AN: Hello everyone, I am just quickly letting people know that there I am in the process of writing the final chapter, yup, the last of this story is coming up.
So it might be a while, mainly as my lovely Beta is going to be away, plus I am going to try and weight up the pros and cons of a possibly sequel in the future for this story.
Either way, I am happy for everyone who's reviewed and alerted this story, and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have writing.
Chapter eighteen
Don't be like him
Julianne was chewing the corner of her lip when she stepped out of the break room, her hand fiddling with her scarf feeling nervous, "I can't believe you let her take the laptop." Her tone wasn't angry, or even a tone above a whisper.
Lloyd exhaled, "For the millionth time Julianne, I didn't let her take it," He ran his hand into his hair looking up, "What did she say?"
"She doesn't want to go to the hospital," Julianne exhaled, her hand moved from her scarf to her face, "She said she wants to stay here, then go home, she doesn't want any fuss," Her eyes shift from Lloyd to the floor. "I can't believe you let her take the laptop."
Lloyd pinched the bridge of his nose, "I didn't," He got to his feet walking over to Julianne, "Would you rather me tackle her and snatch it from her?" His tone serious, he didn't like it, but Julianne's eyes slowly met his own, "If she wants to look at photos of her friend, we can't argue with her, but she needs a medical check up at least." He spun on the spot seeing the Elevator door open.
Charlie stepped out with Derrick in handcuffs with Ray, "Is Elizabeth at the hospital?" Charlie asked while Ray took Derrick to the holding room.
Julianne shook her head, "She's making me keep quiet," Julianne shifted from one foot to another, "She doesn't want anyone of use telling anyone, she doesn't want me letting my Dad or Mom know what happened," Finally she exhaled, "Also she's got Derrick's laptop."
Charlie sighed, "Well, I've got the van to Maybelle coming here soon," He turned, "So Lloyd, Erica, Shea, better be in out your civvies soon." He now looked to Ray joining them again, "The van for Derrick won't be too long." Charlie headed into his office closing the door.
Lloyd kept looking over Julianne, he opened his mouth, but Erica stepped close to Julianne holding a hand out, "You alright?"
Julianne shrugged, "I don't really know," Her voice slow at start, "I'm not even sure this is something I should be keeping secret from my mother, but," Her eyes looking over Erica's face, "Do you think I should do it?"
"Well," Erica said slowly, "I think it's best to just let Liz come to terms with it herself," Tapping Julianne's arm lightly, "She'll just need time."
"Okay who took it?" Charlie's office door opened quickly, his voice was stern, on the brink of anger, but he seemed to want to keep calm.
Ray stepped forward, "Took what?" He watched Lloyd heading for the bathroom to get dressed, Shea stepping out looking confused.
Charlie glared to Shea, "Empty your pockets!" He snapped with a snarl, his eyes kept dead on Shea, while Shea was looking more confused.
"I'm sorry, but what the hell Charlie?" Shea placed his hands in his pocket pulling nothing out, but Charlie rushed to frisk him, leaving Shea getting pissed off. "Hey!"
Charlie kept his eyes focused, "I had a gun in my office desk, now it's missing," His eyes going over to Erica who quickly lifted her hands up, "One of you no good cons has been in my office and…"
"Oh God," Lloyd spoke quickly, "Elizabeth," He turned rushing to the holding room with everyone behind him.
Derrick kept looking to the four walls, the door that didn't matter if it was locked or not, he was in handcuffs and too many people to even attempt to get passed. The door creaked as it opened slowly, his stare averted from the table to Elizabeth closing the door behind her; she moved a chair placing it just under the door handle.
Face looking pale white, Derrick didn't know what to think, she was standing in front of him now, well aside from the desk being in the way, but she didn't speak. Just standing with her hands by her side, he could see one wrist was wrapped up, her hair was pulled out of her face, most of all her eyes, the eyes that were as alive as the night sky seem dead.
"How?" Her voice soft, it was hard to really hear what she said, but Derrick kept still watching her.
