melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xxv. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

~*~
1982
South Bend, Indiana

     Marley Donnelly walked down the street, struggling to hold her coffee, books, and coat all in two arms. She finally threw her coat over her shoulder, fixed the grip she had on her books, then rose her coffee to her lips and drank. She breathed out a sigh, smiling slightly as she walked into the hospital that she had started at only a month earlier. 

     She walked into the locker room, glancing to see that the doctor she reported to was standing shirtless and getting changed. He most likely had stayed the night, and was getting ready for yet another shift. Marley tore her eyes away from Oliver, beginning to get ready herself. She pulled her scrubs over her tank top, then pulled up her pants. She grabbed her coat from her locker, putting everything else in there. She chugged the rest of her coffee, then shut her locker and turned to go. When she turned, she was met with the smiling face of Oliver. 

    "Dr. Brooks, good morning," Marley said, smiling at him. "Are you working another shift?" 

     "Good morning, Marley. Yes, I am," he said, motioning for her to follow him. "I've got something to already assign to you. Follow me." She quickly started following him, grabbing the clipboard he was holding out to her. "So, we're orthopedic surgeons, correct?" 

     "Unless something has changed in the past five hours, yes," Marley said, going through the file that was handed to her. 

     "Well, here's something new for you," Oliver said, opening the patients door. Marley looked in to see a nurse working on the patients arm. "We're not sure how, but she's missing her entire ulna bone." Marley's mouth hung open, shocked as she took a few steps towards the girl. "Miss Johnson, I have my shadow doctor with me today, are you comfortable with her being around and following procedure?" 

     "Yeah, that's fine," she answered quietly. "And I, uh, I prefer that you call me Mandy." They both nodded, Marley looking at the paper again.

     "So, Dr. Brooks mentioned that your ulna bone is gone. Care to explain how that happened?" Marley asked, clicking her pen to begin writing. 

      "I trusted him," Mandy began. "He said he'd never hurt me." Both Marley and Oliver stopped their writing, looking up to Mandy. 

     "Who?" Oliver asked.

     "My boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend," Mandy answered. "His name's Jackson. Jackson Albright." 

     "He took your entire ulna?" Marley asked, a bit confused. 

     "He said they made him do it. He said he loved me, but I was holding him back. He tried to kill me, but I escaped. Not before he... He cut open my arm and took the bone right out," Mandy said, tears streaming down her face now. "If that trucker hadn't found me, I would've bled out on the side of the ride." 

     "Where's Jackson now?" Marley asked, straying further from the doctor part of her job. 

     "Doctor," Oliver said, making Marley look over. She nodded, bringing up her clipboard again. "I'll go contact the police, you continue with procedure." Oliver left the room, the nurse following him. Marley walked forward, standing at the foot of Mandy's bed. 

     "Amanda, is it?" she asked.

     "Uh, no. Just Mandy. My parents didn't believe in full names," she answered. 

     "Right, Mandy. Have you had any hallucinations since losing your ulna? Light headedness, nausea?" Marley asked, beginning to right on her clipboard. 

     "No, none of that," she answered. 

     "How about a loss in appetite? You did lose a lot of blood," Marley continued. "Good news is that you can live without your ulna bone." 

     "Doctor, I'm fine. I just want to find Jackson and help him," Mandy said, leaning forward to talk to Marley. "They sent him away, to Hawkins on a new mission." 

     "Hawkins? Nothing happens there," Marley scoffed. "Please, I just need to get through these questions-" 

     "I am fine. You need to stop Jackson and whoever he is with," Mandy persuaded. "They're bad people, Dr. Donnelly. They did something to him. He used to love me, he was a good man, a good person. They did something to his head, they made him hate me." 

     "Mandy, I believe you've suffered from a concussion, maybe you've been hearing and seeing things that aren't real," Marley said, standing from her spot at the end of the bed. 

     "No, no, no, please, you have to believe me," Mandy begged, grabbing Marley's hand. "You have to stop him, Dr. Donnelly, you have to. You have to make him better. He'll listen to me." Marley stuttered on her words, glancing to see that Oliver wasn't outside. She sighed, looking to Mandy again who had a pleading look on her face. "You have to believe me, Doctor. Please." 

     "Okay," she agreed. "What do I need to do?" 

~*~
Present

     Marley walked out of the facility that the Russian's were using to go home for the night, Oliver right by her side. He was pulling out his car keys, Marley turning to look back at the facility again. Oliver watched her gaze, grabbing her arm and turning her to him. 

     "Hey, he'll be fine," he reassured her. "Come on, we've got to go. We're late." Marley nodded slightly, turning and getting in the car with Oliver. Before he started it, he looked to see Marley looking her hands, face dropped and her mouth curved into a frown. Oliver took one of her hands, Marley looking over at him. "We'll get him out. We have to find Mary, okay?" 

     "Yeah," she nodded. "Find Mary." Oliver gave her a light smile, leaning over to Marley and kissing her cheek. He leaned back into the drivers seat, starting up the car and driving away from the facility. Marley stared out the window, heart pounding as this was their first time returning to their house since they were assigned this case. The music was like white noise, as Marley could only hear the screams of Billy Hargrove in her mind. The begging and pleading gnawing at her like guilt. Guilt so heavy that it felt like her shoulders were being pushed down, and her clothes were wet all the time now. But nothing had changed, only her mind. 

     "Marley," Oliver said, causing the girl to look over. "We're home." She looked forward to see their front door wide open, heart pounding in confusion. She got out of the car quickly, Oliver getting out after her. "Marley," he hissed." She looked at the car parked, not even knowing what an Impala would look like. 

     "If they're following us home now, then that means they're going to ask more of us. If they ask more of us, then that means we can never get out," Marley whispered, walking towards him. "We can't trust them, Oliver." 

     "Marley, let me go in first. Mandy or Jim probably left the door open," he told her. "It's fine." 

     "Then who's car is that?" Marley asked, eyes wide. 

     "Marley, it will be fine. Stay behind me," he reassured her. She just nodded, walking behind Oliver into their house. 

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yee yee
gotta love backstory

marley and oliver are just
i can't say much
but i think you'll like them

hope you enjoyed!