Stuck In A Moment

Christmas part 7.

Warning: Mentions of suicidal thought from the last chapter.

Jane was just finished with her family's Christmas dinner when she received a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you holding a drink or something?" Alister asked.

"No." She replied. "Why?"

"I need some help. LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!"

"What did you do?"

"Just come quickly. I'm at my dorm." Alister explained.

"Fine."

Jane drove over to the dorms and went straight to Alister's. She understood why he was so panicked as soon as she opened the door.

"Is that your roommate!?!?!" She gasped.

"Yes."

"Why is he tied up on your floor?" Jane exclaimed. She looked over at Laurens, who was still unconscious. His wrists and ankles were bound with zip ties. A gag in his mouth as well.

"I didn't want him to leave or scream. But this isn't as bad as it looks." Alister tried to defend himself.

"What on earth did you think made this ok?"

"He tried to kill himself." Alister admitted. "Or threatened to kill himself."

"What!?!? Why?" Jane questioned.

"Again, I'm not entirely sure. Something happened with his brother. He said he was better off dead." Alister explained. "He came in here saying he was gonna jump off a bridge so I hit him in the head and this is where we are now."

"Ok." She tried to process everything.

"What do we do?" Alister asked.

"There's only one person who could talk some sense into him." Jane said. She pulled out her phone and called Peggy.

Alister paced around the room for a minute. He felt like a criminal.

"Ok, she said she would be here soon." Jane said as she put her phone away. "What do we do if he wakes up?"

"I don't know. We can't let him leave, but I don't want to threaten him." Alister sighed.

"You know what? If he wakes up before Peggy gets here, hit him in the head again." Jane said. "I know it sounds harsh, but it's our best bet right now."

"I'm a criminal." Alister whimpered.

"Wow, just wow." Jane sighed.

Peggy didn't take too long to get there. Luckily, Laurens stayed unconscious until she did so.

"Oh my gosh!" Peggy gasped. "What the heck did you do to him?"

"I know this looks bad, but we did this to protect him." Alister explained.

"We?" Jane asked.

"Me. Me did this."

"Why?" Peggy questioned.

"He said he was gonna kill himself. So I knocked him out with my textbook."

"You're the only one who could possibly talk him out of it." Jane added.

"Ok." Peggy nodded her head. She walked over and sat down by Laurens. "Laurens?"

Laurens slowly came to and was not happy with his surroundings.

"Mmmmh!"

"Relax. You're ok, I promise." Peggy pulled the gag out of his mouth.

"WHAT THE HECK ALISTER!?!?!?!" Laurens yelled.