He opened his mouth, closed it before collecting enough thought, "I…"
"No, don't say you love me," Elizabeth's head shook quickly, "You don't love me Derrick, you don't even know me!" her voice snapped harsh.
Derrick's eyes focused on the table, meeting her eyes again slower than before, "You don't mean it, I know you, I love you, you can't…"
"I can't," Elizabeth laughed, "I'm sorry, but you took me," She exhaled through her nose while pursing her lips, "You drugged me, then you took me to a place in the woods, where you," Her hand covered her mouth, "If you knew me, you'd known I was," Her hand reached into her pocket, the gun felt heavy in her hand, "You'd known that I,"
"Elizabeth no!" Lloyd's voice snapped Elizabeth's attention from Derrick, his hand on the doorknob trying to push the door open, but the chair in the way was impossible, "Put the gun down!" He yelled through the glass.
Her head shaking fast, the gun pointed towards Derrick, her eyes going from Lloyd to Derrick, back and forth in a quick motion. "No!" The gun less heavy when she aimed it between Derrick's eyes, "He ruined my life!"
"Please Lizzie, don't, please," Derrick started to cry, the gun was all he could see now, he was scared, but most of all he didn't want to hear her harsh words.
Elizabeth laughed, "Don't make me mad," She mocked Derrick's voice, "Don't move," her voice started to break, "You know it's time you had some control taken away from you!" Her tone unsympathetic, "I mean, I could pull this trigger and it's over for you…"
Ray had now joined, using his shoulder; he pushed himself into the door, trying everything to push it open. Lloyd beside him, he glanced back to see Erica beside Julianne, Shea and Charlie in the background. "Elizabeth," Lloyd kept his tone calm, "If you do what you're planning on doing, it won't make the pain go away, it won't give you your life back," He placed a hand on the door frame, another thrash of Ray's shoulder, but the door wasn't budging at all.
"I don't care!" Elizabeth turned to look at Lloyd, she could see the worry on his face, the way his body leant again the frame, where Ray kept pushing into the door making loud thudding noises with each blow. "He can't life after what he'd done, whose lives were lost because of his selfish actions." She pulled the gun slide, the sound of a bullet clicking into place, "He took so much, not just from me, but Harriet too…"
Lloyd bit his lip, the sound of Ray's bashing was getting louder, "Elizabeth, if you do this, if you kill him," He exhaled, "You will be no better than him, plus you'll be in prison, you don't want that." His voice tight in his throat, "Please put the gun down," His eyes focused on her face, "Just put the gun down…"
Elizabeth now holding the gun, she shook her head, but the door busting open, Ray rushed grabbing Elizabeth's hand holding it away from Derrick's face, quickly he lowered it, taking it out of her grip.
Derrick exhaled, he felt sense of relief, but glanced to see as Lloyd walked into the room, back to Ray holding gun out for Charlie to take it.
Lloyd glimpsed over Derrick, "Don't think you're lucky," He kept his tone even, "Because the last thing I want is someone with her potential to do so much more, end up in prison because of scum like you." He moved away from Derrick.
Elizabeth felt Lloyd's hand brush up her back, Ray still stood beside her, but stepped away, he could see the blur of Julianne as she rushed to her sister's side, "Why?" Julianne asked feeling her sister's arms wrap around, "Why do this?"
Elizabeth's face resting on Julianne's shoulder, the girls just holding onto each other, "I just wanted to take something from him, I want him to hurt, I just wanted to stop the nightmare."
Julianne kept still, holding onto Elizabeth, her eyes meeting Lloyd, "I…" Her voice shaken up, Lloyd just simply brushed a hand against Julianne's shoulder before leaving the room.
Ray taking Derrick to be put into the transfer van back to prison, it was only Julianne and Elizabeth now holding each other in flood of tears.
three weeks later…
"It amazes me, how self sacrificing he really is," Lloyd leant forward on the chair, "I mean, you know he loves her, clearly it's all over his face, but he's leaving for her own good."
