Visitor's Day*

Marty looked up with anticipation as her first visitor walked in the room. She felt disappointed when she saw that it was Jason. Then she felt shame, he was her best friend and of course she should be happy to see him and she was, but his was not the face that she had been thinking about seeing all week.

"What's wrong?" He asked her as he sat by her side, most likely noticing the disappointment that was written all over her face.

"Nothing, I'm just adjusting to seeing familiar faces again," she said trying to recover. "It is good to see you Jason, I have missed you."

"I know you Marty, and although you missed me, I'm not the face that you wanted to see," Jason said knowingly.

"What's wrong with me Jason? Why do I miss him?" Marty asked.

"Perhaps you're not only suffering from PTSD, but perhaps you have Stockholm Syndrome," Jason said.

"He didn't kidnap me Jason," Marty pointed out.

"Perhaps not in the traditional sense, physically he didn't kidnap you, but emotionally, I'm not certain about that. He rapes you, and then he spends months trying to fix the damage that he caused in the first place. He's created an emotional bond with you based on misery, he's the only one that you think you can relate to, because he's the only one that can really understand the ugliness that he left in you that night. He's isolated you, and the sad thing is that you can't see it."

"That's not true, I still spend time with you, with Andrew."

"Think about it Marty, besides today, I haven't seen you since before Halloween. It's been four months, I've tried calling you and you don't answer, you don't return my messages. I've talked to Andrew and Cassie and they haven't seen you either. Nora says her phone calls with you happen on a weekly basis at most, when they used to happen daily. You're cutting out all of your friends and replacing us with him. That's what I call an emotional kidnapping," Jason pointed out.

"I don't mean to cut you out of my life. You're my best friend Jason, but it's hard for me to be around you since the rape. You're happy, Andrew and Cassie happy, Nora happy with my daughter that I can't be around. I'm glad that you're all happy, but I'm not. I don't want to bring you down with my misery and if I'm honest, I'm jealous of all of you and it makes me feel worse to be around you."

"Marty...I'm sorry,"

"But being around him is different. He's a monstrous human being just like me, and his misery matches mine. I don't have to pretend that I'm all better just to be around him, I don't have to fake happiness that I no longer have. I can just be and Jason, that's what I need right now," Marty said. She looked up and saw him, the person that she longed to see, and she felt a flicker of happiness. She stood up and ran into his arms before she could think better of it.

"It's good to see you too Marty," Todd whispered in her ear as he embraced her.

"I'm going to go Marty, just be careful not to let this Predator hurt you again. He's not your friend and he never was. If you need a real friend, just remember that Andrew, Nora and I are still here for you, no matter how much you push us away," Jason said and then left.

"He's wrong, I am your friend, and I'll never hurt you again," Todd said as he continued to hold her in his arms.

"We'll see, but I have missed you Todd," Marty said as she pulled out of his arms and led him to the couch.

"I've had endless hours of therapy, and they don't get it, they just don't understand, but you, you understand me, you always have. It's so good to have you here.

"I'm what you need to heal?" Todd asked.

"I can't explain it, but yes, you're what I need. Please don't leave me," Marty whispered.

"I'll never intentionally leave you again," Todd promised as he wrapped his arms around her.