Chapter 5
Hey, sorry for the delayed update, I'm moving back to the UK soon so things are getting pretty hectic. Hope this chapter is alright, let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations for the story.
Citylightsonthew - 'Really looking forward to where you take this fic, update soon' - Thanks so much, I appreciate your review. I hope this is okay, let me know if you have any recommendations or things you would like to be incorporated into the story.
Guest - 'This is awesome. Please update soon!' - Thanks, I appreciate that. Sorry for the late update, things have been pretty hectic. Hope this chapter is okay, if not let me know and I'll be sure to take your opinions into account.
Eddie POV
Eddie stood in front of Alicias house, having just rung the door bell for the third time and beginning to become impatient. She must be home. Where else would she be given the state she had been in that morning? The lights were on, of course that wasn't a sure indicator that she was home, but it was all he had to go on. His day had not gotten any better following the incident that morning. After leaving Ms. Beauchamps office, he had attempted to get on with his day, saving lives and generally being the brilliant doctor that he knew he was. That was wishful thinking. He had spent far too much time treating a man who had, for some reason, decided along with his idiotic friends to play around with a nail gun resulting in a 6 inch nail penetrating his hand. He had also been unfortunate enough to have to deal with a woman who insisted that she was dying of some rare, life threatening disease who had turned out to have a very mild case of hay fever. It was incredibly tasking. There rest of his day hadn't been much better, and by the time the end of his shift rolled around, he almost sprinted from the E.D as fast as his legs could carry him. He would have much preferred to go home and put his feet up after the day he had had, but he was angry and he needed closure from Alicia, so after a quick stop off at the pub to calm himself, he had made his way to her house.
As he stood there, contemplating ringing the doorbell again and training his eyes on the peeling pack of pain on the door in an attempt to focus on listening to any noises that might give away her presence within the house, he heard a muffle thud from within the house. Creasing his eyebrows and stepping slightly closer to the door, he listened intently for another noise. After all, he couldn't be sure he had heard anything, the noise had been so subtle that is may have just been in his head. Calling out her name once more, he continued straining his ears, just waiting for her to give away her presence. Nothing.
He had had enough now. He deserved an explanation. He had been called into Ms. Beauchamps office for gods sake, and he hadn't done anything wrong. It was her fault he was in hot water with the boss, and he wanted to know what he had done to her to deserve this. He thought she liked him, thought she had been happy with their relationship, if you could call it that. He by no means wanted to be tied down, a girlfriend was far too much effort. He was too much of a ladies man to want to be anchored down by a woman. It didn't make sense to him to tie a man down, to suppress his natural instincts as a man and deny him the fun that could be had with the opposite sex. It was for this reason he refused to enter into a relationship, however he has slept with Alicia, so there was some kind of relationship there no matter how you looked at it. A friends with benefits relationship, if you will, and in his eyes, that meant he deserved answers from her as to why she had suddenly turned into a mad woman. He thought she was kind of cool, not like other women. Not clingy, not desperate for love, just fun.
With this thought, he stepped back from the door and looked around the porch area, his face set in concentration. His eyes roamed the panelling of the door, the concrete flooring leading from the threshold and into a set of steps. He then let his eyes drift over the contents of the porch. Two plants sat on either side of the door. They were by no means well kept, but they seemed to fit in well with the exterior of the house. She really did have terrible taste, he thought. As be continued to examine the plants, he had a though. Lurching forward in his curiosity, he reached towards the pant pot containing the dying and limp plant. He lifted the plant pot situated to the left of the door and peered underneath. Nothing. Frowning slightly once more, he moved his attention to the plant pot on the right side of the door. Repeating his previous action, he lifted the plant pot and scanned his eyes underneath. He grinned slightly as he found what he was looking for. That was almost too easy, she should really be more careful. Sitting on the concrete underneath explant pot in stark contrast, was a small silver key. It was basic, simple, no key chain or element indicating that it was the key that he was looking for, but it seemed obvious to him that this was exactly the key he had been looking for. He removed the key from its position under the plant pot and inserted it into the lock, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he heard the click that indicated he was successful in his plan. He pushed the handle down and smiled in accomplishment as the door swung open.
