Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort/Johnny Depp or their sexy bodies…though I wish I did!
AN: Okay, this is important: I'm going on vacation from July 2-10, and won't be updating until I get back, so this chapter will have to keep you busy until I get back and finish chapter 13. Oh, and thanks to the person that said my story rocks and that I'm one of the "best writers on the effing planet." I really appreciate it! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 12: Unwanted Disruptions in Life:
A Week Later: Kayla's POV:
"Kayla, would you please talk to me?" Alex pleaded, trying to talk to her through the small window in the reception desk shielding. "It's been almost a week; how long do you plan on ignoring and avoiding me?"
Kayla refused to dignify him with an answer. It may have been nearly a week, but she was still fuming over the fact that Alex had tried to get Mort into trouble. However, the last straw was when he attempted to beat up Mort in the hallway; Kayla didn't think she could handle being around a man who tried to hurt innocent patients. In the end, the patients were at a disadvantage here at the hospital; if something went wrong and the choice was believe a patient or a staff member, it was usually the patient who got in trouble unless it could be proven that they were innocent.
'Mort was just lucky that Holly was there,' she thought, especially grateful that her friend had been there when it counted.
That same afternoon, after the confrontation between Alex and Mort, Holly had tracked down Kayla in an attempt to tell her what had happened. Kayla had been terrified that something had happened to Mort, and was extremely relieved when Holly told her that Mort was fine, and that Alex would get a mark on his record for harassing a patient. During the days that followed, Kayla did everything in her power to avoid talking to Alex, and it was apparently driving the man crazy.
'Well, too bad for him,' she thought, barely keeping back an angry growl. 'That's what he gets for trying to hurt Mort!'
As much as she didn't want to admit it, Kayla could feel herself falling for the handsome author. Since their little "encounters" a week ago, the two of them had secretly stolen kisses and caresses in hidden parts of the hospital. It was amazing to her that a man as sweet, caring, and yes, sexy, would want a girl like her, but it made her happy at the same time.
'My first boyfriend and he's a mental patient,' she thought, inwardly shaking her head. 'It would figure.'
Meanwhile, Alex was still talking. "Please Kayla, say something!" he begged. "Anything!"
Kayla sighed. 'Sometimes I hate being such a nice person.' Out loud she said, "Okay, Alex, what is it?"
"Finally!" the tall orderly said, looking relieved. "Please tell me you aren't mad at me, Kayla."
"Alex, you attacked an innocent and defenseless man!" she said, glaring at him. "What do you want me to say? 'Hey Alex, great job on attacking and scaring the hell out of Mr. Rainey, I'm proud of you?'"
"But I saw him try to go into the storage room! For all I knew, he was trying to steal supplies!"
"And what, exactly, would a mentally impaired man do with those stolen supplies?" she growled at him. "For heaven's sakes, Alex, we're in a mental institution! The patients can't even get off the grounds without someone knowing! What's he going to do, set up an imaginary computer and to try and sell it on eBay?"
Alex opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again. He looked remarkably like a fish, but Kayla was through speaking with him. Instead, she slid the little window shut and went back to work, her mind focusing on Mort and where he was at that moment in time.
Mort's POV:
"You've been making remarkable progress in your treatments, Mr. Rainey," Dr. Vincent said, closing the manila folder in front of him. "We, meaning the entire staff, are all very proud of you."
"Thank you, sir," Mort softly replied. He really didn't know how to respond to praise (if it wasn't coming from Kayla), so he just said whatever came to mind.
"With any luck, you should be out of here within a couple of weeks."
Mort stared at the man behind the desk. "A couple weeks?" he gasped. Could it be possible?
Dr. Vincent grinned. "No, I'm not fooling around with you, Mr. Rainey," he said. "We have every intention on helping you get back to the outside world as soon as possible."
"Thank you, doctor," Mort said, not knowing what else to say.
