Empty Eyes : Ch. 7- Broken

  Lainey sat at the cold, steel table. She glanced up at the clock then rested her eyes on Mr. Whitman as he walked through the doorway. "Lainey..." He calmly greeted as he sat across from her, "How are you?" She looked around the desolate room and the barred windows, "I'm... imprisoned. Are you satisfied?" "You know I didn't want this..." He frowned. "No?" She almost whispered, looking deep into his eyes, "Then what exactly did you want?"  He sighed, "Not this..." Lainey slightly smiled, "And yet... you did nothing to stop it." "What was I supost to do?" Mr. Whitman asked, throwing up his hands, "You need help Lainey, you need to accept that." She shrugged,"Cultures all over the world self mutilate themselves... are they commited? No, they're not."  Mr. Whitman slightly nodded, "You're a very smart girl Lainey, you'll try to justify your actions but the truth is, you are apart of no culture, there's no excuse for what you did..."  Lainey thought for a moment then sighed, " Why is it that... I release my pain in a... different way than others and I have to justify my actions.. but yet, men beat and sexually abuse women everyday and there's no justification for their actions?"  Mr. Whitman frowned, "Lainey... do you want to talk about it?" She immediatly shrugged, "There's nothing to talk about. I'm simply stating a example..." He stared then sighed, "Lainey... if you need to get something out just say.." "There's nothing to 'get out'!" Lainey unintentionally snapped. Mr. Whitman, taken back by this outburst, sat back in his chair. Tears started to form in Lainey's eyes. "Oh Lainey..." He frowned, "Is that it?" "No..." She muttered, lips trembling. "Lainey... did someone hurt you?" Mr. Whitman asked, a sad expression on his face. "You dont know what you're talking about..." Lainey softly cried, pushing her chair back, getting up and quickly walking past him. Mr. Whitman watched as she practically ran out of the visiting room, covering her mouth with tears streaming down her face.

~~~

 Aaron sat on his front porch and watched as Mr. Whitman pulled into his driveway. He rose and slowly walked down the steps, onto the frosted grass. He could hear as the frozen blades crunched beneath his boots. "Excuse me!" He called over as Mr. Whitman got out of his car.

 Lainey pulled the blanket over her head as her body slightly shook. She held her hand over her mouth to refrain from screaming. Her eyes were tightly shut as tears continued to slip out and roll down her porcelain cheeks. She reached her hand underneath her mattress and felt a small, cold wire. Her fingers grasped the stolen paper clip and she bent it so it was straight. Lainey let out a slight cry before she pushed it into her arm.

 "You don't know me... my name's Aaron, I live on this street.." Aaron politely explained. Mr. Whitman slightly nodded, looking around, "Do you need something?" Aaron nodded, "Your daughter... where is she?"

 'Lainey....' She could hear her father's drunken voice echo in her mind as she fell into a flashback. ** "Lainey!" He scolded, angered that she was hiding from him. Lainey was 9 years old at the time, hiding in her closet, holding her bat. Her bedroom door busted open and she held her hand over her mouth to refrain from breathing too loud. Her eyes widened as she watched him search her room and throw stuff around. He stopped and looked at the closet. A sadistic laugh grumbled from his alcohol stained lips and he stumbled towards the closet. Lainey gripped the bat tighter as the closet door opened. **

 "Why do you want to know?" Mr. Whitman asked, eyeing Aaron suspiciously. Aaron sighed, "Because... I got to talk to her and she seems very nice..." He cleared his throat, " Please tell me it isnt true that you left her at the hospital..." "How do you know about that?" Mr. Whitman frowned. "A girl from school, her mom's a nurse there.. word travels fast in such a small town..." "Great..." Mr. Whitman sighed, "Now shes going to really not want to go to that school..." Aaron slightly smiled, "Well... it doesnt matter what those kids think, they don't know anything..." "And what do you think?" Mr. Whitman asked, crossing his arms, trying to stay warm. "I think I want to talk to your daughter again...outside of the hospital..." Aaron calmly stated, yet sounded demanding. "You and I both know... she doesn't belong there." He added.

 ** Lainey's father grabbed the bat and ripped it from her hands. She felt all the confidence leave her body. Her hands started to tremble and she felt a warm sensation running down her leg. She looked down at the puddle beneath her feet. Her father chuckled, "Did you seriously just piss yourself?"  A tear slipped from her eye. "Please... leave me alone..." She pleaded. He frowned, "I just wish you loved me like you loved your mother..." He reached to touch her face and she moved. "I didn't love her.... you know that..." She muttered. He struck her across the face, sending her back against the closet wall. **

 Lainey shook her head, snapping back into reality and out of the flashback. She felt the warm sensation on her leg and realized she had cut her leg with the paper clip as well. The bloody paper clip fell to the floor and she stared at it. The door opened and a nurse gasped in horror. Laineys arm was bleeding all over the floor and her leg had a deep cut starting at the knee. Lainey started crying, "I'm sorry..." She bowed her head, "I'm so sorry..."  The nurse backed out of the room and ran down the hallway, calling for help.

  "You need to get her out of there..." Aaron pleaded, "It's not ... healthy over there." Mr. Whitman frowned, "I dont know what you think you may know about her... but... she's not healthy right now either... she needs their help." "But she seemed fine when I spoke with her.." Aaron started to argue but Mr. Whitman interupted him, "No offence son, but how long did you talk to her?  5 minutes? Are the males around here so nieve that they think talking to a girl for 5 minutes means they know everything there is to know about them?"  Aaron sighed, "I can't explain it..." "I can..." Mr. Whitman stepped closer to him, "You met a nice , pretty girl... shes probably the only female your age on this street...and because she even looked in your direction you got a  nice tickle in your pants..." "No." Aaron shook his head, "You're getting me all wrong, Im not like that." "And you don't know what Lainey's like!" Mr. Whitman snapped. Aaron stepped back, his heart practically stopping. He narrowed his eyes, "What... what did you just say?" "I said... you don't know what she's like..." Mr. Whitman explained. "No, the other part... what did you call her?" Aaron asked, his eyes searching Mr. Whitman's. "Lainey... that is her name, didn't she tell you that?" He asked. Aaron covered his mouth, remembering how wierd she was acting when she saw him. "Of course..." He whispered. "Of course what?" Mr. Whitman asked. Aaron grabbed Mr. Whitman by his shirt, his eyes welding with tears,  "You take me to that hospital right now!"