Chapter Six: Never Trust a Stranger

A/N: I know, I know, it's been forever since I've updated, but unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way of things I'd much rather be doing. Luckily, with a short vacation right now, I've had time to write this chapter, and hopefully another one before next week. I hope that you continue to read this piece, despite the lack in quick updates. Thank you for those of you who review all of my chapters; I seriously can't even express how much I appreciate it. I suppose the hardest part of writing for me is usually I don't have a set story and just write each chapter by how I feel, so I honestly have no idea what the ending is going to be. We'll have to see I suppose! Once again, thank you everyone :)

…

The moment the woman in the white coat walked in the door, she knew. It was the fucking psychiatrist's turn to psycho analyze her. She tried hard to not roll her eyes as the woman tapped her pen continuously against her clipboard, seeming as if she was about to embark on something rather important.

Jackie knew that it was just the fact that this doctor was going to be able to say she had psycho analyzed the dead mayor's daughter.

She looked up from under her glasses, which Jackie figured must be for appearances more than anything. "Jacqueline Burkhart?" she asked as if she wasn't sure that she had the right patient.

"What do you think?" Jackie replied icily.

The psychiatrist looked slightly startled. "I'm, uh, Dr. Louise Walden." Jackie knew she expected to find a broken girl, someone ready to give them her heart and emotions, as if this was her life-changing event.

She knew that she would forever be haunted by that night, but she wasn't about to expose her inner demons to some stranger she had never met in her whole life. She always knew what the psychiatrist's wanted to hear, she had been to plenty before after being forced by her parents. She knew how to put on a façade. But today, she was too tired to play around, she just wanted the woman to leave. The sooner she left, the quicker she could be released from this fucking place.

"Well, umm, Ms. Burkhart, it seems as if you've been through a lot these past few days."

"I had no idea." Jackie said sarcastically.

"Fine." The psychiatrist said fed up, "I know you don't want to do this, but if you want to be released any time soon, you'd better talk a little, because I can keep you here even longer."

"So much for being caring and sympathetic." Jackie said with a smirk. She stood up off the bed and leaned against the wall. "I know what you want to hear. 'Oh, I'm a mess, I just need to find myself, help me please…' blah, blah, blah. Who cares about that bullshit." She said.

"I do." The woman said. "Whether or not you believe, I do care about you. I know you must feel like you have no one in the world right now who does, but I am here for you."

Jackie let out a little laugh. "Are you happy to have that out of your system now? You don't know shit about me. I hated my parents and could give a fuck that they're dead. My fiancé was a lying and cheating man whore. Everyone who died was a fake and insignificant part of my life, doctor."

Louise shook her head. "So now you're oh so brave, huh? You can't tell me you were an angel that didn't do anything wrong."

Jackie seemed felt caught off guard. No one had ever talked to her straightly like that, except Steven.

"I'm sorry, you don't know anything about me." Jackie said stiffly.

"That's exactly why I'm here Ms. Burkhart. No matter who they send in here after me, in order to be released you're going to have to agree to some therapy, with me or some other doctor, okay? Now, I can promise you that I'm not going to break the patient/doctor confidentiality we have no matter what, and that's a lot more than I can say about most of the psychiatrists in this hospital. Are you going to trust me or not?"

Jackie had fallen into a chair and looked up at the tall blonde who stood in front of her. "I don't trust you yet, but I guess I can agree to the rest of it for now."

Louise gave a smile. "Good, now I'm just going to ask you some simple questions about yourself okay."

"Fine." Jackie said frowning.

"What are the most important things in your life right now?" Louise asked.

Jackie paused a moment and though. She loved her cigs, they were important. She was especially craving them, because it had been days since she had smoked anything, what she wouldn't give for a good joint or cigarette.

"I love to smoke." Jackie stated.

Louise looked up skeptically, "So you're telling me, the only thing that's important to is cigarettes? No people, hobbies?"

Jackie sighed. Steven, he was important to her most of all. All of her friends. Donna, Fez, Michael, even Eric. "Well, I have a group of friends that I suppose I consider my family."