He let out a huge sigh of relief as a nurse came up and put her hand on his shoulder, signaling the end of the session. Standing up, he nodded at Dr. Vincent and received a nod in return as he was escorted back to his room. Stopping near the doors that led from his wing towards the reception area, Mort caught a glimpse of Kayla behind the desk, chewing on a pen cap as she worked her way through a pile of papers. Tearing his eyes away from the quaint sight, Mort realized that the nurse had left him in the dust. Scrambling to catch up, Mort tapped the woman on the shoulder.
"Um, could I go and catch some sun by the windows?" he asked, suddenly eager to get some sun on him…and possibly get a tan to celebrate his upcoming release.
The nurse smiled. "Of course, Mr. Rainey," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "Go ahead, and try to take a walk, too. You need your exercise."
Mort eagerly nodded before racing off towards the reception area.
Alex's POV:
Alex could feel anger and hate flood his mind and body as he stood, watching Mort Rainey run up to the front desk and happily chat with Kayla. Seeing the two look so blissful together was utter torture for him, and he couldn't understand why she would chat with Mort rather than with him. Sure, he might have overstepped a little when he spotted the mentally disturbed author going into the closet, but that didn't excuse Kayla not talking to him for over a week. After all, he was only doing his job!
'Besides, what does Mort Rainey have that Idon't?' Alex thought angrily, watching Kayla laugh at something the blond author said.
Carefully observing the two, he noticed that Mort was more than just happy to see Kayla …it was as though he were flirting with her! No, that couldn't be right; after all, patients and staff members were forbidden from having "relationships" of any kind. Still, there appeared to be some sort of familiarity between the two, and Alex was determined to find out what it was. Clenching his fists, Alex went to the cafeteria to get something to calm him down. He'd have to see what Mr. Rainey was up to.
Early That Afternoon, Author's POV:
"Really, we shouldn't -" a small gasp interrupted the weak protest. A moan of pleasure quickly followed.
"Shh, darling, you're going to attract attention," whispered a man's voice.
"I can't help it, especially when you do that," a female voice frantically whispered back, her voice thick with pleasure.
Standing outside the door, Alex recognized the male voice, and knew that the staff frowned upon 'intimate relations' of any kind within the hospital. He then knew that he had enough on Mort Rainey to keep him locked up here for a very long time. He didn't care about the female; Mort was who he wanted out of his life, and this was too good of an opportunity to pass up!
Late Afternoon: Kayla's POV:
As she carefully worked her way through the enormous pile of paperwork, Kayla couldn't help but notice a group of orderlies escorting Mort down the hall towards Dr. Vincent's office. Since it wasn't a treatment day, there should be no reason for him to visit the doctor…unless something really bad or really good was about to happen. Panicking slightly, Kayla decided to follow them and see what was going on.
As she reached the doorway of Dr. Vincent's office, she noticed that the door was closed. Leaning her head against the wood, Kayla was surprised to discover that the wood prevented any sound from getting through. Sighing, Kayla slipped into the room next door, which was a sort of closet that could be accessed from both the hallway and Dr. Vincent's office. Silently sliding close to the door leading to the office of the chief-of-staff, Kayla pressed her ear against the much-thinner wood and listened in.
"Mr. Rainey, I have to tell you that I am very disappointed in you," Dr. Vincent said, sounding like a father disappointed by a promising child.
"I don't understand, sir," Mort replied, his voice soft and somewhat confused. Kayla found herself smiling at the sound of his voice.
"One of the staff members, who shall remain anonymous, heard you having an intimate encounter with someone from the hospital," Dr. Vincent replied bluntly, sounding upset. "As you know, such encounters between patients or patients and staff members are against hospital rules."
Kayla stifled a gasp, her hands clasping over her mouth. They'd found out about the two of them, and now Mort was going to get in trouble for it! Oh, god, what was she going to do? She couldn't let Mort take all of the blame for this; it was also her fault for letting it go this far! Kayla knew that she had to help him, but didn't know how. If she barged in, she'd be fired and Mort would still be in trouble. If she didn't, Mort was in trouble and her job was safe. What would Mort want her to do? He'd want her safely here in the closet and not say anything because he wanted to protect her. He'd want her to stay and work at the hospital while they put him through more treatments, like a dog through hoops!
