Once again I would like to thank those who replied for some amazingly kind feedback, you people make me feel so special ;-)
Now Chelsea and SVU Chicky, hope I haven't killed you yet with the long wait... and I hope the wait after this chapter doesn't kill you either. ;-)
Thanks again all, hope you enjoy this chapter as well
Chapter 14
Luke knocked on the window of the security booth. "Charlie, are you in there?"
The window went open and Charlie stuck his head out. "Luke… and gentlemen. How can I help you?"
Luke took the liberty of answering. "Charlie, this is doctor Wu of the National Medical Committee. He is here to see the director of Foster's, as are these two officers. Could I get visitors passes for them?
"Sure, they just need to sign these forms." He rummaged around for a few seconds before turning up a few forms and pens. The three men quickly signed and handed the papers over in exchange for the visitors passes.
"Make sure to wear them in a way they are always visible." Charlie said before closing the window to his booth again. Luke quickly entered Foster's, tagging the three men along. He led them through the long blue corridors, straight to the office of the director of Foster's.
"There you are doctor Wu, this is the office of doctor Rogers, he is the director of Foster's."
"Thank you doctor Ward. I'll try to make this quick, would you mind waiting here for me?"
"Not at all doctor. Good luck."
Only a few minutes had passed since the men had gone inside, so Alex still stood nervously waiting at the gate. She was driving herself crazy by only staring at the gate, so she had decided to tear her eyes away from the doors and fence, instead watching everything else. At this moment she was trying to focus on two small birds that were seemingly arguing about a piece of bread. She was completely oblivious to the person walking up to her.
"What in God's name are you doing here miss Kelly? I thought you would know by now you are not allowed to enter Foster's."
Alex's head snapped to her left, where she saw doctor Hamilton standing with his old arrogant smile on.
"I'm not entering Foster's, I'm just standing at the gate. As far as I know, I'm still allowed to do that." Her eyes were shooting daggers at doctor Hamilton.
"I know you're up to no good each time you show up here. You're probably here to pull another stunt to get your girlfriend out, but I can already tell you it won't work. So why don't you just get out of here?"
Alex couldn't help but sending her own arrogant smile at doctor Hamilton.
"No thanks, I think I'll just wait here until Marissa steps out of that door."
Doctor Hamilton only shook his head, muttering to himself. "So naïve." He then went inside.
Even though he had called Alex naïve for waiting for Marissa, he just had a sense something wasn't right. Whenever Alex came by she would cause trouble. It didn't seem right that she was just standing so calmly at the gate without trying anything. To calm his own senses he decided to go see Marissa first, just to make sure everything was alright.
"Well, considering your release order I think there's not much else we can do. Doctor Hamilton has always had his grounds to keep miss Cooper committed as far as I know, but we must release her if the NMC says so. I will call security to let them know miss Cooper is being released. That way we can avoid trouble at the gate. Oh, and if you can wait for a minute I will call doctor Hamilton, he can show you the way to Marissa's room." Doctor Rogers concluded after reviewing the papers doctor Wu had handed him.
"That won't be necessary, thank you. Doctor Ward has already kindly agreed to take us to Marissa."
"Okay, then I won't stand in your way."
"Thank you for your cooperation doctor Rogers." Doctor Wu shook his hand before exiting the office. So far, everything was going just fine.
"Doctor Ward, it's all taken care of. Can you lead the way to Marissa's room?"
"Of course, it's this way." He started walking in a quick pace. He didn't want to waste any more time.
Doctor Hamilton in the meantime had arrived at Marissa's room. He had quickly made his way over there as soon as he had dropped his stuff in his office.
"So Marissa, is your girlfriend a natural blonde? Because judging by her stupidity, I would say she is." He said upon entering Marissa's room.
Marissa had been sitting on her bed, a notepad in front of her on which she was writing. Usually she ignored doctor Hamilton as much as she could, but with him saying these things about Alex she simply couldn't ignore him this time.
"What?" she gasped disbelievingly. She knew doctor Hamilton was a rude arrogant doctor who really needed to get laid, but never before had she heard him being this rude.
"Aww, you haven't heard yet." He said taunting. "She's standing at the gate, waiting for you. Somehow she got the stupid idea in her head that you will be walking out of here anytime soon. I just hope she brought a sleeping bag and enough food. If she's actually waiting for you to step out of that door, she's going to need it."
Marissa was angry at doctor Hamilton, but her anger was overshadowed by another feeling this time. If Alex was really waiting for her to step out, did this mean that Luke had succeeded at the Medical Committee? Just then she heard a familiar voice coming from the hallway.
"It's right there, room 314."
Marissa wasn't the only one who had heard this. Doctor Hamilton's head snapped towards the door.
"What the…" Before he could finish his sentence, the buzz of the door unlocking filled the room.
To Marissa, everything seemed to go in slow motion. She saw the door opening, revealing Luke and three men she didn't know. Doctor Hamilton got up angrily.
"What are you doing here? Doctor Ward, this is a restricted area which you are not allowed to enter! And who are these other people?"