Louise smiled at the slight progress she had made. "Okay, so what are their names?"

"Well, Donna is my best friend. Although, it bothers me that she dresses like a lumberjack still after all these years. I was convinced some of my good taste would rub off on her eventually, but I suppose I should have known better when she and Eric became engaged."

"Who's Eric?" Louise asked.

"He's Donna's fiancé. We're kind of 'fake' enemies, we act like we hate each other more than anything, but I guess, deep down I really consider him a friend. Plus his parents are like my surrogate parents, seeing as his basement has been our hangout for, well, forever." Jackie continued to ramble not realizing how much she was revealing.

Louise nodded her head as Jackie continued talking about her friends. "Then there's Fez. He's from some country. He's good at planning parties. And well, there's Michael."

Jackie stopped for a moment.

"What about Michael?" Louise asked.

"I don't want to really talk about him." Jackie said. "I don't trust you yet."

"Fair enough."

"And then there's, well, there's Steven." Jackie said deeply.

Louise noticed the look in Jackie's eyes when she mentioned him and noted to herself to continue on more about him eventually. "Okay. Is that it?"

"I guess." Jackie stared at the clock on the wall. "Are we done yet or what?"

"I suppose. I'll make you a deal Jackie." Louise said. "I'll let you be released tomorrow, if you agree to two sessions a week with me for six weeks."

Jackie stared at her incredulously. "Are you kidding to me? You think that because I told you about my friends, that I'm going to tell you more?"

"That's the deal or nothing." Louise said.

Jackie looked up at her fiercely. "You're a bitch, you know that?"

"Yeah, whatever." Louise said nonchalantly. "I'll let you think about it tonight and I'll be back tomorrow." She walked out the door and closed it gently.

Jackie threw her head against the pillow on the bed. Who the fuck did that psychiatrist think she was? She felt a few tears roll down her cheeks and she walked over to the mirror on the wall and stared at herself.

Her porcelain skin was now blotchy and red from her tears. Her eyes held the sadness that had always lingered there, but it seemed more evident now, standing in this cell of a room. She touched the bruise on her cheek, which had faded a little since that fateful night. It was the only physical scar remaining to remind her of her night of horror. What had happened to her? She looked at herself and saw failure, despair, hate. She could not remember a time when she was truly beautiful.

A few more tears rolled down her cheek as she quickly tried to wipe them away. She heard a slight knock at the door and with her back turned motioned for whomever it was to come in. She continued to try to hide her tears when she heard a raspy, warm voice whisper, "Jacks?"

She turned to see Steven staring at her; she walked over to him and threw her face in his chest so her could not see her tears. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He whispered into her ear as he gently touched her back.

She looked up at him and whispered back, "No Steven, it's not. Everything is so messed up, I don't know what to do, I just want to get out of here, but I have nowhere to go. I don't have a home, a family, anything." The water continued to dribble down her cheeks and he took his thumb to wipe the tears away and slowly kissed her forehead.

"It's okay babe, you've got me." He said gently.

"You're the only one that understands and they won't let me out of her until I agree to fucking therapy. How the fuck am I supposed to tell a stranger my problems, when hardly anyone I care about knows them?" she spat out angrily. "All I want is a fucking cigarette."

"I don't know what to tell you." He said thoroughly unsure of what to say. "Maybe you should just agree to it to get out of here, I know you hate everything about this place."

She looked up at him and he stroked the side of her face sweetly. She shivered internally, missing his touch, his lips. She hadn't gone this long without sex and his body in awhile, and she missed him so much.

She cupped his face in her hands and gave him a tiny kiss and then placed her forehead against his. "Okay." She said defeated.

"Okay." He replied back.

She sighed and he pulled her into a hug and she never felt so much at home.

…

Dr. Walden realized she had forgotten Jackie's chart in her room and turned around to go and retrieve it. When she was a few feet away she noticed a curly haired man embracing Jackie and saw Jackie crying, yet somehow she looked comforted. She was intrigued, but decided to come back later, allowing Jackie a few moments of inner peace.

…

Please leave me a review, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks everyone.