'If I stay in here and not say anything, I'll keep my job and still see him around the hospital. We'd still be here together, but we'd also be so far apart,' she thought, her heart clenching at the idea.
"Of course, you'll have to be punished for this action, Mr. Rainey," sighed Dr. Vincent. "Which is a shame, considering the amazing progress you've made so far."
"And what, exactly, is my punishment?" Mort asked, slowly.
"I'm afraid we'll have to keep you isolated from all staff member and patients for a while," Dr. Vincent replied. "We'll have to change your medication a bit, and there will be no more visitations or treatment sessions with Kayla for at least a month. You'll have to make do with talking with Nurse Holly during that time period."
Kayla couldn't take it anymore. She quietly raced out into the hallway and stared at the door, right before a cry of anguish filled the air.
"NO!" yelled Mort, his voice going through the door and into the hall, straight into Kayla's ears. "You can't take her from me! She's the only thing that makes me better! You can't separate us like this!"
The orderlies quickly and quietly dragged Mort out of the office, Dr. Vincent following close behind. Several nurses approached from down the hall, all with concerned looks on their faces; one had a needle in her hand, the syringe loaded with a clear liquid. They were going to drug Mort, and there was nothing she could do about it! Kayla felt a protesting cry swell up in her throat, but the urge to cry blocked it. Helpless, she watched the staff restrain Mort and sedate him.
Right before he passed out, Mort's eyes met hers, immense love sparkling in them before his eyelids slipped shut. Stunned and speechless, Kayla went back to her filing duties.
That Night, Kayla's POV:
Sitting in her chair by the window, Kayla watched the cars on the street drive by, the lights steadily moving past as people sped to where they needed to be. She was still shocked at what had happened that day at the hospital. Holly had told her the details of what had happened after they had taken Mort to the isolation wing of the hospital.
Apparently, after they had strapped him down, a piece of paper had fallen out of his pocket, describing his love for someone at the hospital, but giving no name or description to this woman he cared about. This note only proved to further the accusations brought up by a member of the staff, and they would now have to treat him (and most likely, punish him) for the affection Mort had for this particular woman. Kayla had pressed for details from the note, and was glad she had done so.
Apparently Mort had intended to give this to her, telling her that he loved her and that, should they be discovered, he would gladly take the blame and whatever punishment came his way. However (the note said), if he were to be forced apart from her, he swore that he'd go mad, for his love for her was great and he could not live without her.
Kayla, who had been on the verge of telling Holly that it had been her that Mort was in love with, was forced to keep silent not say anything further on the matter. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and prayed that the doctors and nurses would go easy on him and not punish him too severely. After all, what was the harm in finding love in a most unexpected place like the mental institution?
Still, the rules were the rules, and if Mort had declared or decided that he would take the blame, what could she do about it? If Kayla came forward and confessed, she'd be fired, and Mort would get in trouble. If she didn't come forward, Mort would still be in trouble, but at least they would get the chance to see one another in passing…probably. They might get a chance to look at one another, to look into each other's eyes for a brief second before being separated once more, but that would be all. It would be torture, being so close yet so far away from one another.
Burying her face in her hands, Kayla did her best not to cry. "How could this have happened?" she gasped, blinking back tears. "Things were going so well…if only we had been more careful about meeting…if only we had hid in better spots…if only…"
But you could only get so far with 'if only.' Realistically, it had been stupid to progress their affections for one another to such a level that they would have to sneak around just to kiss and touch one another without having the orderlies descend on them. It had been stupid for her to have allowed the mentally disturbed author into her heart like that before he was cured and treated for his obsession and feelings for her.
But the question was: would she have traded all of what the two of them had shared over the past few weeks?
