Four | BTS ✓

9

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Kennedy drums her fingers against the metal frame of her bed as she stares up at the ceiling just like she has for the past fifteen minutes. Her mind is in a million different places, but none of them where her psychiatrist wants it to be.

Why was Jungkook nice to her? Why did it seem like he cared?

Why did he suddenly look like a whole snack?

She smiles to herself as she thinks about his tight stomach when she tickled him the first day he arrived.

"Ms. Carter, if you don't talk to me, they're never going to let you out of solitary."

Kennedy's smile falls from her lips as she turns her head to look at the stern woman in the 90s-style pantsuit sitting across from her. She wears her hair in a typical "Karen" style and has glasses that are too big for her face. Her lips are thin and nearly always cut across her face in a straight line with crinkles at the edges that suggest at least a pack-a-day cigarette habit.

"Do you really think they're going to let me out of here this time, Karen?"

The woman's name is most definitely not Karen, but she doesn't react to the jab. She simply continues to look at Kennedy with an impassive stare that only serves to make Kennedy ache to punch her.

"That depends entirely on you."

"I didn't just get out this time. I killed a man." Kennedy sits up and leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees and giving "Karen" a devious grin. She doesn't know her name, and doesn't care enough to ask.

"And you know what? I enjoyed every second of it."

For the first time, the doctor smiles. She even chuckles a little as she looks away at the door to the room. "Ms. Carter, if I believed that for a second, you'd already have a needle in your arm."

This catches Kennedy off guard and she doesn't stop herself from narrowing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. The doctor catches and turns her attention back to her patient, setting her notebook to the side and mirroring Kennedy's posture.

"You see, what I think is that you hate being here, but you hate yourself even more. Maybe you even think you deserve to be here. You break out of your room and attack people because it gets you what you want. You seek the pain because it's the only thing making you feel alive."

The doctor sits back and watches as the bomb blows up in Kennedy's mind, but just as quickly, the mask is back and she sits back, too.

"If that's what you say, Karen. You're the genius here."

"Right. How long are you going to continue to sabotage yourself, Kennedy? Your parents' deaths weren't your fault."

Kennedy jumps to her feet and crosses the room to the doctor, but before she can lay a hand on her, Jungkook is there with his arms around her waist, hauling her backwards.

"You don't get to speak about them, Karen! You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!"

The doctor begins to gather her things to leave. Kennedy thrashes against Jungkook's strong arms, kicking and flailing around, but he is as immovable as stone.

"Send her back to her room."

Jungkook looks up at the doctor in shock. "You're serious?"

The doctor waves her hand dismissively. "The room she's in doesn't matter. She's not going to change until she wants to." And with that, she slips out of the cell and disappears down the hall. Kennedy throws herself around in Jungkook's arms a few more times until she wears herself out and crosses her arms over her chest.