saw Alice bolting down the street. Jessica soon came into her view as well.
"I've got this." Arizona said, stepping out of the car. Alice was getting closer and closer at an impressive speed. Arizona readied herself to stop the running teen and stepped into her path.
Alice suddenly found to arms wrapped around herself. She immediately panicked and thrashed against them before the familiar perfume hit her and she realized that Arizona was holding her. "Let go." She panted, breathing heavily from the adrenaline of the escape, as well as the fear of being grabbed so suddenly. She struggled to reach her headphones as her arms were being held to her chest by Arizona's grip and then yanked them out of her ears.
Jessica caught up to the struggling teen and smirked. "Nice try. Back to the apartment it is." Jessica said, shaking her head. Anger flared in Alice's eyes and she continued to struggle against Arizona.
"Here, I'll hold her in the backseat." Jessica volunteered. Arizona carefully released Alice's arms, who immediately tried to run. Jessica caught her and was surprised when Alice literally threw herself to the ground in an attempt to resist movement. So, she took ahold of Alice under her arms and started dragging her into the car.
"Help, I'm being abducted!" Alice yelled as passerbys looked on curiously.
"Ignore her, she's a drug addict." Jessica over shouted Alice and the girl fell silent as she was forced into the car.
Alice rode in the car in a silent fury. She had been this close to getting away when the fucking teacup human surgeon had stopped her. She was practically dragged out of the car, and Callie looped her arm through Alice's as they walked from the parking lot to the lobby. To any onlooker, it was nothing more than a gesture of friends, but to Alice it was a sentence back to her current prison of unmet desires.
Alice shut her mouth long enough to get into the elevator, not wanting to look completely insane in the busy lobby of the upscale condos. "Why won't you just let me go?" She begged Arizona, who was the most empathetic of the trio. "I'm in hell here, and it's been less than twenty four hours. If I want to leave, you have no business in stopping me. None of you are legally my guardians, so you can't prevent me from leaving if I want. It's my life; I can make decisions for myself. If I want to leave, so be it." She went at it from a practical angle, knowing that was the only way to convince a surgeon of something.
"I'm sorry Alice, I really am. But in a few weeks, you will see why we put you through this. A life of a druggie is no life for you, but if this is the only way to get you to see it then this is how it's going to be." Arizona's tone was kind, but it wasn't what Alice wanted to hear. She narrowed her eyes. Alice tried to slip her arm out of Callie's but the Latina doctor wouldn't let her.
"Oh yeah, better make sure that I don't run off into the vast miles of space in the elevator." Her tone dripped of sarcasm, but Callie ignored her. They stepped off the elevator as it dinged. Once again, Alice tried to free herself. She froze in place.
"Callie, the stairs are that way," she gestured in the opposite direction "and the elevator has left. There are three of you behind me. I'm not getting anywhere. Let me go." Callie sighed loudly and let her go. Once free, Alice walked several steps ahead. She made sure to slam the door of the condo.
Alice quickly reached into the small table in the hallway where Lexie stashed her knife earlier and slipped it back into her baggy sweater pocket before anyone came around. "Lexie?" She called out. No answer. Great, she has already left for the hospital, and now I'm stuck with Satan psychologist, and the two who ruined my afternoon, she thought.
Alice quickly went to her room before she could be bothered by the damn doctors. She didn't need their help, she needed to get high. And she needed it now.
Callie immediately headed for Alice's room and knocked on the door. She ended up getting nonresponse, so she opened it to find Alice pacing anxiously back and forth.
"How're you holding up?" Callie asked, leaning against the door frame. Alice whirled around to stare at her.
"How the hell do you think I'm holding up? I need a fucking pill." Alice snapped.
"No, you don't. You 'want' a pill. Your body doesn't need that shit being shoved into it." Callie replied. Alice reached for the nearest object, a Kleenex box, and hurled it at Callie. The doctor caught it easily.
"Thanks." She said, shaking the box, and headed out the door. Alice went back to pacing and planning her next escape. Arizona let herself in a few minutes later. She was holding a plate with a sandwich and some fruit.
"Here." She said with a smile, putting it down on the dresser.
"Not hungry." Alice replied, still pacing.