He was going to get answers, by any means.
Alicia POV
*Click*
Her eyes shot open and she shifted slightly in place where she had slumped on the floor. She almost didn't hear the noise through her sobbing. As she forced her sobs down, she heard the recognisable creak of her frond door before the shuffling of feet. Eyes widening, hand still covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle her desperate cries, she jumped up from her position on the floor and made her way quickly to the other side of her living room furthest away from the front door. This wasn't happened, why would someone just walk into her house? Why hadn't she hidden her front key better? Wait, did she even lock the front door? She couldn't remember, she couldn't think, all she knew was that someone was in her house and she was terrified. Eyes trained on the doorway to her living room, she stood frozen in place, eyes wide, hand covering her mouth and breathing frantic. Just as she felt like she would collapse from the panic that was building inside her chest, a figure made its was around the doorway and into view. Eddie. Unable to hold it in anymore, she let out a terrified cry before running from the living room. The only way out was past Eddie, but he didn't care, she just needed to get out. She barged past Eddie, who seemed to be too shacked at seeing her in such a state to do anything. Just as she had made it to the base of the stairs, planning to make her way upstairs to the bathroom, the only room in her house with a lock on the door, she felt a hand grab the back of her shirt. Damn it, why hadn't she just left the house? She could have made it out the front door. She didn't have time to berate herself further as she felt herself slip on the wooden surface of her stairs, her socks betraying her, refusing to grip the surface. She was falling forward, as if in slow motion.
*Crack*
She heard it before she felt it. As she fell forward, her face had landed heavily on the edge of one of the steps causing her nose to buckle under the pressure. Moments later, she felt pain spread through her face, concentrated to her nose and her chin. Warm liquid was pouring down her face as she lay there for a moment, shock taking over at the sudden impact. She couldn't stay there, though. Eddie had momentarily loosened his grip on the back of his shirt, so gathering all her strength she pulled her self up and began to make her way up the stairs again as fast as she could, knowing that it was too late to run for the door now. The safety of the bathroom with its lock would have to do.
She made it three steps before she was once again pulled downwards, Eddie seemingly recovered from his shock was pulling her downwards. He was shouting something but she couldn't focus long enough to listen to what he was saying, she just needed to leave. As she was pulled down to the base of the stairs she once again regained her footing and fought off the hands that were trying to hold her down. She violently pulled herself away from the terrifying grasp of her colleague and stumbled away from the stairs and toward the kitchen. There was a back door, she needed to make it to the back door if she had any chance of getting away from him. She ran, passing through the small hallway and down the two steps that lead into her kitchen, focusing intently on the door that stood at the end of the room. If she could just make it to the back door, she would be safe. She could escape, get to safety.
Before she could reach the door, once again, she felt hands on her back. Suddenly, she was thrown backwards and into her kitchen counter. Pinned against the counter, she cam face to face with Eddie. Through her haze of panic, she could make out his expression. He didn't look angry, confused and shocked maybe. For what felt like hours, they stayed there in that same position, Alicia pinned uncomfortably, back digging into the edge of the hard counter and Eddie gripping the front of her shirt to keep her still. He was breathing heavily, obviously struggling with the events that had just occurred and staring into her eyes. As much as she wanted to look away from his intense gaze, she couldn't. She didn't want to miss anything, any sign or cue that he might snap and attack her like he had that night. Well, she knew he hadn't exactly attacked her like he could in this situation, but she had seen his true colours. He wasn't a good man, and she wasn't taking any risks. Finally he spoke.
'Alicia ... What the hell is wrong with you?'. Although he didn't look angry, he definitely sounded it. She didn't answer him. She couldn't. She was terrified. Slowly, his face began to contort. The subtle shock that had previously masked his face was replaced with anger, his eyebrows furrowing and his mouth pressing in a hard line. Sh felt his grip tighten on her shirt as he leaned in closer. She closed her eyes as she felt him breathing on her face, he was far too close.
