Ralph stopped driving twenty-nine minutes ago. He pulled out into an alleyway in the first town he drove into. Since then, he's been watching her, taking in every difference, every scar.
She's like a tiger when she sleeps. Usually, she's volatile and unpredictable; she could bite you at any given moment. But when she's asleep - harmless. Absolutely harmless.
He almost cannot believe he's this close to her. Honestly, he never thought he would see her again. There were so many times where he had been close to losing it all.
His heart leapt out of his chest. There he was.
"Robertson," Ralph spat. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I've come to say hello. Let you know I'm still around," Robertson says, his Cheshire-cat smile making Ralph's skin crawl. "I've missed you, Ralph."
"I'm afraid I cannot say the same," Ralph says, his hand reaching for his pistol. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now. No one would even know."
"How about this for a reason?" Robertson opens, stroking his own face., pulling slightly on his beard. "I know where you're keeping her."
But now, they're reunited. Ralph won't jump ahead, he's pretty sure that Rosa will not want to talk to him when she wakes up, but this is good enough for him.
All he ever wanted was to keep her safe, but never like this.
He turns the key and restarts the car, and begins to drive again. He's tired, but he's had three-day long stakeouts in the past. It could all go to shit if they were found.
At some point he'll need to stop. Problem is, he has no idea where he's driving, but then he remembers and his decision is made.
"One day we'll run away." Ralph says, one morning.
"Is that so?" The smirk creeps onto Rosa's face in a slow burn.
"Yeah," he continues, drawing invisible patterns onto Rosa's bare shoulder. "One day, when this is all over, we will pack our bags and drive away."
"How far?"
"I don't know, like Maryland or something."
"Not Maryland."
"Why?"
"I was born there." From her clipped tone, he knows not to press further.
"I've always fancied Florida."
"I've never been," Rosa says, her tone softer. "I've always wanted to go to a beach."
He's pressed with the compulsion to ask her why she's never been to a beach, but figures that he shouldn't ask questions that he doesn't want the answers to.
"Florida it is."
Rosa wakes up an hour or so later, and as expected, she doesn't speak to him once. It's a silent car ride as the sun rises to their left.
He stops for gas at one point, pulling on a hat and sunglasses as he goes to pay, just in case there's a national search for them. It wouldn't surprise Ralph. Douglas always did like a bit of drama.
As he hands over his money to the teenage girl half looking at her phone, half counting the money, he glances up at the television screen. He's right. Pictures and everything.
"Rosa," He says as he clambers into the car, throwing her a chocolate bar. "They've put on a nationwide search. We're like celebrities."
And then he remembers.
Rosa doesn't reply.
Three hours later, Rosa starts shifting in her seat.
"You okay?"
She begins to hit at the door, at the dashboard, panicked and frantic movements.
Ralph promptly pulls over and is just about to ask her if she'd like a bottle of water before she opens the door and runs out.
Fuck.
She doesn't go far before she falls to the floor and screams. She tears into the floor, writhing as if in intense pain.
"Rosa!" He goes to embrace her, but then thinks better of it. He runs back to the car and finds the phone he bought as a back up. It won't be traced and he knows this is beyond dangerous, but Ralph doesn't even hesitate to dial Douglas' number.
"Hello? This is Douglas Booth."
"Douglas," Ralph sobs into the phone. "I don't know what to do. She's...oh my god, I've fucked up so bad."
There's a pause.
"This is Frank," The firm voice of the therapist sounds through the phone. "Give her the phone. Do not touch her. Get a bottle of water and pour it over her."
Ralph approaches her and hands her the phone, and luckily, she takes it.
He runs back to the car to find a water bottle. When he returns to her, she's sitting up, breathing heavily and still erratically, tears streaming down her crimson face.
Part of him hates that he doesn't know how to help her.
He unscrews the bottle cap and pours the water over her head. It's transformative. She takes a deep breath and begins to calm.
She soon hands the phone back to Ralph and he puts it to his ear once again. "Right. As soon as you can, you need to pick up the medication she needs from a pharmacy. I'll text the names of the drugs to this number."
"Thank you, Frank. I had no idea-"
"Of course you didn't."
There's noise as the phone is passed back to Douglas.
"Is she okay?"
"She's calming down," Ralph says as he guides her back to the car. "Douglas, I-"
"What the fuck were you thinking?"
"I-"
"No. I cannot believe you did this. The damage you could have caused! Were you thinking at all?"
"Were you thinking at all when you let them arrest her?" Ralph has to take a breath to calm himself down before he continues. "Douglas, you can try and find us, but you'd be wasting your time. We're going to find them and take them down. Together. And if you don't want to join us, fine, but please don't lecture me because I'm the only one who believes the in the truth."
There's a longer pause as Douglas must try to think of something to retort with. Ralph gets back in the car after belting Rosa in.
"How could you believe that she is part of them? Do you have no faith in her? Clearly not. I am the only one who sees the flaws, knows her. I thought you would know better, Douglas, honestly-"
"We're coming," Douglas bites out. "We're coming to join you. Where are you?"
"How do I know you're not playing me?"
"You're just gonna have to trust me," Douglas says. "I'm giving up my career for this, possibly. Please believe me."
Ralph bites his lip.
"Florida," Ralph decides to trust Douglas. He can't not trust him. "We're going to Florida. We'll find a motel in Tampa and we'll call you again from there."
"Fine," Douglas says. "Throw your phone away after you get the name of the meds."
And with that, the call ends. Ralph starts the car again.
"You ready to finally see a beach?"
Rosa looks at him, her eyes brimming with tears, but with a tiny smile all the same.
"Thank you for believing in me, Castano," Rosa says, her voice croaky but the same beautiful deep tone he fell in love with. "You're a good kid."
They both laugh, and for a moment, just a moment, Ralph has a feeling they'll be okay.
~
The song of the chapter is 'Step out' by Jose Gonzales