Tainted | Hannibal Lecter

3. Trust

A few days had past, Madison's physical condition improved, however, her mental stability only deteriorated.

The only people she'd seen were doctors and nurses, there were no signs of any detectives or FBI agents. She had thought someone would've shown up asking questions by now, but no one had come. In a way she was relieved, she didn't need to re-live everything that had happened. But she felt so alone. She hadn't had an actual conversation in days, so she began to question wether talking about the incident would be worth the pain.

On the fifth day at the hospital, Madison had spent the day crying. Her grief had only just caught up to her, she was numb until now.
After becoming quickly bored throughout the days, she found that talking to herself was quite cathartic. She spoke of what had happened in detail, which helped her remember small features that she'd forgotten to tell Will when he'd visited. She also spoke of how it made her feel - empty and hollow, but also full with pain and loss.

Madison suddenly stopped talking when she heard the door click. Once the door opened, a tall figure dressed in a suit was revealed.

"Hello?"
She calls

He walks further into the room and shuts the door behind him. Dr Lecter stands in the light, revealing himself.

"Hello, Madison. How have you been?"

"Oh, hi Dr Lecter. I've been okay."

"Did i interrupt something? Only i heard someone speaking."

"No...no one was speaking."

She was completely unaware that Hannibal had been listening to the conversation she had with herself. He had noticed she had a habit of lying, he had blamed it on the newness of their relationship, but became increasingly worried as it became a reoccurring thing. He had also noticed her inclination to hide information in order to gain information, he questioned these tendencies.

He smiles and then walks over to the chair next to her, he places a duffle bag on it.

"I've been sent to collect you and take you to the station for questioning."

"Oh... like right now?"

"Indeed. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah. I just haven't prepared."
She seemed unsettled. She had gone from complete isolation to now needing to interact with absolute strangers.

"There's some of your clothes in that bag, the others have been sent to an institution, awaiting your arrival."

"My arrival? I haven't been told about this."
She had been warned that a clinic is the type of place she'd be sent but she hadn't realised it would be this soon.

"I'm afraid i've only just be informed, i came straight here to tell you."

Madison had started trusting Hannibal, but this felt somewhat like a betrayal. Like she was being shipped off to be someone else's problem.
Hannibal noticed her expression.

"Madison, i will not abandon you. You became my responsibility when i saved your life."

She looked up to him and painted a smile on her face. She believed what he said. It was strange, trusting someone new - but it had to be done, she had no one else.