'I am getting tired of this Alicia, do you know what position you have put me in? Ms. Beauchamp is mad at me, ME! All because you're having some kine of emotional meltdown! Why are you doing this to me?'. He shoved her violently, still holding on to her shirt but making sure she knew just how angry he was.
Alicia whimpered, her eyes screwed to tightly shut she thought she might just go blind. She was a doctor, she knew that wasn't physically possible, but she wasn't thinking clearly. She was too scared of what he might do to think clearly.
'SAY SOMETHING!' He screamed, causing her to whimper once more. She felt weak, she should be able to deal with this, she was strong. At any other time she would have destroyed any man who dared speak to her or treat her the way Eddie was, but he had reduced her to a shell of her former self. She couldn't even entertain the thought of fighting back right now, she was in self preservation mode. She couldn't fight him, he had destroyed her. Tears were leaking from her eyes, mixing with the blood that was still dripping from her nose and a small cut that had opened up on her chin at the impact of hitting the stairs. She was an absolute mess, she knew she should try and say something if only to try and keep Eddie calm, to prevent him from flying off the handle, but she couldn't make herself speak. She just wanted to disappear.
As Eddie prepared to scream at her once more, a noise was heard from beyond the kitchen in the direction of the front door. Eddie froze, turning his head towards the source of the noise while Alicia just stood there, trapped, wishing with everything that she could just disappear. Though the silence, a knock sounded.
'Hello? Alicia? Why is your front door open?'
Someone was at the front door. Eddies eyes widened. At hearing the familiar voice, he realised just how bad of a position he was in. If this person walked in, he would be screwed. He looked back to Alicia, seeing the blood and tears, her terrified expression, hands that were still tightly gripped around her shirt and upper arm. This was a truly compromising position, and there wasn't time to come up with a believable excuse. Releasing his grip, he shot Alicia a pleading look, as if to say 'don't say anything', before sprinting out of the back door.
Alicia just remained in the exact same position, too scared to move. She heard the voice again, feeling a sense of de ja vu as she remembered the moment she had heard Eddie call out from her front door only half an hour ago. God, it seemed like so much longer. The voice was getting closer now. They had obviously made the decision to investigate further upon finding her front door wide open. She heard them walk towards her living room, walking around slowly before deciding to investigate the rest of the house. Alicia knew that this person would find her in a matter of seconds, after all the kitchen was only a few steps from the living room, but she was paralysed. She by no means wanted anyone to discover her in this position, but she just couldn't make herself move. Her heard was racing, mind on overdrive, but her legs felt like lead.
Footsteps grew closer. This person who had decided to intrude on her home was nearly in the kitchen. Alicia finally opened her eyes, diverting her eyes towards the kitchen doorway. All of this seemed so familiar, like events just kept repeating over and over. She didn't want to open her eyes, she wanted to keep them shut, pretend she was anywhere but here. Pretend none of this ever happened, that it was all just a dream, but it wasn't. This wasn't going to go away, and she needed to be aware of her surroundings. She needed to see who was coming, to know exactly what to expect, to be vigilant. In her state of mind, she couldn't match the voice that was still calling her name with a face. She didn't know who to expect, so she just waited for them to round the corner.
As the intruder rounded the doorway leading into the kitchen, Alicias breath caught in her throat and almost immediately burst from her lungs as tears still continued to stream down her face.
'Alicia ...'
And just like that, her legs gave way. She couldn't hold the sobs back anymore, she just couldn't. Collapsing onto the floor, her legs folded underneath her and her hands were once again brought to cover her face, not wanting this person to see her but also feeling too incredibly numb to care. She heard heavy footsteps hurry towards her before she felt someone kneel down next to her, strong arms enveloping her shaking frame, rubbing her back while a soothing voice whispered to her.
Alicia felt shame at the fact that she was unable to hold back a flinch as this person approached her, touched her, held her. This was the last person she would ever be afraid of, Eddie had well and truly reduced her to nothing, a fraction of the woman she once was.
All she could hold any semblance of comfort in now, was that she wasn't on her own, at least physically. Maybe she didn't have to do this on her own anymore. With that thought a quiet, fearful and almost child like whimper left her lips.
'Elle ...'
