Fire on Fire

21. The only choice

"There is no way." Emma sighed for the umpteenth time.

"You don't know that." Alexander insisted.

"But I do." She repeated, gazing around her. She only had a few minutes a day for phone calls, she'd rather not waste them talking about impossible things. "Look, there's a whole line here for the phones, I don't have much time," Emma said, looking away when she met the other inmates' gazes. "The point is, we have to accept that this is the state of things."

"I thought you were a fighter."

"I've fought all my life, and if there's one thing I've learnt, is to know when you're beaten." Emma sighed. "Face it, Alexander, she will never let us be. She moved mountains to get me imprisoned, imagine what she would do if she knew we're still in touch."

He snorted. "She knows, she knows. We haven't really talked since you got arrested, but nothing escapes her attention."

"Exactly." Emma pursed her lips.

"Exactly nothing, Emma." Alexander growled. "We made a promise."

"One we cannot keep."

"Says who?"

"Literally the whole US Department of Justice that threw me into this hellhole for 15 years without parole?" Emma barked, slightly raising her voice, enough to catch the other inmates' attention. "I've made a lot of bad choices in my life, and it was obvious that sooner or later the past would catch up with me. I enjoyed the silly idea of me and you starting over a new life, but let's face it, it was a dream, and dreams never come true."

He remained quiet for a few moments. "I'll call you tomorrow." He said in the end, his voice low.

"Alexander ..."

"I'll call you tomorrow." He repeated firmly.

Emma would have wanted to argue, but his tone was meant to say way more than those simple words. She caught herself smiling for a second as she thought of the remote eventuality that maybe they could make it work after all.

When someone kicked her ankle, gesturing for her to hang up, Emma nodded, her smile fading. "Alexander?" She called, unsure whether he was still there or not.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For staying." Because the inmate beside her was getting restless, before he could reply, she added: "I meant it, you know. Those first two lines in the letter. I meant what I said."

He smiled, relaxing for a moment. "I know. We'll sort this out, I promise."

"I know." If only it were true, Emma told herself once she'd hung up.

✧✧ ✧ ✧ ✧  

"Hudson. Visiting room." A guard announced showing up in her cell.

Emma frowned. Alexander had promised to come to visit every time he could, as much as possible, but it'd only been one day since the last time. Nevertheless, she was glad to see him, even though every encounter was followed by a thousand questions from her cellmate.

"You're popular," the guard teased, half smirking, as she escorted her to the parlor.

Emma smiled. "He's ... persistent."

"Stalker?"

"Boyfriend." Emma replied without thinking.

The guard frowned, looking at her for a moment. She'd have said something, but she reminded herself that inmates' private lives weren't any of her business as long as those women respected prison rules. "There you go," she pointed Emma at one of the seats in the parlor.