"Private Fields, you're not answering the question. Did you, or did you not, willingly try to take your own life?" One of the VA doctors whom Emily recognized as Dr. Aronson asked.
Emily sat back in her chair across from him, her jaw clenched. They had stripped her of her uniform and weapons. The only thing she was allowed to wear was her hospital gown and arm monitor so they knew where she was if she decided to go outside in the yard. They only let Alison visit her if she was "having a good day." So naturally, she never saw her. She didn't wish for the blonde to ever see her like this.
She had lost count. Was it three weeks? Four? She had no idea.
"Jeez, will you let me out already? I'm fine. It was a rash decision. But I'm good now," Emily objected.
Aronson sighed and pushed a glass of water towards the tan brunette. "It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. What if Ms. Marin hadn't found you in time?"
Emily groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've been over this. I would've been dead. Possibly."
"Possibly?" Aronson asked, slightly miffed.
"I could've changed my mind. You never know. I had the love of my life with me, so, who knows?" Emily said.
Aronson scratched the back of his neck and shook his head. "I think we're done here."
"Am I getting let go of?" Emily asked hopefully.
Aronson wouldn't meet her eyes. "Legally I have no reason to keep you here. You show no more signs of sickness besides PTSD. But heed my warning. Every veteran in here thinks they're fine. They think they don't belong here. But then they get out, and they realize just how wrong they really were."
He left the room. Emily was lost in thoughts of his words when she felt the guards take her back to her room. Her roommate, Alex, sat on her bed throwing a rubber ball at the wall and catching it again.
"How was your grill session? Anything cookin?" Alex asked sarcastically.
Emily chuckled. "I'm getting released."
Alex stopped throwing the ball. "No way. How'd you do it?"
Emily shrugged. "Played dumb. They kept me in here for being suicidal. But if I show no signs of being suicidal, they gotta let me go. I suggest you try it."
"Hey, I didn't try to kill myself," Alex pointed out.
Emily sighed. "Why are you even in here?"
"It's funny really. I'm not supposed to be in here. They think I have a weapon addiction. And an addiction to war," Alex said.
"How so?" Emily asked wearily.
"When I was out and about, I never went anywhere without a gun. I thought I saw cells. Thousands of them. Taliban members crawling the streets," Alex muttered.
"Yeah, I know what cells are. You hurt someone?" Emily asked.
Alex shuddered. "I never meant to. They joked about it. As though I were a defect. Just some broken veteran coming back from the war she couldn't handle. He reached into his jacket. I thought he was going for a gun. I shot him."
Emily swallowed. "Did he die?"
Alex's eyes never lifted from the floor. "Immediately."
Emily walked over and patted the other girl on the back. "You're gonna get out of here. You're a soldier. You're stronger than most."
"Em... We're all Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen, in this hospital. We've all faced the terrors of war. And most of us are never gonna leave. I'm closer to getting out than I was. But I still have issues. I still have nightmares. I'm still dangerous," Alex concluded.
"Fields!" One of the guards yelled.
"What!?" Emily yelled back.
"Get ready! You're going out to the yard. You've got a visitor!"
Emily shook her head. "I don't have any. I don't want to see anybody. Turn them away!"
She heard the guard chuckle. "Strict orders not to. You don't get a say this time. Get your ass going."
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Emily sat on the bench outside picking at her cuticles. She almost always hated sitting out here in the yard with her long flowing gown. She felt almost bare.
She watched a couple of the patients milling around talking to each other. Some even talked to themselves. It really was a shame that people ended up this way. The people who served and protected The United States. These were the people who put their lives on the line.
"My God, Fields. Didn't I warn you? I told you not to do anything rash," a deep yet familiar voice sounded.
Emily turned around to see the man strutting towards her, his hands in his pockets. Half the side of his face was covered in terrible scars, yet he wore his uniform proudly.
"Lieutenant Meyers," Emily said, standing up to greet the officer.
