Jack and I walked up to the reception desk, the receptionist smacking her gum and staring at her computer screen. She slowly looked up at us and lowered her glasses on her nose with her pointer finger, until Jack spoke up.
"Excuse me, we're looking for the room a boy is being held in." He said to her, glancing down at the screen then back up to her daring eyes.
"I'm going to need a name." She told him with sass, sniffing her nose abnormally loud. Jack stared at her with disgust, but ignored it.
"Roger Adler?" The receptionist slowly looked him up and down in disbelief. This lady was seriously starting to get on my nerves.
"Yeah um, only family can visit." She waves us off, but Jack doesn't take a single step back.
"He's my brother actually." Jack says in defense, "And I would like to see him. That wouldn't be a problem now, would it?"
"Nope." She says popping the p, turning her eyes down to her computer. All we hear are clicks and taps, until she eventually looks at us.
I look at her with hopeful eyes, praying that she found the correct room.
"Room A184. You can only visit for an hour, and then you have to leave." She points to the door.
I roll my eyes at her, and I grab onto Jacks arm leading us to the sign that says, "A150-A200."
We walk down the hallway, and I come to a sudden stop at the door. He's in there, I know it.
But then I realize what I told Jack the day on the island I thought he died. I shot him, but I never told Jack that. He thought it was his fault, but it wasn't. It was me.
What if Roger tells him?
We should go back.
"If it isn't my old pal." Jack speaks up, and suddenly my eyes dart back to him. The door is wide open, and Jack had already entered the room holding the boy on a ventilator.
"How are ya' Rog?" He asks him, examining the current state that Roger is facing.
"Couldn't be better." He says, and his eyes glance behind Jack and over to me. My shoulder was leaning on the door frame, and my legs wouldn't let me enter.
Jack eventually looks back, holding out his arm, forwarding me to come closer. I take a deep breath in, and take baby steps to him.
"Fay." Roger smiles, that devilish look he used to give me. It was giving me flashbacks, horrible, horrible flashbacks.
"Roger." I nod to him, releasing a slow breath of air.
And there he was. I thought he was dead. I thought maybe I could've killed him that day. But they always come back.
"I'm glad you're okay man." Jack consoles him, softly patting him on the shoulder. Roger smiles and nods, but his eyes don't leave mine.
I look away hurriedly, and I tap Jack on the arm gently. He turns to me intrigued, and I move my hand up to his ear. His head slowly comes closer to mine.
"Is it okay if I talk to him for a little bit? Alone, maybe?" I plead to him.
Jack nods his head understandingly, and he turns for the door. I don't turn around to look at Roger right until the door closes shut, but when I do he is already staring with a gruesome look.
I step closer to him, my hands slightly shaking. I guess you could say I was only nervous since Roger could get me arrested right now, but maybe if I talk to him he won't? It's worth a shot.
"I'm sorry." I lied to him. This was all apart of the plan. If I could make ways with him, maybe he won't speak out about it. But then again if he did, I could always say it was self defense. I'm innocent until proven guilty.
"You know what I had to live through?" He raises his voice. I shook my head with confusion.
"Nobody came back. Nobody. I awoke, laying in my dried blood. I could've gone home Fay, I could've left. But you had to ruin everything and-,"
"You tried to kill me Roger!" I screamed at him. "You tried to murder me and rip out my guts! I don't care what the fuck you had to live through, you deserved every piece of it."
He gives me a stern stare, and shook his head slowly.
"I'm going to make your life a living hell. I can promise you that." He says in a monotone voice, squinting his eyes.
"You're the one on the death bed. I could literally kill you right now." I point my eyes to the plug in of the ventilator.
He laughs. "Then what? You think they won't know it was you? God Fay, you are the stupidest bitch I have ever met."
My breath shakes, but I hold myself up. I would fight back, but it would never end. So I grab my things together, and storm out of the door without saying anything.
"I'm going to keep that promise!" He yells from the distance, but I continue walking in anger.
I reach the lobby, and I see Jack standing there talking to a familiar face. The face turns to me, giving me a wide grin. Something i've missed for so long.
"Ralph!" I say in excitement, rushing over to him and wrapping my arms around him in a big hug. He returns it, feeling the comfort of him surrounding me.
He chuckles as we release from each other, and I give him a smile with my lips.
"How are you? It's been too long since i've last seen you." He tells me, looking at the date on his watch and shaking his head.
"I'm okay, what are you doing here?" I asked in question.
"I heard about Roger. I figured some other people would be here that were on the island. I already saw Luke, Sam, and Eric aswell."
I stepped back a bit after hearing that. Why would Samneric be here? I thought they hated Roger. They were probably here for the same reason as Ralph, to see what was going on.
I nod my head slowly, and check the digital clock on the wall. It was around 5:00pm, so I shortened the conversation up.
"I should probably be getting home now, but would you guys want to meet for lunch tomorrow perhaps?" I ask the two of them.
Tomorrow was a Saturday, so they would both not have military school. I told Ralph about the Chino Grande and how it was Jack and I's favorite place to go out for lunch and dinner, sometimes breakfast even.
They both agreed to go at around 1:00, so I said my goodbyes as Jack walked me back to my apartment.
Before we got into the doors, he stopped us both. I look at him with my hand hovering over the knob to push it open.
"So, what did you say to Roger back there?" Jack spits out, tilting his head.
I sigh. "Not much. I just asked him why he treated me like how he did, and he, well, I guess he apologized." I tried to sound as casual as I could possibly be.
It clearly worked, because Jack nodded and waved me a goodbye wave. I gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and he gave me one on the nose. I felt my face heat up, and I turned away quickly, walking into my apartment.
• • •
