Getting Out Alive[EddiexOC!xMiles]

The Beginning

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" she asked, cocking her head slightly and giving him a modest smile.

She had a kind look about her- this is what he decided upon meeting Dr. Price. A soft look, a gentle look- the look of a mother.

"My name is Eddie Gluskin, darling. Would you marry me?"

Yes, this was what Eddie decided when he first met his bride-to-be.

*********

When my brother, Julian, committed suicide, I decided that I would never let anyone else suffer the way he did again.

The shock I felt on that day- the phone held to my ear, my mother's weeping voice barely slurring out the words that would change my life forever.

"Ava, sweetheart, It's Jules. He, he's... He's dead."

He'd been seeing therapists since he was thirteen.

"Jules, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Ava. I'm fine."

Chronic Depression. And later, mild schizophrenia.

The therapy increased, but he only got worse. Still, he smiled. Whenever he saw me he would laugh and ruffle my hair- brushing off concerned questions.

"I'm fine."

They found him hanging from a light fixture in his condo, a single envelope marked by his elegant handwriting placed upon the countertop beside him.

"Ava, I lied. I'm sorry."

I wish I could say I hadn't saw it coming. I wish I could say that when I dropped the phone it was from shock.

But it wasn't.

And when the tears came and the cries of my sorrow filled my lonely little apartment, I wish I could say that there was no guilt in my heart.

But there was.

"I'm fine."

"I lied. I'm sorry."

"Ava..."

It was at that time, still only a freshman in college, that I made a decision that would change my life forever.

To become a psychiatrist. To help prevent the tragedy that took my brother from me from hurting anyone else.

I would listen. I would protect.

This was my resolution.

So when I was offered a job at Mount Massive asylum, I didn't even bat an eyelash before packing my bags and moving to the looming peaks of Colorado's western most border. There I found an ominous and often threatening place. Even now, a part of me wanted to run away.

But something even greater than fear had brought me here- and with pure determination, I began my career at Mount Massive.

"Price, you do realize that you're not actually getting paid to loiter around, don't you?" A stern voice broke through my thoughts. I glanced up from the file I had been looking at, my reading glasses falling to the tip of my nose.

"Sorry sir." I responded, my voice clipped. Jeremy Blaire. For all intents and purposes- my boss. A man with an attitude as nasty as his position. When I'd first arrived his interactions with me had been cold but brief, but now he seemed to pay special attention to me- even going so far as attempting to start conversation.