Always…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Two

Lisa hated her weekly therapy session. Her therapist, a Dr. Betsy Gruber, was a nice woman, but all the same, Lisa loathed sharing her life with a stranger. She needed the help and it was one of the conditions her father had set on her for living alone or else he would call upon the nice doctors in the white coats to take her away to an insane asylum. Besides, this was her third therapist and she had only seen her once before.

"Lisa, it's great to see you again," greeted Dr. Gruber, a cheery middle-aged woman with straight, jet-black hair.

"It's nice to see you too," Lisa said, a fake smile plastered upon her face as she entered the room that was her therapist's office.

"Take a seat," offered Betsy, and Lisa gratefully sat down on the plush leather couch and rested her hands on her ever-growing stomach.

Lisa looked at her therapist, waiting expectantly for her to begin the expensive session. Jackson had been the one who forced her into therapy and he was footing the bill for it. Oh, the irony…

"So, have you been sleeping regularly through the night?" Dr. Gruber questioned, with her notepad at the ready.

"No," said Lisa, shaking her head. "I never sleep through the night. I dread sleep."

"Is it still the insomnia?"

"I guess, but more or less it's him," Lisa sighed.

"Him? Jackson? How so?"

"He won't leave me alone. I can still see him everywhere I turn. I hear his voice all the time. I can't seem to escape…"

"Lisa, this is common behavior for coping with a sudden loss. I can not tell you when it will end."

"I'm afraid you don't understand my situation," Lisa's voice turned cold. "Jackson was a psychopath. He tried to kill me and screwed with my mind. Now, I'm carrying his child!"

"Mrs. Rippner, I need you to calm down," Dr. Gruber said softly and calmly, after she removed her eyeglasses.

Lisa closed her mouth to keep from screaming. How was she supposed to begin to explain to these ignorant people the horrors that she had suffered at his hands? What about the mixed up feelings that bothered her, which alternated from hate to love and everywhere in between? What about the haunting of her mind by him?

"It's just really hard…" Lisa settled on, once she had calmed herself down. She could scream and throw things later. Now was not the time.

"I know. Now, do you think you can tell me when Jackson seems to be the most alive or bothersome? What usually happens?"

"Nighttime seems to be the worst…he used to comfort me at night. He'd speak to me and hold me close and it was if he kept me safe from bad things. He was reassuring. Now, now he's terrifying…" Lisa swallowed hard, and bit her lip before continuing. "I'll be lying there and he's next to me, whispering to me and then he grabs me by the throat and is strangling me. He'll get violent with either words or actions. He'll tease me and screw with my mind."

"Do you see him and/or feel him during the night?"

With a sigh, knowing that it made her sound insane, she replied, "Yes."

Maybe she was insane. She had not a clue anymore.

"How does it make you feel?"

"Scared or sometimes happy. It depends upon his mood. If he's nice, I think he's come back."

"How did your husband die again? You told me in our last session that he died. How?" Dr. Gruber inquired, not realizing how much it hurt Lisa to think about Jackson's death.

"I…I shot him four times," Lisa recalled, her voice trembling as the images flashed through her head, along with his teasing tone. "Then I shot out the window behind him and…and he fell…"

"So, tell me, Lisa… Where are you gonna shoot me? The head? The heart?" Jackson's voice taunted her during their final showdown as he caught up to her in the hallway.

"You murdered him?" the therapist said in shock.

"Self-defense. He hurt me and tried to kill me. I won. I won… Jack…" Lisa's mind was becoming cluttered with Jackson's voice.

"Love you, Leese," he told her before falling.

"Mrs. Rippner? Mrs. Rippner?" Dr. Gruber's voice was concerned. Lisa's eyes had a slightly glazed and glassy look to them.

"Jackson… Jackson… I still love you… Come back!" Lisa cried out, still disoriented.

Dr. Gruber hurried to her side, and shook Lisa's shoulders lightly. This was not a normal behavior from a patient. Lisa not acted this way before in their other session. She had been calm and simply explained what she had been doing with her other therapists and told her about some of her problems. They had not gotten into the details until now.

"Jack… no, stop! Stop it!" Lisa was crying, her whole body shaking and her hands clutched at her own throat. She was fighting an invisible person.

"Mrs. Rippner! Lisa!"

What was she supposed to do? This had never happened before. What was wrong with Lisa Rippner?

As suddenly as the strange behavior had started, it stopped. Lisa bolted upright, her green eyes wide in fright and she seemed uneasy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll be going now," Lisa said quietly, brushing past the therapist and heading for the door.

"But, you still have another forty minutes! Mrs. Rippner!" Dr. Gruber chased after the fleeing patient.

Lisa whirled around. "Please, I just need some time alone. This is hard on me. What Jackson did—it's deeper than most people think. I need some time to myself. Please…"

"Will I see you next week?"

"Maybe…I'll try," Lisa said solemnly. She knew that she would either have to come back or find a new therapist. Neither option was appealing.

Nothing about her situation was. She was a widow who killed her own husband who tricked her and abused her mentally for his own twisted purposes. She was going to have a child in a few months that she was not sure that she even wanted. Abortion had crossed her mind, yet dealing with Jackson's death and funeral had kept her mind preoccupied with other thoughts. Currently, she was considering adoption. She may have loved Jackson, but she was not sure she could care for a child in her state, let alone have a reminder of him.

Author's Notes:

Not my best chapter and I certainly don't know much about therapy. I'm going to research it this weekend and try to get it realistic. I've been in therapy before, but not for the same stuff as Lisa. Anyways, enjoy and there should be another chapter in another day or two.