Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did.........I do not own GhostWhisperer or any of it's characters, I do however, own those characters which appear in this fanfic, but not in the show. No copyright infringement intended!
Melinda was in the cabin bathroom brushing her teeth after breakfast, while Jim loaded their bags into the car, when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. As she looked at the screen a feeling of dread began to stir in the pit of her stomach... 'Private Number' . "Hello, who is this?" she asked in a whisper "Hello sweetheart, I have some instructions for you so listen up" Marcus' harsh voice greeted her.
"Okay" Mel whispered in a small and shaky voice "good girl, I see you're learning fast" he chided "Well my love, I will arrive at your house at 7:30pm, Jim will have gone over to the firehouse for a couple of hours to organise shifts for the next week, oh, sorry to break it to you Mel but Jimbo's gonna be working nights this week, but don't worry you won't have to sleep alone if you don't want to" Marcus said smugly.
"Stop, please just stop it" Mel whispered harshly, her attempted angry tone sounding more like a frightened child as her voice broke. A few tears rolled down Mel's cheek as she listened while Marcus spoke loving and kind words which only made her feel worse.
Jim jogged back in to the cabin to tell Mel that the car was ready, when he heard a quiet sob coming from the bathroom, he walked up to the door and was about to ask Melinda if she was okay when she began to speak. "Stop pretending that you care about me and just tell me what you want" Mel said, sobbing. –What the hell-Jim thought as he considered going in and comforting her but curiosity and suspicion won out so he decided to listen for a while longer.
Melinda was getting more upset by the minute-why can't he just leave me alone? I wish he would stop being so sickly sweet, it makes me feel sick.-Mel thought with disgust. "Melinda, I will only stay for half an hour tonight and then I promise to go home, but I will see you tomorrow also. I want you to meet me at the corner of 24th and 25th street at 12pm for lunch okay? Do you think you can do that baby?" Marcus asked.
"Don't you dare call me that. Why do you need to see me? What do want, please, what do you want?" Melinda asked, openly crying now. "Melinda be quiet" Marcus replied quickly but Mel just kept on crying while outside Jim was debating what to do.
-She would never cheat on me, she loves me right? I know she does. But who the hell is she talking to?- Jim puzzled over in his brain when suddenly Melinda became deathly silent.
"Melinda listen to me carefully okay, this is important" Marcus said, sounding more desperate than she had ever heard him "what, what is it?" Mel whispered, scared now. "Melinda, Jim is standing outside the bathroom door, I'm not sure how long he's been there. Repeat after me...Mom I don't care just leave me alone". Mel repeated the line after him.
"Okay baby so I'll see you tonight, make sure he can hear you say mom and don't even think about slipping up on purpose, I told you I could see Jim well that means that I can hurt him okay? Now, just keep on repeating after me baby" Marcus said. Melinda complied "No mom, I'm fine with Jim we're on our way home anyway. Whatever! I really don't want to have this conversation right now mom. Fine goodbye" Melinda said hanging up, still crying hysterically-well at least Jim's safe for now-she thought.
-Oh! mom, she's speaking to her mom-Jim thought-Oh my god, how could I even think.....God I mean I know she would never..Ugh...I feel awful-Jim told himself, feeling terrible for suspecting Melinda of being anything less than the perfect wife. "Mel, honey you okay?" he asked sheepishly, Melinda opened the bathroom door and walked straight past him "yeah I'm fine" she said, wiping furiously at her tear-streaked face. "I'm ready to go now" she said walking out to the car and strapping herself in.
-Why is this happening to me? I just don't understand what I did to deserve this. I think I have to get away from home. I can't let anything happen to Jim and as long as I'm around he's always gonna be in danger. I'll leave, oh my god I'm really gonna have to say goodbye to him. I'll wait until I have no other option, if it gets worse then I'll just go away for a while-Mel thought sadly as she watched Jim walk out to the car.
Jim sat down and started the engine before smiling warmly at Melinda and to his surprise, she smiled back at him. "I had a wonderful time this weekend Jim, thank you, I love you" Melinda said and then she leaned over and pressed her lips softly to his and he kissed her right back. "mmm me too, you're welcome and I love you too" Jim replied. Mel turned the radio and listened as an unfamiliar slow, sad song came on.
-Should I ask her about her mom? No, she didn't seem too eager to share. I guess it must have been a bad one; normally she'd tell me straight away if something was bothering her. She seems okay right now though, but I kinda feel a little rejected, I mean come on she's my wife, she's hurting and I don't know why-Jim thought and looked over at his wife. Melinda had fallen asleep with her head against the window, her dark, loose curls framing her face.-She's so perfect, I don't know what's upset her but I won't let her be hurt again, she doesn't deserve it-Jim glanced over at Mel again and this time noticed that her eyelids were fluttering and her eyes moving beneath them-must be dreaming, I guess-and he went back to concentrating on the road.
Melinda was indeed dreaming and not a very pleasant dream at that.
She was hovering in the corner of a dark gray, concrete walled room which looked like some kind of basement. There, in a crumpled heap on the floor, was Alice, Melinda walked over to her and saw that her shoulders were shaking as she cried to the silence. "Alice, Alice an you hear me?" Mel asked and Alice nodded. Mel pulled Alice into her arms and sat, cradling her, on the cold, hard floor while she wept.
Melinda looked at the young woman in her arms to see that she was covered in bruises and cuts with blood caked onto her skin in patterns from where it had dripped and rolled "What happened Alice, how did you get like this?" Mel asked. "I'm sorry, it was all...my....fault" Alice sobbed into Mel's shoulder, "I made him angry, if I had just done what he said then my husband might still be alive right now, I Might still have friends and I might still have had my family." Alice stopped abruptly and held Melinda's shoulders, "Don't make the same mistakes I did. Do NOT give up hope Melinda" she said and then the whole scene disappeared before her and she was once again staring blankly ahead at the road.