Violet felt a surge of life rush through her as she stood under the communal showers that she was forced to use.

It was her night off, three am to be exact, she refused to shower with the other nurses who all saw her as an anti social misfit bitch.

Violet would have it no other way, refusing to go along with their pathetic need for acceptance among each other.

Cruel gossip, manipulation, along with ridiculous mind games, were all a part of fierce competition for Sister June's approval.

The girls were constantly back stabbing one another playing the blame game whenever something went wrong.

In the beginning it drove Violet to the point of considering taking up Dr. Arden's threat of becoming one of the borders down by the docks, but now that Tate had entered her life those girls became mere back ground noise that could be easily tuned out.

It had been weeks since her first meeting with her blonde angel, weeks spent with him stealing tiny moments of knowing glances and brief exchanges of words between them.

Words that she held close to her heart as she worked hard to find a way to help him.

In those weeks she had also worked hard to earn the trust of Dr. Arden, a beast of a man who held Tate captive so he could perform horrible, inhuman experiments.

It took a lot of research into Dr. Arden's past for her to find out exactly the right things to say to him to win him over.

For instance his preference for fish and chips, something he had acquired a taste for while studying at Oxford.

She also discovered his affection for White Shoulders, a perfume she discovered while searching in his desk on a weekend he was away for a conference.

Lowering herself in ways she never thought she'd succumb to, she also began polishing his stiff leather shoes, and dusting his office, organizing it to his distinct liking.

This was far from Violet's character, never in her life did she bow down to please someone in this way, but love had changed her, it had given her a reason to live, a reason to hope for a future.

With scarce clues in Tate's file as to what exactly he had been sentenced for, she had little to go on, but every day off she had she searched for answers.

Most headlines of the newspapers for that time left little to go on, basically Tate was a vicious killer who slaughtered three family members with no viable motive.

His father was deemed part victim part hero as he shot Tate several times upon finding him standing over his two sisters and his mother with a bloody knife.

She knew looking into those pleading eyes that spoke volumes of pain and suffering that there was no possibility Tate could be capable of such heinous acts, or if so she knew there were two sides to every story, just as her past proved to be true.

Smoothing the steaming hot water over her long blonde hair, Violet closed her eyes imaging Tate with her, standing behind her, his hands stretched across her body holding her close to him.

She could almost feel his soft breath wavering over the side of her neck whispering promises of a life together far away the hell they were both tragically trapped in.

Violet relentlessly planned his escape, but to do so she had to find out exactly what three drugs Dr. Arden was administering to Tate in order to keep him convincingly in a fake coma state.

Showing bravery beyond the telling she had managed to take two of the vials from his lab coat after one of his sessions with Tate.

There was barely any medication left in the syringes, but she was able to identify them both, the third vial was immediately removed from his possession afterwards and kept in a locked cabinet in his office.

With a little sweet talk and a dozen donuts from the best bakery in town, she was able to bribe a young lab assistant at a local hospital to identify the first two medications.

The first was sodium pentothal (thiopental). the medication Violet had written down on her hand the first time she saw Dr. Arden piercing it into Tate's neck.

Researching the drug she discovered it had many uses but basically it was used as a truth serum, or she believed that's what he was using it for.

The next was a paralyzing drug, Rohypnol, also known as the date rape drug, given the right dosage leaves the person unable to move their muscles, most of the time they are rendered barely conscious, but Violet determined that Dr. Arden was giving Tate just enough so he was paralyzed but able to feel everything he was doing.

While this was all great progress it wasn't enough for her to find a way to counteract what he was doing so she could get Tate out of there.

She needed to find out what that third drug was, and what exactly he was doing to him behind closed doors.

Tonight she would visit him again, but there was a chance that they would have more time than usual.

The nurse that was replacing Violet for her night off had come down with an acute digestive problem caused by a cod sandwich that been left out the night before.

Sure it was wrong, but Lilith deserved worse for how she roughly treated Tate, tossing him back and forth harshly against the metal edges of his bed and shackles.

It was common for her to treat the patients this way, especially the one's too debilitated to complain, so Violet felt little remorse when she heard her retching from the girl's locker room.

Because it was the weekend, and fourth of July at that, they were already working with a skeleton crew, so before Lilith had the chance to report her illness Violet had passed by casually and offered to take her shift.

It was perfect, Dr. Arden had a car waiting for him after Tate's treatment to take him to Martha's Vineyard for the holiday weekend, and Lilith was too ill to bother anyone with the news that Violet had filled in for her.

After pinning her silky hair up in the required bun and putting on a fresh uniform Violet sat on her bed staring into a tiny compact mirror.

Looking over at some makeup she had bought earlier she applied a light pink sheen of gloss on her lips, a hint of rose to her cheeks, and chocolate colored eyeliner and mascara to her wide whiskey tinted eyes.

Never in her life did she even entertain the thought of worrying about her looks, especially for a boy, never did she see herself like the other girls, pretty and shapely in a way that would turn a guy on.

Violet saw herself the way she always had, all limbs and pale skin, with a biting tongue that refused to bend to a barbie doll image.

Throwing the make up on the bed she felt ridiculous, this wasn't her, and if she were to be truthful to herself, she knew that he probably just was desperate for her help, but there was a connection between them, that much she was sure of, a darkness behind his eyes, a hint of something beyond the everyday bullshit she despised in everyone around her, and in a world were she was completely alone, that would prove to be enough.

Wiping off most of the lip gloss with the back of her hand she decided to leave the repulsive, constricting white tights behind before darting down the hallway with only the tip of a lighted pen to guide her way.

After roaming down the twists and turns of the brick walls she arrived at the large curved brick arch of his room.

Peering down the hall she heard the rattling of Dr. Arden's keys as he left the building.

Knowing that she most likely would find Tate asleep she unlocked the three bolts before slowly pushing the door open.

To her surprise she looked down upon the bed to find it empty, her eyes following the path of his sheets that were in a ball on the floor before hearing the door close quietly behind her.

It was Tate barely standing, breathlessly leaning against the wall holding his side tight as he mouthed her name and gazed intensely into her eyes.

Reaching out to hold him before he tumbled to the ground she whispered his name against his bare chest as she helped him back to bed.

"Tate."

Wrapping his arm around her small waist he brushed his lips to her temple breathing out one word over and over.

"Again… "

Confused she manually lifted a bar that raised the head of the bed before carefully helping him to sit up while placing a pillow beneath his head.

"Again… please." his hoarse whisper rushed straight between her thighs causing her to squeeze them tight as a familiar ache plagued her like so many times before.

Running her hands gently over the incision that was covered with bandages on his side, she spoke softly distracted by his obvious pain.

"Again? What do you need, what can I do to help you?"

Resting his fingertips along her throat he captured her attention as he drifted over her skin tenderly until he reached the buttons of her uniform.

Leaning forward he pressed his forehead to hers as he boldly ran his hand beneath her dull grey uniform until he reached her trembling heart.

Sighing he pressed his palm on the curve of her breast as his eyes fell shut leaving him to concentrate on the rapid beat that was racing just for him.

"My name, please… say it … again. I need to hear it again, to know you're really here. Please say my name again my savior, my beautiful Violet."