Shea rolled his eyes now relaxing back into his chair, "Lloyd, seriously!"
"What, the chances of them having a healthy normal relationship is small, plus the fact he's never going to be able to provide the things a healthy relationship needs to survive." Lloyd turned to look at Shea, he'd normally be on his own, but did love having someone to talk to.
Shea exhaled, "Lloyd, it's Buffy the vampire slayer, it's not real!" He waved his hands in the air, "You really need to stop analysing the show and just watch it."
"I was just stating a point," Lloyd slouched in the chair, his hands folding over his chest watching the episode. When it came to TV, what you see is what you got, so you had to like it or lump it, but the fact they had a TV at all was just something to appreciate about minimum security.
Shea exhaled, "Lloyd, we're all trying to watch, and no one wants to hear your thoughts," He watched Lloyd's face falling, Shea for once wished he could just be the man he used to be, and tell the guy to take a hike, but over the months he'd actually grown found of having Lloyd around. "I don't want to be in a beat down cos you couldn't keep quiet." Shea added with a chuckle.
Lloyd stared blankly at Shea, "You know, that's not funny," He whispered, then he turned to the TV again, "Who's wanting to watch this anyway?"
"Lowery!" A CO called from across the room, Lloyd's head snapped to the sound of his name, "You've got a visitor." The CO now nudged his head.
Shea turned around also, then looked to Lloyd, "You know, since I've been here with you, I've never once known you to have a visitor," He laughed again, "Who would visit you?"
"I do not know," Lloyd thought about it, his mother never wanted to visit him, then other family members wouldn't visit, friends were non existent, "But it's going to be fun finding out."
"Lowery, Move it!" The CO called again, Lloyd jumping from his chair. It was exciting to finally have a visitation, even if right now he had no clue who'd come and visit him. "Come on Lowery, you'll have twenty minutes."
Lloyd grinned, "So can you tell me, who's this visitor?" He was cuffed, but he knew when he got to the visitation area he'd be uncuffed.
The CO inhaled, "Simms," He exhaled while walking beside him, he didn't remember the first name, but he opened a door that would lead to the hallways to get to visitation, "Quite a pretty girl," The CO added with a light smile.
Lloyd now grinned even bigger, the rest of the walk seemed to take forever, keeping in sync with the CO, the Visitation door was finally close. As it swung open, the cuffs came off, but Lloyd kept looking around the mass of inmates with their visitors, but couldn't see anything that jumped out at him.
Until she stood up and gave a lighthearted wave, and Lloyd exhaled slowly while walking over. "I didn't expect you to visit me."
"Well, it's nice to see you too," Elizabeth raised her eyebrow while brushing her bangs out of her face, "Expecting someone else?" Her tone dropped, it wasn't sarcastic, but Lloyd could tell she was still on edge.
Lloyd placed his hands on the table, for a second looking over Elizabeth's face, "No, I wasn't expecting anyone," He leant forward carefully, "You've changed your hair."
Elizabeth now brushed her hands into her bangs again pushing it back, letting out a small laugh, "It's nothing big, just a few inches," then raised her eyebrow again, "You was hoping it would be Jules."
"Yes, and no," Lloyd replied, "I just didn't think you'd visit me," he finally said while bringing his hands together, "What does bring you here?"
Elizabeth licked he bottom lip lightly, her hands now on the table, she watched Lloyd while thinking of her words carefully, "I wanted to say thank you," She started, her fingers playing nervously with each other, "I would have pulled the trigger, part of me wished I did, but you," shaking her head she laughed, "You made me stop."
Lloyd nudged his hands forward, testing the water, when Elizabeth didn't move away, he covered one of her hands with his own, "I want you to know," he started to speak carefully, "What ever I do, or say to help you, I am not doing it for gain favours with Julianne." His tone serious, his eyes searching hers, he always noticed the similarities between the sisters, but their eyes couldn't be any more different.