Luke didn't get the chance to reply himself, as doctor Wu stepped forward.
"Doctor Wu, National Medical Committee. And these kind gentlemen are officers at the Newport Police Department. I'll just make a wild guess and say you must be doctor Hamilton."
At the mentioning of the NMC, all color was drained from doctor Hamilton's face. He started moving back slowly, while stumbling over his words. "National… National Medical Committee."
"Yes, NMC. We're here to release Marissa Cooper, I have a signed release order and your boss has already given us free reign as far as Marissa is concerned."
Doctor Hamilton seemed to pull himself back together. "I don't think so, Marissa isn't going anywhere."
Doctor Wu stepped forward. "Okay, we can do this in two ways. It would be best if you just step out of the way doctor Hamilton. Should you decide however to refuse your cooperation… well, let's put it this way; yours wouldn't be the first arrest these officers make."
"You can't take her away, the woman's a crazy bitch! You'll regret it if you release her. Besides, you've got nothing on me, you can't arrest me!" Doctor Hamilton spat out.
"Au contraire, my friend. We've got enough information to know Marissa is as sane as anyone else. Traumatized maybe, by the last seven years, but crazy… far from it. If there's anyone crazy in this room I would say it's the so called doctor who takes money to ruin a young woman's life. Now I ask you once again to step out of the way doctor Hamilton."
Doctor Wu himself was starting to get angry. In all his years at the NMC he had never seen this kind of behavior from a man who had pledged to help people.
"Never" doctor Hamilton hissed.
"Fine, we'll do it your way then. Officers, take him away!"
The two policemen moved forward. One of them pulled out his handcuffs. Marissa could only watch with her mouth wide open as she saw doctor Hamilton struggling to keep his hands away from the cuffs. It was completely pointless. Like doctor Wu had said; these men were experienced, they had made plenty arrests before. It didn't take them long at all to overcome doctor Hamilton.
Luke turned to Marissa.
"Hey Marissa." He said smiling.
Marissa stood up and almost ran into Luke's arms.
"You really did it?" she asked, hardly able to believe what she had just witnessed.
"Of course. Well, with the help of doctor Wu over there." He said, waving at the elderly man. Marissa turned away from Luke and moved in to give doctor Wu a hug as well.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." She gasped as she moved her arms around him, holding him tight.
Doctor Wu nearly pulled back in shock. He just stood there stiff as a board, patting Marissa's back uneasily, for he didn't know what else to do. This most certainly had never happened to him before! But old a man as he was, he too had a heart and emotions. And seeing Marissa, the young woman he had never even met before, clinging to him as if he was her lifeline, thanking him for setting her free… it touched him deeply. Recovering from his earlier shock, he relaxed into the embrace.
The officer that had been putting the cuffs on doctor Hamilton only minutes ago watched the whole scene unfold in front of his eyes. He too had to wipe at his eyes as he felt tears forming.
Doctor Wu patted Marissa's back one more time before pulling away from the hug.
"Well Marissa, I think it's time to get your stuff. I've seen a beautiful blonde lady standing at the gate. Somehow I have the feeling she's not just standing there to watch birds or something."
"Alex." She gasped. She almost ran towards her closet, pulling out the old bag filled with clothes. It was the bag Julie had prepared seven years ago, a bag Marissa had cursed, but it didn't matter anymore. In it were the only clothes she still had, even though she never wore them. She was always dressed in that hideous hospital-outfit.
Quickly she went through it, trying to find something suitable. When she found it her eyes settled on Luke. Fortunately, he got the message.
"Ehm, guys. Let's give Marissa a few minutes to get dressed, okay?"
When she heard the closing of the door, she changed as quickly as she could. The clothes that once fitted her perfectly, now were about a size too big for her. It was a direct consequence of the loss of weight she had while being institutionalized. But there'd be time for a new wardrobe soon enough, right now she was just glad to wear anything that wasn't blue like the clothes at Foster's. As she finished tying her shoelaces she called out. "Luke, I'm decent, you can come in again!"
The door quickly opened and Luke and doctor Wu stepped in again. The policemen and doctor Hamilton remained standing in the corridor.
Everybody watched as Marissa seemed to fly through her room, grabbing the little stuff she had and throwing it into the old bag. Eventually, the only thing remaining were her notepads. There was no more space for it in the bag Marissa had.
Desperately she turned to Luke. "Luke… I don't have any more space in my bag, but I don't want to leave my notepads here. They are so important to me…"
Luke thought for a moment. "Well, I still have to work today, but would it be okay if I drop them off after work? I'll take care of them if you let me."
"Would you do that?" Marissa asked, just to make sure.
"Of course I would. I've got Alex's address so I'll just drive by after work."
"Thanks… you're the best. Then I guess I'm ready." She spoke her last words carefully, as if she was afraid someone would jump out, shouting 'smile, you're on candid camera' and throw the door back in her face.
Luke, being the gentleman he was, lifted Marissa's bag and held the door open for her. Marissa walked out of the door, took one glance back and let out the breath she'd been holding.