The Walls Have Ears

Your POV (Chapter 24)

I look behind me but Dr Murphy is nowhere to be seen.

A small ashamed part of me wanted him to be proud of the fact that we figured it out.

We.

I look at the flustered hot mess that is Gerard and I can't help but laugh.

He blushes even harder when I notice a certain area of his pants becoming tighter.

"All subjects report to dinner, tonight's theme will be high an breezy"

We both look equally confused.

The familiar slots of the bathrooms open up and we go in, both taking showers and getting dressed for dinner.

Looking in the mirror I saw my skin had cleared up nicely, in fact, I had never had such healthy looking skin.

We get out and we've both been put in white button up shirts, with white Capri pants and white sandals.

"We look like tourists" Gerard laughs.

A small section of the wall opposite us slides open and behind it is a night sky, lit very slightly with distant lamp posts.

I look over at Gerard who actually still seems a little shy.

I decide to take my hand and weave my fingers through his, he clenches his arm as if I'd electrocuted him.

I march him behind me through the door, and we're met with a Dr Murphy sitting at a (white) bench munching on a sandwich.

I scrunch up my nose in half-disgust half-confusion.

"I thought this was dinner."

"It is"

"At a bus stop in the middle of nowhere?"

" I suppose it is a little more of Gerard's liking"

I turn my attention to Gerard who is staring down the long road behind us.

"You know this place?" I whisper to him.

He nods his head and smiles to himself.

Dr Murphy gets up and throws the wrapper of his sandwich into the filthy trash can behind the side of the bus stop.

He stands beside us but we instinctively back away, suddenly remembering the fact that this man had nearly killed us a couple of hours ago.

He takes a deep breath, "Alright, I suppose I deserve that, however you must be aware that there was no other way. Besides. I'm trying to make it up to you.

Especially you Gerard, I'm sorry it had to be that way."

Gerard looks up at him with a very unapologetic face, then turns his face away and carries on scrutinizing the dusty road.

"You know this place?" I repeat, watching Dr Murphy sit back down at the bus stop.

" Yea," he barely says.

"A warm memory always brings back happiness does it not?" Dr Murphy says to no one in particular.

I turn and look at him, then roll my eyes and turn back to Gerard.

"A warm memory?" I really want him to tell me, because I kinda want to have a sandwich then get the hell outta here.

"When I was, what, 7?" He looks over at Dr Murphy who confirms his number with a nod. How he knew, I have no idea.

"Its was my birthday and my brother was still a toddler so he still got all of my mom's attention. I woke up that morning expecting a birthday call from my dad but didn't get one, and my mom seemed to forget too. And just the whole day kept getting crappier in general until I broke down crying and packed my stuff and decided to run away. I walked out and got on the bus all the way to this bus stop. And I just sat here for hours. Crying and crying."

"I thought you said warm memory," I try to say softly, knowing this must be a pretty sensitive topic for Gerard.

"Yea, damn let me finish, I sat here and eventually it got dark and I started to get scared. Until my dad's car came driving down that road," he pauses to point where he was staring before.

"and when it got closer, my mom and dad and Mikey all came out with balloons and presents and I started crying again of course. But we sat here until like midnight just eating cupcakes my mom brought and I opened presents an all that. And I told them I thought they'd forgot and they said that they were planning to take me out that night as a surprise but then they couldnt find me and all that. I don't know, it started off as the worst day ever but by the end I'd never been so happy in my life..."

A tear silently trickled down Gerard's cheek.