Scott was stunned by what he had just heard. How bad were things with this young woman's life that she felt she had no choice but to kill herself? And with drugs no less?
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "But I can't let you do that to yourself."
"You don't even know me," Raile snapped, though it lost most of its heat due to being rough and weak. "What gives you the right to make decisions for me?"
"Well," he said as he leaned back in the chair with his hands folded, "considering I'm the one that found you and brought you here, I feel somewhat responsible for your well-being. And with what you just told me, I can't let you leave until you get help."
Raile was angry, and also shocked at his words. Nobody had ever cared about her before, and this man was a complete stranger. He had no right to waltz in here and force her to do anything.
"And if I don't? If I tell the docs I'm not gonna go to rehab or whatever the fuck they want?"
"Then I'll follow you. I'll call the police and tell them you're a danger to yourself," he replied bluntly. "I'm doing this for your own good."
"Why do you care?! It's none of your fucking business!", she hissed at him, truly pissed off now. "I don't even know you! You have no right to keep me trapped here!"
"I saved your life tonight, girl," he said in a fierce whisper. "I am not going to walk away and let you continue to ruin yourself. You have no idea what you could do if you just got off the shit and tried to fix yourself, instead of wallowing in whatever darkness is in your head. And yes," he growled as he narrowed his eyes, "there is darkness in your head. I can see it in your eyes."
She slumped back against the bed, looking away from him.
"So what? I'm fucked up in the head," she shrugged, though he saw it for what it was. Aloofness, there to hide the fear that was causing her hands to tremble. "Everyone's a little fucked, alright? There's nothing special about me."
"That may be true, but I'm not about to walk away from someone clearly in need of help. So either you tell them you need it, or I will. I'll put myself in charge of your well-being if I need to."
Raile looked up at him and sniffled, clenching her hands under the bedsheet.
"Why?", she asked in a small voice.
"Because nobody else has," he shrugged. "Whoever was supposed to take care of you completely failed at their job, so now I'm going to. It's what you need."
"And if I tell you to fuck off?"
"Then I'll go. But Raile, you're going to die. I know you want to, but killing yourself with an overdose is one of the worst things to do. I know, I've had friends die from this shit. And I'll be damned if I watch you do it too. I see a lot of potential in you that nobody else has ever cultivated. That's a failure in my eyes, and I promise you, I'm gonna do my best to rectify it."
She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face, exhausted.
"So what, am I just supposed to come live with a total stranger? I don't know if this just escaped your memory, but I don't fucking know you," she spat, folding her arms. "You could plan to sell me to some trafficking ring, or to your dealer."
"That's happened before, hasn't it?", he said in a gentle tone, and she snarled.
"Stop trying to get in my fucking head! I'm not gonna tell you a god damn thing, so just shut up and get me out of here!"
"I'll only do that if you make a deal."
Her blood ran cold, and she almost laughed. Nothing comes without a price. You've forgotten that, her mind said. Of course.
Raile took a deep breath and forced her fears into the back of her mind. Her eyes became cold and hard, nearly black as she let out the breath she was holding and looked at him.
"What do you want?"
Scott raised an eyebrow at the complete change in her demeanor, but told himself that it was something he would work on with her.
"Well, I want you to get better. So, in exchange for getting you out of here, where you clearly hate being, you'll come live with me. I'll keep an eye on you every single day. You'll come to work with me if I need to go, and in return, I'll help you work through the problems you have. I won't hurt or abuse you, but I also won't allow you to relapse. I will take complete control of your life, but it will be a partnership. We talk about things before making decisions."
Raile's jaw dropped and she stared at him. Was this guy for real? He wanted total control over her and just expected her to go along with it?
"Go fuck yourself," she replied evenly, lifting her chin. "I'm not giving you control of my life."
Sighing, he wiped his hands on his pants and stood up.
"Then I guess we have nothing more to talk about. I'll let the doctors know to prepare a bed for you in their mental health facility. I'm sorry we had to meet like this, Raile," he said as he turned to leave.
"Wait!", she said, panicked. "Wait, I don't want to go back to a mental ward! I'll do it, whatever you want," she begged. "Just don't send me back there."
It hurt him a little that he'd had to resort to these drastic methods, but he wasn't going to let her kill herself. Scott turned back to her and folded his arms.
"I want your word that you'll at least try to listen to me and let me help you. And in return, I'll give you mine that I'll never harm you or let harm come to you."
"I swear," she gulped. "I swear that I'll try to let you help me. I give you my word."
He reached a hand out and she took it, biting her lip as he looked at her seriously.
"I give you my word that I won't harm you or let harm come to you," he said softly. "I also give you my word that I will take care of you to the best of my ability, and that if in six months I've failed to help you, you're free to leave. Is that alright?"
Six months?! He expects me to stick around for six months?, she thought angrily, but nodded her head.
"'S fine to me. But I don't want to be a prisoner. I want to be able to do as I please."
Scott chuckled and smirked at her.
"We'll discuss that."