"I can count your ribs through your shirt. How long has it been since you've eaten?" She demanded. "Three cheerios. Whoop de doo. Lexie tells me that it has been weeks since you've actually finished a plate of food." Alice shrugged. "Eat it, Alice. Please." She pressed on. Alice rolled her eyes.
"If I eat the goddamn food will you leave me alone?" She demanded.
"Yup." The older blonde replied. Alice gave her a hassled look before swiping a few grapes off the plate as she paced by.
"Nope, doesn't count if you burn it off as you eat it. Sit down." Arizona insisted. Alice sighed loudly and sat down. As she nibbled at the fruit she became acutely aware of just how hungry she was. It took all she had not to give Arizona the satisfaction of wolfing down the sandwich. She feigned disinterest and pushed the plate away when the fruit was finished.
"There, happy?" Alice snapped.
"Nope. Fruit doesn't count as a meal, and I bet that's all you've eaten these past few weeks. Have the sandwich." Alice glanced at it suspiciously.
"What did you lace it with? I'm positive you guys have slipped something into it that will calm me down without giving me a high." Arizona shook her head.
"Not everyone has ulterior motives." She replied. "The sandwich is one hundred percent free of anything but a delicious combination of meat, cheese, lettuce, and condiments." She assured her. Alice stared at her for a moment.
"You'd better not be lying." She growled as her need to eat won over her tenacity and she reached for the sandwich. She finished almost the whole sandwich, save the bottom crust. Arizona glanced at the discarded bread in amusement.
"What? I've never liked the crust." Alice muttered sheepishly. All of the sudden she was overcome by a horrible wave of nausea and Arizona watched as she turned an alarming shade of green.
"Shit!" She blurted as she ran for the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it to keep the doctors out, before promptly puking her guts out. She heard the rush of footsteps and the chatter of voices. "Go away." She yelled. No such luck. She ignored them as she shoved away from the toilet and searched for the mouthwash.
"It's my fault. I should have recognized that her stomach wouldn't be able to handle so much food after weeks of nothing." Alice heard Callie say. She yanked open the door.
"Well thank you Callie. Was barfing my guts out supposed to teach me a lesson or something?" The girl snapped angrily. She was still breathing heavily from being sick. All three of the doctors were staring at her pityingly.
"Alice, I'm sorry. I should have known you wouldn't be able to handle the food." Callie apologized. Alice wasn't having any of it.
"Yeah, Ms. I-Know-Everything-Cause-I'm-A-Doctor should have known." She fired back. She had finally cooperated with what they wanted her to do, and she ended up with her head in the toilet. Some help they were.
"Alice, lay off." Jess said tiredly. Alice flipped her off before shoving past the huddle of doctors. "Can I at least go home?" She whined, sitting down on the couch.
"After that little stunt? No way in hell." Callie replied.
"I'm bored and restless and I need my fix and I can't just sit around here and have all of this time to think or I will truly lose my mind. I would have actually gone for an honest to god run had a better opportunity not presented itself. I need a distraction from this compulsive need to get my pills." Alice pleaded with the doctors.
"We can't take you home, not yet. But how about we put a movie in to fill the time? Arizona suggested.
"Fine." Alice agreed reluctantly.
Arizona opted to skip the movie, instead hanging out in the kitchen. Callie tried to inconspicuously give Alice some space by claiming to keep her girlfriend company. Soon enough, only Alice and Jessica occupied the living room. The older of the two popped a movie in and sat on the opposite side of the couch from Alice, not wanting to be too pushy.
Alice tried to focus on the film, but ten minutes into it she found herself not any better than when she started the movie. She found a stack of newspapers from a few days ago and settled on tearing each sheet into tiny strips. Halfway through the movie she had demolished the paper, leaving a neat pile of shredded paper in its place. She could feel exhaustion taking over; the combination of the run, constant fighting, and emotional drain of the day left her extremely tired. She stretched out, scooting closer to where Jessica sat, and within five minutes she had collapsed with her head in the older woman's lap, dead to the world.
So….some of you are probably beginning to dislike Alice. But before you decide that you hate her, keep in mind, that as we learned from Amelia on PP, opiate addicts can be some of the nastiest bitches ever when they want their fix. Please review, it means a lot to us!