"No," Kayla stated to thin air. "No, I wouldn't trade all of our encounters for anything."
But what could she do about it now? Mort was locked up in the isolation ward, and she was not allowed in that part of the hospital. Holly had told her (quiet politely) that she wasn't capable of dealing with such patients, and there was no way for them to protect her like the plastic shielding that surrounded the front desk. Therefore, there was no way she was going to be able to see Mort unless his orderly/bodyguard escorted him to and from his treatment sessions with Holly and Dr. Vincent. And as if that weren't heartbreaking enough, it would probably be months (or even years) before he was set free!
Tears streamed down Kayla's cheeks. Could she really survive spending all of that time away from Mort, her sweet, kind, caring, and extremely affectionate Mort? Could she live out that time, knowing that they'd only get to glance at each other from a distance? She doubted it. After experiencing such intense feelings from him and from her own heart, Kayla knew that there was no way she was going to be able to survive with only subtle looks and glances in the hallway. There had to be some way out of this, but she couldn't think of any.
'Maybe you should start looking for whoever planted the idea of Mort having a relationship with someone at the hospital,' murmured a voice in her head, the little voice that always tells a person to look at things logically and to not wallow in self-pity.
Kayla's head snapped up, her tears stopping their flow down her cheeks. Of course! She had to find out who had heard them in the first place! Why didn't she think of that before? The closet that she and Mort had been hiding in was extremely out of the way, in a far corner of the hospital that no one had the chance to walk by unless they were specifically in that area and needed something important from that particular supply closet. The patients never went back there, and the staff members rarely went that way, so how did a person happen to be there at that time?
'Someone must have been following one or both of us,' she thought, both angry and thoughtful. 'It's the only way they could have known about our meeting in there.'
That morning, when Mort had approached her earlier, no one had been around to hear their conversation, much less learn about them meeting together. Therefore, someone had to have been watching them talk and had followed them after their chat was over. Someone at the hospital had either known something was up between the two of them or…
"Or someone really doesn't like the idea of Mort and I getting together," Kayla said, looking out the window again. "The question is who?"
There were several suspects, including Dr. Vincent, who constantly worried about Mort's obsession with her. Holly was another, though she didn't seem the type to 'rat out' her friend and the patient she liked helping the most. There were also several nurses that didn't like Kayla for some reason, and then there was Alex. There were too many people for her liking, but at least it was a start. She'd have to get started on narrowing down the list as soon as possible.
'Tomorrow, though,' she thought, yawning. 'Tomorrow, things will start making more sense.'
Stepping away from the window, Kayla slowly made her way to bed.
Same Night: Mort's POV:
Strapped down on his bed in the isolation ward, Mort did everything he could to not spit out curses that could label him as even more insane than they already thought. He was furious that someone had dared to interfere in his relationship with Kayla, furious that a person was going to get away with ruining his life and that of the woman he loved, and furious that the two of them were being forced apart just when things were starting to progress the way he wanted them to.
'They won't get away with this,' he thought, baring his teeth in a silent growl. 'I'll find them and they will pay for ruining our happiness!'
It wasn't fair; he and Kayla had only just begun to truly explore their feelings for each other, and then some idiot from the hospital had to hear them in the closet together…
'Why can't people leave us alone?' Mort thought, fully collapsing onto the bed, all the fight suddenly draining out of him. 'Kayla was just beginning to truly love and care about me, and now it's been ruined.'
Would she ever feel that way about him after this incident? The thought of Kayla's feelings for him fading away to nothing made his heart ache. Closing his eyes, Mort tried not to think of Kayla possibly rejecting him after this, but the idea kept popping up in his head.
'But she loves you,' whispered a small, hope-filled voice in his head. 'She let you make love to her and touch her like a lover would; she returned every one of your touches with her own.'
Mort smiled. So she loved him…but would she still love him after this? Sighing, Mort drifted off to sleep.
AN: Aw, poor Mort and Kayla. But don't worry, I promise happy endings in all my stories. Review!