In the years Marissa had been committed, Alex had never given up on her. She simply couldn't give up on the love that was pulled away from her so violently. She had tried almost everything possible to reach Marissa.
At first she tried getting in to Foster's the normal way, also known as 'walking in through the door'. When that didn't work she tried it by both digging underneath the fence, and climbing over. This last action had even earned her a night in jail.
After that, she tried the more subtle approach; she applied for a job using a different name. Unfortunately it was doctor Hamilton who did the job interview. He recognized her instantly, and she was once again escorted from the building. This had actually been the closest she had come to reaching Marissa, the only time she got into the building. Eventually, she had run out of plans. But in her mind, she ran over all the possibilities every day again, each time hoping to find a loophole.
Till one day her luck finally changed.
As Alex was sitting by the bar at the Bait Shop -which she no longer just managed but now owned herself- sipping her beer with her notepad in front of her, she was tapped on her shoulder. She turned around without actually looking at the person behind her.
"Sorry, you can go bug someone else because I'm not available" She turned back to her notepad on which the interesting title 'plans to save Marissa' was written. Underneath it was a small list with ideas.
Pretend I'm getting laundry and smuggle Marissa out in the cart hidden underneath sheets.
Money! Buy my way in with the help of someone who's willing to risk their job
Find an accomplice, preferably one with inside knowledge
Find something to blackmail Julie aka The Bitch. There must be more than a little dirt surrounding her. Maybe a porn video, or a lover on the side…
Go on National Television. Only need to find a talk show host that actually believes me. So we can just forget about Leno and Larry King.
Drug that asshole dr. Hamilton. BUT HOW!
Even after all this time, she still considered Marissa her girlfriend. Never again had she given herself to anyone else. And she was willing to do everything to get her beloved one back into her arms one day.
"Alex Kelly?" the voice from the stranger spoke.
She didn't even turn around again. "I told you, not interested"
"Dammit Alex, don't you recognize your old customers? It's Luke"
This time she did a full turn around. "Luke? What are you doing here?"
"I need to speak to you, can we go somewhere else? We don't want to be overheard, I promise you this."
By the urgency of his voice, Alex knew Luke was being dead serious here.
"Sure, let's go to my place."
When they arrived Luke made sure all windows and doors were closed.
"I have to ask you a few things, they can be really important. But first you must swear to me you won't talk to anybody else about this. It could cost me my license if you do." Luke said.
"License, what license?" Alex asked curiously.
"My license to work as a psychiatrist. Now will you please just swear to keep you mouth about the things I'm about to tell you?"
At the word 'psychiatrist' Alex's almost jumped up. Could it be? "You've got my word"
"Okay, this might be a bit complicated, but I hope you'll hear me out. Here's the thing. About a month ago, I got an offer from Foster's to work for them as psychiatrist. As it's a highly recommended center, I took the job. When I was looking through the files for one of my patients, I stumbled upon one with Marissa's name on it. I know it's not ethical of me, but I couldn't believe she was in there. So I read it. It was such a strange file… I just had this feeling something wasn't right. I could not find a single reason to believe she actually has any disorder from the reports. I did find out she is in a special ward, which is assigned to doctor Hamilton." Luke took a sip of water before continuing
"So I tried to talk to him, see if I could find out anything. While most psychiatrists are proud of their work and the way they handle their patients, he only told me he works for a special unit and that he couldn't tell me more than that. He acted like he was hiding something. I know Marissa is still in there, and I don't understand. Whatever has happened, it happened while I was at my dad's. No one ever told me about it. So I was hoping that you could tell me more about this, because in her file I also found your name, along with the note that you are not allowed to ever enter Foster's."
Alex's skin in the meantime had been drained from all color. This was her loophole; someone who worked there, someone who didn't trust the situation because he knew Marissa, someone willing to help her.
"I think I have exactly the information that you seek." She whispered.
"There are some things you need to know about how all of this happened. Almost eight years ago, Marissa and I started dating. Marissa kept it from her family for over six months… but when she told them, all hell broke loose. Her mom, she freaked completely. Marissa tried to talk to her, I tried to talk to her, but it was useless. One night…" Alex shuddered again at the thought of that dramatic evening. Her eyes started watering.
"One night, Marissa was at my place. There was a knock on my door, so I went to open it. In front of me were Julie and the monsters from Foster's. They took her away that evening. Julie told Marissa that she was no longer her daughter, and then let them take her away. She made sure I wouldn't be allowed anywhere near her. She just threw her daughter away like garbage."
Tears slowly started to make their way down Alex's face. The heart ache still was unbearable.
"Marissa fought so hard, but they sedated her. And I tried to get to her, I really did, but those guys were too strong. I fought so hard for her…"
Alex wiped angrily at her eyes, took a deep breath and continued.
"Ever since, Marissa has been there. I don't know what they're doing to her, but I know for certain Julie is still the driving force. I tried so many times to get in, but I never succeeded."
Luke took Alex's hand in his own.
"I should have known Julie was behind this. Did you know she tried to have Marissa committed before?"
Alex nodded a yes, unable to speak anymore.
"We're going to get Marissa out, I promise you. I believe you and I will help you in any way I can. Of course she will need to go through some testing, but if we can prove she was committed all this time against her will, and against medical policies… Hopefully we can even get doctor Hamilton a conviction." Luke paused for a moment. "Thank you so much Alex, I'm gonna contact someone who can probably help us. I'll get back to you as soon as I've got more information. And in the meantime… hang in there. You're no longer fighting this alone."
Luke stood up and hugged Alex tightly. He'd known Alex very well back in the days before he left Newport, and he'd been around her long enough to see how much she still loved Marissa. Upon seeing this and hearing Alex's story he was determined to help.