"It's been a while. I have to say though, you definitely are not in a place I thought you'd be," Meyers said sadly.
"How'd you know I was here?" Emily asked.
Meyers shrugged and sat down across from her. "I heard it somewhere through the grapevine. 'The Hunter' has been put down, so to say. Somebody sent in a distress call. Your mother told me."
"I bet she isn't too proud," Emily said stiffly.
Meyers chuckled darkly. "Oh, no she isn't. She said your girlfriend sent in the distress call."
"Alison did, yes. She just wanted to save me from my 'terrible fate.' She tries to see me. I won't let her," Emily said.
"So Alison is the girlfriend. You finally got her," Meyers said, grinning.
"First night I got back, actually. Guess we really were supposed to be together. But she didn't sign up for this. She didn't sign up for a veteran with PTSD and suicidal tendencies. She signed up for a girlfriend who would love and protect her. Her sister was murdered and here I am acting like an asshole child," Emily spat.
"So she put you in time out. Bravo Ms. Dilaurentis," Meyers praised.
"I never mentioned her last name," Emily said suspiciously.
Meyers smiled. "No need to. I saw it on your report. The distress call was reported by her. Usually people keep it anonymous but... Not her."
"Funny. She used to like to be '-A for Anonymous.' " Emily joked darkly.
"See, that's your problem, Fields. You're obsessed with the hunt. You're obsessed with anything that will give you clues. I bet you're even looking for the murderer of Charlotte Dilaurentis," Meyers said.
Emily froze. "How would you even know that?"
"Rosewood's a small town. It's still the talk. I learned all about your past, Emily. Charlotte Dilaurentis, AKA, Charles, AKA, -A. How she tortured you, and put you in a doll house. It sounds like you hated her a lot. Yet you're looking for her killer. Why?" Meyers questioned.
"Alison loved Charlotte. She's the reason she stayed here. When Charlotte died, Alison got hurt. I didn't like Charlotte, sure. But I certainly didn't wish for her to die," Emily growled.
"But didn't you? She ruined your life, Fields. Any chance you had at swimming professionally, disappeared the minute Charlotte caused you to tear your rotator cuff. You couldn't come back from that. Then, she kept Alison here. The one place you wanted to escape. She stayed for her sister, instead of leaving with you," Meyers pushed harder.
"Why are you questioning me? Who sent you?!" Emily demanded.
"Nobody. Myself. Did you kill that girl, Fields?!" Meyers demanded back.
"NO, I DID NOT KILL CHARLOTTE DILAURENTIS!" Emily roared.
Meyers sat back, his bad blue eye seemed to be popping out of his scarred skull. He reminded Emily of Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter. Terrible comparison, but it was the truth.
"There's something terrible going on here, Fields. You and I both know it. You know something's up. The cops haven't found anything. Use your head. If you're truly 'The Hunter,' then you'll find who did this. You'll stop fighting the PTSD, and listen to it. That's why you were so good in the desert. You listened. You observed. You paid attention," Meyers whispered so that the guards behind him wouldn't hear.
"Why are you telling me this?" Emily asked.
"They suspect you. You have the most motive. They don't think the deployment was enough. They think you paid somebody to kill Charlotte or altered your alibi. I was their final solution to getting you to talk. In the desert, I didn't want you to become this. I warned you not to. But you did. There's no going back. So use what you have. Especially since you became so good at it," he mumbled.
Behind him, Tanner approached, her toad like grin spreading across her face. "Thank you Lieutenant. You may go now," she dismissed.
"Bye Fields. See you around," Meyers nodded and stalked off with one of the guards.
Tanner handed Emily her uniform. "I figured you might want that. You've got to be somewhere, don't you?"
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Emily noticed the silence of the apartment before she fully stepped into it. She looked in on the bowl on the counter and noticed Alison's keys.
She's home. Welcome back baby, The Other Alison cooed.