Elizabeth nodded, her face breaking into a small smile, her gaze moving to their hands as she squeezed his, "I know," Her voice a whisper, "You really care about her don't you."
Lloyd gave a quick nod, "But I know it won't be right, it's not right." His voice tight, he didn't like admitting it, but the facts was he still had a long stretch, even if he saw Julianne each case, they won't be a normal couple. He'd never be able to take her out, spend nights in doing what couples do. It was best to just not make any promises that he couldn't keep.
Elizabeth lightly used her free hand to tilt Lloyd's face up to meet her own, "It doesn't change feelings," her words soft, calming to Lloyd's ears, "Maybe it's just a matter of just see where the train takes you."
"Life's about the journey," Lloyd laughed.
Elizabeth squinted her eyes with her nose crinkling up, "You making fun of my senior quote!" Her tone dark, but it wasn't a dark that was threatening seriously.
"No, it's a nice quote," He tried to stop laughing, taking a second to see his hand still holding hers, "But you really think it's worth it?"
"If you care about her, then it's going to be worth it, plus I have an idea." Elizabeth was focused.
Lloyd leant forward a little more, "What would that idea be?"
"Well, it involves you," Elizabeth bit the corner of her lip, "Helping me with my issues," her free hand covering Lloyd's, "And me helping you and Julianne."
"Help me and Julianne how?" Lloyd asked, he was trying to not sound so egger, but anything involving Julianne he wanted to know, he spent so long thinking of them two kisses, that part of him only wished to be able to relive them over and over.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "With my super human powers of course," She watched Lloyd's reaction carefully, "I'm her sister, I know a lot more about her, plus I can, well…" She laughed, "I am tempted to just push you two into trains, for Christ sake I know you two are like silly school kids."
Lloyd backed up a little, "It's a little more complicated than that Elizabeth."
"Enough with the Elizabeth! Please call me Liz, Lizzie," Her eyes narrowed, "You can even call me chinchilla," she paused for a second, "In middle school my ears, stuck out a little…"
Lloyd nodded, "Well, I don't need help, I mean I won't, I."
"I know about the kiss Lloyd," Elizabeth laughed at Lloyd's sudden look of horror, she finally let his hands go, Lloyd still looking surprised. "Come on, she's my sister, you think I didn't worm it out of her yesterday, explaining why I am here today, plus I just passed my drivers test." She stopped looking to Lloyd, "Do I have something on my face?"
Lloyd inhaled, "Well it's just," He tried to think of the right words, but didn't really know how to put them.
"What happened," Elizabeth shifted on the seat, her hand going for her hair, this time running it through but holding her head lightly, "Lloyd, it's not like I've not been through this, and I'm not saying I'm not hurting," Her hand finally letting her hair go, "But I need to try and move on, if I let this feeling consume me, then I might at well not live at all." Her eyes slowly going to table, "I just want to live, live and not spend a minute dwelling, cos that just means his winning."
Lloyd sat still; he kept quiet while trying his hardest to not push the subject further, "So, what about college, you going onto medical school next."
Elizabeth shrugged, "That's the point, I heard what you said," Her eyes looking over Lloyd, "You said I had potential to do so much more, it made me think." She leant close now, her eyes locked on Lloyd, "Why did you sound so determined when you said that?"
Lloyd took his turn to shrug, "You're a bright girl," He hesitative, "Lady," His voice squeaked a little "Young woman, with your IQ can pick anything and excel," he smiled bright, "You have so much a head of you, and you shouldn't waste a second of it."
Elizabeth relaxed, "Yeah, I mean I'm only twenty two, got a long way to go…" She smiled more natural now, her hands on the table, "So, I guess I can kinda say you're like a friend now…"
"Well I think I like that," Lloyd smiled back before feeling a lot better about the day, even after the visitation was up, Elizabeth said she'll email him, he was going to be happy with that, it was going to be nice finally having someone on his wave length, and most of all having someone to help him with Julianne, maybe it wasn't going to be the perfect relationship, but it was better than nothing.