This time, however, Emily didn't ignore it. Meyers was right. Throughout the entire war, The Other Alison in her head was what fought alongside her. Throwing her away hardly seemed fair.
Emily kicked off her tan combat boots and edged along the hallways suspiciously and found Alison laying in their bed curled up with the TV on mute.
"Ali?" She asked softly.
Alison jumped in bed and turned to look at the tall brunette standing in the door frame in her camouflage uniform.
Her eyes were ringed in red.
"You're home," she choked out.
Emily couldn't bear to see Alison like this. She cried herself to sleep? How long had this been going on?
"I didn't mean to startle you," Emily said as she slowly approached the bed.
Alison sat up and threw the covers off of her legs so that she could walk to the other side of the queen sized bed across from Emily.
"I didn't know you got out," Alison said sharply.
She was angry. Emily could feel the waves of heat radiating from the shorter blonde.
"I'm sorry Alis-,"
"Sorry doesn't cut it Emily. First you try to kill yourself. Then you won't let me see you for a month? What the hell?" Alison cried.
"I couldn't bear for you to see me like that. I was in a mental hospital. For soldiers. That's embarrassing enough as it is," Emily scolded.
"You tried to kill yourself!" Alison yelled.
"I have PTSD Alison! You put me in a hospital! I was off fighting in a war. I killed people. Many people. I'm not going to just be okay! I'm obviously going to have problems. How did you expect me to come back 100% fine?" Emily asked.
"I didn't. I didn't at all. I knew you came back with more than just sand in your boots. But my sister was killed. I get you're hurting, but so am I! We're supposed to protect each other. I put you in that hospital because I realized, I'm not enough to keep you from taking a gun and shooting yourself! I almost lost you!" Alison sobbed.
Emily watched as Alison leaned against the wall across from her, sliding until she was sitting on the ground.
Her weeps echoed around the room which caused Emily to move around the bed to sit down next to Alison and pull her into her arms.
"I'm so sorry, Alison. I love you. I'm so so sorry," Emily whispered into the blonde's hair.
Alison leaned her head up and kissed Emily's lips. Emily could taste her salty tears.
"I missed doing that while you were away," Alison sniffed.
"You don't have to worry. I'm never going away again," Emily whispered as she kissed Alison lightly.
"Can we just... Go to bed?" Alison asked, her eyes still puffy from crying.
"Yes, baby. Of course we can," Emily nodded.
Alison climbed into their bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. Emily attempted to follow but Alison held her hand against Emily's heavily muscled chest.
"You can't sleep in here for a while. Sleep on the couch," Alison said, her voice cracking.
Emily felt her heart rip to pieces inside of her chest, but she nodded. "Okay baby girl. I love you."
Alison smiled sadly and caressed Emily's cheek. "I love you too. Goodnight."
Emily leaned down to kiss Alison who had her arms kicked around Emily's neck.
Alison let go of the brunette's neck and turned on her side so Emily couldn't see her begin to sob again.
"Goodnight," Emily whispered, heartbroken.
She stood up straight, closed the door behind her, and walked into the living room where the messy couch sat. It was still unmade from the last time Emily had slept there. On her last night before being taken to the VA hospital.
Go to the place where all the dead lay, uncover the truth and find Charlotte's way, The Other Alison said sleepily in her head.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked herself.
Oh Em. If you ever want to sleep with me again, I suggest you find out soon. Tick tock, The Other Alison said.
"You're supposed to be helping me. Just tell me what to do!" Emily demanded. She tried to keep her voice low in case Alison heard her in the next room.
Go to the place where all the dead lay, uncover the truth and find Charlotte's way, The Other Alison repeated.
"The dead lay in a cemetery. Her grave? That won't help me uncover the truth. She's already buried," Emily muttered to herself as she plopped down onto the couch.
No answer.
Emily groaned into her hands.
Tick tock, Em.
Tick Tock.